If I Should Die Before I Wake

(A bedtime prayer)

by doug hyden

If I should die before I wake—

               Let the last thing I ever said to Carol be: “I love you.”

If I should die before I wake—

               Let the last thing I ever said to Forrest be, “Son, I am proud of you.”

If I should die before I wake—

               Let me go remembering the laughs I have laughed, not the tears I have shed.

If I should die before I wake—

               Let me go with forgiveness in my heart for all who hurt me.

If I should die before I wake—

               Let me go with forgiveness in my heart for the one who hurt me most: myself.

If I should die before I wake—

Let me go remembering the good things I did and not the bad things I did, or the things I should have done but left undone.

If I should die before I wake—

Let me go thinking of the joys I have known, the love I have felt, the wonders I have seen, and what friendships I have made.

If I should die before I wake—

               Let me go with a song in my heart for the people I love.

If I should die before I wake—

Let me go in peace, reconciled with God and humankind, knowing that I have been forgiven.

If I should die before I wake—

Let me go with anticipation for what is to come, not with sorrow over what I’m leaving behind.

If I should die before I wake—

Let me go with gratitude to you, God, for my life, however badly I have misused it. In spite of everything, the good has far outweighed the bad. I’m glad I was here.

If I should die before I wake—

               I pray you, God, my soul to take.

Amen.