When I was a child and the trees threw shadows on my bedroom walls I sensed fear. If a noise was heard within the wardrobe or from the yard below I felt insecure. Children often feel scared. At eight or nine years of age we have a huge dependency on family and home. Our parents are our pillars of security. We are all challenged by changes like a new teacher, new home, new parent, new sibling.

When I was a child and the trees threw shadows on my bedroom walls I sensed fear. If a noise was heard within the wardrobe or from the yard below I felt insecure. Children often feel scared. At eight or nine years of age we have a huge dependency on family and home. Our parents are our pillars of security. We are all challenged by changes like a new teacher, new home, new parent, new sibling.

In the insecurity of night-time darkness when the moon played tricks with creases in curtains  or when my heightened sensitivity allowed fear amplify the ordinary sounds of night, I often said a prayer or two and fell asleep. There was a psychological benefit in prayer. It offered a degree of comfort. New research indicates that prayer has physiological and psychological benefits. No particular prayer. No particular religion. i read an article from the British Medical Journal recently on this topic. Research from the school of Positive Psychology has shown that people who pray, who have this spiritual dimension and invest in it are amongst the happiest and healthiest on our planet.

In the insecurity of night-time darkness when the moon played tricks with creases in curtains  or when my heightened sensitivity allowed fear amplify the ordinary sounds of night, I often said a prayer or two and fell asleep.