Скачать или смотреть Around Kansas - History Behind "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" - March 1, 2017

(Deb) Welcome back, folks. (Frank) This is Around Kansas. I'm Frank, she's Deb, and you're not. (Deb) Still Around Kansas. (Frank) Silly jokes. (Deb) Still Around Kansas. Haven't been kicked out yet. (Frank) I know what the next story is but the thing is I don't know if children still say a little prayer before they go to bed at night. (Deb) They better be. [Laughter] (Frank) They might, but that's what this next story is about. This is a fascinating thing and I don't want to get ahead of the game. (Deb) Well, it's a really sweet story. This came to my attention through our friend Keith George and we did the segment on Keith several months ago. Keith is in the process of writing a book. He's the one who's been documenting Highway 83. Going up and down the road; but he is writing this book and he started researching this little prayer Now I lay me down to sleep. This is again the wonderful thing about Facebook. He is posting all this stuff on Facebook and I'm like, "Wow." Like the Hugh Beaumont thing, I had no idea. That’s the fun of this show. We get to share all those aha moments with you guys because I didn’t know that. And it’s something-- this maybe a whole theme for March--is things that appear really ordinary but when you start looking at them there’s something special. And this little prayer that so many people around the world are familiar with, and it’s not always been this way. And just like, Hugh Beaumont, who’s in your TV via the…in your living room via the TV all the time and you find out something special. (Frank) Yes. (Deb) Just take a couple of minutes to ask a few questions or learn something and it will enrich your life. (Frank) Yes, take a look. (Deb) It's a common prayer that most of us have said before turning in at night. Keith George became curious about its origins and began investigating. Did you know the poem was derived from Psalms 4:8? Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take. Keith was surprised to find that it did not start out as a poem but rather an essay credited to Joseph Addison in 1711. Originally he had adapted the Psalm to read, When I lay me down to sleep, I recommend myself to his care; when I awake, I my self up to his direction, Amen. Doesn't quite have the same lilting language does it? So the essay evolved into the prayer but our familiar verse is only half the poem. Here are the remaining verses: Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. If I should live for other days, I pray the lord to guide my ways. Father, unto thee I pray, Thou hast guarded me all day; safe I am while in thy sight, safely let me sleep tonight. Bless my friends, the whole world bless; Help me learn forgetfulness; Keep me ever in thy sight; So to all I say good night. In all, Keith has found 24 versions of the treasured verse, as it continues to evolve, rewritten by clergy and moms and dads, and probably even children, kneeling by their beds, as they take the words of the Psalm, just like Addison did, and make them their own.
(Frank) Oh gee, I was watching that last story, we are done. (Deb) Isn’t that sweet? Yes. (Frank) I’m Frank. (Deb) I’m Deb. (Frank) We'll see you somewhere- (Deb & Frank) - Around Kansas.