Some said they felt “sleepy”. Others said they heard their heart beat and yet others said they felt calm. These were the responses from some 100+ children in Year 2 to 6 and their parents to a Meditation course for children held at the Church of Divine Mercy, Penang (CDM) on the 24th January, 2016. The session was held by Nita Ng, author of My Little Meditation Book. In the first part of her session she asked the children to close their eyes and concentrate on the word MA RA NA THA, the Aramaic word meaning “Come, O Lord” by breathing in and out at each sound of the word. The suggested guideline for each session of meditation was a minute for each year of their age with an upper limit of 20 minutes.

In the second session the children were asked to remember one very important thing in their lives and in silence, think about it and thank God. Nita said that when we pray we often speak to God and rarely wait to listen from him. In meditation, we give God a chance to talk back to us. So we must keep silent and listen to for him to speak to us.

It was interesting that the majority of the children did keep silence during the session and were open to this form of prayer. However, more practice was need and the parents and catechism teachers who were present were encouraged to help their children in class and at home with this new form of prayer. Nita also provided copies of her book for parents to use in helping their children.

Written by

Dr. Ivan Filmer
25th January, 2016