I started this piece by thinking about the prayers that some people may say before going to sleep. Some prayers offer thanks for the day just ended, some offer thanks for the night, and thanks for the day about to begin. Some prayers are gentle, some are about spreading good will and health and happiness throughout the world. Some are just about getting a good night's sleep. After reading prayers from many cultures and religions it began to feel that behind all these prayers was a universal sense of fear. There are a lot of things that can go wrong for us - we can get hurt, we can be attacked, we can do the wrong thing. During the day we can at least try to protect ourselves, but at night, while we are sleeping, we are vulnerable. We have to trust that something can protect us while we sleep, or no sleep would be possible. So I decided to divide my piece into two sections - 'night' is a list of things we may feel and fear about the night, and 'sleep' is the prayer that asks if we can be protected from those feelings and fears. I made the text for 'night' from how internet search engines complete the sentence "When night falls I..." and I made the text for 'sleep' from excerpting several traditional Jewish bedtime prayers.
