Confession: I’ve never liked the Serenity Prayer.
Anything that overused, she thought, has to turn to rot after a while.
And it seems too… serene. A little folding of the hands to rest.
Last month at the local ladies seminar I read the whole prayer, for the first time, and it made all the difference. It gets to where I am, and where I want to be.
God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
— Reinhold Niebuhr