Today's "Prayer of the Day" on Beliefnet is--aside from the Lord's Prayer, and a couple of table graces--one of the handful of prayers I know by heart even though I've not yet been a member of a 12 step program and don't care for the patriarchal language of traditional historic Christianity. (So feel free to substitute She or God as I do depending upon what day it is...)
When I want/need to shorten this prayer, I just think of the Costanza character played by Stiller on the sit-com Seinfeld. When totally frustrated George's dad would block out all things around him (particularly his whiny wife) by repeating "Serenity Now! Serenity Now! Serenity Now!"
The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.
- Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
No comments:
Post a Comment