A Prayer for All Reasons
Today I am grateful for the weekend and for our home. I am also grateful to have a run to look forward to this morning with my husband.
Yesterday it was ringtones, today it is screen backgrounds. The background of my cell phone screen is some of the words to one of my favorite prayers-the Serenity Prayer. It is the most useful prayer I know, as long as I remember to use it. I find that it works in ANY circumstances. Many people know the first stanza of the prayer, but there is more to it.
Here is the prayer's long form:
The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time,
accepting hardship 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.
The original form was written by American theologain Reinhold Niebuhr, probably in
the early 1940's.
It is a reminder to me that there is so much that I need to let go of on a regular basis, and that my focus needs to be on my own attitude and actions-the only things I truly have control over.
I love that the prayer mentions living one day at a time, and that hardship can be the pathway to peace. The hardships, challenges, struggles in my life have helped me realize my true self and have helped me grow in ways that a gentler path never would have allowed. I don't go looking for struggles and challenges, but the reality is that we all face them, minor and significant. Applying the Serenity Prayer helps me weather them.
Like most prayers, some lines aren't really the kind that stick with me. So I would suggest to you: "Take what you want and leave the rest." I find there is plenty to take away from this prayer.
Serenity to accept. Courage to change. Wisdom to know.
Have a good day!
Yesterday it was ringtones, today it is screen backgrounds. The background of my cell phone screen is some of the words to one of my favorite prayers-the Serenity Prayer. It is the most useful prayer I know, as long as I remember to use it. I find that it works in ANY circumstances. Many people know the first stanza of the prayer, but there is more to it.
Here is the prayer's long form:
The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time,
accepting hardship 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.
The original form was written by American theologain Reinhold Niebuhr, probably in
the early 1940's.
It is a reminder to me that there is so much that I need to let go of on a regular basis, and that my focus needs to be on my own attitude and actions-the only things I truly have control over.
I love that the prayer mentions living one day at a time, and that hardship can be the pathway to peace. The hardships, challenges, struggles in my life have helped me realize my true self and have helped me grow in ways that a gentler path never would have allowed. I don't go looking for struggles and challenges, but the reality is that we all face them, minor and significant. Applying the Serenity Prayer helps me weather them.
Like most prayers, some lines aren't really the kind that stick with me. So I would suggest to you: "Take what you want and leave the rest." I find there is plenty to take away from this prayer.
Serenity to accept. Courage to change. Wisdom to know.
Have a good day!
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