 | Each week at our Thursday evening service we close with the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Neibuhr. Most everyone has heard or even memorized the first part of the 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.” This well-known prayer encourages us to accept our limitations and ask for God’s peace and wisdom in understanding those limitations. For all of the years I have repeated those words I had no idea there was more to that wonderful prayer. |
What I have discovered is that for me this prayer is one of struggle, trust and surrender, all of which do not come easy to me. Let’s start with the next few lines of the prayer: “Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;.” These words help us pay attention our world here and now. Sometimes living each day or each moment is all we can handle because of painful relationships, addictions, depression, domestic and sexual abuse and violence. I have had such moments a number of times battling through a contentious divorce and being disillusioned by the false side of love and respect. Many times during this extended time even breathing was difficult. In troubling times living each moment of each day is enough to handle and get through. But wait, there’s more. The prayer says that hardships lead to peace? Can our struggles really lead to peace? Maybe so, if we take the first part of this prayer seriously as it says that we are asking God to help us accept what we cannot change however we are also asking God to give us the courage to change what might seem impossible to doable or at least manageable. By trusting that God will give us the wisdom to know that “doing life” with the Divine power gives us the courage to release our struggles and by doing so can actual take the burden from us. Doesn’t Jesus say in the Gospel of Matthew; “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light,” (Vs.28-30). This is a promise that can be believed and trusted.
The next part of this prayer trips me up every time I say it. Repeat these words: “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…” What does that even look like for God? Taking the world as it is? Doesn’t that mean that God takes us as we are? But wait…aren’t we supposed to be all pretty and clean for God so that He won’t notice all of our dirt? The answer is no! God loves us as we are in all of our messes. All of our brokenness! All of our pain! And here comes that trusting word. Because God loves us in all of our ugliness and unworthiness, we can trust that God will help us to be made right. When we surrender to God’s mercy and grace we can be the best of who we were created to be. That must be love! This also means I am to accept the world as it is and not as I want it. It truly isn’t all about me and what I want. Jesus loved us as we are and because of this love and mercy he gave all he had, his life. We to can live for God, yes, but more than that, for others.
The result of all of the willingness to trust and surrender is this: “So that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever and ever in the next. Amen (Reinhold Neibuhr). The prayer doesn’t leave us with any unreasonable expectations that life will be perfect when we surrender to Christ. That would be unrealistic and untrue. It says that we will be reasonably happy in this life. There will always be issues that besiege our lives, some worse than others. What this prayer gives us is hope. By trusting in God’s love and acceptance, whatever our brokenness, we can accept each other and ourselves with the same love and grace. Then the prayer ends with a promise that we will be “supremely” happy with God for all eternity – forever! Then it closes the deal with “Amen.”
This prayer in its entirety takes us on a realistic journey of recognition that we need someone to share in the brokenness of our daily lives. It shows us the gift of God’s grace and love and most importantly, the acceptance of who we are - just as we are. It also gives us hope in the promise that we are never alone and won’t be for all eternity. It’s a promise that in the toughest of times, we can cling too and do our best to be “reasonably happy” in this life and know our future is Divinely blessed. “And all the people said, AMEN.”
The next part of this prayer trips me up every time I say it. Repeat these words: “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…” What does that even look like for God? Taking the world as it is? Doesn’t that mean that God takes us as we are? But wait…aren’t we supposed to be all pretty and clean for God so that He won’t notice all of our dirt? The answer is no! God loves us as we are in all of our messes. All of our brokenness! All of our pain! And here comes that trusting word. Because God loves us in all of our ugliness and unworthiness, we can trust that God will help us to be made right. When we surrender to God’s mercy and grace we can be the best of who we were created to be. That must be love! This also means I am to accept the world as it is and not as I want it. It truly isn’t all about me and what I want. Jesus loved us as we are and because of this love and mercy he gave all he had, his life. We to can live for God, yes, but more than that, for others.
The result of all of the willingness to trust and surrender is this: “So that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever and ever in the next. Amen (Reinhold Neibuhr). The prayer doesn’t leave us with any unreasonable expectations that life will be perfect when we surrender to Christ. That would be unrealistic and untrue. It says that we will be reasonably happy in this life. There will always be issues that besiege our lives, some worse than others. What this prayer gives us is hope. By trusting in God’s love and acceptance, whatever our brokenness, we can accept each other and ourselves with the same love and grace. Then the prayer ends with a promise that we will be “supremely” happy with God for all eternity – forever! Then it closes the deal with “Amen.”
This prayer in its entirety takes us on a realistic journey of recognition that we need someone to share in the brokenness of our daily lives. It shows us the gift of God’s grace and love and most importantly, the acceptance of who we are - just as we are. It also gives us hope in the promise that we are never alone and won’t be for all eternity. It’s a promise that in the toughest of times, we can cling too and do our best to be “reasonably happy” in this life and know our future is Divinely blessed. “And all the people said, AMEN.”
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