Serenity Now!

The Full Original Copy of the Serenity Prayer

by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the 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.

 

The serenity prayer is one of my most favorite prayers, albeit I don’t say it enough. Ironically, I have an angel figurine and a cross on my makeshift apartment mantel with the serenity prayer and I am still not reminded enough to pray it. Perhaps I need another angel at my work desk.

I just discovered this “complete” serenity prayer, and have found it to be truly what I should pray, what I should ask for. Acceptance. Understanding. Openness.

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

This is a given, the standard serenity prayer…

God, help me to learn to accept things I cannot change…a reminder, in a sense, that the only thing that you can “control” is yourself. And remembering, ultimately, that God is in control. Everything happens for a reason, His reason.

God, give me courage to change things I can change…We ask God “WHY!?” all the time, when we should be asking “How?” How can we help this person develop a better attitude? How can we grow from this experience? How can I help? What do I have the power to change? What is the positive that I can take away from this? The biggest thing to change is always Attitude.

God, give me the wisdom to know the difference…how often are we caught between “let it be” and “be the change you want to see” asking for wisdom, which truly is different than knowledge, helps us to discern what to do and when…when is appropriate to change something, and when is it better to accept it? A thought that comes to mind is “hate the sin, not the sinner” – change acts, and not a person. If someone does something you don’t like, don’t retaliate, rather, speak up, tell them how that action made you feel and let them change their ways. Again, each person truly only has “control” over themselves. Again, always remembering that God is in control.

Now, that was something that many people hear time and time again, so what about this next part…which I am grateful that I have found, but bummed I hadn’t found it sooner…but again, it’s all in God’s time and not ours…

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace

Live each moment as if it were your last. Live like you were dying. Live life to the fullest. – These are all inspirational sayings to live every moment…but when do we hear to take our hardships as part of life? In a sense, this is like the mix of the saying “stuff happens” with “life is good.” Everyone gets sick, or knows someone who gets sick. Everyone dies. Everyone loses once in a while. However, I don’t believe that there is ever a person who hasn’t been “winning” at least once in their life. They have a life, afterall…and isn’t that precious? No one is unloved, I know that there are many people, myself included, that pray for those who are “forgotten” or “alone”…realizing that they can’t truly be “forgotten” if we remember them…but also remembering that God loves each and every one of us. Everything happens for a reason.

To this day, I can remember this old man living on the streets of Chicago. Michael and I had made a daytrip to Chicago but we had not brought much money with us. We could only afford for us to get one piece of food from Jamba Juice each. Michael got a small drink and I got the oatmeal, thinking we would then be able to share. When we got outside, in freezing snowy temperatures, we saw an old man asking for money and food. I didn’t even have to look at Michael to know he felt the same and we gave him our warm oatmeal. The smile on that man’s face warmed are hearts for the trip home. Michael and I always remember this man, and although he is not the reason I started to do service, he is a reason I continue to do service when I can.

Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is

Remember that Jesus came down to save us from our sins…we are far from perfect, no matter how delusional we may be. Nobody is perfect except Him.

Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right

Sound familiar? This is semi-derived from the “Our Father.”

“Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in Heaven”

Trust in God. Trust that He knows what He is doing…because He does. We ask God to make earth more like Heaven. Grant that there be peace and serenity (no pun intended) here on earth.

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.

Again, trust in God, ask for wisdom and courage to be happy with this life…and then how much happier will we be when we are with Him in Heaven? Infinitely happier.