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These are words that have been paraphrased, ridiculed and prayed with great hope by many people. "God, grant me the Serenity to accept things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference." Reinhold Niebuhr, the author, then continued with: "living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time. Accepting hardship as a path to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make things right if I surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonable happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen" In 1984 I was gifted with a beautiful calligraphy of this poem for Christmas. The friend who wrote this poem/prayer out for me was making his decision to go into an Episcopal monastery as a monk. I was in the throes of a divorce. We both felt that life was in an upheaval that we were a bit frightened of how it would turn out. Actually, we have both landed on our feet and in good places. This prayer has hung in my home (usually in the bathroom) where I see it daily, a reminder that so much is not in my control, and I need to trust the path in front of me. Reinhold Niebuhr also reminds me that Courage and Wisdom can be mine if I ask and wait for answers. Being my impulsive self, asking and waiting are not my strong suits so I struggle daily to stay my course and control the one thing I actually can: my attitude. I would like to say I have aged into a sweet, kindly old lady, but no point in lying to you all. I manage to keep my façade up for strangers, deal kindly with store clerks (when I can find one) and treat our neighbors to Southern friendliness, but I do let my hair down in the car on occasion and have a good old screaming fit, with profanity if needed. It kind of cleans out my spleen and gives me room for a fresh start. Then I go back to the basics and request my share of wisdom, courage and serenity with faith that my needs will be met. donna
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January 2022
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