I firmly believe that you are the most important cause of change in your life. I don’t accept all my hardships and just trust that any power or being can make things rights. I don’t follow the prayer as a life philosophy. That piece of paper bookmarks not only the start of a really bad period in my life, but also a very early sign of how I would pull out of that period – a process that took about four years. I would have told you then that those events were not the reason that I had crashed into a deep depression, but looking back today, that bookmark reminds me how distorted my perceptions were then. That folded copy of the serenity prayer takes me back to an early winter that was difficult for many people following the events of September 11, 2001. I guess we are more likely to intentionally bookmark the good times in our lives, but I think we also mark the bad times, perhaps unintentionally. I could create a long list of things that bring me back in a flash to a time in my life – books, ticket stubs, a pebble, a record album, a restaurant receipt, airline ticket, vacation souvenirs… I don’t know if you literally bookmark things in your life with paper in a book very often, but we all certainly set bookmarks in our life using objects. I came across a copy of the prayer today on a sheet of paper folded into one of my old journals from late 2001. Every once and awhile, it crosses into my life. I’m not concerned about whether or not Reinhold Niebuhr wrote the prayer, and I like that the prayer has been adopted and adapted by others. It was on an episode of King of the Hill when the school principal asks Hank “Are you familiar with the serenity prayer Hank? Cause this is one of those things I can’t change.” It was in an interesting film, Rachel Getting Married. I recall it being in Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. It was adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step programs. for better or worse, and it is often seen in a shortened form illustrated above. You can find it printed on plaques, mugs etc. It begins “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.” It seems to transcend religions and has entered popular culture. Have you heard of the Serenity Prayer? Many people credit Reinhold Niebuhr with writing it sometime during World War II. G + P + V = Purpose… on Your Best Day, Worst Day and F… Join 1,095 other subscribers Recent PostsĬlassics Illustrated… on Our Love-Hate Relationship wit…
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