The Priest at Mass read this during the homily. It's called the Serenity Prayer, and I do enjoy it so.
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 is the typical form, but there is more:
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships 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.
Amen.
-Reinhold Niebuhr
Bon nuit, mes amis.
2 comments:
Why can't I get used to the idea of "taking this world as it is, not as i would have it"? As it is is a mess needing direct intervention .Otherwise it belongs to the money boys and I won't get any rest.
I think you are slightly simplifying the prayer. Certainly one must pray to accept the misery which one can do nothing about, if only so as to preserve the relative health of one's mind; but one must also work for change within one's own sphere of influence.
The opening lines of the prayer seem to suggest the balance of yet another paradox, courtesy of Chesterton: we must love the world enough to wish to change it, but we must despise it enough to see that it needs changing.
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