Wednesday, March 14, 2012

I Remind Myself...

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.
(Original prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr)

My current brief version:  "Lord, please help me to graciously accept that over which I have absolutely no power to change; the courage, wisdom, strength, and patience to help change what needs and can be changed by what I say or do...and please consider, Lord, that I have already learned, quite often the hard way, the difference between these two.  Amen!"

(Post and photo ©  by C.J. - please do not copy)