Acceptance and The Serenity Prayer

[steve2470]

http://www.kevinfitzmaurice.com/quote_acceptance.htm

"When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation--some fact of my life--unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment."--Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, page 449 (The Big Book)


The Serenity Prayer

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.

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

http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/special/serenity.html

[iconoclastic cat]

1. SERENITY NOW!

/stupid, ugly, weak, poor sense of humor.

[candy]

2. I find it a beautiful prayer----n/t

[wildeyed]

3. It is *not* easy to be a recovering serene person these days.

I have to pray, that's right, pray for George W. Bush, because I really really hate him and if I don't correct the disturbance in my serenity, it will eventually lead me to drink.

[housewolf]

15. You

may be WildEyed, but you are a wise one, WildEyed.

[MellowOne]

4. God is in Control, darkness will come to light in God's timing

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.

[grapette]

5. The Sanity Prayer

The Sanity Prayer

Dude, grant me the sanity
to protest the things I cannot change;
the cajones to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living each day under this slime;
Enduring the profanity of his crime;
Embracing revolution as the pathway to peace;

Amen.

[Fly by night]

6. As another friend of Bill W., I'm focusing on

"... the courage to change the things I can ...".

We are here because we believe in change and we witness for the power of common commitment (that is also a power greater than ourselves) and shared strength and understanding. We do need courage because the size of the task has been made more clear to all of us since November 3. But so have the resources available to us, and in us.

Surrendering my country to Nazis and their leashed corporate media-bitches is not acceptable -- and my being unable to accept passively their illegal power grab is also something that I " ... cannot change...."

It takes what it takes. And that also applies to becoming aware of where we are and where we want to be. For me, it is easy to view the 2004 election as we view our own paths, namely ....

What it was like (before 11/2)-- unaware of the depth and breadth of the lower powers we face

What happened (11/2) -- hitting a democratic bottom, the great "Ah HaH!" and taking the blinders off

What it is like now (post-11/2) -- growing awareness, gathering energy, knowledge and allies; changing our playmates and playgrounds (no more passive Dems or time spent with the MSM); respecting those who walk the walk (the democracy 32); doing the next right thing (fighting these bastards for all we're worth, because we're worth it.)

Right before I finally got "it" (and Lord, did it take a while), I saw a Winslow Homer painting of a New England fisherman out in a raging sea, alone, with only his own strength and the distant beacon of the lighthouse (faith) to guide him. And someone had written under the painting: "Pray to God, but row toward shore."

What we don't need now are resentments, against the enemy, ourselves or our democratic brethren. What we do need are clear heads, strong hearts and the heat of a righteous cause. Those of us who are sharing code in this thread probably also share all three of these resources, and are happily being of service to Higher Power and others with what we are doing, here and now. Tonight, I can't see a better way to be of service than to work long and hard to right this wrong, with the serenity that comes from accepting that -- as an American who believes in democracy -- I cannot change the responsibility that is mine (that is ours) to act now and forever, to take our country back.

Time to go take the garden-grown pumpkins out of the oven and put the berry cobblers in. And to breathe. And to be here now.

Democracy works when you work it, and when you want it to work. We're worth it, so let's keep working it. We've made a whole lot of progress in a relatively short time, and for that, I continue to be grateful.

See my earlier post on gratitude that's still on the board (somewhere):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=267768&mesg_id=267768

Hope to see all ya'll soon. Here in middle Tennessee, I'll save a seat for ya'.

[steve2470]

7. kick nt

[fooj]

12. "clear head, strong heart and the heat of a righteous cause..."

Wow...thank you for this! It's good to check in from time to time.B-)

[Donailin]

13. This is the best thing I've read in over a month.

as well as the rest of the thread.

I used to be extremely spiritual, and truth be told, this administration has replaced that satisfying and fulfilling disposition of mine with intense anger, frustration and cynicism. And I hate being that way. I remember when I would sometimes lose sleep at night lamenting over my ex-husbands inability to do right by his kids, and I would pray for him, and pray myself to sleep. And I would feel better, and things would be different because when you have your connection to your Creator intact, nothing can beat you down.

But this president, this unleashed force of negative power present in the world has been trying and succeeding to find a home with me too. A total stranger could do to me what my ex-husband could not. Astonishing.

These prayers of yours are helpful in my effort to regain my connection. Thank you.

[shirlden]

21. Thank you FBN

There is nothing like a good meeting on a snowy Sunday morning, expecially when I did not have to leave my home to attend.
As a recovering alcoholic of over 20 years, I still need to be reminded of the message and I thank you for making this a better day.
Let us walk the walk and show the misguided just how it is done by our example.
Shirl

[EFerrari]

8. I never get past the first sentence AND have to revise it:

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change LIKE THOSE S.O.B.s!!!!!!!!!!

Practice, practice :)

[marions ghost]

9. Nice words of wisdom appropriate for Accepting Death....but

sometimes God says wakey wakey
get outta that poppy field quick
reaper is a'comin

[McCamy Taylor]

10. Dont forget the "courage" part, its right there in the third line

Still crying over Mosul. There has to be something we can do. They can use Iraq as their own private political theater everytime they need a smokescreen.

[Amaryllis]

11. For me, the key is doing all I can, and once I have, doing my best to

let go of the outcome.This is the surrender part. It's when I hang on tight and forget this that I get all tense, and health and sleep suffers and I make myself unhappy and less effective. I have often thought of the first three steps during this whole process, because I truly can make myself insane with it all - the injustice!!! and become so focused on it that I start to feel crazy. I find the 12 steps most useful to come back into balance. So thanks for posting this. Nice to know others are thinking along the same lines.

[MadisonProgressive]

14. I'm an agnostic, and I believe that if God does exist

he/she/it gave us our intelligence and reason so that we can solve our problems ourselves. I personally wouldn't pray for anything that was within my own ability to control. I believe that although it will be difficult and probably very costly, that we have the ability to confront and defeat those that would enslave us, and it is this work that must ultimately be done by us here on this earth.

[Amaryllis]

16. No one is saying we don't still work on solving our own problems ourselves

The point is you do what you can do about what you can control and don't get bent out of shape over what you can't control.

[MadisonProgressive]

17. I was just commenting on the line:

"Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will"

I just made the point that I (personally) don't trust things will simply 'happen' if I only trust in a supreme being. I don't begrudge anyone being religious or praying.

[fearnobush]

18. "The Courage to Change the Things I Can."

Wow, after 20 yrs in AA I now realize why DU has become so important in my life. It gives me an avenue to change the things I can. AA gives me the courage. I had no idea so many here were friends of Bill.

[joanski01]

19. Hi! There are even friends of Lois

here. Welcome!

[rzemanfl]

20. My morning paper, the St. Pete Times, has the following on the

front page. "Man of faith. Does the president believe he is God's man in the White House? Or is he just a man trying to do God's will?"

I have been a friend of Bill W.'s for coming up on twenty years. I was never real comfortable with the spirtuality piece of AA and have zero religous tradition.

My question is, do folks "try" to do God's will? Doesn't God's will just happen?

I think Bush's religiousity is as big a lie as the rest of his administration and is just a vote-getter.

[MissWaverly]

22. prayer

I too find this a beautiful prayer, but not in the context of the current situation in this country, I am praying the Our Father, especially the line DELIVER US FROM EVIL, Evil cannot be accepted, it cannot be rationalized, the election was clearly stolen, now I have been hearing about women gang raped by U.S. solders in Iraqi prisons, government money 700 million for Homeland Security, being used for lawn mower races in TEXAS and money for Hurricane relief in Florida being spent for luxuries in non-hurricane areas, I too am praying, I am praying for my country, I am praying that God blesses America and leads us out of this darkness.

[Hugin]

23. Though I appreciate the thought in your post...

To this, I say...

"...being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment."

I'm thinking there are many Holocaust survivors who'll tell you
acceptance of the will of the minority is the shortest path to
the ovens.

NO! I will not accept it.

[Quakerfriend]

24. Thx for this post!

It is exactly where I have found myself in the days post 1/6.
And, it has given me a renewed strength and peaceful determination to continue the fight.

[halley]

25. Thanks

I needed that and glad I'm not alone in trying to refocus/rechannel
my anger and despair into something good. I really am over the hate and anger I've felt, it's so harmful. Unfortunately, I feel this everywhere I go. It's like the country, except for a few, is in a giant bummer. I don't post much but do read this site everyday, have since the beginning, and just it being here and reading others
thoughts and opinions helps alot, I don't feel so alone. And what's been happening to my country makes me want to get the word out whenever, however, wherever I can.

[Laurab]

26. From another friend of Bill W's

of almost 20 years, it's nice to see you all here! I love the Serenity Prayer. I don't believe we can't change the evil shrubco is doing, so I don't accept it, I won't accept it, and I will have the courage (hopefully) to change the things I can.