God,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
In my attempt in exploring this prayer,
The serenity prayer as many refer to it,
I realized a few different things about it.
I was always told to look up the definitions of words,
That one should use language and understand it and its simplicity,
And still attempt to comprehend its sometimes complex application.
When I saw the word God,
I decided to look it up.
It said it was from dramatic origins,
God,
And Dutch,
God.
And I thought that isn't even that old or ancient of a name.
God has had many names throughout time.
Even in Christianity when Christ was on the cross,
He called out God's name.
But it was in Aramaic.
Only not German or Dutch.
Throughout history,
The name of God has always been given to the highest form of a supreme being.
God has so many names,
All meaning God or goddess,
In their respective religions or cultures.
So whatever works for you.
If you're in a 12-step program,
I've heard it said it could simply be good orderly direction,
The great outdoors,
Or maybe even a group of drunks.
It could be divine consciousness.
I've heard higher self.
Or a change of psyche.
Or creator.
However you begin this prayer,
It doesn't matter which God it is,
As long as it's the God of your understanding.
God grant me.
Grant me.
Which means to be given.
So grant me,
Agree to give or allow something requested.
Serenity.
Grant me the serenity.
We know it is a state of being calm,
Peaceful,
Or untroubled.
In looking at its Latin derivative,
It means clear or fair.
Accept once again derived from the Latin or ad to capare,
Take,
To take to oneself,
Accept the consent to receive a thing offered.
So when we ask to accept the things,
The things are inanimate objects,
Usually not referring to sentient beings.
But I guess you could put those in there too.
But we all have those things.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
That means unable to change.
So to make someone or something different.
It's modified from the Latin root word cambier,
Which means barter,
Which most likely was from Celtic origin originally.
So when we're asking for change,
We're asking for something to be modified or where the something needs to be done,
That we need to change one thing for another.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
And the courage,
Courage from core,
Which in Latin means heart,
From the heart,
The seat of feelings,
As in the cowardly lion who couldn't do anything because he didn't have a heart.
For courage,
In spite of overwhelming fear,
In the face of pain or grief,
Courage can give us a passion to receive the strength to change,
To be able to change just from the root word in Latin and Greek,
Nossere,
To get to know.
The courage to change the things,
Once again things.
I can,
I am able.
And the wisdom.
Wisdom is in the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience,
Knowledge,
And good judgment.
That's the definition.
Also learning to become aware through observation,
Inquiry,
Or from information.
Whenever I was confused,
My support person would always say to me,
So what do you know?
What can you find out?
It usually would end with the words of,
It sounds like you don't have enough information again.
So once again,
I was in that pause,
That endless waiting of gathering and deciphering and asking once again.
God,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can.
And the wisdom to know the difference,
The difference to distinguish one thing from another.
Boy,
That took a while.
So once more,
Just sit back and reflect on the words.
Let them just wash over you and take them in,
Whatever ones you need for today.
God,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
It's a remarkably simple little mantra,
But such a powerful prayer.
Sometimes when I was confused or still can be,
I'd pull out a rock or a shell and just repeat these as if it had special power and could ground me,
Something to hold onto and say,
God,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Anytime you're confused during the day,
You can always take a pause and pull out this simple prayer.
Take a breath and just let the words wash over you.
God,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
This worked for me and continues to do so on a regular basis.
Maybe it'll work for you.
Thanks for listening.
Namaste.
.
Hang tight for now.
