Serenity
August 9 - 30, 2020
Peace is a gift from Christ given to those who most need it and it is a gift that is meant to be shared widely by those who receive it. When Jesus encountered people his most often use phrase was some offering of Peace.
Everything around us today tries to tell us that anxiety and fear are the norm. Jesus helps us understand that we do not have to live in fear or be anxious.
Over the next four weeks we will be looking at how we find peace in these anxious times using “The Serenity Prayer.”
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
This prayer, which many know through Alcoholics Anonymous, was actually written by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in 1943 for his congregation in Heath, Massachusetts. Niebuhr intended the prayer to help his congregation resist the forces of intolerance, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia which were threatening to consume America with fear as the world warred. He said the purpose of the prayer was to remind his fellow Christians that:
“The sinful impulses that give rise to the suppression of liberty are rooted deep in every heart. The threat of oppression is ever-present, for it is within each of us. So one dangerous component in the life mixture, which one must pray to have either the grace to accept or the courage to change, is the condition of one’s own soul."
Using the Serenity Prayer as the backdrop and the book of Proverbs as the scriptural base and the book “Finding Peace in an anxious World” edited by Erin James-Brown we will explore:
August 9: “God, Grant me the serenity . . .”
Our plea to God during these times of anxiety.
Proverbs 3:21-26