General Information -- Living with Change
For the next few weeks, we will be exploring the importance of self-care when we are experiencing changes in our lives. They may be welcome or unwelcome changes. They may be changes in the world outside of ourselves or changes to the world within each of us. Change is a fact of life and learning to take care of ourselves in the midst of change is a basic tool for finding joy in our daily living.
One of the most challenging times in my life were the three years I spent at Brite Divinity School. And the greatest changes happened over coffee in the second floor lounge. Faculty, staff, and students would gather there at varying times of the day and great discussions would just happen. One of my professors would often tell stories of his primary professor in New York, a man named Reinhold Niebuhr.
Professor Niebuhr, according to his former student, was born in a small town in Missouri to German Immigrants. He then moved to Chicago. He was called into ministry and studied in St, Louis and at Yale. As the son of working class immigrants, the young Pastor knew he wanted to serve in an inner-city church. His denomination agreed and he became pastor of a tiny German-American church in Detroit. He began his ministry in 1915. WWI broke out and he found himself isolated as a leader of a German Community who preached in German. That fear helped him to understand the fears of his congregants and the people around him.
While in Detroit he worked to heal the divides that were tearing apart his community. German-American, Africa-American, and low income Anglos all knew that they had a friend in Rev. Niebuhr. He worked with civic organizations and church groups to raise respect for the working class and immigrants throughout the city.
He had a prayer that he used from time to time in his presentations that went like this. "Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other."
Within a few years, AA had discovered these words and they were reshaped into the now familiar 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.
These words grew out of lives that had been tossed about by changes. It speaks of a wisdom that recognizes that some changes can be reshaped and others must be accepted as they are. As we explore our self-care during changing times, I invite you to keep this prayer close to your heart and mind. By making peace with the changes that we cannot alter, by finding the courage to change the things we can, and being able to tell the difference will make joy much easier to find.
One of the most challenging times in my life were the three years I spent at Brite Divinity School. And the greatest changes happened over coffee in the second floor lounge. Faculty, staff, and students would gather there at varying times of the day and great discussions would just happen. One of my professors would often tell stories of his primary professor in New York, a man named Reinhold Niebuhr.
Professor Niebuhr, according to his former student, was born in a small town in Missouri to German Immigrants. He then moved to Chicago. He was called into ministry and studied in St, Louis and at Yale. As the son of working class immigrants, the young Pastor knew he wanted to serve in an inner-city church. His denomination agreed and he became pastor of a tiny German-American church in Detroit. He began his ministry in 1915. WWI broke out and he found himself isolated as a leader of a German Community who preached in German. That fear helped him to understand the fears of his congregants and the people around him.
While in Detroit he worked to heal the divides that were tearing apart his community. German-American, Africa-American, and low income Anglos all knew that they had a friend in Rev. Niebuhr. He worked with civic organizations and church groups to raise respect for the working class and immigrants throughout the city.
He had a prayer that he used from time to time in his presentations that went like this. "Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other."
Within a few years, AA had discovered these words and they were reshaped into the now familiar 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.
These words grew out of lives that had been tossed about by changes. It speaks of a wisdom that recognizes that some changes can be reshaped and others must be accepted as they are. As we explore our self-care during changing times, I invite you to keep this prayer close to your heart and mind. By making peace with the changes that we cannot alter, by finding the courage to change the things we can, and being able to tell the difference will make joy much easier to find.
Tip
This week the tip is quite easy. I invite you to write out the Serenity Prayer and place copies on your bathroom mirror, in your car, and on your desk for the next few weeks. Allow it to speak to the small changes that will happen throughout the day as well as the bigger changes that reshape our lives.
Allow these words to speak to your body, mind, and soul as we explore self-care in the midst of
Allow these words to speak to your body, mind, and soul as we explore self-care in the midst of
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