My favorite sitcom of all time is Seinfeld. My wife and I continue to watch the occasional rerun. I think it’s the greatest writing in the history of television. The cast was second to none. I once heard that part of the brilliance of the show was Jerry Seinfeld’s insistence that all of his costars share in getting the funny lines and the meaningful scenes….they weren’t just reserved for him.
One such example was George’s father, Frank Costanza, as part of one of his many crazed scenes over the sitcom’s history. He screamed, “serenity now, serenity now”.
Although I posted on “serenity” March 27th, 2019 (in a much shorter blog), it came to mind this past week. I don’t know about you, but given what’s going on in our country, as exemplified by the election, I feel like screaming, “serenity now!!!”
Dictionary.com defines serenity as the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil. Serenity, synonymous with “peace” is important. I’d suggest praying the Serenity Prayer regularly in your life. I do. As identified previously in my posts, it is one of five rote prayers I say every morning. I say each very slowly, hanging on and praying through every word. I’d invite you to do the same.
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;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely joyful with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
Amen.
The breakdown of the above is as follows:
- The first four lines ask for God’s help in maintaining the serenity within us, distinguishing between what we can control and not, then giving us the courage to take action.
- The second part of the prayer is a recipe for how we ought to live our lives, such that we can experience happiness here on earth and joy thereafter.
You may feel compelled to act, given what’s transpiring in our country. Or it might be something else in your life that you need to discern. Pray the Serenity Prayer. It helps me…it can help you too.
As always, feel free to reach out to me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com, with questions, comments, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests. I’m here to help…seriously!!!
God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!
Mark Joseph