Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A Prayer Rediscovered

I had not thought about this prayer for awhile, but today in an e-mail box someone responded to it. This prayer is something I posted on a liturgy web site almost three years ago. I had forgotten it since, but was pleased to be reminded of it. It is a prayer inspired by the well-known “Serenity Prayer” composed by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.

God - whose love envelopes each of us, whose passion for justice and kindness challenges us, whose care for all life inspires us - give us grace. May your Spirit dance delightfully through our lives. In grace, give us peace in the face of things that cannot be changed - our genetic make-up, our genealogy, past hurts and mistakes. In grace, give us courage to change what should be changed - our unloving attitudes, our narrow perspectives, our cynical hearts, injustice, our too easy resort to violence. In grace, give us wisdom so that we can distinguish between those things that cannot be changed and those that can and should be so that we don't spend needless energy in the wrong direction. In Christ, who changes lives. Amen.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David

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