Serenity Prayer

Serenity Prayer

“God,

Gant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And Wisdom to know the difference.” Reinhold Niebuhr

My grandmother kept a copy of the Serenity Payer on her bathroom mirror. Today I honor her by doing the same. I can remember as a young girl seeing and reading the prayer in her bathroom every morning when I visited. What I especially remember is that I thought, “this is the most ridiculous prayer! If there is a problem, I know if I try hard enough, I will be able to solve or fix it!”

Many years later, many trials later, I have learned the hard way the truth of the Serenity Prayer. There are so many things I cannot change. In fact, the only thing I can change is myself and my reactions to other people and situations. I cannot change others. I try to share my first-hand experience with spiritual friends, but so often others like myself need a first-hand rather than a second-hand experience to see this truth.

 I wonder if it took my adoring grandmother as long as it did me to see and try to find and live the truth?

I wonder if she had as many setbacks as I so often do, thinking I can change situations and others?

Joanna   joannaseibert.com

Parker Palmer: Sanctuary

Parker Palmer: Seeking Sanctuary in Our Own Sacred Spaces

"At times something happens that makes us hypersensitive to all that threatens our souls. Sanctuary is wherever I find safe space to regain my bearings, reclaim my soul, heal my wounds, and return to the world as a wounded healer. It’s not merely about finding shelter from the storm: it’s about spiritual survival. Today, seeking sanctuary is no more optional for me than church attendance was as a child." Parker Palmer, What We Need to Flourish Is Here | On Being

https://onbeing.org/blog/what-we-need-to-flourish-is-here/, September 21, 2016.

Return to the river and the land which was  my childhood sanctuary

Parker Palmer reminds us how important it is to have a safe place, a sanctuary where we can go to and renew our spirit when we are wounded, when all around us is falling apart, when we lose our direction. It is indeed about spiritual survival. I think of people who live in crowded quarters, multiple families in a few rooms, refugees in camps. How do they ever renew their spirit? Perhaps this is factor in their unrest.

I have had so many sanctuaries, my bedroom growing up, a cigar box filled with sacred treasures, my grandparents’ home, a school, a dock, a river, a woods, listening to music, playing music, singing,  a chapel, a person, many other bedrooms, a church camp, many offices with little altars, a dress shop, books, paintings, a favorite hotel, a writer, a daily walk, museums, phone calls, a chair,  a beach, a balcony, a church, special friends.

 Today my sanctuary is writing, trying to clear thoughts from my head and move them from my head to my body. I give thanks that somehow these sanctuary places came about at the right time. The seemingly healthiest friends I have all have sanctuaries and are not ashamed or embarrassed to talk about them.

Of course, there are the dangerous sanctuaries, food, alcohol, drugs, work, shopping, relationships which are temporary dwellings built on sand.

Joanna   joannaseibert.com

Nouwen: Twilight Zone

Nouwen: Our Twilight Zone

“There is a twilight zone in our own hearts that we ourselves cannot see.  Other people, especially those who love us, can often see our twilight zones better than we ourselves can. The way we are seen and understood by others is different from the way we see and understand ourselves.” Henri Nouwen, Henri Nouwen Society Daily Meditations March 24, 2018, from Bread for the Journey by Henri Nouwen, 1997 HarperSanFrancisco.

Sadaf is not only an amazing pediatric radiologist, but the mother of 4 including her precious triplets

I do believe it is not a coincidence that certain people come into our lives. I remember Catherine Marshall talking about praying for patience, and soon afterwards she hired the slowest housekeeper. I learned about homosexuality through so many gay friends especially Richard and Terry and Joe as I walked beside them seeing their struggle. I learned about the depth, love, and the concern for others in those of the Moslem faith through my radiology residents and partners, especially Sadaf and her family. 

These are all people I already loved. Today I am getting just a little hint that I also have much to learn from the people who come into my path with whom I have difficulty. Over and over I know I am to learn from them about forgiveness, for I know if I cannot forgive the harm they have brought to my life, I continue to let them hurt me. Slowly I also am learning about my part, my character defects, my sins, my hubris, my self-centeredness that had a part to play in the difficult situation.

As I meet with friends for spiritual direction we often discuss what is the lesson that God is telling and teaching us in every situation and every person with whom our lives intersect whether it be a joyful or difficult experience. Again, this is where we learn about ourselves, especially that twilight zone in ourselves that Nouwen describes, as well as learning about the twilight zone in others.

The sacred place where God heals us is in community, especially as we enlarge our community and take down fences and walls.

Joanna   joannaseibert.com