God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Cameron Diachun
If there is anything our world needs today, it is serenity. In a world overwhelmed with the uncertainty of our present situation in the time of COVID-19, we could all use a little peace of mind. The serenity prayer is a fantastic resource for anyone trying to let go of control and allow God to reign in their life. The time for this prayer is not only now but for every moment of our life. From vocational discernment to accepting grief, the Serenity Prayer is one sure to challenge us spiritually and teach us to surrender our wills to God.
As a college student, my life is chock full of times of uncertainty. Choosing a school, majors, friends, careers—these only touch the surface of what uncertainties a college student faces. And onward toward adulthood, those instances will only become more frequent. Learning to turn to God in these moments and trust in His plan has been a critical part of my faith journey. And yet, we see in the second line that the call to surrender is not a passive one. We are also called to act on his will: “[God, give us the] courage to change the things which should be changed.”
We must act according to God’s plan. If He calls us to accept his mysterious Divine Wisdom, we must. If He calls us to change our circumstances, we must. That is, of course, the meaning of the next line: “and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.” The Christian life is not one of sitting around waiting for God to come to you. Rather we are called to be Christ’s hands and feet. St. Paul tells us in Ephesians: “For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them (Ephesians 2:10).” We should pray about what our place in the current pandemic is. Are we called to be the hands and feet; perhaps we are one of the many courageous nurses and doctors searching for a cure and caring for those infected? Are we called to stay at home; perhaps a call to pray fervently for all who are affected while keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe? These questions and so many others in life can be answered through the beauty of the Serenity Prayer and its request for wisdom and courage in the most tumultuous moments of life.
Matthew Shelton
This is a wonderful prayer for times of great stress and difficulty. For instance, in this time we are currently in with COVID-19, there are things we can control and things we can’t. We have no power over stay at home orders, church closures, and job loss. We do have control over our personal habits though. We can choose to feel bitter or grateful for what we do have. We have a choice to stay healthy even if our gym is closed. We have a choice of whether we pray on Sundays since we cannot fulfill our normal obligations.
I personally struggled greatly with this state of mind recently. I had just gotten a new job when all the talk of the corona outbreak started. Less than a week after I worked my last day at my previous employers, my new job had shut down leaving me technically employed but unable to make money. It took a good deal of God’s grace to allow me to become accepting of what can’t be changed about my situation. I wanted to sit and dwell on the fact that it seemed as if I made a poor choice, but that wouldn’t have helped anything.
A huge part of the serenity that God gives us to accept what cannot be changed I find is God giving us the wisdom to know that can be changed. I could look for a temporary job. I could find ways to fill my time. I could look into my heart and take this time to see what God was calling me to do. I could look into my faith and see that this was the attitude of martyrs.
Over time I have heard about many different martyrs and have always been amazed by the way in which they went to their deaths. The Christians who welcomed lions with open arms. St. Lawrence who was giving snarky remarks while being cooked to death. Even in more recent times, there was St. Joan of Arc who, knowing that she could not change her execution, had the courage to ask to see a crucifix as she burned. Even our first pope embodied this prayer, asking to be crucified upside down, believing himself unworthy to die like Christ and knowing that he could not change that the Romans would execute him.
Most of all I love this prayer because it is like it says, a prayer where we ask God to help us in our imitation of Christ. For this reason, I do believe the whole prayer would be good for anyone to pray. At all times on Earth, we suffer some level of hardship or lack of control. This prayer helps us to let go of our overwhelming natural desire for control in our lives.
It’s also an entirely supplicative prayer, consisting of us only asking God for a favor so to speak. I do believe it should always be accompanied, when there is time, with a prayer of praise. Any quick words acknowledging God for His greatness. If it is said frequently, I would encourage following it with a few words of thanksgiving to the Lord for the help he has already given you in that area.
In meditating on this prayer I am often reminded of Jesus’ words in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but Thine be done (Luke 22:42).”