Since we are presently in the season of Lent, here are some basic thoughts for those who are Learning To Live Well:
Profound and Simple
These two words, I believe, are a good summary of life in general. The best expression of what I am talking about is probably the Serenity Prayer that has been adopted by most Twelve Step Groups.
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things that I can;
And the wisdom to know the difference.[i]
Things that are profound are most often the things that we cannot change and are often the ones we wish we could. The dictionary defines the meaning as: 1 a: having intellectual depth and insight b: difficult to fathom or understand.[ii] A lot of people do not have intellectual depth and insight and so a lot of life may be difficult to fathom or understand. Even those with great intellect cannot understand everything and are usually conscious of how much they do not fathom or understand. I am sure that you have heard the saying, “The more you know, and the more you know you don’t know”. You may have also heard that we only use about ten percent of our brain but it is not really true. "It turns out though, that we use virtually every part of the brain, and that [most of] the brain is active almost all the time," according to neurologist Barry Gordon at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. "Let's put it this way: the brain represents three percent of the body's weight and uses 20 percent of the body's energy."[iii] The point is that much of life to all of us is often rather profound.
This is especially true today because of the amount of information that increases every day. The term Information Explosion seems to have begun in the Nineteen Sixties as referenced in the Online Oxford Dictionary as well as in articles appearing in the New York Times. As of 2005 it was noted that there were about Seventy Million Web Servers and by 2007 there were about One Hundred and Thirty-five Million.[iv] This shows an increase of almost twice the amount of Web Servers in just two years. When you realize that this increase will continue year after year there is hardly a way that any individual will be able to keep up with this rapid influx of information. Hopefully we will not be overwhelmed by these facts and learn to accept that we will not be able to change nor even acquire or understand either.
The next aspect to consider is the courage to change the things we can. Because most people are comfortable with the way things are it is hard to think of change in addition to obtaining the courage that may be necessary to do so. In fact, trying to keep things as they are may more often be the cause of much of our troubles. Change is inevitable because nothing stays the same! It is absolutely true. The earth and sky are always changing along with everything around us; including ourselves. I always remember the milk commercial, “There’s a new you coming every day”. If it were not true you would really be in trouble. Because change is inevitable the only part we need is courage! We need courage to accept changes as they come and to be in control of the changes that we need to make. Courage comes through being alive!
Always
Learning
Inspired
Vital
Engaged
We need to always learn to be inspired and remain vital and engaged in living into our potential.
Serenity comes every time we simply have the wisdom to know the difference. How do we acquire this wisdom? Prayer: [Perusing, Reasonable, Alternatives, Yet, Expecting, Resolve]
May the caring peace of God that goes beyond human comprehension, declare God’s love for you in your heart and mind as we see it in Jesus Christ; and may the blessing of God, loving Creator, gracious Liberator, and life giving Spirit keep you steadfast now and always. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment