The serenity prayer

I first learned the serenity prayer in high school. I went to one of those Catholic schools that forced you to pray before most every class, lunch period, and sports game. I remember how much I despised learning these prewritten prayers that felt so monotonous. I hated that prayer started to feel like a chore.

Side note: in some of my classes someone would have to volunteer to say the prayer before class started or the teacher would pick someone to do it. Sometimes, just to keep the Catholics on their toes, I would free style and say things like "Thank you God for air conditioning, help us all be healthy and happy and do really well on this math test." There's nothing wrong with talking to God like a friend and, although I reveled in creating a laugh for the class, I mostly went off the cuff to possibly encourage others to really think about the words that they were saying when they were praying (barz).

However, I remember learning this specific prayer and thinking "huh, this one actually isn't that bad." I think I fell in love with how short and sweet it is and how it feels right to say at any time of day for any sort of situation. It served as a comfort when my grandpa passed away and also when I was anxiously awaiting to receive my grade on that one fateful science test.

After graduation, I renounced all things Catholic and most all things that had anything to do with my time in high school. I do not think back on that time in my life fondly so I suppressed any thought or emotion towards it and moved forward. I dived straight into college life and abandoned the prayers and teachings I had learned. I felt confused and spastic in my life and my faith. I did not attend church often in college and usually only woke up early on Sundays if I was being paid to sing in a church choir (I'm not proud of this I'm just being real).

However, funnily enough, the serenity prayer has recently crept back into life. This time of uncertainty has forced me to reflect a LOT. This particular prayer has grounded me in ways that I can't even begin to describe.

It goes a little something like this:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change

the courage to change the things I can

and the wisdom to know the difference

Simple yet powerful stuff!

I realized the other day as I was silently praying the serenity prayer that I don't even know what the word "serenity" means. According to google and apparently the Oxford Dictionary, it can be defined as "the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled." Wow. That must be nice.