April 25, 2026 - serenity prayer

My thought for today is the serenity prayer. It is a simple prayer in its short form. In the beginning of my recovery from alcoholism, it is the only prayer I knew. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I wasn't sure back then who or what God was, but I said the serenity prayer because everyone else I knew who was sober was saying that prayer and I wanted to be like them, to be sober, so I said the prayer. Nowadays, when my wife and I are in a meeting and they do the prayer, when it talks about things we cannot change, we point to each other, because we know that we cannot change other people. When it says courage to accept the things we can change, we point to ourselves because really the only person I can change is myself, and through daily prayer and meditation, God teaches me how to discern the difference between the two. Much of my peace today depends on how I sort the piles of what I can and cannot change.