Sunday musings – April 3, 2017 - Serenity Prayer
I have been thinking a lot about the serenity prayer this week. As readers know in addition to being a general licensed counselor I am a certified addiction counselor. More important, perhaps, I have friends and colleagues who struggle with their own addictions or that of friends and family members. In fact, I do not know of any person or family who is not directly affected by addiction or some other disease over which they have no control. All of us also daily face other situations over which we have no control For example, this week in the Ohio Valley there has been a lot of rain and although the Ohio river has not reached flood stage some rivers and creeks have overflowed into yards and homes.
There have been many advances in health care throughout much of the world in the past 50 years. Yet, at some point all of us come to the t point where he is forced to say goodbye to those we love. Soon it will be our turn.
The serenity prayers offer consistently wise advice. The full version is:
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.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next.
Amen
NOTE: This is the full prayer attributed to Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr reportedly written in 1926. Niebuhr was a Lutheran pastor and theologian. Usually his "Serenity Prayer" is quoted using the first 2 verses only.
(SandersWeb.net)
As it states usually it is the first two verses which are quoted. Recovering addicts often use these first two verses at the beginning and ending of many of their 12-step meetings. Those verses standing alone are easier for some because there is only a mention of God which is easier for those for whom prayer does not include a higher power. Many, even without a belief in a higher power, can identify with the strong desire to show up and focus one’s energy on what one can control.
I was thinking of the serenity prayer this morning as I worked out at the gym and listened to four different TED talks on addiction. All the speakers offered insight to a greater understanding of the disease and all alluded to the need to focus on how we can be helpful to those who struggle with addiction. None suggested that we could control the behavior of the addict. Some did suggest that perhaps more countries, including the United States, should consider following the example of Portugal who decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001. Their approach to the use of recreational and addictive drugs is:
“In 2001, the Portuguese government did something that the United States would find entirely alien. After many years of waging a fierce war on drugs, it decided to flip its strategy entirely: It decriminalized them all.
If someone is found in the possession of less than a 10-day supply of anything from marijuana to heroin, he or she is sent to a three-person Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction, typically made up of a lawyer, a doctor and a social worker. The commission recommends treatment or a minor fine; otherwise, the person is sent off without any penalty. A vast majority of the time, there is no penalty.”
Mic Network Inc.
After an initial spike in drug use, overall use and addiction has consistently declined. No one claims that decriminalization takes away the pain for the addict or the family members of addiction. There are some who respond well to treatment, others who seem constitutionally unable to use tools of recovery to change their habits of thinking and behavior. Portugal has accepted that it makes sense to approach addiction as a disease and not as a criminal offense. As with diabetes and many other chronic illnesses the ministry of health has accepted that lectures, punishment and other negative approaches are not successful. Whether it was a better understanding of illness and changes in brain function or because of proof that criminalizing addiction was increasing the problem and punishing the tax payer as well as the addict, it was accepted by a majority of legislators that it was time to practice the serenity prayers.
All changes in approach to medical and social issues happens when one comes to that point of acceptance that the current approach is not working. Punishing, threatening, attempting to scare people into change is not effective.
I was also reminded this week that there are many things I could do. These included:
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.
Written April 2, 2017
I have been thinking a lot about the serenity prayer this week. As readers know in addition to being a general licensed counselor I am a certified addiction counselor. More important, perhaps, I have friends and colleagues who struggle with their own addictions or that of friends and family members. In fact, I do not know of any person or family who is not directly affected by addiction or some other disease over which they have no control. All of us also daily face other situations over which we have no control For example, this week in the Ohio Valley there has been a lot of rain and although the Ohio river has not reached flood stage some rivers and creeks have overflowed into yards and homes.
There have been many advances in health care throughout much of the world in the past 50 years. Yet, at some point all of us come to the t point where he is forced to say goodbye to those we love. Soon it will be our turn.
The serenity prayers offer consistently wise advice. The full version is:
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.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next.
Amen
NOTE: This is the full prayer attributed to Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr reportedly written in 1926. Niebuhr was a Lutheran pastor and theologian. Usually his "Serenity Prayer" is quoted using the first 2 verses only.
(SandersWeb.net)
As it states usually it is the first two verses which are quoted. Recovering addicts often use these first two verses at the beginning and ending of many of their 12-step meetings. Those verses standing alone are easier for some because there is only a mention of God which is easier for those for whom prayer does not include a higher power. Many, even without a belief in a higher power, can identify with the strong desire to show up and focus one’s energy on what one can control.
I was thinking of the serenity prayer this morning as I worked out at the gym and listened to four different TED talks on addiction. All the speakers offered insight to a greater understanding of the disease and all alluded to the need to focus on how we can be helpful to those who struggle with addiction. None suggested that we could control the behavior of the addict. Some did suggest that perhaps more countries, including the United States, should consider following the example of Portugal who decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001. Their approach to the use of recreational and addictive drugs is:
“In 2001, the Portuguese government did something that the United States would find entirely alien. After many years of waging a fierce war on drugs, it decided to flip its strategy entirely: It decriminalized them all.
If someone is found in the possession of less than a 10-day supply of anything from marijuana to heroin, he or she is sent to a three-person Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction, typically made up of a lawyer, a doctor and a social worker. The commission recommends treatment or a minor fine; otherwise, the person is sent off without any penalty. A vast majority of the time, there is no penalty.”
Mic Network Inc.
After an initial spike in drug use, overall use and addiction has consistently declined. No one claims that decriminalization takes away the pain for the addict or the family members of addiction. There are some who respond well to treatment, others who seem constitutionally unable to use tools of recovery to change their habits of thinking and behavior. Portugal has accepted that it makes sense to approach addiction as a disease and not as a criminal offense. As with diabetes and many other chronic illnesses the ministry of health has accepted that lectures, punishment and other negative approaches are not successful. Whether it was a better understanding of illness and changes in brain function or because of proof that criminalizing addiction was increasing the problem and punishing the tax payer as well as the addict, it was accepted by a majority of legislators that it was time to practice the serenity prayers.
All changes in approach to medical and social issues happens when one comes to that point of acceptance that the current approach is not working. Punishing, threatening, attempting to scare people into change is not effective.
I was also reminded this week that there are many things I could do. These included:
- Attend a luncheon to raise funds for a local transition house.
- Make a small momentary donation.
- Visit with others at the fundraiser and, thus, remind myself and others that we are a community. We do not have to face issues or diseases alone.
- Meet with folks regardless of their monetary resources.
- Take care of myself so that I am as present as possible with love to both those who are struggling and those who are giving back.
- Use text, email, and snail mail to stay in close touch with those with whom I am sharing this life journey.
- Volunteer to help at a local treatment center.
- Take care of myself emotionally, physically and spiritually – fill up my gas tanks.
- Laugh often with friends.
- Practice unconditional love;
- Practice noticing and letting go of expectations or conditions.
- Attend a 12-step meeting to give and receive support.
- Celebrate victories of friends and acquaintances.
- Refuse to feed doom and gloom approaches to this life journey while not denying real issues
- Laugh often with friends.
- Take time to write a gratitude list and share with others.
- Listen, listen, listen - books, Tad Talks, Podcasts, suggestions from others, correspondence courses or in person talks.
- Laugh often with friends.
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.
Written April 2, 2017
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