Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.
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.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Today’s Gift
Roots nourish, give us life and bind us safely to earth. Plant them well.
—Anonymous
All trees have different root systems. The pine grows quickly, with shallow roots that spread in every direction. A maple is a slow-growing tree, whose roots run deeper, seeking out moisture far into the earth. Both root systems give life, but when the weather turns stormy and the wind howls through the branches, the maple, with its deeper roots, will hold fast. Though the pine grows faster and needs only surface moisture, it cannot withstand the storm as well.
We often want things immediately. We want to play the piano, but only if we can learn it fast. We want others to love us right away, or we’ll give up on them. If something we’re doing doesn’t go just so right from the start, we give up.
But the permanent things in life take time to develop. If we want our relationships, our skills, our accomplishments, to resist the storms we all encounter, we must allow time for them to grow and deepen within us, and marvel, in the meantime, at how much we can learn from the world around us.
What deep roots am I setting down right now?