A note to the fundamentalist/literalist

     You divide the world into two categories of people: those who would tear pages out of the Bible that they don't agree with, and those who oppose tearing any pages out of the Bible.  Truth is, both sides "cherry pick" the passages to support their own beliefs, while ignoring those which dispute, or do not support, their beliefs (which is the same as literally tearing the page out of the Bible, although not as dramatic).
   
     The apologetics (arguments) of both of these groups are possessed by a devil called "the ego", which changes their motivation from "seeking truth" to "being right".
     

Uni Verses by Bill Hines

Some think Heaven is somewhere else,

Most believe that it’s up above,

Someone once said it’s all around us,

And a ticket there is bought with love.

I know a man from another world,

As a matter of fact, he’s right over there,

Another is in the space where I am,

But to see them is much more than rare.

How can there be a parallel universe?

Would it be great or worse than worst,

If proliferation of my verses,

Identified parallel universes?

Such an awful thought to grasp,

Who cares to ponder things like these,

To some, an inescapable task,

But how could anyone find the keys?

If you look at space, it cannot be curved,

But if you look at space, there is nothing to see.

So how can we tell, how can we measure?

We think that we know, but how can that be.

My Daily Prayer

My Daily Prayer

             There is a prayer with which we are all familiar.  Although it is called a prayer, in its written for, it looks like a poem.  No one knows who wrote it or when it was written, even though most people attribute its authorship to a 20^th Century protestant theologian.  I say we are all familiar with this prayer; actually, it is just the first verse that everybody knows and associates with its title.

            This ubiquitous prayer is found in more varieties of art forms and in more gift shops and bookstores than any other, even the Lord's Prayer.  If you haven't guessed by now, it is The Serenity Prayer, its authorship often attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr (a much disputed contention). 

            Another fallacy thought about the Serenity Prayer is that it is a creation of and owned by Alcoholics Anonymous.  That's because the Serenity Prayer is recited at the beginning or end of every twelve step meeting in the world, and there are over 300 anonymous societies that use the twelve step approach to deal with addictions ranging from substance abust to overeating, compulsive shopping to gambling and about 300 other things.  But, no, Twelve Step programs do not own the Serenity Prayer.

            I would venture to say that there is not one person here—youth or adult—who has not heard or read the first verse of this prayer.  I would also bet there are relatively few who have ever heard the full version, which I am going to read for you now.

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

            You might be asking why I am telling you all this.  The reason is that I want to talk about my (personal) daily prayer to God, which—coincidentally—begins with the first verse of the Serenity Prayer.

            Next comes a short phrase about God's will.  Do you want to do God's will?  The correct answer here is  "yes".  Well, how are you going to do God's will if you don't know what God's will is?  And even if you know God's will, how are you going to do it if you are not able?  So, after the Serenity Prayer, the second part of my daily prayer is:

     "Grant me the knowledge of Your will for me and the power to carry that out."

            Next, I address my stewardship of the time God gives me—the only time I have:

   "Grant me the willingness and ability to remain in this one and only day you have given      

        me and use it to the fullest."

            Then I pray for the two most important personal characteristics for me as a Christian:

     "Your will, not mine."

     "Keep me humble."

I truly believe that my God forgives my sins even before I ask Him.  This truth, this gift came by Jesus sacrificing His life on a cross so that my sins would be forgiven.  And even though I ask, every day:

     "Forgive my sins."

—and it is important to ask—I know that because of Jesus' death, I am forgiven. 

            I like and endorse the prayer of St. Francis, and I believe that it is my daily duty to seek to exhibit the love of Christ, subduing my own ego.  So I ask God to:

                 "Possess my mind and body and make me an instrument of your peace."

            My prayer is then ended with a summary of its most crucial components:

                 "Forgive my sins."

                 "Your will, not mine"

                 "Keep me humble."

            That's it.  God is satisfied when I pray it;  He is not happy when I don't, which leads to the last essential component of my daily prayer, found in its title:

                      "daily"

           Seeking Christian perfection is a lifetime, daily activity.  My seeking is kick started every day by this personal prayer.