God, grant me the serenity
to accept the people I cannot change,
which is pretty much everyone,
since I’m clearly not you, God.
At least not the last time I checked.
And while you’re at it, God,
please give me the courage
to change what I need to change about myself,
which is frankly a lot, since, once again,
I’m not you, which means I’m not perfect.
It’s better for me to focus on changing myself
than to worry about changing other people,
who, as you’ll no doubt remember me saying,
I can’t change anyway.
Finally, give me the wisdom to just shut up
whenever I think that I’m clearly smarter
than everyone else in the room,
that no one knows what they’re talking about except me,
or that I alone have all the answers.
Basically, God,
grant me the wisdom
to remember that I’m
not you.
James Martin
Oh, my, Jean…Yes!!! Such a basic truth but yet I need to be reminded all. the. time.
I love the way James Martin phrased/rephrased this prayer.
Amen
Thanks for stopping by, Irene. Neat prayer, isn’t it?
Absolutely. It is very useful as I’m a CPA and it’s tax season. Also very helpful to remember when I was involved in a committee meeting last Monday night.
I also like it because the prayer reflects Jewish philosophy (which makes sense since “Catholicism” was born out of Judaism.)
Best,
Irene
Hi Jean! I LOVE this! Such a practical prayer, and really true for me. I read recently that people who always have to chime in with their opinion actually think they are smarter than everyone. Ouch!
Focusing on changing me is really going to take up all my time anyway. I won’t have time to focus on anyone else. What a relief for everyone involved 🙂
This was a great way to perk up my Saturday. Thank you friend!
Ceil
I sure love this prayer too. I think James Martin is such a neat writer. Like most of his work. I agree with you when I finished reading it the first time, I said Ouch too.
Jean, I think that’s both humorous and meaningful along with being effective. I’d like to share it on my blog. Did you get permission from James Martin or what was necessary?
I used it as a quote so didn’t get permission. Found it originally on the Daily Prayer blog and they gave him credit. Now you are making me nervous. LOL I think though we are covered when using quotes and giving credit. Sometime when I have used poems, not prayers, I have wondered if I should have asked permission. One reason why I don’t quote poem very often anymore. Again I think as a quote I could use you and so could you. May have to ask some of my bloggy gurus for insight next time I see them… Happy weekend to you.
Jean, your answer sounds reasonable to me, especially to think of it as a quote and since the Daily Prayer blog didn’t give any reference for it (IE website). Glad to have his name. So many times we don’t even have that. Thanks again. I am going to use it.