Serenity Amid Turmoil

 

Photo by urformat @ Pixabay

My oncologist said the chances of my breast cancer returning were very slim, only 2%, but I still get nervous when it’s time for a new scan, and I’ve been dreading tomorrow’s appointment. As usual, mydeovtions offered encouragement. 

My devotional, Good Morning, Lord by Joseph T. Sullivan, expounded the virtues of waking to gentler sounds, birdsong, the gurgle of a creek, the lapping of waves on a lake shore, or even ocean waves. Many of us wake instead to the din of mechanical sounds, diesel trucks, blaring car stereos, motorcycles with loud mufflers — good illustrations of how our minds work. Peaceful, resting in God’s promises, or noisy with many outside worries and concerns.

The imagery reminded me of a painting contest. The artists were tasked with painting their perception of peace. Some chose sunrises or sunsets over a quiet lake or ocean. Others painted meadows bursting with wildflowers. One artist took a different view. He painted a songbird sitting on a nest dangling over a raging torrent. Serenity amid life’s torrents and turmoil, trusting in Our Maker to care for us. I imagine he envisioned the scripture about the sparrows. How fitting.  

It is also fitting that Acts 3:1-10 is listed among my scripture readings. It describes St. Peter healing the lame man in front of the temple gate. Healing. Thanks to my nurses, doctors, and surgeons, I am a breast cancer survivor. God was there with me every step of the way. Will He not be with me through whatever happens tomorrow?

Will all my anxiety vanish? No. Even Jesus wept the night before His passion. However, I will stand on the promise God gave me when I met my husband, that we’d grow old together in health.

There have been a few bumps and challenges in the road, a few detours, a few scars, but we pulled through. Tomorrow will be no different.

So, chin up, visualize rainbows and God’s blessings rather than what might or might not happen.

“I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord.” Psalm 27:13-14.

 

The Broken Record

Our minds are wired to repeat the same messages, usually negative ones, like the cliched broken record. 

When I retired, I was sure that little things would not bother me. After all the years of stress over a job, life would be easier. However, thanks to that broken record with its tired old messages, the small stuff takes on more importance.

How can I circumvent this repetition? Richard Rohr suggests contemplative prayer. His books and devotional studies supply step-by-step models. (See: Center for Action and Contemplation). He stresses the need to be open-minded, non-judgmental, accepting people and circumstances for what they are.

In other words, what is, is. I can’t change anything or anyone with my will alone no matter how much I fret, wring my hands, or pray desperate Please-God-Change-Them Prayer. God can, but that is up to Him.

If I let God pick my battles, I’ll always be on the right side, expending my energies for creativity, like writing and art.
With prayer and practice, I can turn off the tired old songs, or at least interrupt them for longer periods. Better yet, I can put on a different record, like The Serenity Prayer.

Switching records now.

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 hardships 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;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
Amen

Searching for My Carmel-by-the-Sea

My husband wants to take me to Carmel-by-the-Sea on a future vacation. It sounds wonderful, with panoramic ocean views, quaint shops, fabulous restaurants, and elegant inns. Let’s say I liked the idea. It sounds like a place that would be hard to leave – until the money ran out.

The travel brochures describes it as a place of perfection, a place where everyone is polite and gracious, a place where the ugliness of the rest of the world doesn’t exist. That might be the true for tourists, but the residents deal with all the same problems the rest of us do. They just get to do it in a beautiful place.

We can chose to make our lives more beautiful, regardless of whether we live in a resort town or not, and the means to do this is free: the Serenity Prayer.

I have this recorded on a CD by Dr. Emmett Miller (Serenity Prayer) with a thirty-minute drive time meditation. What could be a better time to practice serenity than during my morning commute?