The Serenity Prayer – (Part 5) Wisdom

Steps to the Spirit

This episode on the serenity prayer is going to be about our wisdom to know the difference between what we can and cannot change.

In the original Serenity Prayer, it goes like this: and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Now, wisdom sounds like a pretty awesome and inspired thing. But when I researched the word wisdom, I discovered that it is very often interchanged with the word knowledge. This doesn’t sound quite so intimidating to me. So, using the idea of knowledge, I am pretty much asking for help to know what it is that can be changed, versus what cannot be changed. At face value this does not seem like a big problem. If I look at the time that the sun appears on the horizon, it is pretty obvious that I cannot change the time that this happens. If I like having cream in my coffee and decide one morning to drink it black, well, I certainly can make that change happen. I guess I could also consider myself a wise man in that I know which of the aforementioned events I can change and which I cannot change.

But,, what if I am sitting in a restaurant and the person at the next table begins to choke on a piece of food? Now I am aware, that if I insert myself into the situation, knowing the Heimlich method, I can change the outcome of that person’s life. So, you might say I had the wisdom to realize I had the ability to help, or change, that situation, and save that person’s life. There are other life situations that may not be so clear-cut. Maybe a friend of mine is doing drugs and I have done as much as I know you try to help them, to no avail. Up to a certain point, I felt that I might be able to help my friend, but then, after exhausting all possibilities, it was time to let go. This is where our wisdom kicks in! I may look to my spirit for help in finding the knowledge necessary for me to let the situation go.

Wisdom, for a human being, is a very difficult persona to come by. It takes years of learning, often followed by trial and error, then learning some more. Then, we would need to retain all that knowledge to be used at an appropriate time. Phew! This could be a lifelong job! However, if I incorporate my Spirit into whatever situation may arise, my resulting actions will usually feel more sincere and powerful. After all, the Spirit is the definition of wisdom – the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.