September 19--Let's Go Easier on Ourselves and Each Other

God, grant me the serenity to stop beating myself up for not doing things perfectly, the courage to forgive myself because I'm working on doing better and the wisdom to know you already love me just the way I am.  --Eleanor Brownn

    What a great version of the "Serenity Prayer" Ms. Brownn offers us! We are much too critical and impatient with ourselves. 

    I like to take the time while stopped at a traffic light to consider the rest of humanity. We are all just humans trying to get somewhere, trying to make a living, trying to make the best of this human experience. Those folks that feel they must run the red light (and I see this every day) must have some good reason to endanger themselves and others. Most folks are carrying some sort of burden... shouldn't that inspire patience and kindness, given that we have all been there? What makes "that group" OK, but "this group" bad? Why do skin color, sexual orientation or religion matter so much to some folks?  

    Here are more thoughts on nonviolence and oneness by Father John Dear:

Active nonviolence begins with the truth that all life is sacred, that we are all equal sisters and brothers, all children of the God of peace, already reconciled, all one, all already united, and so we could never hurt or kill another human being, much less remain silent while wars rage, people die in poverty, and nuclear weapons and environmental destruction threaten us all. As we deepen into this vision of our common unity, we come to understand that we are one with all humanity, all creatures, all creation, and God. So nonviolence is much more than a tactic or a strategy; it is a way of life that is based in the oneness of creation, the unity of life itself. It is not passive but active love and truth that seek justice and peace for the whole human race and all of creation, and so resists systemic evil and violence, persistently reconciles with everyone, works to create new cultures of justice and peace, yet insists there is no cause however noble for which we support the killing of any human being. Instead of killing others, we work to stop the killing and are even willing to be killed in the struggle for justice and peace. 

    I rewrite Ms. Brownn's quote:  God, grant me the serenity to stop beating myself and others up for not doing things perfectly, the courage to forgive myself and others because we are working on doing better and the wisdom to know you already love every one of us just the way we are.

        Leta

Wednesday morning's faint rainbow