I have some suggestions...

Sometimes when I am writing, my first draft is what I call an “honest version.”  I dump all of my raw, unfiltered, unpolished thoughts onto the page. Then I start a second draft pulling from the first, but filtering and polishing as I go.  I wrote this honest version on the idea of self-control, since that’s the focus of today’s 9th and final sermon on the Fruits of the Spirit.

When I finished dumping it, I thought that I shouldn’t polish it.  It’s already in its final form.

God, I have some suggestions.  

You may not have noticed, 

but there are some people around me who need to change.  

I keep telling them what they should do, 

and they don’t seem to hear me, or believe me.  

There are also some situations where no one seems to be responsible, 

no one is stepping up, 

and while I don’t have time to step up myself, 

I have some ideas about that too.  

Actually, maybe I could step up, 

if the people around me would just do what I’m telling them to do.  

It’s a lot, God.  

Why am I the only one paying attention? 

Why am I the only one who can see what needs to happen?  

I can’t just do nothing.  

Can I?  

Wait.  

Can I?  

O God, I have lost my way.  

I have lost the ability to discern what is mine to do, 

and what is yours, and what is someone else’s.  

I’ve become unreasonable and I’m getting on everyone's nerves.  

I imagine I’m getting on your nerves but you never give up on me, 

even when I am trying to do your job for you.  

O God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, 

The courage to change the things I can, 

And the wisdom to know the difference*.  Amen.

*These last three lines are the first three lines of “The Serenity Prayer” which I definitely did not create. It’s an old and sturdy prayer, frequently used by those seeking recovery from the family disease of alcoholism/addiction. The whole prayer is good, and it’s longer than these three familiar lines. You can read more about it here.