Prayers for Prospering Times

Serenity Prayer
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.

In 1890 in the Indian Reservations in the Western US there was born a new religion called the Ghost Dance. Most social scientists believe this religion was born out of the stress of the loss of a way of life, and the loss of so many people to war and disease.

This religion taught that the Earth would be made new, covered with new soil, sweet grass, running water and trees; the great herds of buffalo and wild horses would return, along with the ghosts of their ancestors. Only Indians would live then, as all others would be destroyed in the making of the new Earth. In other words, the “good old days” would return all they had to do was dance the Ghost Dance, and sing the Ghost Dance Songs. The pull of the “Good Old Days” often blocks God’s plan for an even better future.

Whether it is the loss of a loved one, the loss of the shoe industry in New England, Textile making in the South or the Auto Industry in Detroit we all go through a version of the Ghost Dance.

We pine away for the departed loved one, sometimes to the point of making ourselves sick unto dying. After the decimation of a generation in the Great War (WWI) Europe went into a period of spiritualism where talking to their departed sons was all the rage. We sit around cooking up and sometimes implementing schemes to bring back the lost industry. This is a natural response to changed circumstances. If the circumstances can be reversed, and is worth reversing then by all means summon the courage to do it.

But when faced with a permanent, irreversible change, well, as WC Fields once said, there comes a time, “to grab the Bull by the tail and face the situation.” No matter how well you dance the Ghost Dance, the Buffalo aren’t coming back. The “Good Old Days” are gone, and are only a sweet memory now.

So, put the Buffalo Gun in museum, and go out and build a Casino. The quicker you do this the faster your life will be what you want and God intended.

Prayer for Accepting Changed Circumstances

Father-Mother God,
Things have changed. I didn’t want them to change, I didn’t ask for this change, I really don’t like this change, I can’t reverse this change, all I can do is accept this change.

In my mind I know that I should serenely accept this change. Fighting the inevitable is a waste of time, talent, and treasure. So I have made up my mind, I will accept this change.

My heart says, “Not so fast, oh logical one!!!” I know that the “Good Old Days” will return, the buffalo will come back, you just misplaced them somewhere.

My mind knows that this is ridiculous, but my heart won’t accept it.

Father-Mother God, You can change my heart, you can open my heart to the idea that the new reality is full of possibilities that the old one never had. Let my heart know that the “Good Old Days” are gone, but the “Good Old God” is still in charge, and prosperity and Grace are still to be had.

In the name and nature of Jesus the Christ we say Amen, and Amen.

By Horace Robinson June 2010