Another unarmed black man killed by police. Another school shooting. Another complication of the vaccine rollout. Another high-powered man accused of sexual predatory behavior. Another bombing in the Middle East. Another example of voter restriction. Another twisting of a lie to look like truth. Another extreme natural disaster.
It’s hard to get through the week with all that’s going wrong. We are awash in information about how distant peace, harmony, and the Beloved Community are. It’s hard to get through the week. It’s hard to keep hope alive.
The dilemma is caring deeply while being unable to change things.
I was looking through some files and found a service we held on August 16, 2020 titled “Coping.” During that service we wrestled with this dilemma and how coping is a balancing act that requires constant attention. Navigating life is challenging.
Here are a few excerpts from my sermon from last August. Reading these lines helped me get through this week—remembering that coping takes daily effort—and that everything changes:
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The Serenity Prayer:
The original prayer was written by Karl Reinhold Niebuhr in 1932.
Niebuhr was an American theologian, and his original prayer is this:
“Father, give us courage to change what must be altered,
serenity to accept what cannot be helped,
and the insight to know the one from the other.”
Coping is defined as facing and dealing with responsibilities, problems, or difficulties,
especially in a calm or adequate manner
But how can you remain calm during this economic, social, and health crisis?
The challenge during this pandemic is that we are being overwhelmed by systemic problems that we personally find abhorrent and offensive……..and we feel these are things we can and must change…………….but it also seems that we can’t change them fast enough and
we cannot accept that we can’t change them rapidly.
That’s not serenity.
Coping involves balancing seeing the things we can’t control, but not surrendering.
Coping by the serenity prayer is not about giving up—it is just the opposite.
Coping is about filling your reservoir of hope by not being overwhelmed…..
Coping includes not beating ourselves up about our inability to change big things fast enough to satisfy our desires.
Coping means deciding on your attitude—
Do you think about your favorite things or the bee sting?
Coping during the pandemic can be illusive…………for we feel immersed in a sea of issues that are offensive—and most of which we can’t change.
I care deeply about many social, political, economic, and environmental issues.
As one person, I cannot fix any of the problems surrounding us…..
and if I ever thought I could change them,
this pandemic has made it very clear about how much it will take to change them.
But, for me– coping has meant that there is serenity in that balancing act:
caring deeply and unable to fix things rapidly.
The serenity prayer is not about surrendering or giving up.
It is about coping— one day at a time.
This is great advice from folks who know about endless suffering
who have been living one day at a time long before COVID.
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While these words from August 2020 still resonate, it is important to remember that you are not alone when you are in our community. Whatever you feel is likely felt by many others here—and there’s a powerful solidarity in knowing this. The best coping has an element of hope in it—and I find my hope in this community. So much is going well and my hopes for our collective future have never been greater. Our past dreams are being realized, which now allow us to dream anew.
May you find a source of hope here. May you cope and navigate your life as best you can. Though the future will be without precedence, may we walk together as community……….yours in shared ministry…………….Rev Russ