Lent: The Serenity Prayer: Lines 10, 11, & 12: God’s Will
In my previous blog (Lent: The Serenity Prayer: Jesus) I covered how we all know that life can be hard, and if we are really honest it can be awful sometimes, full of pain, sorrow, and cruelty, making us wonder how such hardships can ever lead to peace. Well, this last blog from my Lenten practice is not so much an easier topic.
The next three lines are:
If I surrender to His will-
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him forever.
I think my favorite lines from this book appear in these chapters. Hudson is talking about how there are two types of people in the world: people who have their minds toward God and those who don’t. My first favorite line comes when he is talking about those “whose hearts and minds are turned away from God… they want to be their own bosses…lives focus on themselves.” (97) The line is “Their theme song might well be (to paraphrase Frank Sinatra) ‘I’ll Do it My Way.’” (97) It’s great because we all can think of at least one person who thinks this way, and, again, if we’re honest, we might even say “I have done that.”
We fall prey to this thinking in the times we don’t want to listen to others or even the small voice pleading for us to go a different direction that we know is better. The path may be more difficult, but it would be better. We, however, want the easier, faster, more comfortable way. Our way.
This idea of surrendering to God’s will is really tough sometimes. Because it can’t be “I’ll do it my way.” We have to think about what God wants for us. Hudson lays out understanding God’s will in two ways: general will and specific will. He goes on to break general will down 3 ways: 1) who we are in our unique giftedness and living into it; 2) walking in the light (authentic-honest), realizing we may not be perfect but being our true selves (authentic and kind); and 3) we are called to become more loving people- showing love every opportunity we can (remembering small things can have the biggest impacts). The key point is this: we have our will (minds) because we can choose to develop our gifts God has given us, how we will best walk in the light at each step, and in each situation decide what is the best way to show love. The Holy Spirit will guide us, but we are responsible and have to make each of our choices because we have free will.
When Hudson writes about the specific will of God, he has two of my favorite quotes in the book. One is from Mother Teresa, and it sums up beautifully what he is talking about: “each one of us has something beautiful to do for God.” (102) We talk about calling and purpose, and that is what she is saying. As we grow deeper in relationship with God, deeper in understanding of who we are, our gifts and talent we were given, and with experiences from life, we discover our calling. This is a process, and it can change (evolve) as we transform, as we grow. My favorite line (because I have said something similar) is, “what God desires will bring with it a deep sense of fulfillment and joy.” (103) The other quote is from Saint Francis: “when we follow God’s call we become instruments of God’s peace, bringing love where there is hatred, pardon where there is injury, faith where there is doubt, and light where there is darkness.” (104) It may not be the easy path, but as you follow you will find joy from deep within and an inner peace that only God can give.
This line hit me deeply even though it doesn’t shock me: “we live in a world where unhappiness is the norm.” (108) That is hard to hear, but so true. When you think about how so many people try to buy happiness, and as we all know, you can’t buy happiness. Well, maybe you can buy something that produces endorphins that make you feel really good for a period of time, but even that wanes, which is why we have so many looking for what will make them have that endorphin rush again. The grass is certainly not always greener on the other side. The key is understanding that “happiness, like serenity, originates inside ourselves,” (111) and that “true happiness comes as a gift from God.” (113) The serenity prayer helps us understand that it’s okay to have bad days and not always be happy. God supplies the happiness, not the stuff our consumer culture finds appealing. Contemplate and read the book to find Hudson’s thoughts on the fact that being reasonably happy comes right after following God’s will. Why might that be? How might they be connected?
The last line in the Serenity Prayer: “And supremely happy with Him forever.” Hudson provides great questions to ask yourself in this chapter, because this chapter is about death—your death—and how you feel about heaven. I am not going to give you those questions. You’ll need to read the book for those good questions and insights. Here is the big takeaway I am willing to share: “Jesus makes clear in different places of the Gospels, we are embodied spirits, created out of love, of infinitely more value to God…who are never going to see death.” (120) What does that mean? We need to grow in our relationship with God, to work at it, because it has to be real and genuine.
Practice, because all relationships take work. They can’t be one sided. Do know this though: God is always there waiting for you. God is working, wooing you, guiding you, even when you are unaware or actively trying to ignore/unbelieve in God.
