In this final episode I will talk about last two lines in Reinhold Niebuhr’ s Serenity Prayer. They are below:

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, 
 And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

So, what do you think about these two lines? For me, they are kind of superfluous. After all in the first line he asks for God to pay him back. It seems to me that this part of the prayer asks God, if I live my life according to the serenity prayer, He will give me at least the basic amount of happiness in my life. I feel like I have already asked God for serenity, courage, and wisdom. I know in my heart that God has already given me these things and I need only to use them. As I said before, I try not to actually ask God for anything when I pray. My praying is a one-way street where I only listen for my Spirit (God), for direction in living my life. I choose not to ask God for anything, just to be able to use the things that He has abundantly given me. Then, to me, the prayer goes on to ask God to act favorably toward us as far as granting us happiness and to be able to be with Him when we die.

This reminds me of my Catholic childhood, when I learned in parochial school about perfect and an imperfect act of contrition. A perfect act of contrition was basically me telling God that I was sorry for the things that I had done, only because I have (supposedly) offended God. An imperfect act of contrition was the same sorrow for offending God, but then I throw in because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. In school we were often told about the terrible things (the loss of God, the wrath of God, and the terrible fires that would burn us forever).

This is not the loving God that I have come to trust and believe in as a result of the 12-step program.

I guess, after our discussion of the serenity prayer, you will have to decide if it is something that you would like to use in your spiritual life. As for me, I choose to avoid any kind of formal prayer, and to simply listen for God’s direction.