this world needed prayer it is now.
I just walked home from church which is literally around the corner from my house. My home, and church, are nestled in a bucolic-looking suburb of New York City that seems quiet when you stroll along the sidewalks but it is hiding many secrets behind the doors of the dwellings you pass. The way over to church was uneventful; the walk home was not. As I wound my way from the gateway to the church parking lot to around the street corner I was met by a few police cars as an ambulance came screaming down the block. As I walked past the commotion a second ambulance arrived. When I reached the far corner I stopped to watch what was going on and my neighbor joined me. She told me that the guy that lives in the house is a heroin addict and that he probably overdosed. Prior to her coming out two young men from my block came running over to look and the one said to the other, "he probably shot..."; I didn't hear the rest but thought gun. My neighbor then told me that our neighborhood is filled with heroin addicts. How incredibly sad. I have lived in this neighborhood for my entire life - from what we call "before the bridge" (the Verrazzano Narrows) when we were surrounded by woods, ponds, streams and even farms - until now. I know that the island was ground zero for the prescription pill epidemic. The Governor cracked down on that by making every doctor, who prescribes painkillers, etc., to record it in an on-line database. The heroin addictions are a direct result of the crackdown as that is easily attained on the street; no need for a prescription.
I came across the Serenity Prayer while I was in the chapel and even before this event happened, the prayer resounded with me today for some reason. When you read it, in its entirety and contemplate each line it can open up the world to you. May the people struggling with addiction, loneliness, and depression turn to God and find peace in their lives and in their heart. I know what it is like to love an addict and can tell you for a fact that they were some of the worst years of my entire life. If you know someone struggling with addiction God help you find the courage and strength to deal with them.
The Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
Courage to change the
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.
Living One Day at a Time;
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next. Amen.
- Reinhold Neibuhr
Have a peaceful week,
Mare
I just walked home from church which is literally around the corner from my house. My home, and church, are nestled in a bucolic-looking suburb of New York City that seems quiet when you stroll along the sidewalks but it is hiding many secrets behind the doors of the dwellings you pass. The way over to church was uneventful; the walk home was not. As I wound my way from the gateway to the church parking lot to around the street corner I was met by a few police cars as an ambulance came screaming down the block. As I walked past the commotion a second ambulance arrived. When I reached the far corner I stopped to watch what was going on and my neighbor joined me. She told me that the guy that lives in the house is a heroin addict and that he probably overdosed. Prior to her coming out two young men from my block came running over to look and the one said to the other, "he probably shot..."; I didn't hear the rest but thought gun. My neighbor then told me that our neighborhood is filled with heroin addicts. How incredibly sad. I have lived in this neighborhood for my entire life - from what we call "before the bridge" (the Verrazzano Narrows) when we were surrounded by woods, ponds, streams and even farms - until now. I know that the island was ground zero for the prescription pill epidemic. The Governor cracked down on that by making every doctor, who prescribes painkillers, etc., to record it in an on-line database. The heroin addictions are a direct result of the crackdown as that is easily attained on the street; no need for a prescription.
I came across the Serenity Prayer while I was in the chapel and even before this event happened, the prayer resounded with me today for some reason. When you read it, in its entirety and contemplate each line it can open up the world to you. May the people struggling with addiction, loneliness, and depression turn to God and find peace in their lives and in their heart. I know what it is like to love an addict and can tell you for a fact that they were some of the worst years of my entire life. If you know someone struggling with addiction God help you find the courage and strength to deal with them.
The Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
Courage to change the
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.
Living One Day at a Time;
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next. Amen.
- Reinhold Neibuhr
Have a peaceful week,
Mare
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