WHEN GIVING UP ON HOPE WOULD BE GIVING UP ON YOUR HUMANITY…

A humble response to the Serenity Prayer..

A dear friend was upset by what he perceived as a judgmental tone in my last blog on detaching

with love. And he had a right to be. Sometimes qualifying when and where to apply useful

concepts needs to be explained. I failed to do this.

The Serenity Prayer is appropriate for situations where the person with the problem needs to

face their own issues, e.g., addictions, or when things are truly beyond our control, e.g., past

events or abusive situations. However, in the case of my friend, his daughter is facing a barrage

of issues which she is incapable of handling by herself and he would move heaven and earth to

help her.

There are many situations where the most precious commodity we have is hope, in its varied

forms, e.g., the courage to act in daunting circumstances fueled only by the deeply cherished

belief in the righteousness of your cause or throwing your heart and soul into what others

might describe as an impossible situation… because to not do so would destroy your soul.

I think quickly of the Ukrainians who took on the Goliath that is Russia to defend their

independence, the small, ragged colonist who fought England for our freedom, the inmates in

Concentration Camps who lived day to day fed only on their faith that one day they would be

saved, the first responders who ran into burning buildings after the planes hit on 9/11, a family

who mortgages their lives for the sake of an incredibly expensive treatment for their child. And

the list goes on.

For truly, who’s to say what can and can’t be done? We live for the possible, not the probable.

And to my very, very dear friend, I apologize. Your quest is heart-deep and I honor you for your

commitment to hope.

Forgive my lack of editing! I thought it more important to address this issue than to wait for a

more perfect version.