THE SERENITY PRAYER

Just about everyone in the Western World is familiar with the first part of the prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr which is usually referred to as "The Serenity Prayer." I said "the first part," because there is much more to that Niehbuhr prayer/meditation than the part that is almost universally known as The Serenity Prayer":

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; 

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

That was, as I said, only the first part of the Niebuhr prayer. After that opening, it continues:

Living one day at a time; 

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships 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.

Those of you who know me might suspect, rightly, that I have some problems with the theology underlying the second part of The Prayer, not to mention what seems to me to be rather tortured syntax, but that's okay; it's the first part that I want to deal with here, anyway. I don't think I have any problem with that.

The Prayer seems to presuppose that every negative situation we face falls into one of two categories: Things We Can Change, or Things We Cannot Change. I agree with that. If something I'd rather not deal with is something that I can't change, then I have to muster up (or, I'd say pray for) the grace and serenity and strength to accept it as it is. If, on the other hand, it is something that I really can change, I pray for the guidance and strength and courage to do so. While it is sometimes obvious into which category a specific situation fits, that is not always the case, so if I don't really know whether something can be changed or must be accepted, I pray for the guidance and wisdom to understand which it is.

What I must never do, however, is to expect the world and Reality to adjust to my desires and perceptions, rather than adjust my desires and perceptions to the world and Reality. I have a friend who sees the former as the very essence of insanity; I see it as the perfect example of immaturity.

If I observe a huge tapestry and concentrate my attention on only one thread in that work, that one thread may be plain, insignificant, even ugly. But as I pull back and take in the grand sweep of the tapestry, I may begin to see how that little thread fits into the whole, how it contributes to the composition, the beauty of the work. Likewise with Life; I may be overwhelmed by any specific circumstance, but if I am able to take a longer-range view, I will see that each occurrence in my life has a lesson to teach me; I can grow from every circumstance; each situation contributes to the beauty and worth of my life.

I believe that. And that's why I find the first part of The Serenity Prayer to be so meaningful and powerful.

"THOSE WHO CAN, DO; THOSE WHO CAN'T, TEACH..."

I agree. 

I agree, that is, up to a point. When I make the statement above, I'm not trying to be ironic or clever. I'm just speaking from experience. Yes, from experience:  When I could, I did; now I can't, so I don't; since I can't, I'll teach, then I'll once again be able to do.


Those who can, do...

I once had money, lots of money. And when I had that large amount of discretionary money, I was able to apply the simple instructions I'd received from a trusted person for investing that money. I did so. And I was hugely successful.


Those who can't...

Obviously, that changed; I am not longer well-off, not by a long shot. I am not here going to go into all that transpired, that took me from comfortable affluence to abject poverty, then on to the uncomfortable existence that is my experience now, and I may never do so. Let's just say that it was a very ugly phase of my life. And it involved alcoholic thinking and behavior patterns.


...teach...

Here's what has happened recently: Getting started, I have to tell you the background of all this: First, I was taught a method of selecting stocks, investing in those stocks, and then of managing the portfolio of stocks that I select. That method is breathtakingly simple, but relies not a bit on whims and hunches and intuition or such; it's purely, purely mathematically exact. To be sure, none of the high-flying, hugely profitable tech stocks of recent years would have been included in a portfolio based on those investment principles, but neither would anyone have been burned when those stocks went into free-fall a few years ago.

Anyway, continuing the background saga with a specific example: Using my stock selection method, a particular stock JUMPED OFF the page at me one Sunday. It was a tiny, obscure company called Airlease (NOT the "Airlease" that's listed now). I had never before, nor have I ever since then, encountered a stock that so strongly said to me, using my parameters, "Buy me." I'm telling you, it was the strongest "Buy me" that I've ever experienced; almost palpable. SO strong was that impression that when I went in to work the following day, I told my boss, Lou F., about it. Unbeknown to me at the time, Lou was an active investor in the stock market, and he asked his stock broker about Airlease. Since that tiny company's paper value did not square with the traditional, orthodox investing model, Lou's broker told him No, absolutely not.

Fast forward to Lou's birthday party: I'm not going to go into detail, but it was one of the few times in my long, long, loooonnnng life that I've felt uncomfortable and out-of-place in a social setting. Lou's wife had informed me a day or two earlier that they were going to celebrate Lou's birthday that Saturday afternoon, and that they wanted me to come. She told me that his daughters were coming (one from New York, the other from Northern California), and I just assumed that it was going to be a small, family celebration of Lou's birthday; maybe Lou, his wife Lenore, their children and their children's spouses and significant others would be there, in addition to me. As I marched to their house that sparkling, beautiful afternoon, I kind of noted all the Caddies and Jags and Lincolns and Lexuses and other luxury cars along the streets, but after all, it was a weekend afternoon and it was a very nice,  comfortable, upper-middle-class neighborhood, so it was not surprising that there would be home parties in that area. Well, I rang Lou and Lenore's doorbell, and when the maid opened the door, I almost fainted; there I stood with my little Macy's-sale shirt, peering over the head of the Salvadoran maid, into a room full of rich, elderly white folks (no, I'm not being racist; I'm being accurate); the maid and I were the only pepper specks in that salt shaker! I tell you, I would NEVER have stepped into that room had Lauren, Lou's daughter, not seen me and, "Oh, Don! There you are. Come in!" she exclaimed. Of course, I was absolutely mortified, but I had to go on in, and they added my little $9.99 Macy's shirt to the pile of much costlier birthday gifts, which included $100 gift certificates, Starbucks coffee machines, etc., etc., ad nauseam.

Getting to the point of this really boring narrative: Lou marched me into the middle of the floor, and announced (as black as I am, I'm sure my face was neon RED!), "Everybody, you've all heard us speak of our clerk, Don. Well, this is Don --- whom we consider to be a part of our family!" About that time, a well- but casually-dressed, middleaged man happened to be walking by, and Lou grabbed his arm. "And this," said Lou, "is_______, my stockbroker. Don, my CLERK here, suggested a couple of years ago that I buy shares of Airlease stock --- some of you remember I spoke to you about it. Well, __________here, my broker, told me that was foolish; I should put my money into ________. I listened to my broker, the professional, and invested ten thousand bucks in the stock he recommended, and not in the stock that my clerk, my CLERK, recommended. So now, my $10,000 is less than $5,000, but I've kept track of Airlease stock and dividend payments; if I'd put my $10,000 in that stock back when Don, my CLERK, suggested it, my $10,000 investment would now be worth over $30,000!" The temperature in that room dropped at least 40 degrees, and that stock broker (who'd probably planned to do a lot of networking among those rich, old folks) didn't say a word to me for the rest of that day --- and hasn't said a word to me since then!

Lou strongly suggested to me then that I should put my stock-selection method down in writing, and sell it. Later, when I worked for another company in the lighting components industry, another elderly gent pushed and pushed and pushed for me to do the same. Eric knew that I was short of money, so he suggested that there might just be a way for me to profit from teaching my investment strategy.

The final straw came last Saturday at Union Station during my volunteer gig. An elderly guy and his wife, obviously affluent, came to my booth, and the man asked me, "Aren't you Don, who used to work for Lou F_____?" It took me aback, but I confirmed that I was. He then turned to his wife and told her, "This is the guy that taught Lou the method we use in selecting our stocks." He turned back to me and said, " Lou always spoke very highly of you, and I just want to thank you for the life that we are able to enjoy now." Then they went on.

I don't know who the guy and hs wife were, but if they happen to read this, I hope they'll "Friend" me. Maybe I'm responsible for where you are now (or not), but what you said last Saturday is definitely responsible for where I'm going to go now.


I can't, so I'll teach...

I am broke. Obviously, there are those who are not broke, and for some folks, that's thanks to what they learned from me. So, I'm going to teach:

Percolating in the back of my mind have been two business models, and I think that what you have read will explain why I'm going to take time off now and flesh those ideas out: The first is a course in developing a successful, profitable portfolio of stocks; the second is an MLM application and method of selling that course which will enable people of even extremely modest means not only to invest for their (and their family's) future, but also to profit handsomely. The latter might possibly be described by some people as a "cash gifting" idea, but I'm insistent that it will not be one of those illegal, Ponzi-scheme programs; it will be an "abundance sharing," NOT a cash gifting program.

I'll teach only as long as I can't invest. The second I'm able once again to start investing, using the very same methods that I'll teach my students, I'll stop teaching.

Those who can, do; those who can, teach. 

My THREE LESSONS of Life

I plan for this to be a very short, succinct post. I don't know why, but I feel very strongly compelled to compose and publish this, even though I'm right in the middle of posting something completely different. I don't know why, but that's okay; I don't have to know why I feel inspired to do this, I just need to do it.

In this post, I plan to share with you the three simple but all-important lessons that I have learned in my long, long life. I'm in my eighth decade of life on this plane, and I've learned many things, but I believe that the important lessons can be summarized in these Three Lessons of Life:

I

I believe that every situation in my life can be placed into one of two categories: Things I can do something about, and Things I can't do anything about.

If the situation I face is one which I can change or do anything else about, I pray for or affirm or muster up the strength and courage to do it. If it's a situation that I am absolutely powerless to change, I muster up or pray for or affirm that I have the strength and courage to accept it. Of course, it's fundamentally important to know which category any particular situation should be placed in, so I have to pray for wisdom and guidance in determining that.

Many of you will see that these are the principles underlying the famous Serenity Prayer, one version of which says:

God grant me the

Serenity to accept things I cannot change, the

Strength to change things I can change, and the

Wisdom to know the difference.

II

I believe that the will of God for me is always more wonderful than anything I can possibly will for myself; it is always for my true happiness, soul unfoldment, and only what is good. So, I can --- and should  --- try always to entrust everything in my life to the loving care of my Father in Heaven.

III

I believe that God is always blessing me, whether it seems like it or not, but that I must accept His blessings willingly; God never forces anything --- including blessings --- on us. Except for life itself, I believe that the greatest gift God gives to His children is freedom of choice.

When the sun is shining, gentle winds are blowing, birds are singing, and I feel wonderful, healthy, and energetic, it's easy for me to acknowledge that God is blessing me. But I firmly believe that it is at least as vitally important for me to remember that God is blessing me even when things do not seem to be going well. In general, the tougher or more seemingly negative things appear to be, the more lessons I can usually learn from them, the more I can usually grow from dealing with them. Any single thread may be plain, or even ugly; but, as I back away and see that thread interwoven with other unique, often ugly individual threads, I can see how they all fit into a beautiful tapestry. Likewise with my life: Any specific incident or situation may seem terrible, but when I'm able to put it in perspective, I can see how it fits into and becomes part of the beautiful tapestry of my life.

There is a three-part mantra which has been a vital part of my life for several years now, and I can tell that it has made a very big difference in my life, even though I have faced some horrendous financial and health challenges over the last few months. Very regularly throughout each day --- especially, immediately upon awakening, immediately before falling asleep, and whenever I feel overwhelmed by a particular situation or incident, I remind myself that God is blessing me now...God is blessing me now...God is blessing me now...

After a period of repeating this to myself, I am just as emphatic in reminding myself that I accept God's blessings now...I accept God's blessings now...I accept God' blessings now...

Then, very importantly and very emphatically, Thank You, Father!

I don't do this exercise in order to convince God of anything or to do anything; it's to remind me of what God is already continuously doing for me, and thanking Him for it.

As I said above, I don't know why I feel absolutely compelled to post this right now instead of completing another post that I've already started, but I do feel so strongly about this that it's what I'm doing. At some point down the line, sooner or later, maybe I'll know why. Or not.

CREDO

"Just what do you believe?" 

"Are you a Christian?" My answer to that question depends on who's asking it. I'm old enough and I've been around the block enough times to know that what many people mean by the term "Christian" is something I definitely am not. In fact, by what even a moderately progressive Evangelical would mean by that term almost certainly would not describe my personal place on the theological spectrum.

"Do you believe that Jesus was the Son of God?" Yes, I do --- just as I believe that we are all divine sons and daughters of God. 

"Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins?" I can't answer that question in the space I have here. My response would most definitely not be any one word, either Yes or No. This will have to be the subject for later posts.

"Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God?"This question I can answer in one word: No. I believe that the Bible contains the words of God, but those words are often hidden among the imperfect words and concepts of human beings. I certainly believe that the Spirit of God inspired many of the people whose writings have been canonized as Judaeo-Christian Scripture, but I also believe that such inspiration was often filtered through erring human minds and expressed in limited, imperfect human language. I believe that the Spirit of God has inspired many people since the last book of the Bible was written almost two thousand years ago, and I also believe that God has inspired other people, including some who were not Jewish or Christian, whose writings are not included in any recognized collection of Judaeo-Christian scriptural writings.

Illustrative of that last point, I can't get past this: There's not one word, not one syllable, of the Judaeo-Christian Bible in which racism or the institution of slavery is denounced. Most civilized people today consider both of them to be monstrous evils, but neither one is challenged in the Bible. In fact, in the Bible, in the New Testament, Christians are counseled in more than one place to "obey your earthly masters." One prominent New Testament writer even exhorts Christian slaves to obey especially those masters who treat them harshly. Not once are slaves told to rise up against their masters or to declare their freedom from slavery; no, they're told to "obey your masters." So, according to what "the Bible says," I should probably be down in Mississippi or someplace picking cotton, not sitting here in Los Angeles pecking on a computer keyboard. The idea that racism is wrong, or that slavery is an indefensible institution, has evolved or developed since the close of the Judaeo-Christian biblical canon. The living Spirit of God has, in my opinion, revealed this in later years, so it was not a Biblical idea. That is just one of the reasons why I do not subscribe to the idea, set down in the 39 Articles of the Church of England (Mother Church of the Anglican Communion, of which my Episcopal Church is a member) that the Bible "contains all things necessary for salvation." Setting aside the idea that the word "salvation" meant something very different to First Century Palestinian Jews and Christians from what it does to 21st Century Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, I absolutely cannot accept that the Bible "contains all things necessary for salvation," however that word or concept is defined.

"So, you pick and choose what you believe, and what you don't believe, huh?" In a word, Yes --- just as does everyone else. The Bible is a collection of writings, with concepts and instructions ranging from the very primitive and inhumane all the way up to the very sublime and inspiring. I'm sure you'd be horrified to read how "the Bible says" a woman could be divorced in ancient Israel. 

"The Bible says" (or, at least, St. Paul wrote) that Christians are to regard all earthly authorities as having been put in office by God, so they and even their unjust laws should be obeyed. Now, I'll say this for Paul:  Not once do we read any hint of his complaining about being horribly and painfully punished for being a Christian (which was against the law in the Roman Empire); he submitted meekly to the consequences of his deliberately breaking those laws. But modern-day, supposedly "Bible-believing Christians" rebel against immigration laws, for instance, and "Bible-believing" undocumented immigrants flaunt the laws they don't like with impunity. Not exactly doing what "the Bible says," are they?

And don't even get me started on the black women who jump up and down in all their Sunday finery, in lively church services, with their little kids (born out of wedlock) next to them, or their second or third husbands at home watching the Sunday sports specials on TV. "The Bible says" (in FAR more than one place) that those women who had children before or outside of marriage, or those women who'd been divorced and remarried, were "living in sin." But who cares about that? That may've been true in AD 13, but it's not realistic for 2013, we're told.

And something else I don't understand: According to those from the Evangelical/Fundamentalist wing of Christendom, no one can be so good as to merit or earn his or her way into Heaven; salvation comes, according to them, from Divine Grace. It is an unmerited gift to those who trust in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. No one can be so good as to deserve that grace, or too bad to be beyond its reach, right? Unless: You're gay or lesbian. Good, born-again, Bible-believing Christians jump through all kinds of spiritual and intellectual hoops to explain how adulterers, fornicators, thieves, extortionists, and even murderers can be saved and wind up in Heaven if they understand that they're saved only by the shed blood of Jesus. But, there's no such provision for gays and lesbians; I guess that, despite what they believe and profess, no one from the LGBT community can really trust in Jesus' death for his or her sins, huh? Well, that is simply not true; I happen to know many gay and lesbian people who absolutely believe that they have been saved not by their own inherent goodness, but by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Even though that's their faith, and that is enough to save everyone else, they're still lost, according to many of my friends who are True Believers. I don't understand.


So, what do I believe? Above, I've written a little about what I don't believe, but what, exactly, do I believe? I'll deal with these and other ideas in later posts, but here I'll just quote from my Facebook Profile:


Divine Paternity is the article by which my faith stands or falls. For me, it is the summary and synopsis of all Christian Truth. I believe that all Christian theological thinking must begin with this article, center in it, and culminate in it. As the various facets of a fine gem catch, refract, and reflect the light, so does the phrase, "the Fatherhood of God," give brilliance to every phase of Christian revelation, and in turn each facet of Christian Truth sheds new brilliance on this central idea. The Gospel which Jesus proclaimed and demonstrated was the two-sided Golden Coin: Divine Paternity/Human Divinity.

Truth is unfolding and continuing. I value the Bible, but I prefer to rely on fresh individual guidance from the Spirit of the living God which inspired the Bible rather than follow only what has been revealed through and recorded by others.

Maybe I'm not really a GOOD Episcopalian, but I think I'm in pretty good company; like Sir Isaac Newton and Thomas Jefferson, I am a nontrinitarian Anglican -- and no, I don't think that's an oxymoron! I'd say that theologically, I'm closer to such New Thought groups as Religious Science and Unity, but the Anglican liturgy, as it developed over the centuries, speaks to me spiritually.


I might add that, when I'm in Boston, Massachusetts, I usually worship at King's Chapel, the oldest church in the United States that still meets weekly as a congregation (please see http://www.kings-chapel.org and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_Chapel). It started life in 1686 as an Anglican church, but became Unitarian about 100 years later, in the early 1780s, and uses its own Book of Common Prayer According to Usage in King's Chapel, Boston (see http://archive.org/details/bookofcommonpray00kinguoft). Frankly, I wish I could find a similar church here in the Los Angeles area. I was a pre-seminary student in college, and I regret that I didn't have the courage and spiritual strength to found a congregation like that back then.

In later posts, I'll explain other of my spiritual and theological views for those who're interested. And, as always, I welcome feedback from those who do not agree with me.

WHERE I STAND

We're finally here! I'm launching my blog, so much of my pontificating on Facebook can stop --- and I can shift it here, to what I believe is a more appropriate forum. In this initial post, I'd like to lay out some of the ideas and principles underlying this blog:

 About Me

I am an old, gay black man; I can't change either of those four things, and many of my opinions will inevitably be colored by my life experiences, which any one or more of those four factors might affect. I despise double standards and sweeping generalizations, and I consider political correctness to be condescending, insulting, and usually just plain silly.

 On Religion

I am an Episcopalian. My personal views and spiritual practices may be closer to those of New Thought groups and teachers such as Unity, Religious Science, Shakti Gawain and Johnnie Colemon than they are to Episcopal orthodoxy, but I find that the approach to corporate worship developed within the Anglican/Episcopal tradition has always spoken to my soul.

 On Politics

I am a fairly liberal Democrat.

I used to be a Republican, and  I was a fervent supporter of Mitt Romney's amazingly progressive, forward-thinking father, George, back when the Republican Party was populated heavily with people staunchly in the Lincolnian Republican tradition --- people like Nelson Rockefeller, John Lindsay, Ed Brooke, Chuck Percy, and, of course, George Romney. That was a time when the Republican approach was to tear down the legal barriers to equal opportunity for all citizens, while that of the Democrats seemed to be to try to impose some kind of group equality or parity; that really couldn't work and didn't work, and has led to a multitude of social problems in this country.

Now is a very different time; the GOP has been taken over by what I call (pardon the obscenity which, I have to warn you, will be used over and over in my posts) the Batshit Boys, intent on converting this country from the free, secular democratic republic that the Founders envisioned, into a puritanical theocracy. Gaining control of the judiciary is the most important step they can take in making this conversion, and is the single most important reason why I believe Obama/Biden MUST defeat Romney/Ryan, the more soundly the better

 Contemporary Culture

I am one of those old people who deplore the coarsening of our society, the rapid flight from civility.

Whatever happened to good manners, to beauty and grace and elegance? Why are those considered bad words now, describing outmoded concepts? Why have young people around the world looked at and adopted the ugliest, coarsest behaviors of certain Americans --- most of whom are from extremely dysfunctional backgrounds --- as being representative of the American culture that they want to emulate?

Suffiice it to say that I am not only on the same page as Dr. William E. (''Bill'') Cosby, he who grew up in the mean, mean projects of Philadelphia, on this matter; we're on the same LINE of the same page!

This Blog

Above was just a brief overview of the some of the subjects we will explore here. I have my clear, closely-held opinions on these matters, and some of my positions do not fit neatly into categories that observers may want to impose. Some of my views on theological matters will be strongly opposed by my fellow Episcopalians -- especially, clergypeople --- and many of my positions on ethnic and cultural matters will be highly offensive to friends who are steeped in what I call 1960s-era Liberal Orthodoxy.

Sure --- if you agree with any of my religious, political, or other observations, express that here; but what I will more deeply appreciate will be intelligently presented viewpoints that differ markedly from mine. It's in exploration, discussion, and debate that my horizons will be expanded, that I will grow. I'm selfish; I WANT to learn and grow.

All I will insist upon is civility; to use two old cliches, sometimes we will have to "agree to disagree," but we must always remember that we can "disagree without being disagreeable."