There has been some intention on my part in recent days to pay attention to self-care. I set aside a day for that recently, spending a day up in the hills at a retreat center, with time to reflect, time with God, and time with two delightful soul-friends.
As I came down the mountain, I thought to myself… I need to drop by my naturopathic doctor’s office for I had run out of a supplement that supports the adrenals… also part of self-care!
The office where I needed to go was surrounded by road work, and I took one road, then another, only to find I was blocked and had to go the long way around. I finally found my way, and announced to the girls at the desk, “I need to buy some Serenity!”
It made sense to me, the product is called Serenity Pro, but as soon as it slipped out of my mouth, we all realized how funny it was. “Make that two”, I said…
As we all lamented about the lack of access to their office and the general stress we all felt, it was great to laugh about buying a little serenity!
If only it was that easy…
The other day I lamented to my hubby… I’d like to go to the store and buy some new body parts. I was done with the aching.
There are lots of things we would like to “buy”. I’d be first in line to buy a cure for cancer, or a large dose of hope for someone I know who is depressed. I’d like to tidy up the world, fix all the problems, and where could I go to buy some contentment for today? I’d like to lift the stress off those I love, those who work hard and give it their all, day after day. And peace in the world… well, you know where I am going.
I sat with a quote the other day from a book I picked up at the retreat center. The book… which I didn’t read fully, but skimmed, is called “The Spirituality of Imperfection” by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham. A book I’d like to add to my reading list.
In their introduction they quote: “The spirituality of imperfection speaks to those who seek meaning in the absurd, peace within the chaos, light within the darkness, joy within the suffering – without denying the reality and even the necessity of absurdity, chaos, darkness and suffering.”
Choosing serenity is an acceptance of imperfection, or resting within the chaos of life, of seeing beauty even in the midst of life’s challenges. It always comes back to the beautiful 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.” -Reinhold Neibuhr
May God, the God of peace, grant us the wisdom to do just that.
