SubscribeMoving past the Monday morning blues
I am not blaming Monday or anything. It’s a beautiful Monday. The birds are chirping. The sun is shining. And the air carries just the right amount of breeziness. But I woke up with a crick in my neck and it’s painful.
I am more accustomed to waking up and declaring “This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” I wanted to awake afresh this morning, ready to embrace the new beginnings and the mystery of God that I learned about at a discipleship conference this weekend and that my pastor talked about Sunday. But instead I awoke tired and cranky, anticipating with dread all that awaited me today and this week.
Pastor Cynthia T. Turner preached from the story in Luke 24 about the two believers who encountered a resurrected Jesus on the Emmaus Road. It’s one of my favorites. They didn’t recognize Jesus, and He didn’t let on right away who He was or that He knew they were returning from His crucifixion disappointed and without hope. He knew they had not believed what the prophets had written in the Scriptures about Jesus’ rising from the dead three days after His death on the cross.
With that as a backdrop, Pastor preached that when we fail, our easy tenacity is to go back to the scene of our failings. “A dangerous place to be in… is when all we know is crucifixion “
The words resonated with me because I know I have failed aplenty in my dealings with others and in things I wanted to accomplish, long ago and recently, and unfortunately will fail again in the future. But I also know that I don’t have to stay in failure.
“Our God is a God of life, of new beginnings,” declared my Pastor, who also has written several blogs on Soul Rhythms.
That message lingered with me into the afternoon, and I took my camera and went searching in my backyard for signs of new life. I found plenty in the trees, scrubs and flowers there.
I am remembering the message now, reinforcing it in my heart, mind and soul as I start going through today’s to-do list. It’s a message that I will carry with me as I walk later today, letting it ease the tension in neck and clarify my thoughts.
The more I think about new beginnings the less I feel like joining the chorus of those who sing the blues about Mondays.
As I was writing this, I received an email that contained the most commonly recited portion of the Serenity Prayer. It’s also a good one to keep me moving in the right direction today.
The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change those things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
The original and complete version of this prayer said to have been written in 1943 by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr goes like this:
God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it;
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.Amen.
Related posts:
