From the Pastor's Pen

Dear Friends,

My husband sent me an interesting article on the internet today.  (Yes, we live in the same house and are pretty much in constant company, but we work at different desks and send each other things online.  😊)   Anyway the article is about the things people in addiction recovery can teach us that will help us in dealing with the pandemic.  Cool.

At the top of the list is that “the fight is fixed.”  That is to say, for the person in addiction recovery they need to come to grips with the fact that the substance to which they are addicted is always going to win.  The fight is fixed.  So it’s best to accept this fact and not get into the fight at all.  Stay completely away from the substance!

I think there is some solid truth in this notion.  The fact is, the Coronavirus fight is pretty much fixed at this point.  The virus is incredibly powerful and has had a huge impact on our society.  We are largely still quarantined, some of us have lost a job, most of us have higher levels of anxiety at the moment.  The sooner we accept these realities, the sooner we can figure out how to navigate around our present circumstances.  Unfortunately no amount of positive thinking or wishing it away is going to make the virus and its impact disappear.

The article reminds us that there’s a reason the Serenity Prayer is beloved by people in recovery.  The prayer recognizes that we don’t have control over some things in our lives…  hmm, we don’t have control over lots of things in our lives.  What we can control is how we will respond to those troublesome things in our lives.  Here’s that prayer in case you need it today:

“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Peace,

Pr. Sally