September 22, 2018
Something to Think About - keep (249)
Today an Open Letter to Dr. John Patton my Kansas City Royals season ticket partner the past few years.
Dear John,
Please allow me to reconsider my earlier statement to you saying I was not interested in sharing a twenty game season ticket package for the Royals with you next year.
This past month our guys have won more games than they’ve lost including six in a row. That cost me a steak dinner with our friend David Murphy.
Recently I spent some time looking at the Royals roster and discovered some exciting facts.
First, Salvador Perez is only 28 years old and will be back along with Whit Merryfield who has become a truly amazing player.
Joining them are several other youngsters who have the ability to make the Royals much better. They are led by Adalberto Mondesi who has become a very exciting player at shortstop and with the bat. A switch-hitter he’s changed his swing to take full advantage of his unique power. Add in his fielding expertise and stolen bases and WOW is the best word to describe him.
Others who add excitement as position players are Ryan O’Hearn who has shown big-time power, but needs to hit lefties, newcomer Rosell Herrera, Jorge Bonifacio who should benefit from playing an entire season and Hunter Dozier.
Supposedly there are lots of talented position players in the minors waiting their chance, but the pitching at the big club level over the past two months has really blossomed.
No less than seven pitchers stand out! Names and ages: Heath Fillmyer (24), Jakob Junis (26), Jorge Lopez (25), Jake Newberry (23), Eric Skoglund (25), Jerry Vasto (26) and Brad Keller at only 23 getting Rookie of the Year attention.
Heck John, the Royals re-building has started. Maybe our purgatory is going to be short-lived? And, supposedly our really hot prospects are in Single “A” where they won a championship.
Next year it appears the Royals will be devoid of old-timers like Alcides Escobar. True Alex Gordon will likely still be left field, but he’s winning another Gold Glove this season and he has upped his production.
This season was really awful until recently, but next year looks like fun. Doubtful the Royals will win the Pennant but I think they might win half their games and I want to be there.
How about you?
Raised a Royal and always a fan! I’m Steve Sauder.
Today my feelings on the New York Times Op-Ed about President Trump and the White House. Not because I support the President because I do not, but because this whole Op-Ed episode is so deplorable.
Understand this – we do not use anonymous letters here at KVOE. When I say “do not,” I mean Do Not!
At KVOE we have on occasion gone to the person being singled out by an anonymous letter and ask that person if they wanted to respond, but we don’t use anonymous information on air.
It was interesting that when the Times released the Op-Ed they said they knew the person who wrote it and that this person was “credible.”
My reaction to that is: sorry New York Times, but you don’t get to judge “credible” because you gave your credibility away when you printed the anonymous letter!
One TV commentator said – “the New York Times has lower standards than most local radio stations.”
With that said it is interesting to speculate who might have written the Op-Ed.
My first thought was this letter wasn’t particularly unique suggesting anyone, including me, could have written it after reading the book Fire and Fury and Bob Woodward’s new book Fear which incidentally came out almost simultaneously with the Op-Ed.
Heck, the thought has passed by me that it could have been written internally by people at the New York Times.
Evidently, a committee at the Times made the decision to print the letter. Do you suppose at the newspaper there is some level of nervousness that someone might break? If CNN came calling offering a million or two you’d think someone might squeal.
And finally, there seems to be a pretty high level of agreement that writing this anonymous letter was a cowardly act. If these things are half true – and I think they likely are – then this person should have manned up, taken credit for telling the American people the truth and been prepared to suffer the consequences.
The intrigue as to “who done it” is higher today that when we were trying to figure out who shot JR!
The word “deplorable” was used earlier to describe my opinion of the entire event. Printing an anonymous letter is bad journalism and remember our standards here at KVOE are higher than those of the New York Times!
I’m Steve Sauder and these thoughts are mine!
The National Football League kicks off tomorrow night.
Our President Donald Trump is not one of the NFL’s biggest supporter.
An article in The Atlantic titled: Trump’s Divisive and Relentless Politicization of the NFL helps me tell you why.
Mark Leibovich argues in his new book, Big Game, that the president has made the league central to his politics, pitting his largely white base against the mostly African American players.
Remember Colin Kaepernick? He's the former 49ers quarterback who started kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial inequality in America.
Silently he is Trump's hero because the NFL was clueless how to handle Kaepernick's protests so they gave Trump a new bully pulpit.
With the quarterback and our national anthem as his foils Trump has had a field day. His tweets were not only pleasing to folks who harbor racial prejudices but to those who were not fans of the NFL and to people who saw the connection between football and America becoming soft thus promoting Trump's "Make America Great Again!"
Adding to the confusion was the fact that many of the NFL owners were friends with Trump and had donated to his campaign. Leibovich points out in his book that leadership in the NFL is very weak and the owners while rich are not as a group all that intelligent.
In the meantime, Trump does everything he can to keep the controversy started by Kaepernick alive. He even stole much of the Super Bowl hype with the controversy about who would show up at the White House or not.
Recently when two of Trump’s top aides were pleading or being found guilty of crimes our President took on ESPN for announcing they would not be showing the playing of the Star Spangled Banner on their Monday Night NFL games.
His email to donors accused ESPN of "spineless surrender to the politically correct liberal mob."
Never mind that ESPN's policy on this was not a change from previous years.
As for Trump versus the NFL - this conflict is working well to propel his political career but it hasn’t been an effective remedy for one of his greatest underlying personal desires.
Since the 1980's Donald Trump has been rebuked several times in his quest to become an NFL owner.
So remember as the next episodes of Trump vs. the NFL unfold - revenge is always one of our President's top motivators!
Thankfully, it’s football season!
I’m Steve Sauder
With the passing of Senator John McCain, it seemed proper for me to try an define what a HERO is. I found this on the internet written by someone with the last name of Bartleby. It’s a good start because McCain certainly possessed all these traits.
Characteristics of a Hero
“A hero is someone who has given their life to something bigger than oneself”. When we think of heroes most of us think of movie stars or professional athletes, but it’s not always about your popularity or talent it can also be about how you help society. What I think makes a great hero is someone who is able to overcome obstacles in life, is highly motivated, and has plenty of bravery.
Overcoming obstacles may be one of the hardest parts of being a hero. I think it’s the hardest because a lot of people when blocked from doing something just quit. A great example of this trait is Jackie Robinson. He was discriminated against because he was African-American, but he never quit.
In order to be a successful hero, you must be a highly motivated person. Without motivation, you would not be successful because you would have no ambition to try and make a difference in the world. I think Rodney Dangerfield is a great example of this because he started his career at 15 and died while making a movie. In one of his quotes, he stated, “At twenty a man is full of fight and hope and he wants to reform the world. When he’s seventy he still wants to reform the world”.
Bravery is a great hero trait. Bravery is a key quality because you don’t always know what lies ahead of you and you have to be brave to continue. A good example of this is Charles Lindbergh. He was the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. That took a great amount of bravery because no one had ever made it across, so he didn’t know what lies ahead of him.
So as you may see overcoming obstacles, being motivated and being outstandingly brave are keys to becoming a great hero.
End of essay.
Overcoming obstacles was something McCain had to learn as his family was well positioned to say the least. Both his father and granddad were 4 Star Navy Admirals. McCain graduated almost last in his Naval Academy class, but then he got serious.
You might find a picture of John McCain in the dictionary next to the word: motivation! The longer he lived the harder he worked.
Bravery and McCain are well-documented bedfellows. Seems to me his willingness to take unpopular positions as a Senator demonstrated greatest acts of bravery.
Hero is an apt term for Senator McCain’s legacy despite what anyone might suggest. Rest in peace Maverick!
I’m Steve Sauder
Each week my challenge is to find something interesting to share with my KVOE listeners. Fortunately, Emporia has a lot going on so current events often fill the bill. For example, this week school starts at our local schools including Emporia State. I learned through a neat flyer in the mail they will be honoring my graduating class at Homecoming for having traveled 50 years since getting our diplomas. Yikes! 50 years since leaving college!
Guess that brings up the topic of old age or senior citizens or over the hill gang, etc. I've probably spent too much time on this topic recently but actually, it's pretty high on my awareness list as I am growing older,!
For those of you younger than me please understand this growing older thing gets very personal. While I am happy to be able to still play golf - although not very well I appreciate that I can still play golf.
So, when I play with guys older than me who still can play well - you know like shooting their ages! Well, I'm jealous for a bit, but I get over it cause there are also guys my age who can't still play or have left us to the hereafter.
I never dreamed how often I'd be quoting my dad, but that happens a lot. For example on Monday at a doctor's office waiting with several from my age group I said, "As my dad used to say -I'm in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in."
Corny? Yes, but accurate too.
Keeping in mind that I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke are still in my Top 10 favorite TV shows consider this list from Facebook of things you young whippersnappers missed out on.
It was titled Older Than Dirt.
- Drive-In Movies
- Candy Cigarettes
- 45 RPM Records
- Party Telephone Lines
- Soda Pop in Glass Bottles
- Butch Wax
- Studebaker
- Blackjack Gum
- Home Ec
- 5 and Dimes
- Metal Lunchboxes
- Boone's Farm
- Metal Ice Trays
- Roller Skate Keys, yes roller skate keys!
- Milk delivered in glass bottles, and
- Wax Coke Bottle Candy
Guessing some of these left you scratching your head. Ask around cause all these things were real once and remembering them is fun for us old folks. Relax, you'll have your chance.
I’m Steve Sauder still enjoying my life experiences!
My next statement may shock you.
Last Thursday I attended a very uplifting funeral.
I needed a lift because the previous day’s election had not gone the way I wanted and depression was becoming my friend.
At lunch on Wednesday Bobbi and I ran into Ken Hush. I first met Kenny over 40 years ago when he was my 13-year-old opponent in the Emporia City Tennis Tournament. We’ve have been good friends ever since. Ken’s dad and I were co-workers a Didde Office Supply and Printing when I was in college. Bob is not only a friend but also legendary in Sertoma Club history.
A few days earlier a small piece in the Gazette mentioned the passing of 82-year-old Luella Hush. My inquiry confirmed she was Ken’s mom.
Mrs. Hush’s services were held at the First Christian Church. On arrival it was obvious she was a member held in high regard by her church. The place was packed - I found a seat in the next to last row.
The Service was just what I needed - a dose of good old fashion Christian religion including a moving invocation, scriptures, congregational singing of two wonderful hymns and a solo by Curtis Rhoades titled: In the Bulb There is a Flower.
Mr. Rhoades isn’t a spring chicken anymore, but he still sings like one!
Reverend Lorraine Bailey did a masterful job of using Mrs. Hush’s requested scripture, Corinthians 13 – also known as the Love Scripture, to illustrate how Luella had put those words into practice in her life. She was a nurse by training and we learned how she had used her training in multiple situations throughout her life always helping others. Add in wonderful wife and mother of 4 good kids and you get the picture.
The 23rd Psalm starts out:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me besides the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
And that’s exactly what being in that great sanctuary did for me that morning – it restored my soul!
It wasn’t lost on me that life here is temporary and nothing that happens should concern me as long as my faith is strong and my trust in the Lord is intact. That’s how the Hush family took the passing of their mom and wife – just the next step in life everlasting.
And, for me – to lighten up. Earthly things tend to take care of themselves and my faith in God tells me – he’s in control and life here and in the hereafter will be good.
Thanks to the Hush family for sharing the celebration of this life well lived. The services for this wonderful woman did indeed: restore my soul! Amen and Amen!
From Facebook a fun story.
Four older gentlemen go to lunch. The first three order healthy items like a tuna sandwich, a salad without croutons and a bowl of soup but Jim, age 85 ordered cherry pie ala mode and without hesitation added two scoops of ice cream.
A week later they were together again and Jim ordered a chocolate parfait. The others finally had to ask, “what gives Jim?”
His response was something like: “I’ve never been this old before, so, I’ve decided while I am still here it’s time to try all those things that, for years, I’ve been ignoring.”
He added: I haven’t smelled all the flowers yet, there are trout streams to fish, golf courses to play, kites to fly and jokes to laugh at. I’ve missed lots of sporting events and too many potato chips and cokes. I want to spread peanut butter on my toast every morning. Life is too short. It’s time to do whatever your heart desires!
The other three in their group changed their orders and added whip cream!
That reminded me of a conversation with my dad when he was 88. He ordered a meal and ask for it to be salt free. I inquired as to why at his age he was depriving himself of real salt? He informed me that all but one of his uncles had died of heart disease. To which I pointed out they were all in their late 70’s or 80’s and had to die from something!
This brings me to another Facebook post this offered by my friend Wes Jones. These help pull this message together. It’s titled “Important Facts to Remember as You Get Older.”
- Death is the number one killer in the world.
- Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
- Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the hospital, dying of nothing.
- In the 60’s people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird, and people take Prozac to make it normal.
- And finally: Don’t worry about old age; it doesn’t last that long.
I’m Steve Sauder
From Facebook a fun story.
Four older gentlemen go to lunch. The first three order healthy items
like a tuna sandwich, a salad without croutons and a bowl of soup but Jim,
age 85 ordered cherry pie ala mode and without hesitation added two scoops
of ice cream.
A week later they were together again and Jim ordered a chocolate
parfait. The others finally had to ask, “what gives Jim?”
His response was something like: “I’ve never been this old before, so,
I’ve decided while I am still here it’s time to try all those things that, for
years, I’ve been ignoring.”
He added: I haven’t smelled all the flowers yet, there are trout streams
to fish, golf courses to play, kites to fly and jokes to laugh at. I’ve missed
lots of sporting events and too many potato chips and cokes. I want to spread
peanut butter on my toast every morning. Life is too short. It’s time to do
whatever your heart desires!
The other three in their group changed their orders and added whip
cream!
That reminded me of a conversation with my dad when he was 88. He
ordered a meal and ask for it to be salt free. I inquired as to why at his age he
was depriving himself of real salt? He informed me that all but one of his
uncles had died of heart disease. To which I pointed out they were all in
their late 70’s or 80’s and had to die from something!
This brings me to another Facebook post this offered by my friend
Wes Jones. These help pull this message together. It’s titled “Important
Facts to Remember as You Get Older.”
Death is the number one killer in the world.
Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the hospital,
dying of nothing.
In the 60’s people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world
is weird, and people take Prozac to make it normal.
And finally: Don’t worry about old age; it doesn’t last that long.
I’m Steve Sauder
If this piece sounds like I am trying to throw Kansas gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach under the bus then “Mission Accomplished!”
Secretary of State Kobach wants to be our governor, but his election would throw our state backward into a tailspin likely worse than the Brownback experience.
If Kobach’s failed attempts to create verifiable voter fraud both in Kansas and across the nation aren’t enough you can add Kobach trying to pay his legal bills with state funds and the Secretary being cited for contempt of court in another matter.
And recently he’s added exaggeration and using outright untrue information in his opposition for qualified, but undocumented students paying in-state tuition to attend colleges in Kansas.
I quote from the Kansas City Star on July 18:
Secretary of State and Kansas gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach is pitching some wild numbers in his quest to blame undocumented immigrants for all that troubles Kansas.
Kobach made the enormous claim that tuition hikes at state universities and community colleges wouldn’t have been necessary if the so-called Dreamers weren’t allowed to pay lower in-state rates.
Rubbish according to fiscal notes provided by the Kansas Board of Regents.
Unfortunately for Secretary Kobach his numbers just don’t add up!
There are 670 qualified students paying in-state tuition under this 14-year-old Kansas law.
Only 142 attend 4-year schools like ESU.
Kobach claimed the state lost out on over 4 million dollars in a recent speech, but the Board of Regents say if all these students were paying out of state tuition the number would be 2.3 million dollars.
Please understand there’s no chance that many if any of these students could pay the higher rate as they are not eligible for any federal aid including federal student loans.
These are students who have to have attended and graduated from a high school in Kansas and have pledged to become U.S. citizens. They do not cost the schools they attend One Red Cent. Fact is they are a godsend – at least that’s what ESU folks say.
Kris Kobach is free to support or oppose the rights of these kids, but it is blatantly unfair for him to make up numbers. This makes him less than trustworthy!
At minimum, we need truth in Topeka. Kansas seems to have turned the corner in many ways, but electing a not so truthful rebel rouser like Kris Kobach would be a big step backward.
I’m Steve Sauder and “there’s something to think about!”
With Kansans set to elect a new governor the issue of Medicaid expansion should be front and center. Here is part of a Topeka Capital-Journal recent editorial which I quote:
Thirty-two states have now expanded Medicaid, allowing citizens struggling to make ends meet to get extra help with the cost of healthcare. Seventeen of those states had Republican-controlled legislatures, seventeen have Republican governors. Governments in those states have realized that Medicaid expansion is not a partisan issue.
It just makes sense for states like Kansas.
Expanding Medicaid in Kansas would mean offering benefits for an additional 150,000 low-income Kansans who make too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid but not enough to be eligible for financial assistance to buy private health insurance.
Opponents complain that some of these Kansans are able-bodied and choosing not to work and those with no income already qualify for support.
It’s the working poor who too often fall between the cracks. Hearing the stories of those impacted by lack of Medicaid coverage points to the complexity of their situations. They are students, people working very low-wage jobs, people unable to find affordable childcare and people with physical or mental illness that fall just short of the standards to qualify for disability.
With 90 percent of the costs covered by the federal government, an expansion would allow an influx of much-needed resources into Kansas hospitals and long-term care facilities.
The Kansas legislature did the right thing last year by passing Medicaid expansion, which was vetoed by then-governor Sam Brownback.
The editorial then says: If our elected leaders are unwilling or unable to expand Medicaid, Kansas should consider taking the campaign directly to the ballot box.
Unfortunately, my sources tell me Kansas doesn’t allow for Referendums, so while Maine passed expanded Medicaid with a 59% margin and several other states will be voting in November that won’t happen in Kansas meaning we need to elect officials who support expanding Medicaid.
The editorial concludes with: Kansans have repeatedly shown support for expansion in large margins. Multiple polls have shown more than 75 percent of Kansas voters support expanding KanCare.
Our failure to expand KanCare has left billions of our tax dollars in the hands of the federal government, but we have an opportunity to change course.
Well said!
I’m Steve Sauder
More...
Today my thoughts come from a really timely column written by Mitch Albom, in the Detroit Free Press on June 30. You’ll remember Mitch from his book and TV show Tuesday’s with Morrie.
The column was titled: The ricochet effect of public shaming now on full display.
He talks about the old use of the dunce caps in classrooms in hopes that by shaming someone in front of their peers they’ll think twice about repeating their misdeed.
He points out today this type of bullying in classrooms is not acceptable, but in our political world unfortunately led by our President the shaming of others using rhetoric is more than common.
Recently Sarah Hucklebee Sanders, the White House Press Secretary was asked to leave a restaurant in Virginia because the help was upset about her politics. The media has shamed Sanders since even though she was guilty only of doing her job and reportedly left the business without incident.
The hypocrisy here is the offended employees were reported gay yet they very likely do not support the recent Supreme Court decision saying the Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple was exercising his religious rights.
Albom points out the call by Congresswoman Maxine Waters to her supporters in Los Angeles, she said, If you see anybody from that (Trump) Cabinet in a restaurant, department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and create a crowd….And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.
Mitch says, Public shaming. All that’s missing is the dunce cap. Except this time, the dumb behavior is from people who think they’re being smart.
My point is to lift up how often the words being used today in way too many political situations are inappropriate.
Mitch Albom brings up the wise words spoken by First Lady Michelle Obama several years ago when she said, When they go low, we go high.
That’s great advice that unfortunately is being followed today by few from either political party. While President Trump is the uncontested ringleader in inappropriate rhetoric there’s plenty of blame to go around.
Would it not be interesting to make a rule that for a day or a week or longer that politicians had to - not say anything if they couldn’t say something nice?
Not a chance!
I’m Steve Sauder
Last Saturday five Republican candidates for Governor of Kansas were in Salina for a debate, but only 4 participated.
Former Senator Jim Barnett has not participated in any of the Kansas Republican Party sponsored debates because he refuses to sign a contract limiting the scope of the debate topics. He attended the so-called debate but sat in the audience.
First, let’s applaud Jim for his willingness to NOT participate in these rigged events.
With the primary coming soon Kansans have a big choice to make.
Most of the night was highlighted by Governor Jeff Colyer blasting away at Secretary of State Kris Kobach for his growing list of misdeeds including being sent back to school by a Federal judge for his misconduct in a recent hearing!
Barnett’s strategy is to allow the others to “beat each other up” and emerge as a more “palatable” choice. This seems like a good decision especially after Saturday where Colyer according to the “Topeka Capital-Journal “unleashed a mean torrent of criticism toward his opponent;” and Kobach accused Colyer of “being either ignorant or intentionally misleading.”
Barnett’s Tweet saying, “ The next governor of Kansas needs to re-create a functioning state government” could not be more accurate and the display in Salina on Saturday convinces me Jim Barnett is not only that man, but that he’s the only candidate that can re-create a civil, functioning state government!
The challenge to my thought process is obviously that Jim is trailing even in his own polls.
Obviously now is the time for Kansans to decide what we want in the future – more of the same or a leader willing to listen, compromise and lead?
After a good night’s sleep my decision is to stay with Senator Barnett despite the peril of possibly seeing Kris Kobach become our next governor – a fate maybe even worse than the horrible Brownback experience.
Electing Colyer would be Brownback light or Kobach – Brownback worse, so Jim Barnett gets my vote.
There are 42 days left before the Primary Election. That’s plenty of time for Barnett’s message of common sense leadership for Kansas to resonate.
If supporters like me jump off the wagon now simply because he trails in the polls his fate and our states are sealed, so I’m dropping a check in the mail to P.O. Box 4584 in Topeka 66604 to help the best candidate for Governor of Kansas run the entire race. Hopefully, many of you will join me.
I’m Steve Sauder
Father’s Day morning I watched Outside the Lines on ESPN. It told about Ernie Johnson – Inside the NBA host with Shack, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith – who with wife Cheryl have 6 kids. Their first 2 were biological and healthy, but they then decided to adopt. From Ernie’s new book comes this excerpt”
Cheryl left for Romania on May 16, 1991. She made her first visit to an orphanage in a village outside Bucharest. On one of those rare occasions when we were able to secure a phone line, Cheryl detailed that visit for me. As she waited in the lobby, a nurse brought out a child. It was a boy, not quite 3 years old. He had been abandoned in a park at birth. He could not walk. He could not speak. On the other end of the phone, my wife was having trouble speaking. She was in tears.
"Hon, I met this little boy today. The first child I saw. The nurse told me, ‘Do not take. Boy is no good.' Ern, he has so many issues, he’s so much more than we said we could handle, but I don’t know if I can go the rest of my life wondering what happened to him."
Her words hung there, demanding a response, for 10 seconds, with neither of us speaking. Sometimes you are captured, even on a scratchy telephone line halfway around the world, not by the words you’re hearing but by how they are spoken. Those words were coming from some inner recess of Cheryl’s heart, someplace not easily accessed, some place for which only an abandoned, hopeless Romanian orphan had the key. Suddenly, all the things we had talked about and all the things we had written in the required adoption paperwork about the severity of a child’s condition we were willing to take on became secondary.
"Then bring him home."
The descriptions of the boy’s condition are worse than you can imagine. One foot turned 90 degrees, unable to chew because he’d never had solid food, unable to speak and eventually diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy!
Ernie explains the reaction from friends to that diagnosis was way too common, something like this:
"I’m so sorry to hear about Michael. I guess if you guys had known he had muscular dystrophy, you wouldn’t have adopted him."
Nothing could have been further from the truth. In as understanding a tone as I could muster, I would explain that we had adopted Michael not with an eye on what he would become, but for who he was – a neglected, forgotten child who deserved another chance.
Wow! Father’s Day morning and I’m coming off a wonderful time with my grandkids and after hearing from my healthy sons it hit home how blessed my family is and how amazing people like Ernie and Cheryl Johnson are.
My tears wouldn’t stop and my respect and admiration for parents who deal with kids like Michael skyrocketed. God bless all parents and especially those who deal with children with special needs.
I’m a very lucky “Papa” Steve Sauder.
Many of you are familiar with the Serenity Prayer. It’s a simple 24-word prayer that has aided many in 12 Step programs as they seek recovery. This prayer is often carried on a coin in one’s pocket. Here it is:
God, grant me the Serenity to accept things I cannot change….
Courage to change the things I can and Wisdom to know the difference.
Recently I ran across The New Serenity Prayer written by Father James Martin, SJ. Here it is:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, which is pretty much everyone, since I’m clearly not you, God. At least the last time I checked.
And while you’re at it, God, please give me the courage to change what I need to change about myself, which is frankly a lot, since, once again, I’m not you, which means I’m not perfect.
It’s better for me to focus on changing myself than to worry about changing other people, who, as you’ll no doubt remember me saying, I cannot change anyway.
Finally, give me the wisdom to just shut up whenever I think that I’m clearly smarter than everyone else in the room, that no one knows what they’re talking about except me, or that I alone have all the answers.
Basically, God, grant me the wisdom to remember that I’m not you.
Amen.
Obviously some great thoughts.
Anyone else think sending a copy of this to the occupant of that big white house on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC makes sense?
I’m Steve Sauder and there’s something to think about!
