Boxing Day

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It's December 26th Boxing Day. An elusive holiday that often passes without much notice. But this year it has been my occasion for reflection on the loss of a great friend. In feudal England, Boxing Day was a time for the Lord of the estate to give to the serfs—whose lives were the substance of his equity—a mandatory offering of goods. It was also the day when churches would open up the offering box and give its contents to the poor and dispossessed. It is a day for public offering and this year it has required me to give to posterity the story of a friendship that was cut short by the hard and sometimes bitter shifts of life. Sometimes words feel inadequate for their subjects, but to leave them unsaid would be a further tragedy. In my reflection I was reminded of a prayer, one attributed to one of my favorite theologians Reinhold Niebuhr, but one whose sentiment has been poking up in the hearts of people for centuries. It reads,

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.

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.

--Reinhold Niebuhr