Serenity Prayers: Prayers, Poems, and Prose to Soothe Your Soul

by June Cotner

Overview

Serenity Prayers is a lovely and timeless collection of prayers, prose, and poems that leaves readers feeling relaxed, peaceful, hopeful, and encouraged. It's a thoughtful resource for facing everyday challenges.

Excerpt from the book:

"A Clear Midnight
This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars." —Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

* Features selections from Mitch Albom, Emily Dickinson, William Penn, Rumi, Carl Sandburg, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and William Butler Yeats.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781449446024
Publisher:	Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication date:	01/13/2015
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	4.00(w) x 5.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

 June Cotner—-author, anthologist, and speaker—-hails from Poulsbo, WA. She has appeared on national radio programs, and her books have been featured in many national publications including USA TODAY, Better Homes and Gardens, Woman's Day, and Family Circle. Collectively, her books have sold nearly one million copies.

Interviews

God 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.



I have frequently turned to "The Serenity Prayer" by Reinhold Niebuhr throughout my life. It's one of the most revered messages of our time and has touched countless lives.

Many circumstances in modern life affect our sense of peace and contentment-stressful jobs, relationship difficulties, day-to-day worries, and a sense of feeling overwhelmed with the hyperspeed demands of life. In Serenity Prayers, I've offered helpful thoughts, perspectives, and insights that encourage us to create more peace, joy, and tranquility in our lives.

The pathway to serenity most often includes strong faith, which keeps us calm even in the midst of excitement, adversity, or danger. Our faith leads us toward courage to endeavor and overcome our difficulties while continuing to believe in the goodness and great meaning of life. Before including a passage in Serenity Prayers, I asked myself, "Does this selection make me feel more serene, open doors to faith and courage, offer a needed perspective, or help me feel more joy and gratitude?"

In Serenity Prayers, the voices of classic visionaries such as Rumi, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman mingle with fresh thoughts of contemporary writers such as Mitch Albom and Barbara Crooker. Finding new ways to feel tranquil gives us more compassion, contentment, and appreciation for our blessings.

"The Serenity Prayer" encourages us to accept the things we cannot change and muster the courage to change the things we can. May the selections in SerenityPrayers provide the encouragement and inspiration you need to practice the profound thoughts in Reinhold Niebuhr's deeply moving prayer.