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Serenity, Courage, Wisdom, and Will

Serenity, Courage, Wisdom, and Will

Last updated on: September 14, 2025 at 11:00 am by John Beckett

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Serenity, Courage, Wisdom, and Will 2025-09-14T06:54:17-06:00 John Beckett

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The text from today’s Sunday Service at the Denton Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

20th Century Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr – whose work was influential on people from Martin Luther King Jr. to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton – wrote the original version of the Serenity Prayer:

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.

Alcoholics Anonymous adopted the prayer into their practices in 1941, and it’s been a part of 12 Step and other addiction recovery programs ever since. It has been meaningful and helpful to countless people over the decades and I in no way wish to disparage it. But as useful as the Serenity Prayer is in the context of addiction and recovery, it is inadequate for the situation we find ourselves in today.

What do we do with the things we cannot change, but that our values will not allow us to accept?

An art exhibition

I’ve always been interested in Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Bismarck united 25 separate states into a modern nation, and it became a leader in science and engineering. Germany was a center of modern Christian thought, especially the “higher criticism” which rejected a literal interpretation of the Bible. Berlin was a cultural center for the arts, including the new art of filmmaking. And for those who could afford it, it was a center for nightlife and self-expression, especially for what would become known as the LGBTQ community.

And then… well, you know what happened in 1933. How did they go from this to that? And, how closely does that mirror what’s going on in our own country here and now?

Back in June I went to an exhibition at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth titled Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910–1945. This was a collection of around 70 paintings and other works of art, mainly from the Expressionist and New Objectivity movements, depicting life and politics in Germany at the time.

“Social Climbers” by Bernhard Kretzschmar (1939), part of the exhibit at the Kimball Museum. A subtle commentary on Hitler (who had been called a “house painter” for his mediocre artwork) and Mussolini and their efforts to remake the maps of Europe. Despite his subtlety, Kretzschmar’s works were labeled “degenerate” and removed from German museums. He survived the war and died in 1972 at the age of 83.

Individually, only two or three of the paintings really grabbed my attention. But viewed as a whole, as an exhibition, the impact was stunning – especially when reading the stories of the artists who created the paintings. What happened to the artists?

Some were killed in the war, or died during the war of non-war-related causes. Some died in concentration camps. A few collaborated with the Nazis, either because they had Nazi sympathies, or because they thought it was the easiest way to get by.

But most simply kept painting… though “simply” is probably the wrong word. Some fled to Switzerland or other safe places in Europe. Some went to Argentina, or the United States. Many of those who stayed had their work confiscated as “degenerate.”

“Degenerate” artists. “Degenerate” artwork. “Degenerate” people. Now where have I heard that recently?

Some hid their work. Some had it destroyed but re-created it after the war was over. Some kept what they saw to themselves, and then painted it when it was safe to tell those stories again.

Few if any would be considered heroes. Few if any would be considered martyrs. They were artists, and they did what artists do: paint, sculpt, create. Mainly, they told stories. And because they told their stories we know what happened, and what life was like for them and for others. When we join our Jewish friends in saying “never again” we know exactly what that means.

There’s a lesson in here for us. I do not expect the United States in the 2020s and 30s to even approach the level of death, destruction, and evil that was Germany in the 1930s and 40s. At the same time, we are already faced with situations and circumstances we cannot change, and that we cannot accept.

We will almost certainly not be martyrs, and I hope none of us are – I want everyone to make it. It is unlikely any of us will be heroes. But just as the artists of Germany did what they were called to do – make art – we can all do what we’re called to do, whatever that may be.

Will and true will

Where serenity and courage are not enough, there is will.

Philosophers from Aristotle to Nietzsche have written volumes on the question of will. I’m going to condense it down to two distinct but related definitions.

Will is what you consciously choose. And will is your calling in life.

There are well-meaning people who say things like “God has a plan for your life” or “the Universe has a plan for you.” Now, I’m a polytheist who affirms the reality of many Gods, but none of those Gods are trying to micromanage our lives. And “the Universe” is simply a collective noun for everything that exists. “The Universe” is not an omniscient individual who you can know and relate to in any meaningful sense.

No one is handing you a blueprint for your life. Now, there are plenty of people who will tell you exactly how you should live your life, from parents to preachers to politicians. And then there are the advertisers, who will tell you that you can’t live a good life unless you buy what they’re selling.

The only person who can create a plan for your life is you. You get to choose, but you have to choose, or someone will choose for you, and those people do not have your best interests at heart.

Finding – and exercising – your will

We get to choose, but it’s not true that we can be anything we want to be.

Like many boys of my age, the first thing I wanted to be was a baseball player. Two years of Little League clearly demonstrated that I did not have the physical skills needed to make my high school team, much less to become a professional baseball player. No amount of “wanting it” or “trying harder” was going to make up for my lack of athletic ability. On the other hand, I was pretty good at math and science, and I liked them, and by 7th grade I had figured out that engineering was a pretty good match for me. I’m getting close to the end of my professional career, and while I haven’t become an all-star engineer, I’ve done some good work and I’ve made a good living.

And also, at a young age I figured out that following the religion of my parents and being a fundamentalist Christian wasn’t a good match for me. Statistically speaking I should have become an atheist, or perhaps a progressive Christian. But there was always something about Paganism that interested me, that called to me, even when I didn’t know such a path existed in the modern world. There was always something that whispered that Nature isn’t fallen, Nature is sacred; magic isn’t an illusion, magic is real; and the Divine isn’t one old man in the sky, the Divine is many and the Divine is here with us now.

How much of this is nature and how much is nurture and how much is free choice is something we can debate for the rest of our lives and still not come to a definitive conclusion. But what is certain is that if I hadn’t done my math and science homework in high school, if I hadn’t gone to a college with an engineering program, and if I hadn’t pursued job openings in engineering, I would never have become an engineer.

And if I hadn’t challenged the toxic religion of my childhood, if I hadn’t explored other religious paths, and if I hadn’t followed those paths as deeply as I could, I would not be standing here today speaking with you.

What is it that you’re called to do: to make a living, to explore and learn, to create and express? What is your will?

What is it that you’re called to do in response to our current social, political, and environmental crises? What is your will?

Maybe you need to become a political activist, or even run for office. Maybe you need to support those who do these things. Or maybe you simply need to fully be who and what you are, to live your values so as to show the world there’s a better way.

What will you do? What is your will?

Refuse to comply in advance

Because this is a UU church I’m going to assume you’re all at least somewhat familiar with Project 2025. But how many of you have actually read it? I don’t mean all 900 pages. But how many of you have gone to the actual document and read at least some of the actual words, as opposed to what you’ve seen in memes on social media?

If you have, you know it’s a plan to undo the progress of the last century: the social safety net, the women’s movement, the civil rights movement, the sexual revolution, and especially the LGBTQ rights movement. It’s a plan to take the United States back to the 1950s, when straight white Christian men ran the show and everyone else knew their place.

Now, I don’t think a majority of Americans want this. But back in November a plurality voted for it, and so that’s what we’re getting. Decisions are made by those who show up. Some of the people who voted for this now regret their votes, but most don’t.

We cannot change the election. Until the next election, but that’s a ways off, and there’s no guarantee it will go better. And even if it does, in many cases the damage is already done. Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, but its fate was sealed in November 2016.

What do we do when we’re stuck in a situation we cannot change, and that we cannot accept?

We exercise our will and we live our lives our way, as loudly and proudly as we’re capable of living them.

We live out our will and we continue to paint, whatever “painting” represents for you in your life.

And if all you can do is to say “I dissent” and refuse to comply in advance, if all you can do is to live your life your way and show everyone that the world is bigger and brighter and more diverse than some people want it to be, then that’s enough.

When serenity and courage are insufficient, we have will.

Our obligations as citizens

Now, this does not mean we can simply bury our heads in the sand and pretend nothing bad is happening. Even though most of those German artists lived through the war, some ended up in concentration camps, and some only avoided the camps because they got out while they could. We ignore current events at our peril.

More relevantly for us, so long as our lives and our livelihoods are not in immediate danger, we have an obligation to be engaged citizens. We are where we are because too many people stayed home in 2016, in 2024, and in every other election.

Too many people act like democracy means voting for President once every four years. It’s far, far more than that. We have the obligation to vote in every race in every election.

DUUF is a tax-exempt organization, and so it is illegal for me to stand in the pulpit and tell you which candidates or parties to vote for. I think that’s a good law, even if the current administration has decided to not enforce it. In any case, it is not illegal for me to remind you that voting is not like getting married – you don’t have to love the candidates you vote for. Voting is like buying a bus ticket. You buy a ticket that will take you in the direction you want to go, even if it won’t get you all the way to your desired destination. You go as far as the first bus will take you and then you wait for the next bus. We didn’t get in this mess in one election and we aren’t going to get out of it in one election. Building a better world requires consistent effort over time.

Vote in the local elections, especially for school boards. Yes, the state sets the standards, but local school boards have considerable leeway in how those standards are interpreted and implemented. Local elections are nominally non-partisan, and there’s nowhere near the level of advertising we see for the larger races. That means you have to do some research to figure out who the candidates are. That took me about an hour in the last election. Probably none of them are UUs. But if your choice is between a principled conservative and a right wing culture warrior, that’s a pretty easy call. You just have to do the work to figure out who’s who.

Can you contribute money or time or both to help candidates who support your values? Can you help get out the vote? Can you run for office yourself? Do what you can, and don’t worry about what you can’t.

Write and call your elected representatives. Even if you never change their minds, they need to know that not everyone supports regressive politics.

I’m skeptical of protest marches – I haven’t seen them accomplish much since I was very young. But even if all they do is energize the people who show up, and let the fence-sitters know there’s another way, that’s a good thing. Know what you’re doing and the know risks you’re taking, but also know that people who look like me and like many of you don’t face the risks that more vulnerable people face.

We have an obligation to be engaged citizens.

A cultural problem

Our current situation has a political element to it. But ultimately, this is not a political problem. This is a cultural problem and a spiritual problem.

Martin Luther King Jr. said “the law cannot make a man love me but it can keep him from lynching me and I think that is pretty important.” Dr. King was of course right. But so long as people keep hating others because they’re different, and so long as people in positions of influence tell them it’s OK to hate the people they don’t like, we’re going to have to keep fighting off one lynch mob after another.

We need to change the culture, and that’s a long, slow process. We change the culture by telling better stories, by singing better songs, and by painting better paintings. Don’t think art matters? Look at how upset certain people are about the rainbow crosswalks in Orlando. We change the culture by showing people a better way to live, by living it, even when it’s hard, even when it’s scary, even when it feels like the forces of good are losing.

We change the culture by what we will no longer tolerate. Maybe you can call out your racist uncle at family gatherings. Maybe all you can do is get up and walk away. You must determine what risks are involved, and you must decide what risks you are willing to take. But in the end, we get what we tolerate, and we change what we challenge.

But I implore you to know the difference between enemies and imperfect allies; between those who are full of hate and those who mean well but have more to learn; between those who complain about “what we can’t say anymore” and those who are not well versed in the most inclusive language. The first deserve our active opposition. The second deserve our patience.

Changing the culture is an act of will. It requires contemplation and discernment, as we figure out what we’re called to do, what we want to do, who we want to be, and how we can best live out our highest values and virtues.

Changing the culture is an act of will. It requires choosing what we will do and then doing it, even when abandoning it would be easier.

Changing the culture is an act of will. When we’re faced with things we cannot change but that we cannot accept, we have will.

Let us use it.

Benediction

Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer is a Christian prayer. It has a second, longer section that is even more explicitly Christian than the four lines most of us know. But over the years, it’s been adapted by many different traditions, including a version suitable for atheists. This is my Pagan, polytheist adaptation, and my prayer for us all this morning.

May Cernunnos grant us serenity.
May Lugh grant us courage.
May Cerridwen grant us wisdom.
May the Morrigan show us our true will and may we live it,
now and in the days to come.

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