Tag Archives: control is an addictive drug

For Peace of Mind Resign as General Manager of the Universe

When I was student teaching in Iowa City with Larry Knipfer, our elementary music students put on a production of “If’n I Was God” from the musical Tom Sawyer. In the musical, Tom reckons he could straighten the world out ‘if’n only he was God’. Unless you are the rare exception, you probably have a few ideas of your own that you’d like to pass on to the Almighty Creator. In our minds we think we know what is best and would like to be in control of it.

The truth is, control is most often an illusion at best, and an addictive drug at worst. We can plan and work and strive and fuss. We can schedule and manage and organize and supervise. But real control is most usually beyond our grasp. We don’t control others and we certainly don’t control life’s circumstances. Real peace is found in accepting that we only have control over ourselves, our own choices about what we think, what we believe and how we respond to the things life throws our way.

You probably aren’t familiar with the name Reinhold Niebuhr; I wasn’t. But you probably are familiar with something he wrote. Niebuhr was an American pastor who wrote in 1943 what is now known as the Serenity Prayer:
“God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.”

Niebuhr goes on to write about the virtues of living one day at a time, enjoying each moment and accepting difficulties as the road to peace. It’s a good reminder to stop striving after things so much and to pursue inner peace throughout each day. . . peace with others, peace with self, peace with God. Finding peace in the midst of life’s battles is a discipline that requires daily training. But it is worth the effort.

For years I’ve used ‘transition times’ to find peace: times between meetings, walking to the car, a quiet moment before meals. Some days, I do better than others. But each day spent practicing the discipline of peace is better than trying to be General Manager of the Universe!

Hebrews 12:11
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.