Sunday Spaziergang: Serenity & Sunshine

I've joked in another blog* before that Sundays are holy days of obligatory lounging and recreation in Germany, with required outdoor quite-time exercise in the afternoon - most often in the form of a long walk called a "Spaziergang." In all seriousness, it's one of the things I've come to cherish most in my new homeland, these restful Sundays.

While the temps today have not risen above freezing, the sun blessed us with another glorious sky and in the late afternoon created a sense of serenity over the quiet river. It reminded me of a prayer my Mom had hanging in our kitchen when I was a child:

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.

It seems an appropriate petition at this time of turmoil in my life.
Supposedly the full version of the prayer (attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr) from which these lines are extracted also includes
Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time.

Very fitting indeed.

* http://lipstickandlaptop.blogspot.de/2012/06/few-more-things-to-know-about-germans.html