This is not exactly a prayer but more of (what I thought was) a nice concept:
August 3, 2005 Serenity Of Knowing: Acceptance Daily Om newsletter
The world is a palette of varied beauty with subtle and not-so-subtle differences in brilliance and hue. But, like all we perceive subjectively, many things can fail to meet our expectations. People don't behave as we'd wish them to, situations turn out differently than we'd imagined, and the end result is often unhappiness. The remedy is acceptance - an open-minded, understanding perception that brings the serenity of knowing every individual, situation, or difficulty is unique and valuable in some way. It is a mode of respect for differences, of seeing beyond faults or disappointments and reaching contentment.
Though acceptance necessitates recognizing and acknowledging situations or attitudes that exist in the present, it does not imply that you need also give your approval. To approve or to disapprove is to judge, but in accepting, you simply understand that all situations and all people are in a constant state of flux. Likewise, each of us is also in the process of changing and by choosing to accept ourselves (in the past, present, and future); we can truly begin to understand who we really are. Acceptance is freedom from the need to retain preconceived notions, control of others, favored outcomes, or the anxiety that can come when the unexpected occurs. It is more than tolerance, though resisting the urge to react to the choices of others is a large part of the process. Rather it is a patience and gentleness that extends outward, beginning in one's own soul and extending to other people and the world at large.
Sometimes the process works in reverse because accepting others can be easier than accepting oneself, though the latter is the inevitable result of true acceptance. In fostering acceptance, the need to judge is quelled because the belief that others ought to live up to your expectations (or 'should thinking') is eliminated because everything is evolving and deserves to do so without interference. And in letting growth happen and understanding that each person, place, thing, or situation is as it is meant to be, a blissful quiet of the mind and strong feelings of worth can be realized.
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Interestingly, it appears that acceptance is a step beyond tolerance. Acceptance includes an unfeigned love for those individuals and things that may go so far as to subtract from our gain of someone or something positive, while tolerance includes that little begrudging tinge of putting oneself out to accommodate someone else's need or standard.
The acceptance message reminds me of two opposing scriptures. There is, on the one hand, the scripture that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose and, on the other hand, the scripture to cast down wicked imaginations. Sometimes, all that is needed is some introspection, some taking stock of what we are doing which can be done better. Too bad that self-examination takes honesty with which so few so little as care to be familiar: the brute beast too often stubbornly maintains the upper hand.
