A short piece dedicated to my sister

My sister passed away a few years ago. Since she loved butterflies, I thought of her in choosing this piece, which also has an important message.

Obverse

“Change is the essence of life” is part of a quote by Reinhold Niebuhr. Neibuhr was a theologian, son of a Lutheran minister from Missouri. He became a lecturer in New York and exercised considerable influence in American religious and political thought.

One of Niebuhr’s most well known pieces is the Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

I will cover the serenity prayer in more detail in another post. Suffice to say, the full quote on today’s piece, is firmly dedicated to the “Courage to change the things I can” part of that prayer.

Reverse

The reverse of the medallion contains the rest of the quote from the obverse. The obverse contained “Change is the essence of life”. The reverse finishes this thought: “Be willing to surrender what you are for what you might become”.

Google’s new AI summary assures me this quote is from a sermon by Reinhold Niebuhr, although I am struggling to find a copy of the text of that sermon (Possibly in one of his books?) Nevertheless, the meaning of the quote is not too hard to decipher. You can’t achieve a different outcome without change. You need to give up the comfort of the status quo to grow and become an even better version of yourself. This is often quoted by people who have done just that.

So, this piece is inspiring us to be brave, to take that step to achieve positive change in our lives. Such a piece could make a good “pocket piece”. Something to carry with you, to reach into your pocket to touch and remind yourself of the journey you are on to. I often carry a pocket piece with me, a medallion with a message to inspire me. For instance, when things are a bit hard, I often carry the Code 9 Senses coin I covered recently. I admit I have not used this piece as a pocket piece, but perhaps I should…

Do you carry a pocket piece? What do you carry, and why? Let us know in the comments, or on social media!