Origin of our Serenity Prayer

Origin of our Serenity Prayer

In any event, Mrs. Reinhold Niebuhr told an interviewer that her husband was definitely the prayer's author, that she had seen the piece of paper on which he had written it, and that her husband -- now that there were numerous variations of wording - "used and preferred" the following form:

"God, give us 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."

While all of these searching’s are intriguing, challenging, even mysterious, they pale in significance when compared to the fact that, for fifty years, the prayer has become so deeply imbedded into the heart and soul of A.A. thinking, living, as well as its philosophy, that one could almost believe that the prayer originated in the A.A. experience itself.

Bill made this very point years ago, in thanking an A.A. friend for the plaque upon which the prayer was inscribed: "In creating A.A., the Serenity Prayer has been a most valuable building block - indeed a corner-stone."

And speaking of cornerstones, and mysteries and "coincidences" -- the building where Alcoholics Anonymous General Service Office is now located at 475 Riverside Drive borders on a stretch of New York City's 120th St., between Riverside Drive and Broadway that is now named Reinhold Niebuhr Place.

(A long version of the 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.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it:

Trusting that He will make all things
right if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.

(Another long version of the Prayer from Ireland)

God take and receive my liberty,
my memory, my understanding and will,
All that I am and have He has given me

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.

Living one day at a time
Enjoying one moment at a time
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to his will
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy in the next.

And the version on Bare foot’s Domain, The Prayer For Serenity and the meanings of this marvelous Prayer of Supplication to the Higher Power, which speaks to all human beings from deep down within....... .

As in so many things, especially with we Alcoholics, our History is our Greatest Asset! We each arrived at the doors of AA with an intensive and lengthy "History of Things That Do Not Work”... Today, In AA and In Recovery, Our History has added an intensive and lengthy "History of Things That DO Work!!" and we will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it!!