Have you ever read the Serenity Prayer in its entirety? You know the prayer that starts off with "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change...?" This beautiful prayer that is recited in Alcoholics Anonymous was written sometime before the mid 20th century, and it's author has been in dispute over the last several years. The long version below (attributed to Protestant theologian Reinhold Neibuhr around 1951) is quite different and much more theological than the one we know by heart, and it beautifully mentions our need for grace and talks about accepting hardship as Jesus did. Perhaps reciting the entire prayer may give you some much needed serenity right now:
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- 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.
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- Living one day at a time,
- Enjoying one moment at a time,
- Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
- Taking, as Jesus did,
- This sinful world as it is,
- Not as I would have it,
- Trusting that You will make all things right,
- If I surrender to Your will,
- So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
- And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
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- Amen.
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