Long on Insight

I have the Serenity Prayer on a tapestry that hangs in my bathroom. Courage and action are essentials for my recovery so I need daily reminders. There are so many places to learn about this mysterious prayer, but sometimes it is just worth reading the longer version of the prayer, before it was shortened. When AA adopted the poem, it was shortened to its current state. I prefer to believe that while it is apparently from a sermon on Christianity, its relevance stems from what it is saying about waring nations, or like me, people who are used to fighting with themselves.

The original, attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr, is:

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.
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.
Amen.

Personal Journals 2015 - 2017 | Published July 25, 2012