God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can & wisdom to know the difference
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
– Reinhold Niebuhr
The abbreviated version recited in AA meetings says,
God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can & wisdom to know the difference.
Reinhold Niebuhr’s original text expands significantly on these ideas. How does looking at the full, original prayer deepen and enrich our understanding of what it means?
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