After I published “The Wisdom Prayer” post, one of my readers ‘schooled’ me about the Prayer. The original poem is attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971), an American theologian, liberal intellectual, and one of the most influential ministers of the 1940s and 1950s in public affairs. It was originally printed as a single prose sentence; but today, it’s most commonly seen as a three-line poem. Also, a longer version incorporating a whole new section can be found, but the new lines may have been added by William Spence in 1953. Despite some mild controversy over its real authorship and the variations that have proliferated in the public domain, it’s still a powerful and provocative poem. As I reflect on the longer version, maybe my next new title for the poem should be “The Faith Prayer”. What would you name it?
The Serenity Prayer
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 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;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.