Continuing from my last writing…
The serenity prayer had an original writing that was more detailed than the short version.
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.
Amen
Then there was another FULL original copy of the Serenity Prayer
by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
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 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.
The other edited version:
O God and Heavenly Father,
Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; the courage to change that which can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Reinhold Niebuhr’s daughter, Elisabeth Sifton, wrote a book about her father’s famous serenity prayer entitled, The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War.
The prayer has been printed on small cards and given out to soldiers on the battle field and also in alcoholics anonymous groups.
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I think we all can say this prayer as we deal with life’s many difficulties.
Many times there are things we cannot change, people we cannot change or circumstances we have no control over.
Through that process we are asking…Lord God…
give us wisdom…
as we realize and accept what can be changed and what cannot.
Help us to ‘let go’ as we know the difference…
and be at peace with it.
