Thread: SERENITY PRAYER

The Serenity Prayer can be applied every aspect of our life and how we fight illegal immigration. It originally had nothing to do with alcoholism. There are some things that we have to accept and there are things that we can change and we should not waste time on the things we cannot change and spend our time fighting the things we can change as regarding illegal immigration..

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

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.

A Brief History of the Serenity Prayer
There is no shortage of theories as to who wrote the Serenity Prayer. Records from Alcoholics Anonymous show that Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr, of the Union Theological Seminary, NYC, composed it in 1932 as the ending to a longer prayer. In 1934, Dr. Howard Robbins, the doctor’s friend & neighbor, requested permission to use that portion of the longer prayer in a compilation he was building at the time. It was published that year in Dr. Robbins’ book of prayers.
In 1939, it came to the attention of an early A.A. member who liked it so much, he brought it to Bill W., the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Bill & the staff read the prayer & felt that it particularly suited the needs of AA. Cards were printed & passed around. Thus the simple little prayer became an integral part of the AA movement.

Another popular theory states that Reinhold Niebuhr actually accredited Friedrich Oetinger, an 18th century theologian, for writing the Serenity Prayer. This theory suggests that in 1947, Niebuhr read the prayer in an obituary notice in the New York Tribune & was so taken by it that he shared it with Bill Wilson.

Page 67 of the out-of-print booklet, "Between Dawn & Dark," by Frederick Ward Kates — published by the Upper Room in 1957 — reads:

Almighty God, our heavenly father, give us serenity to accept what cannot be changed, courage to change what should be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other. Amen
Fourteenth Century

I've heard of that prayer and have said it many times in the past when situations are beyond my control.

Thank's for sharing

Thanks Dyehard, that is a wonderful prayer.

First thing I do when I get up in the morning is say it.

That was my mom favorite prayer. She had a plaque with praying hands and that underneath. She lived her life according to those words. Thanks for posting.

My wife and I are true rednecks, we have that serenity prayer in needle point hanging on our wall, another in the kitchen, and even one hanging in one of our bathrooms, when we lost our son, we came to rely totally on that little prayer, it was the only thing that helped us to retain our sanity in an otherwise completely insane world at that time.

It amazes me how many people use the prayer and they are not alcholics.

Originally Posted by dyehard39

It amazes me how many people use the prayer and they are not alcholics.

We didn't say that. LOL!

Originally Posted by dyehard39

It amazes me how many people use the prayer and they are not alcholics.

The wife and I are both alcoholics!



haha gotcha, just teasing. :P

Originally Posted by nittygritty

Originally Posted by dyehard39

It amazes me how many people use the prayer and they are not alcholics.

The wife and I are both alcoholics!



haha gotcha, just teasing. :P

What I was saying is that the prayer applies to many different situations and not only alchoholics.