We can either accept them, or struggle against them. ![]() Also, there are many things in this world that are not within our power to change, ever. ![]() We can work towards making things better, but we must start by accepting this moment as it is. Things are the way they are and we cannot change this. In our self-help narcissistic culture, we are rarely encouraged to stop striving and fighting but, rather, accept limits. The concept of radical acceptance is the most important part of the Serenity Prayer because it is the most needed. So serenity and acceptance can feed each other in an upward spiral, while conversely, to be unaccepting and troubled can feed into each other in a downward spiral. It is derived from a term that means clear skies - and this meaning survives in the phrase, “not a cloud on the horizon.” This line in the Serenity Prayer is interesting because to accept the things I cannot change will help me experience serenity, and to begin with serenity will help me to accept of things that I cannot change. To have serenity means to be in an untroubled state. The serenity to accept the things I cannot change Rather, we admit our powerlessness and humbly ask for the tools and guidance we need. (Niebuhr’s original version said “God, give us grace to accept with serenity…”) The bottom line is that we seek not to control our behavior and our life, to engineer it, in such a way as to have serenity and courage. The most remarkable thing about how often the Serenity Prayer is said by non-believers is its unequivocal stand in its first few words: that the serenity and courage we seek comes as a gift from God. Now, let’s take a look at it: God grant me Francis Prayer as an aid to members, it has since been used by church organizations throughout the world, and even distributed to soldiers by the U.S. and printed along with the Lord’s Prayer and the St. Niebuhr himself told a reporter humbly that while he believed he wrote it, it was possible that he’d picked it up from something older. Later, it was determined pretty solidly that it came from American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. member saw it, unattributed, in a newspaper obituary, brought it to other early A.A. As is so often the case with spiritual sayings and prayers, the origins of the Serenity Prayer are slightly clouded. I’ll go through the prayer line by line, but first a brief background. It seems to me that if you can follow this prayer, you are a long way towards living rightly. I say the Serenity Prayer as part of my regular prayer life. Its genius is its brevity - how it says so much that is important in so few words.īut it can also become meaningless through repetition, so I want to devote a column to sharing this wonderful spiritual tool with those who don’t know it, and to encouraging those who say it regularly to take a moment and look at it fresh. This is due in large part to its adoption by Alcoholics Anonymous, from there spilling over into many recovery and self-improvement activities. ![]() Recited by Christians, non-Christians and “spiritual-but-not-religious” seekers alike, the Serenity Prayer is part of our culture. “God, grant me the serenity…” You’ve probably heard the Serenity Prayer, whether while attending a 12-Step meeting as a member or guest, or from watching a movie or TV show with a representation of one.
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