In just about every recovery meeting I’ve ever attended, whether it be AA or any other fellowship, I’ve recited something known as The Serenity Prayer. Having said this prayer so many times over the years now, I finally grew curious as to where it originated. What was interesting was how much I learned in my research for that answer.
One of the first things I discovered, that I’m sure many might not know, is the Serenity Prayer spoken in recovery meetings isn’t actually the full version of it. The following is what is known as its ‘long’ version:
“God, give me 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 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.”
Over the years, even this version of The Serenity Prayer has come under scrutiny as to whether it’s even the first iteration of it. There also has been a tremendous amount of speculation as to who originally came up with its words. Most sources seem to claim that a Dr. Reinhold Niehbuh, a theologian in the 1940’s, is that person. But even Niehbur questioned himself at one point when he told an interviewer that versions of the prayer could have been around for years or even centuries.
Upon further research, Bill Wilson, the founder of AA himself, even wrote in the book A.A. Comes of Age that “some say it [The Serenity Prayer] came from the early Greeks; others think it was from the pen of an anonymous English poet; still others claimed it was written by an American Naval officer…” In my research, other sources further cited ancient Sanskrit texts, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, Spinoza, Cicero, Boethius, Marcus Aurelius, St. Francis of Assisi, Thomas More, and Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, all as possibilities of being the original creator of The Serenity Prayer.
While the exact origin and author of this prayer may be shrouded in uncertainty, there is something else I found even more fascinating about it. The version I’ve come to know and love was originally not conceived as an antidote to addiction. Instead it is said that Niehbur wrote it in response to the evils going on with Nazi Germany during World War II. Being a first-generation German-American, Neihbur was safe from the persecution in his native country, but powerless to oppose Hitler. Sources claim he wrote The Serenity Prayer because of this and it was used for a sermon he gave at the Union Church in Heath, Massachusetts. Thus, the intent behind Niehbur’s prayer was in direct response to the horrors going on in his country with the treatment and genocide of the Jewish people.
In 1944, Niehbur’s prayer was published in The Book of Prayers and Services for the Armed Forces. At that time, the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous was only in its beginning stages. But apparently a copy of The Serenity Prayer eventually made it to the desk of Bill Wilson, who in turn asked Niehbur for permission to use it in the meetings he was leading. After receiving it, Bill toned down some of its religious connotations by shortening it and changing a few of its words to the following that we in recovery all know and love so well:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.”
To this day, it’s Bill Wilson’s version of The Serenity Prayer that has become an incredible symbol of faith, hope, and acceptance for so many who have suffered from one addiction or another. So while there may always be a little bit of mystery surrounding this prayer’s true origin and author, I’m just truly grateful to God that it even exists at all. It’s words have been an inspiration to not only me, but countless of other alcoholics and addicts who have used its words for decades to find their own recovery from their addictions too.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson