Serenity Prayer
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.
to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
This is my mother’s favorite prayer.
It is an abbreviated version.
Here is the original.
Original 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 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.
~Reinhold Niebuhr
Praying for you as you visit Mom. Also praying for her healing.
I’ve always loved the serenity prayer. Praying peace for you tonight, Sandy.
” … accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.”
Hard words to read, even harder ones to live. Yet wise, wise words here — wisdom necessary for every valley-walk.
Sandy,
Thank you. I never knew there was “more” to the prayer. I love the original.
Jennifer nailed it, I think.
S.
Oh wow. Like some of the other friends I did not know there was an expanded version to this prayer. It has even more meaning to me now. Thank you for sharing it.