Another version

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.

Grant me the patience with the changes that take time,
An appreciation of all that I have,
A tolerance of those with different struggles
And the strength to get up and try again
One day at a time.

Pagan version

 

God & Goddess grant me:


The power of Water, to accept with ease &

 grace what I cannot change.

The power of Fire, for the energy & courage

 to change the things I can.

The power of Air, for the ability to know the

difference.

And the power of Earth, for the strength to

continue my path.

Gracious Creater,

Please show me the way for this day

With patience, tolerance, kindliness & love.

Direct my thinking so I may be divorced from

Self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives

& freedom from self-will.

-- Edited by Tricia911 on Saturday 14th of December 2013 02:51:21 PM

Serenity prayer History: Credit to the Huffington Post

The Serenity Prayer's Journey From Wartime To Recovery

What does the serenity prayer mean?

The Serenity Prayer & AA

Most people who know even just a little bit about addiction and alcoholism know about those meetings where people get together and all say the Serenity Prayer together and then say, Hi, my name is ____ and Im a ____.

Original Serenity Prayer

The truth is that the Serenity prayer did not originate with the 12-Step movement.  Its most well-known version is attributed to the 20th century theologian and social commentator, Reinhold Niebuhr, but many Niebuhr included concede that the prayer has been around in various forms for centuries.  Interestingly, the prayer is not part of any religions liturgy and, as such, is truly a non-sectarian prayer.

Enough background.  What does the prayer mean?

What Does The Serenity Prayer Mean?

In other words, were asking God for three things serenity, courage, and wisdom.  Serenity has its time and place; courage has its time and place; and wisdom is the ability to know whether its a time and place for serenity or a time and place for courage.There are three parts to the Serenity Prayer.  The first asks for the serenity to accept the things that cant be changed; the second asks for the courage to change the things that can be changed; and the third asks for the wisdom to know the difference between the things that can and cannot be changed.

For instance, being resigned to a situation that can and should be changed is not really serenity so much as complacency, while trying to change something that is just a fact of reality isnt really courage so much as foolishness. Therefore, we dont want to use serenity to deal with situations that really call for courage and we dont want to use courage to deal with situations that really call for serenity.

Serenity Or Courage?

The problem is that self-deception, denial and our inherent prejudices make it hard for us to to tell these two kinds of situations apart.  Sometimes we trick ourselves into just accepting something that really is our responsibility to take care of because we are afraid of dealing with it. In that case, what we really need is courage not serenity.  Other times, we are convinced that if we would just try harder, come one stronger, give things another chance, then we will be able to alter some aspect of the truth to be more to our liking.  We do this because in our perfectionist drive to control people, places and things, we believe that reality ought to be different than it is and therefore, we are sure, we just need more grit and gumption to see things through.  But what we really need is the ability to let go and let G-d.  We dont need courage in that situation, but serenity.

So, we pray to our Higher Power to guide us in honestly assessing all situations so that we will come to the proper decision serenity or courage.

Serenity Prayer Exercises

One general guideline that I have personally found helpful is the me-you principle.  If something needs to change, it needs to change in me, while if something about you seems to be my problem, then what I really need to do is realize that you are who you are right now and accept that truth.  Its funny how it works out.  When I dont waste my energy trying to change you, I seem to have a lot more energy left over to change myself and when I work on changing myself, I seem to have a lot less problems with you.

Thank you David :)

 

Serenity Affirmation for Non-Theists

 

May my practice grant me the serenity,

To accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can

And wisdom to know the difference.

 

Humorous Version of the Serenity Prayer - For those with a funny bone

 

 

 

God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,

 the good fortune to run into the ones I do,

and the eyesight to tell the difference.

 

 

author unknown

'Serenity Or Courage?

The problem is that self-deception, denial and our inherent prejudices make it hard for us to to tell these two kinds of situations apart. Sometimes we trick ourselves into just accepting something that really is our responsibility to take care of because we are afraid of dealing with it. In that case, what we really need is courage not serenity. Other times, we are convinced that if we would just try harder, come one stronger, give things another chance, then we will be able to alter some aspect of the truth to be more to our liking. We do this because in our perfectionist drive to control people, places and things, we believe that reality ought to be different than it is and therefore, we are sure, we just need more grit and gumption to see things through. But what we really need is the ability to let go and let G-d. We dont need courage in that situation, but serenity.

So, we pray to our Higher Power to guide us in honestly assessing all situations so that we will come to the proper decision serenity or courage.'

I have never really understood this until now.

The original "Serenity Prayer" was conceived
in a little stone cottage in Heath, Massachusetts
by Reinhold Niebuhr and, per his daughter, was written like this:

"God, Give us the 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."
(From "The Serentiy Prayer" by Elisabeth Sifton)That same "little stone cottage" has been restored and
and is now available to the general public.
You can visit their web site at: Serenity Stone Cottage
(The cottage is not affiliated with aahistory.com) 

---

The Origin of our Serenity PrayerAs published in August/September 1992 BOX-459
(Reprinted with permission)
AA History.com

For many years, long after the Serenity Prayer became attached to the very fabric of the Fellowship's life and thought, its exact origin, its actual author, have played a tantalizing game of hide and seek with researchers, both in and out of A.A. The facts of how it came to be used by A.A. a half century ago are much easier to pinpoint.  Early in 1942, writes Bill W., in A.A. Comes of Age, a New York member, Jack, brought to everyone's attention a caption in a routine New York Herald Tribune obituary that read: "God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference."  Everyone in A.A.'s burgeoning office on Manhattan's Vesey Street was struck by the power and wisdom contained in the prayer's thoughts. "Never had we seen so much A.A. in so few words," Bill writes. Someone suggested that the prayer be printed on a small, wallet-sized card, to be included in every piece of outgoing mail. Ruth Hock, the Fellowship's first (and nonalcoholic) secretary, contacted Henry S., a Washington D.C. member, and a professional printer, asking him what it would cost to order a bulk printing.  Henry's enthusiastic response was to print 500 copies of the prayer, with the remark: "Incidentally, I am only a heel when I'm drunk .. . so naturally, there could be no charge for anything of this nature."  "With amazing speed," writes Bill, "the Serenity Prayer came into general use and took its place alongside our two other favorites, the Lord's Prayer and the Prayer of St. Francis.  Thus did the "accidental" noticing of an unattributed prayer, printed alongside a simple obituary of an unknown individual, open the way toward the prayer's daily use by thousands upon thousands of A.A.s worldwide.  But despite years of research by numerous individuals, the exact origin of the prayer is shrouded in overlays of history, even mystery. Moreover, every time a researcher appears to uncover the definitive source, another one crops up to refute the former's claim, at the same time that it raises new, intriguing facts. What is undisputed is the claim of authorship by the theologian Dr. Rheinhold Niebuhr, who recounted to interviewers on several occasions that he had written the prayer as a "tag line" to a sermon he had delivered on Practical Christianity. Yet even Dr. Niebuhr added at least a touch of doubt to his claim, when he told one interviewer, "Of course, it may have been spooking around for years, even centuries, but I don't think so. I honestly do believe that I wrote it myself."

Early in World War II, with Dr. Niebuhr's permission, the prayer was printed on cards and distributed to the troops by the U.S.O. By then it had also been reprinted by the National Council of Churches, as well as Alcoholics Anonymous.  Dr. Niebuhr was quite accurate in suggesting that the prayer may have been "spooking around" for centuries. "No one can tell for sure who first wrote the Serenity Prayer," writes Bill in A.A. Comes of Age. "Some say it came from the early Greeks; others think it was from the pen of an anonymous English poet; still others claim it was written by an American Naval officer... ." Other attributions have gone as far afield as ancient Sanskrit texts, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas and Spinoza. One A.A. member came across the Roman philosopher Cicero's Six Mistakes of Man, one of which reads: "The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected."  No one has actually found the prayer's text among the writings of these alleged, original sources. What are probably truly ancient, as with the above quote from Cicero, are the prayer's themes of acceptance, courage to change what can be changed and the free letting go of what is out of one's ability to change.  The search for pinpointing origins of the prayer has been like the peeling of an onion. For example, in July 1964, the A.A. Grapevine received a clipping of an article that had appeared in the Paris Herald Tribune, by the paper's correspondent in Koblenz, then in West Germany. "In a rather dreary hall of a converted hotel, overlooking the Rhine at Koblenz," the correspondent wrote, is a tablet inscribed with the following words: "God give me the detachment to accept those things I cannot alter; the courage to alter those things I can alter; and the wisdom to distinguish the one thing from the other."  These words were attributed, the correspondent wrote, to an 18th century pietist, Friedrich Oetinger (1702-1782). Moreover, the plaque was affixed to a wall in a hall where modern day troops and company com-manders of the new German army were trained "in the principles of management and . . . behavior of the soldier citizen in a democratic state."  Here, at last, thought A.A. researchers, was concrete evidence-quote, author, date-of the Serenity Prayer's original source. That conviction went unchallenged for fifteen years. Then in 1979 came material, shared with G.S.O.'s Beth K., by Peter T., of Berlin. Peter's research threw the authenticity of 18th century authorship out the window. But it also added more tantalizing facts about the plaque's origin.  "The first form of the prayer," Beth wrote back, originated with Boethius, the Roman philosopher (480-524 A.D.), and author of the book, Consolations of Philosophy. The prayer's thoughts were used from then on by "religious-like people who had to suffer first by the English, later the Prussian puritans . . . then the Pietists from southwest Germany . . . then A.A.s . . . and through them, the West Germans after the Second World War."  Moreover, Beth continued, after the war, a north German University professor, Dr. Theodor Wilhelm, who had started a revival of spiritual life in West Germany, had acquired the "little prayer" from Canadian soldiers. He had written a book in which he had included the prayer, without attribution, but which resulted in the prayer's appearance in many different places, such as army officer's halls, schools and other institutions. The professor's nom de plume? Friedrich Oetinger, the 18th century pietist! Wilhelm had apparently selected the pseudonym Oetinger out of admiration of his south German forebears.  Back in 1957, another G.S.O. staff member, Anita R., browsing in a New York bookstore, came upon a beautifully bordered card, on which was printed: "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; through Jesus Christ, our Lord."  The card, which came from a bookshop in England, called it the "General's Prayer," dating it back to the fourteenth century! There are still other claims, and no doubt more unearthings will continue for years to come. In any event, Mrs. Reinhold Niebuhr told an interviewer that her husband was definitely the prayer's author, that she had seen the piece of paper on which he had written it, and that her husband-now that there were numerous variations of wording -"used and preferred" the following form: "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."  While all of these searchings are intriguing, challenging, even mysterious, they pale in significance when compared to the fact that, for fifty years, the prayer has become so deeply imbedded into the heart and soul of A.A. thinking, living, as well as its philosophy, that one could almost believe that the prayer originated in the A.A. experience itself.  Bill made this very point years ago, in thanking an A.A. friend for the plaque upon which the prayer was inscribed: "In creating A.A., the Serenity Prayer has been a most valuable building block-indeed a corner-stone."  And speaking of cornerstones, and mysteries and "coincidences"-the building where G.S.O. is now located borders on a stretch of New York City's 120th St., between Riverside Drive and Broadway (where the Union Theological Seminary is situated). It's called Reinhold Niebuhr Place. (end of article) Source: http://www.aahistory.com/prayer.html

Thanks. I appreciate these.
I like Father Martin's one the best

Meditation on the Serenity Prayer

Torah and 12 Step Series; The Serenity Prayer

February 25, 2011

The Serenity Prayer (1937.abbr) Through the Perspective of Jewish Wisdom

It is the purpose of this article to look at the Serenity Prayer, a meditation said by millions of people each day around the world in various recovery fellowships from the perspective of Jewish wisdom;

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 (abbr. 1937)

Introduction:

The Serenity Prayer was written by Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 June 1, 1971), was a Christian Zionist. As such, he was sympathetic and actively supportive to the Jewish Nation and Israel (then Palestine) prior to Israel becoming officially a Nation in 1948.

Originally, he was a Christian who was actively converting Jews to Christianity, but this changed.  He eventually became a Christian Zionist leader arguing that is was inappropriate for Christians to convert Jews.  Niebuhr was active in bringing attention to the Christian world of Hitlers genocide against the Jews.  He was also a strong supporter of the Jews to have a sovereign Land (Israel) with the expulsion of other nations and the Arabs.  He promoted the position that Arabs in Palestine (pre 1942 Israel) should resettle back to other Arab countries .

A basic understanding of deeper Jewish thought is necessary to reveal the insight that the Serenity Prayer has to offer from a Jewish perspective;

Prayer and meditation as a tool:

 

A key to meditation and prayer is to become nullified of self in the process of becoming a good receiver of G-ds light. To do this, we must first have silence in our mind and divest ourselves of the chaos in our mind and the world around us. This process of nullification then creates a void, or vacuum, which can then be filled with G-ds light, His Goodness.

In Judaism, meditation is not solely the practice of focusing on nothingness*, although this concept is a part of the process to divesting oneself of the chaos of this world. The idea of meditating on nothingness is a precursor to making ourselves into a vessel ready to receive.  Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan defines meditation simply as a focused thought.  Most everything we do may be done as a meditation to bring us closer to G-ds.

 

Visualization:

 

A most basic and powerful tool to connect to G-d through prayer and meditation is to use our imagination; visualize that you are actually having a conversation with G-d.  In order to achieve the greatest effect, one should pause in silence to concentrate (i.e. meditate) in preparation before engaging in such an intimate and powerful interaction with G-d.

 

An example of visualization can be found in the Torah in Parshas Devarim which we read on Shabbos Chazon, the Shabbos of Vision. Here, we are granted a vision of the 3rd Temple. It is from the vista of Mt. Hermon that we see the destination of our journey in the Exodus (out of Egypt and through the desert), to the Land of Israel.  Having received the gift of this vision, we must then try to visualize the resurrection, the building of the 3rd Temple in the Land of Israel; to see it, is to be able to actualize it in reality and bring the Final Redemption and the Mashiach.

Visualization is the key to creating a new reality.

To visualize with your minds eye is integral to achieving success.

If you can see it, you can actualize it.

 

Verbalization: Using our words in prayer;

 

Words are powerful. The power of speech is the power of creation of the universe itself. G-d created the world with speechwith 10 utterances.  It is with speech that we engage in creation and recreation in a similar manner to G-d creating of the universe. This relates to the concept of making something from nothing (aka something from nothingness).

Speaking to G-d:

 

A person must always have the proper mindset (kavanah) when connecting to G-d.  The way to get G-ds attention is with the combination of focused thought and action.  One of the most effective ways we do this is with speech.

A tool we can incorporate in the power of speech and prayer is to meditate; pause before evoking G-d, His Name[s]. This will give us the necessary time to acquire an appropriate mindset and intent (kavanah) when calling out to G-d and using His name.

The summary of this meditation is simple:

1. Pause first before- saying G-ds name
2. Visualize; have in mind you are calling out to G-d to have a conversation
3. Say G-ds name strongly, with conviction and intent, and  Pause again
4. Continue to visualize you are talking to G-d with the rest of your prayer keeping a strong focus on the meaning of the words of your request /prayer.

Heres an example of how the Serenity Prayer might be notated  ;

(pause-concentrate-meditate-visualize)// G-D! (Pause)//Grant me the serenity toetc.

It is important to also know that focus and intent must be maintained throughoutand beyond the end or your prayer.

 

The same meditation applies when saying the prefix of a Hebrew blessing;

Boruch-// Atah// Ad- noy  -  Blessed are //You// G-d.  When we emphasize the word Atah-You, we are to visualize that we are talking to G-d Himself.

 

When we speak to G-d and say His name, we must do so with the conviction and intensity that will awaken G-d to hear us.

 

 

Grant me the serenity..

 

When we ask G-d to grant us something, we are simply asking G-d for a gift. G-d loves us and wants us to succeed. His providence, or how He operates in the world, can never be predicted. We should look at the good as a gift, and the seemingly not-so good as a gift in potential. G-d gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want, but the ultimate plan G-d has is for us to succeed.

 

This gift (grant) comes from the emanation of chesed; G-ds loving kindness, or more specifically His compassion (rachmunis). We are given this gift (grant) as G-d wants us to succeed.

We arouse awareness within ourselves and G-d by asking G-d to give us this gift;God, grant me.

 

All of Creation is G-ds gift to us. It is our awareness of those gifts and what we do with them that brings us closer or further from the Truth of our authentic self, G-d and reality.

..the Serenity -

 

We ask G-d to grant us the gift of serenity.  Serenity is a state of quite and peace, balance and harmony.  A state that is absent of chaos; anger, jealousy and negative desiresa place from which we can most clearly perceive reality and make good objective decisions. Serenity is something one may receive, by being bitul, self nullified, a quality of the character trait of humility.

As  one is  asking to be granted(gifted) the experience of  serenity, a person should have a conscious awareness of what the power serenity holds; the gift of being able to see his or her life from this privileged perspective in order make better life choices.

Gifts that are granted by G-d, as is all of G-ds creation should be used wisely.

..to accept the things I cannot change-

 

The act of acceptance requires one to have an amount of the trait of Humility (previously mentioned).  When we accept the things we cannot change, we are in effect subjugating our will to a power greater than ourselves.

When a person accepts G-ds will as his own will, a person will experience Truth, Harmony, and the experience of ones authentic self.

The greater ones connection is to truth and clarity, the greater our understanding of the things we can potentially change. (This is discussed further below in the wisdom to know the difference).

The courage to change the things I can

 

We ask G-d to grant us courage. Courage is a survival mechanism that helps us overcome obstacles that we would otherwise shy away from. We may recall the phrase fight or flight. Courage helps us to rise up and make change.

 

Courage can help lead us to actions that to help us rectify ourselves and the world, but it can also be detrimental when used solely for purposes of enhancing ones-self for ego related issues.

 

and the Wisdom to Know the difference

 

This can be broken down into 3 categories:

1. Wisdom chochma: Intelligence of Wisdom

2. Understanding binah: Emotional Intelligence

3. Knowledge- daat: the combination interinclusion of wisdom and understanding.  Knowledge is unity, an intimate experience with G-d.

Therefore, to know the difference is to be able to identify the wisdom of the mind and the understanding emotive experience of the heart. The result of the two as an interinclusion is Clarity and Truth. To know the difference is to be able to know each of wisdom and understanding and elevate and interinclude (bring together) these both and oneself to a state of knowledge (daat).

Summary:

 

We ask G-d for the gift of serenity, a place of calm and objectivity to allow us an opportunity to make a good righteous choice so we can make positive change in our lives. We ask for courage in order to overcome the obstacle of fear that stands in our way of our relationship with ourselves, G-d and the world.

With a growing connection to G-d, we increase our clarity and ability to make change in ourselves and the worldanything is possible.

 

Seeing is believing

Believe in G-d to make him real; clear the mind to allow the heart to flow.

 

Leib Getzel (Lawrence) Lax

(intermediate)

*Deeper Jewish Thoughts :

Nothingness

The ultimate sense of pleasure and serenity inherent within the Divine soul of Israel is its sense of true nothingness. Whereas the mundane or animal soul of man experiences pleasure as something-ness, the Divine soul experiences pleasure as nothingness. In simple words: the less I am, the less space I occupy as an independent being, the better I feel. The pleasure of experiencing the Divine source of all reality, the Divine nothing from which all something was created, causes one to reduce in his own sense of self to nothing.

Of this level it is said: Wisdom is found from nothing. A new flash of insight captures in itself a point of the experience of the super-conscious state of nothingness.   HaRav Yitzchak Ginsburgh

It is a powerful paradox to engage in visualizing  that which has not form and attempting to give it some rational form(in our mind eye) in this the pluralistic world of the physical and spiritual. The process of accomplishing this is the nullification of self, the  creating of a space- a void or a vacuum in oneself that can be filled with a positive spiritual connection, and thus an amount of infinity may  be integrated into ones being.

Credit to : http://auraoftorah.com/?p=240

 

I am sorry, I did not mean to offend you. I thought I was adding to our community.

hotrod wrote:

---

Tricia I appreciate all the hard work you have put into this subject.  With over 20 versions of the serenity prayer I am sure we can find one that appeals to us  I believe this has become a little excessive.

---

 

 

Perfect for the teachers. TY