The Serenity Prayer

(full text)
GOD, grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
Courage to change the
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.
Living ONE DAY AT A TIME;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship 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
Reinhold Neibuhr-1926

A Brief History of the Serenity Prayer
There are many theories as to who actually first wrote and published the Serenity Prayer. One of the popular theories states that Dr. 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, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.

There are other theories, but somehow the prayer got into the hearts of Bill Wilson and his staff within AA. They read the prayer and felt that it particularly suited the needs of AA. They printed cards, with the prayer, and passed them out. Thus the prayer became an integral part of the AA movement.