The Serenity Prayer

Growing up Christian, I found the concept of reciting prayers from memory illogical because wouldn’t God just think I was unoriginal and mouthing words someone else had said?  However, when I was in college and fell into the bottle of alcoholism, I discovered that reciting prayers by rote might not have any impact on God, but that such prayers could become a mantra that could fill my soul with peace.

On the surface, the Serenity Prayer is just a a few words and takes less than a minute to recite, but it is powerful recovery tool that is said around the world in recovery meetings.  I learned the power of the Serenity Prayer for the first time when I was in college and stepped into a dark and dingy basement full of recovering alcoholics.  They welcomed me with love and open arms and pulled me into their circle of recovery.  Holding hands with those people who were so different than myself and hearing the Serenity Prayer recited by that motley group of people  filled me with hope.

In those early days of recovery, the simple words of the Serenity Prayer (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) became my lifeline.  I recited those words when I wanted a drink, when I slipped and had a drink, when I was bored, and every time life seemed overwhelming.  Those powerful words written by Reinhold Niebuhr back in the 1930s, calmed me down and brought me peace every time I uttered them

I found comfort, peace, and healing in those simple words and even today when life gets a little overwhelming I stop and say a version of the Serenity Prayer.  It never fails to fill my heart with hope and a reminder that I am not alone.  Every time I say those words, I conjure memories of the kind people who fill recovery meetings and provide experience, strength, and hope to their peers.

The version of the Serenity Prayer I’m currently saying is adapted from the long version and it fits where I’m at right now in my life.

God and Goddess,

Grant me gratitude for all that I have

Grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change

Grant me courage to change the things I can

And grant me the wisdom to know the difference

Grant me patience to accept the changes that take time

Grant me compassion and grace for those with different struggles

And the strength to get up and try again, one day at a time

Blessed Be

In subsequent blog posts, I’ll share with you the importance of each of the qualities I pray for and how they’ve made a difference in my life.