What is the source/author of this famous prayer?

Question

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Thanks

Answer 1

"God grant me the serenity...."

The author of those words was Reinhold Niebuhr, a pastor of an Evangelical & Reformed Church in Detroit in the 1920's, an era of labor strife; a German-American voice raised against the naivete of the "Social Gospel" and those who feared war more than justice before Pearl Harbor; a professor at Union Theological Seminary; and a tireless worker for social justice and what we would, today, call "liberal," if not "progressive," causes.

When he delivered what we now call "The Serenity Prayer" at a worship service, he was asked for a copy. "Take it," he reportedly said, handing over the slip of paper, "I have no further use for it."

Niebuhr was not at all a sentimentalist. He stood for labor unions in their struggles in Detroit. He tells the story of preaching a fiery sermon against management one Sunday morning, following a round of particular brutal lay-offs and firings. One of his church members, as he left, looked Niebuhr in the eye, and told him of the week he, a manager, had had: having to call people into his office and fire them. The manager was well aware of the families he was hurting, of the lives he was touching. He made it clear to his pastor that this hadn't been an easy or painless task, and Niebuhr realized such situations are always complex, that there are human beings on all sides.

Answer 2

That's the :


Serenity Prayer


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

Answer 3

Reinhold Neibuhr

Answer 4

It is used at AA and other 12 step groups. The author is unknown.

PS. Well seeing the anwer above me I search and found this:
http://skdesigns.com/internet/articles/prose/niebuhr/serenity_prayer/

Answer 5

I have that in my bathroom. It is Reinhold Niebuhr. May God BLess U.

Answer 6

It's been kind of adopted as the Alcoholic's Prayer, and it is usually tagged "anonymous".

Hi, I'm anonymous.
Hi Anonymous.

lol.

Answer 7

This is a prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. It is in a book he wrote but I can't remember the title. I am thinking it was his
"Confessions."

Answer 8

It comes from Alcoholic's Anonymous.

Answer 9

I have this on a wall hanging in my home, it is by Reinhold Neibuhr