It is believed that Neibuhr first wrote the Serenity prayer as part of a sermon, which he then used at the Heath Evangelical Union Church in Massachusetts. These references are often the simplest, and the closest to the current version of the prayer. Wygal was then responsible for several versions of the prayer which appeared in newspapers, as well as a prayer book which was published in 1940 referencing the prayer. Wygal was then a pupil of Niebuhr, and quoted the prayer in a personal diary, attributing it to the theologist. The earliest written reference to the Serenity prayer dates to 1932 in a diary entry by Winnifred Crane Wygal. While the most popular version of the prayer, it is a truncation of Niebuhr’s original. “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.” Most people are familiar with the common form of the prayer, which reads as follows: The modern version is attributed to the American theologist, Reinhold Neibuhr, but it is possibly based on a series of sayings dating back to ancient times. Today, the prayer is utilized as a catch-all saying, but is heavily used by 12-step and other recovery groups to incentivize personal responsibility and calm in the face of adversity. The Serenity Prayer is a prayer that has become common knowledge through its use by Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs, as well as in popular media.
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