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.
Thy will, not mine, be done.
In recovery, there is no tool more useful and effective than The Serenity Prayer. Regardless of whether it’s Alcoholics Anonymous, ALANON, Narcotics Anonymous, or Adult Children of Alcoholics, everybody uses The Serenity Prayer. In many meetings, it’s recited in unison. At one time or another, everybody uses it. The value of its wisdom is difficult to fathom. Occasionally, when life is difficult, The Serenity Prayer may be the only tool you have standing between you and the emotional wall standing directly in front of you.
Interestingly, The Serenity Prayer was first penned by Reinhold Neibuhr, the theologian who wrote The Children of Darkness and the Children of Light, which detailed why democracies were initially ineffective against totalitarian despots. In Neibuhr’s case, he was writing specifically about Hitler’s Nazi Germany, during the 1930s. The Serenity Prayer was used initially to stand confidently against an abusive political leader; perhaps the most abusive political leader of all time—with Stalin and a few others close behind.
The point is this: If The Serenity Prayer is effective with abusive political leaders; it’s equally effective in standing against abusive religious leaders. As such, it’s a tool you can and should use as often as needed. If you haven’t already done so, learn The Serenity Prayer, and recite it whenever needed.