11/13/2022 0 Comments The serenity prayer![]() It is one of my personal favorites - both for the seriousness with which Rand approaches the struggles we face in life and for the guidance it offers us for our endeavors and aspirations. #THE SERENITY PRAYER FULL#Central to that argument is a thesis regularly denied by many secular thinkers today, namely that we have free will, and that we shape our lives and moral character through the choices we make in life.įor Rand’s perspective on the issues raised (but not fulfilled) by the Serenity Prayer, read Rand’s essay. The Full Original Copy of the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971). What Rand proceeds to argue in the essay is that the mental attitude merely wished for in the prayer is one that we must achieve through our own efforts - and she explains what is required to achieve it. God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. The statement is beautiful in its eloquent simplicity but the achievement of that attitude involves philosophy’s deepest metaphysical-moral issues. The short version of the Serenity Prayer has been used by Alcoholics Anonymous since the 1940’s and is still used today. But - omitting the form of a prayer, i.e., the implication that one’s mental-emotional states are a gift from God - that statement is profoundly true, as a summary and a guideline: it names the mental attitude which a rational man must seek to achieve. Writers have said the Serenity Prayer is a petition to God asking for calmness, peace, courage and guidance in all matters of life. This remarkable statement is attributed to a theologian with whose ideas I disagree in every fundamental respect: Reinhold Niebuhr. In her essay “ The Metaphysical versus the Man-Made,” Ayn Rand (philosopher and well-known atheist) comments on the Serenity Prayer. On these questions, however, the prayer is silent. The Serenity Prayer is the common name for a prayer written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (18921971). #THE SERENITY PRAYER HOW TO#This famous “ Serenity Prayer” is cited by self-help websites, addiction recovery programs, church ministers, and even modern practitioners of Stoic philosophy as containing a deeply important perspective for us to hold as we navigate life.īut to benefit from the perspective suggested by the prayer we need to know what things (if any) are in our power to change, what things are not, and how to tell the difference. “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.” ![]()
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