You’ve Likely Heard the Serenity Prayer − but Not Its Backstory

You’ve seen it on mugs and magnets: God grant me the serenity… But Reinhold Niebuhr’s original version was grittier — not just serenity, but grace. Not just change what can be changed, but what should. And it wasn’t “grant me” — it was “grant us.” Theologian, activist, realist — Niebuhr gave us a prayer for courage and community, rooted not in certainty, but in grace.