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.

Ever seen that prayer? Ever prayed it?

That's the shorter version of the "Serenity Prayer," but it is the one that you'll see on everything from coffee mugs to posters to bumper stickers. I had always heard it was written by Reinhold Niebuhr, and apparently Niebuhr thought it was as well. But new research is suggesting that Niebuhr did not, in fact, write it. It's in this NY Times article from today.

It appears Niebuhr may have picked up on and adapted a prayer that was in circulation earlier in the culture. Which means that the actual authorship is a big mystery.

It's interesting that one of the foremost ethicists of the 20th century may have (unwittingly) falsely claimed to have written what has become one of the most famous non-biblical prayers in history.

What to do about such a conundrum?? I suppose we could just pray, "God grant me the serenity..."