Alcoholics Annonymous (AA) is misquoting the Serenity Prayer.

http://www.nachi.org/serenity-prayer.htm

Make perfect sense to me though I too prefer the original.

Within the context of what AA is trying to accomplish, I see no problem.

Serene Synonyms
calmness, hush, peace, peacefulness, placidity, quiet, quietness, quietude, repose, restfulness, sereneness, calm, still, stillness, tranquillity (or tranquility)

It’s an OK prayer. I don’t agree with it. But nevertheless, it isn’t the Serenity Prayer.

Whether it is grace or serenity I hope that Nick is granted a boatload of it because AA is not going to change their version for him. No way. No how.

They can call it the Serenity Prayer if they want, I guess. They can call it the Declaration of Independence if they want. It is neither.

The prayer has an interesting history with numerous versions.

I have always understood it to be a prayer for grace, strength and wisdom which all flow from God.

http://www.aahistory.com/prayer.html:)

They’re just a bunch of drunken misfits.
Nobody likes a quitter.:stuck_out_tongue:

The changes they made to the Serenity Prayer change its meaning entirely. If you are going to repeat a 3-line prayer, perhaps you should get it right. I really don’t care that they changed it though. I’m an alcoholic and I thought that maybe a fellow alcoholic might find value in my thinking (revealed in my post #1) about it.

And at the ShipYard, they pay to send them to dry up if they show up drunk at the jobsite.

Welcome to the new world. :wink:

Because they took it from a new york tribune herald obit. article that quoted someone else reciting it from memory. sheesh!

edit: corrected papers name.

“Sheesh!” is right. Maybe they should fix it.

It’s been that way for a very long time and there is nothing wrong with it. IMHO

The Serenity Prayer is much better though and has a totally different meaning.

I disagree but so what?

A.A.'s is OK I guess… but it’s not for me. It sounds too much like the Serenity Prayer but with a different meaning.

I really like the real Serenity Prayer. I might change my signature line to it.

Works for me :slight_smile:

Which is exactly the reason for the changes.

You can’t be expected to understand the meaning of this “prayer” unless and until you’ve undertaken the steps of recovery from addiction/alcoholism. Just like you can’t be expected to understand the practices of a particular faith, unless you also follow that faith.

Honestly, I expected more from you, Nick. You are usually very open-minded, but in this instance you have apparently failed to see the wisdom behind the principals of recovery. :smiley:

Their changes, change the meaning of the prayer completely… for me anyway.