Barbara Jackson writes:
When I was asked to say what my favourite prayer was I had some difficulty in selecting from two. However I think the Serenity Prayer has the edge and I have found it a great help in my life, so far.

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.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) is an American theologian and Lutheran pastor, and from 1928 he was Professor of Practical Theology at Union theological Seminary in new York. He had a huge influence while there, criticising the Ku Klux Klan, for example, and influencing other notable theologians and anti-Nazis, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer.