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The Serenity Prayer: Faith and Politics in Times of Peace and War

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Easy reading is damn hard writing. The name of the writer who made that observation escapes me but he could easily have been talking about Elisabeth Sifton's THE SERENITY PRAYER, the author's moving, tender memoir of her father theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. In this beautifully written book on the origin of her father's most well known (and widely circulated) words, Sifton provides us with a Rosetta Stone for deciphering some of the most important political and historical events of the twentieth century. Events that inspired men and women like her father to dedicate their lives to the fight against facsism and a world free of bigotry, prejudice, and injustice. Whether standing up to the anti-communist hysteria of McCarthy era America, the oppressive, totalitarian government of the Soviet Union or the insane nuclear weapons programs of both countries, Niebuhr and the circle of activists and intellectuals who were drawn to his side were people who put principles above personalities. As a consequence, Sifton's father found allies in every nook and cranny of the American (and global) political and cultural landscape. Christians, Jews, East, West, Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, Southerners, Northerners, black, white, wealthy, poor, Niebuhr's followers and supporters cut across traditional class, color, gender and religious lines.

Unlike other chronicles of this era in American history that use important battles, summits, documents, elections, trials, discoveries, etc. to launch their stories from, Sifton utilizes a nondescript prayer her father delivered at the Heath Church in a quiet town of the same name in Western Massachusetts as the back drop for her narrative. This beucolic New England village where the Niebuhr's spent their summers is the canvas upon which Sifton paints her vivid images and memories of childhood, her father, and the causes he, and, in fact, their entire family, devoted their lives to. A colleague in attendance at the sermon and deeply moved by the prayer asked him the origins of the words and where he might find them. Niebuhr said they were his and responded to this request by simply handing his friend his notes with the prayer written down on them. Eventually the prayer made its way to a (then) fledgling group called Alcoholics Anonymous. AA asked Niebuhr's permission to use his words as a staple of their spiritual "fellowship." Not believing anyone can "own" the words of a prayer anymore than one can own the sea or the air, the great theologian said yes again; and the rest is, as we say, "history".

What Sifton gives us in THE SERENITY PRAYER is an intimate biography of a man who was, arguably, the greatest theologian of his generation, but what she gifts us is a spiritual topography of our nations soul. She accomplishes this by artfully weaving the story of the Serenity Prayer, her father's rich intellectual life and community and world history into a single riveting narrative. This literary device, if you want to call it that, allows us to see how world events can effect the lives of ordinary citizens as well as how the myraid and seemingly innocuous choices we make on an almost daily basis--what philosopher John Shotter calls 'the cultural politics of everyday life'--ultimately shape our world and the outcome of history. Had this exceptional title been published at any other time in our secular nation's short history it, no doubt, would have been highly critically acclaimed and prominently displayed, along with other intellectual and religious nostalgia, on a tall shelf in the back of book stores. However, given current events taking place at home and abroad the author's message is not just an important one, it is a timely one.

THE SERENITY PRAYER offers us more than an insightful look back at our past, it provides us with a road map for our future. I pray we have the courage and wisdom to use it.

Author Elisabeth Sifton would be annoyed no end to see that seven items-ranging from mugs to a coat rack, all emblazoned with the truncated version of the Serenity Prayer- are offered alongside her book on Amazon.com. This is just the sort of kitsch she and her mother, Ursula Keppel-Compton Niebuhr, an Oxford-educated theologian and historian in her own right, deplored. The prayer written by the renowned Protestant theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr, was deeper, broader and less personally soothing than followers of 12 Step Programs might surmise, Sifton asserts.

I often found the tone of Sifton's memoir to be precious and elitist in just the way conservatives often characterize liberals. Nevertheless, I read on, and I would encourage you to do so, because she has written a vibrant history of liberal religious thought, action and inaction in the years leading up to World War II, through the war and into the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations with their virulent McCarthyism.

Reading this book in 2005 gives me a chill as I recall the rhetoric of the contemporary religious right after 9-11, the build-up to the war in Iraq, and the subsequent torturing of our prisoners. Reinhold Neibuhr would be mightily discouraged by our lack of historical memory, and that is what his daughter seeks to restore.

As a son of a first-generation German-speaking midwestern Lutheran minister, Niebuhr had remarkable insight into the dynamics of the fascism that took root in Germany and elsewhere. Niebuhr disparaged the sunny false optimism of most German and American clergy, which masked religious and racial bigotry in mainstream white congregations. An avid ecumenist, he crusaded against anti-Semitism and racism on the right, but he was equally frustrated by a blind adherence to pacifism by many clergy on the left. It was not surprising that he found a home teaching at the multi-denominational Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

We meet Niebuhr's notable friends, colleagues, students and opponents; see them spar, most often against reactionary forces, sometimes with each other, and often with their own consciences. Dietrich Bonhoeffer arrives from Germany an arrogant student only to be humbled by life, which he eventually sacrifices in an failed attempt to topple Hitler.

To the American right, Niebuhr and many of his cohorts were dangerous radicals, unpatriotic and ungodly. They were never, Sifton reminds us, the face of broader Christianity in those troubled times, but they demonstrate that triumph is not the only worthy goal of such work. In fact, Niebuhr warned against unmindful triumphalism at the war's conclusion. By the end of this book, I was grateful for the elite institutions and associations that had given Sifton the tools and intellectual rigor to write this memoir, but I suspect she could learn something from the cruder experience of those who repeat the Serenity Prayer with no tutoring on its subtler meanings.

Author Elisabeth Sifton is the daughter of noted theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. Neibuhr wrote the now-famous "serenity prayer", which has been used for decades by various 12-step and other self-help programs. I had not known before reading this book that the prayer itself was originally written in the first-person plural case, giving strength of purpose to a Christian community which had been pummeled by decades of war:

God, give us grace
to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
courage to change the things
that should be changed
and the wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Sifton's book covers the first 45 years of the 20th century, when the world was shaken by two world wars and a great depression. Faith was a different animal back then -- intimately tied to community and social conscience. The world of faith she discusses is a far cry from the "name it and claim it" spiritual narcissism of the 21st century. It bears no resemblance to the prostitution of the gospel for political power which has come to define "American Christianity" in the last couple of decades.

Filled with stories about Niebuhr's contemporaries, such as Paul Tillich and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, this book is a wonderful "insider's look" at a period that was rich with Christian thought, forged in a crucible of courage and difficulty. As a Buddhist, I really came away from this book with a renewed respect for American Christianity.

When I first read theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in seminary, I had no idea about his involvement in the Serenity Prayer, probably one of the most famous prayers in history, and probably memorized by more people than any other prayer except the Lord's Prayer. I first learned of his involvement from an article by Elizabeth Sifton when I was researching my revised and expanded edition of Prayer Steps to Serenity The Twelve Steps Journey: New Serenity Prayer Edition [Paperback] which follows the Serenity Prayer and the 12 Steps using a daily meditation and workbook format. I referenced Sifton's article in "Prayer Steps to Serenity," and if I ever expand my book again, I will certainly recommend her book in mine!

Prayer Steps to Serenity The Twelve Steps Journey: New Serenity Prayer Edition [Paperback] will lead you to practically apply the Serenity Prayer each day of your life of prayer and meditation.

L.G. Parkhurst, jr.

This magnificent book not only highlights the history of the Serenity Prayrer, but is also a thorough depiction of the politcs during the 30's-50's and the effects on the Christian community. So much is relevant to our present time that I wish all those great thinkers were here today to address the problems we face with the right-wing Christians. I wish I could meet Elisabeth Siftin in person and let her know how grateful I am that voices like hers are speaking out in this year---2005. Her father would be proud of her!

For a liberal like me, I ate this book up. It was written well, but somewhat scattered I felt, in its presentation- as if this Editor [Elisabeth's profession] had to hurry to finish it before some deadline. I would have preferred her to expand some more on the politics going on at those times, and also perhaps given more from her childhood glimpses. In any case- I was most happy to learn about the Author of A.A.'s most famous prayer, {Reinhold Niebuhr} or, at least the Source from which A.A. abreviated it. I particularly enjoyed Elisabeths rendition of this oft recited prayer [adding ...the Grace," and ending to "distinguish the one from the other"} as it just sounds better. I looked for the expanded version in here, but could not find it- you know- "...Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; Taking as {"He or Jesus"] did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; So that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next." After all,'one day at a time' is another mantra for A.A.! And the two concepts of acceptance and surrender, being absolutely essential for recovery from Alcoholism.

A disappointing book. Far too much opinion without analysis on today's politics and aggravatingly few recollections of the interesting people who filled Sifton's youth.

I had to keep repeating the prayer for serenity-of-mind to get through it, hoping I'd find nugget or two of insight, or a story about some of the great thinkers in Sifton's life, before hitting the back cover.