Aa history Lovers 2004 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page

continue for years to come. In any event, Mrs. Reinhold Niebuhr

told an interviewer that her husband was definitely the prayer's

author, that she had seen the piece of paper on which he had

written it, and that her husband-now that there were numerous

variations of wording -"used and preferred" the following form:

"God, give us grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things which should be changed,

and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."

While all of these searchings are intriguing, challenging, even

mysterious, they pale in significance when compared to the fact

that, for fifty years, the prayer has become so deeply imbedded

into the heart and soul of A.A. thinking, living, as well as its

philosophy, that one could almost believe that the prayer

originated in the A.A. experience itself.

Bill made this very point years ago, in thanking an A.A. friend

for the plaque upon which the prayer was inscribed: "In creating

A.A., the Serenity Prayer has been a most valuable building

block-indeed a corner-stone."

And speaking of cornerstones, and mysteries and

"coincidences"-the building where G.S.O. is now located borders

on a stretch of New York City's 120th St., between Riverside

Drive and Broadway (where the Union Theological Seminary is

situated). It's called Reinhold Niebuhr Place.

--

(end of article)

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

(Another long version of the Prayer from Ireland)

God take and receive my liberty,

my memory, my understanding and will,

All that I am and have He has given me

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 in the next. AMEN

(thanks to Noel D. from Ireland for the long version)

Read the Serenity Prayer in your own native language

Finnish [93] Danish [94] French [95] German [96] Hebrew [97] Icelandic [98]

Italian [99] Japanese [100] Norweigen [101] Polish [102] Portuguese [103]

Spanish [104] Swedish [105]

(Special thanks to Sunil K. from Mumbai, India for the whole idea)

and Anna B. from Sweden and Jorge L. from Portugal for numerous contributions!

++++Message 1964. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Price of the Big Book

From: Arthur . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/30/2004 3:00:00 PM

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Hi Susan

Big Book price changes over the years should have their amounts

converted to today's dollar values. Otherwise it's not an "apples to

apples" comparison. Your simple question turned out to be a fairly

challenging piece of research. I relied principally on the final reports of

the

The

go up/down but wouldn't always state by what amount or when.

The initial price of the Big Book was $3.50 in April 1939. It will

return to $6.00 in 2004. A special (and temporary) $5.00 introductory price

was

set for the 4th edition. First impression might be that the price today

just a fraction of what it was in 1939. The $3.50 selling price in 1939 would

be equivalent to around $47

today.

Blackwell of Cornwall Press, was told to use the thickest paper in his shop.

The large, bulky volume became known as the 'Big Book.'' The idea

was to convince the alcoholic he was getting his money's worth (the name

'Big Book'' has stuck ever since).

Bill W reported that the cost of printing the first edition Big

Book was 35¢ per copy ($4.73 today). That provided a return of $3.15 per book

sold ($42.57 today). The intent of the book from day 1 was to generate funds

to

cover essential services provided by the NY office (GSO today). Also, both Dr

amount was derived using Consumer Price Index conversion factors published by

Robert C Sahr of the Political Science Dept. of Oregon State University.

The history of Big Book price changes over the years is difficult

to pin down with precision. Many past adjustments were made to literature

prices. In the latter 1980's literature prices were lowered over concerns

whether AAWS (and AA) were being self-supporting due to the return received on

the large quantity of literature sold to institutions like Hazelden. In the

1990's, price adjustments were used as the primary tool to manage the

level of the [prudent] Reserve Fund. Here's what I was able to cull from

the source references:

*Year* *Price* *2004

Value*

1939 $3.50 $47.30

1975 $5.75 $20.00

1977 $5.15 $15.90

1980 $4.65 $10.54

1986 $5.30 $9.03

1990 $4.60 $6.57

1994 $5.00 $6.31

1997 $6.00 $6.99

2002 $5.00 $5.19

Soon $6.00

Price-wise, the Big Book is a truly

remarkable value. It's even better in the soft cover version. Content-wise

- how does that TV commercial go? - Priceless!

Cheers

10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;">

10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;">

-----

[mailto:susank@qis.net]

*Sent:* Wednesday, July 28, 2004

5:57 PM

*Subject:* [AAHistoryLovers] Price

of the Big Book

12.0pt;">

Starting in 1939 when the book was published is there any

way of finding out the original price and a history of GSO's price changes

throughout the past 65 years?

12.0pt;">

trudgetheroad

12.0pt;">

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++++Message 1965. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Serenity Prayer and New York

Herald Tribune

From: Arthur . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/30/2004 3:07:00 PM

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From 1957 to 1999, different

pieces of literature have varying accounts of the story (sometimes

contradictory):

*

bold;">AA Comes of Age from AAWS (pg 196) 1957*

italic;">Has it occurring in 1942. Wording of prayer is slightly different

using

the pronouns 'us'' and 'we.''_

nonalcoholic Secretary Ruth Hock left us to be married…. Just before Ruth

left, a news clipping whose content was to become famous was called to our

attention by a New York

member, newsman Jack. It was an obituary notice from a New York paper

Underneath

a routine account of the one who had died, there appeared these words: 'God

grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change

the things we can and wisdom to know the difference.'' .. Howard walked

into the office. Confirming our own ideas, he exclaimed, 'We ought to

print this on cards and drop one into every piece of mail that goes out of

here. I'll pay for the first printing.''

*

bold;">Bill W by Robert Thomsen (pgs 261-262) 1975*

italic;">Has it occurring in Newark,

NJ - which places it in early

1940_

found in the mail a newspaper clipping containing a three-line prayer. It had

been torn from an unidentified newspaper and sent in by an anonymous member.

She read it and was instantly struck by how much AA thinking could be

compressed

into three short lines. On her own, Ruth had the prayer printed on cards, and

without asking anyone, she began slipping a card into each piece of mail that

went out from the Newark

office. … And in this way the Serenity Prayer became part of the AA canon,

its phrases part of the alcoholic lingo.

*

bold;">Pass It On from AAWS (pg 252) 1984*

italic;">No date is given for the letter used as a point of reference but the

news article is placed in 1941_

… The prayer

had found its way into the Vesey

Street office shortly before that letter was

written … It was discovered in the 'In Memorium'' column of an

early June 1941 edition of the New York Herald Tribune. The exact wording was

'Mother - 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.

Goodbye.'' Said Ruth 'Jack C appeared at the office one morning, and

he showed me the obituary notice with the `Serenity Prayer.' I was

as much impressed with it as he was and asked him to leave it with me so that

I

could copy and use it in our letters to the groups and loners. Horace C had

idea of printing it on cards and paid for the first printing.''

*

bold;">Grateful to Have Been There by Nell Wing (pg 167-168) 1992*

italic;">Seems to be taken from Pass It On - has Ruth writing to a member

in Washington DC on June 12, 1941_

The prayer entered

unobtrusively in 1941. It was discovered in the 'In Memorium'' obituary

column of an early June edition of the New York Herald Tribune. The exact

wording

was 'God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Goodbye.'' Some fifteen years later, reminiscing about this event, Ruth

Hock Crecelius, our first non-alcoholic Secretary said: 'It is a fact

that Jack C appeared at the office [30 Vesey Street, Manhattan] one morning

for

a chat, during the course of which he showed me the obituary notice with the

asked him to leave it with me so that I could copy it and use it in our

letters

to the groups and loners… At this time, Bobbie B [who became Secretary

it, undoubtedly used it in her work with the many she contacted daily at the

24th St

Clubhouse… Horace C had the idea of printing it on cards and paid for the

member and printer … [she asked Henry what it would cost to print it on a

small card].

*

bold;">Women Pioneers in 12 Step Recovery by C Hunter, B Jones and J Zieger

79-80) 1999*

_

italic;">No mention of dates_

part in introducing the serenity Prayer to the Fellowship. Jack C, a New York

newspaperman

and recovering drunk, brought a newspaper clipping to the office. It was an

obituary that closed with the words: 'God grant us the serenity to accept

the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can and wisdom to

know the difference.'' Bill and Ruth agreed with Jack that 'never

had we seen so much AA in so few words.'' And Ruth began at once to tuck

the prayer into the letters she was sending out. Not long afterward, Horace C,

an older member and friend of Bill came in with the suggestion to print the

prayer on cards that could be included with all the outgoing letters. Everyone

thought it was a wonderful idea but they had no money to implement it -

so Horace personally paid to have the cards printed.

I think there is a

fair chance that the obituary may have been printed prior to June 1941 and it

may also be from a newspaper other than the NY Herald Tribune.

Cheers

Arthur

-----

[mailto:tsirish1@yahoo.com]

*Sent:* Friday, July 30, 2004 7:43

AM

*To:* AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com

Serenity Prayer and New York

Herald Tribune

12.0pt;">

10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:blue;">There is a grapevine article in the

January 1950 edition describing the origins of the serenity prayer as we know

it.

-----Original Message-----

[mailto:glennccc@sbcglobal.net]

*Sent:* Wednesday, July 28, 2004

10:12 AM

*Subject:* [AAHistoryLovers]

Serenity Prayer and New York

Herald Tribune

Cora F.

seems to have discovered what may be yet a new problem in tracking down the

point

follows: Nell Wing for example, in Appendix B to _

italic;">Grateful to Have Been There_ (p. 167), says that the prayer

was discovered in 1941 in the "In Memoriam" obituary column of an

early June edition of the _New York Herald

Tribune_.

Cora F.,

whom I already know to be a very careful researcher with really sharp eyes,

says "I copied down the relevant dates, went to the library at the big

university, and spent several hours over two afternoons with a diabolical

microfilm viewer. No luck."

Has

which

York Herald Tribune_ in 1941? If it

cannot be found in that newspaper during that time period, was the person

who

_Herald Tribune_? There were a lot of

newspapers in New York

in those days. Or did the date perhaps get remembered incorrectly? Or was

the

newspaper clipping which was brought into the office in June 1941 a memento

was

12.0pt;">

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++++Message 1966. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Serenity Prayer and New York

Herald Tribune

From: t . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/30/2004 10:27:00 PM

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--Grapevine, July 1950

ORIGINAL CLIPPING

Reprinted below is the original clipping of The Serenity Prayer which

appeared in the New York Times obituary columns. An early AA member

saw it and thinking, it particularly fitting for AAs, brought it to the old

Vesey Street office. Soon it began to appear on cards and in AA literature

until it became an integral part of the AA way of life.

Mother--God grant me the serenity to accept

things I cannot change, courage to

change things I can, and wisdom to know

the difference. Goodby.

----------------------

The above short Grapevine piece credits it to having been found in the NY

Times,

rather than the NY Herald Tribune. Could be why you are having a hard time

it. Unfortunately, no date is given for when it was published.

In the article, the second paragraph [starting with "Mother"] has lines above

and

column.

++++Message 1967. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Another "Original" Preamble

From: Rickydotcom . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/31/2004 11:21:00 AM

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Greetings,

The other "original preamble" you refer to is called

the "Old Baltimore Prologue." Long time AA members in

Maryland date its use back to 1946. In fact at most

AA meetings in Baltimore today, the officially

recognized "AA Preamble" is called "the Prologue."

I attempted to search online for the origins of the

"Old Baltimore Prologue" without success. I would be

grateful to anyone who could shed some light on its

origins.

Rick B.

Link to "Old Baltimore Prologue"

http://www.recoveryemporium.com/Articles/OldPreamble.htm

Can anyone identify the source of the following. Its

language appears to be close to Oxford Group

principles?

"Alcoholics Anonymous is a group of people for whom

alcohol has become a major problem and who have banded

together in a sincere effort to help themselves and

other problem drinkers recover their

healthy and maintain sobriety.

Definitions of alcoholics are many and varied. For

brevity we think of an alcoholic as one whose life has

become unmanageable, to any degree, due to the use of

alcohol.

We of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the alcoholic

is suffering from a disease for which no cure has yet

been found. We profess no curative powers but have

formulated a plan to arrest alcoholism.

The only requirement for A.A membership is a desire to

stop drinking.

There are no dues or fees in A.A.

Activities are supported by the voluntary

contributions of the members.

Alcoholics Anonymous does not perform miracles,

believing that such power rests only in God.

We adhere to no particular creed or religion. We do

believe, however, that an appeal for help to one's own

interpretation of a Higher Power, or God, is

indispensable to a satisfactory adjustment

to life's problems.

Alcoholics Anonymous is not a prohibition or

temperance movement in any sense of the word. Neither

have we any criticism of the controlled drinker. We

are concerned ONLY with the alcoholic.

From the vast experience of our many members we have

learned that successful membership demands total

abstinence. Attempts at controlled drinking for the

alcoholic inevitable fail.

We attempt to follow a program of Recovery which has

for its chief objectives, sobriety for ourselves; help

for other alcoholics who desire it; amends for past

wrongs; humility; honesty; tolerance; and

spiritual growth.

We welcome and appreciate the cooperation of the

medical profession - the clergy, and the public in

general." unknown

=====

changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life away in

fruitless efforts. (Samuel Johnson) "

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++++Message 1968. . . . . . . . . . . . Ruth''s Prayer

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 8/2/2004 9:36:00 AM

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Ruth O'N. got sober on 4/14/48. Within a few months, at a meeting in Brooklyn

NY,

she was given a business card by another AA member. On one side of the card

the Four Absolutes of the Oxford Group (Absolute Honesty, Absolute

Unselfishness,

Absolute Love, and Absolute Purity) and on the other side of the card was the

following prayer. She still recites it daily and shares it when she speaks (as

she did

Thank You, dear God, for another day,

The chance to live in a decent way,

To feel again the joy of living

and happiness that comes from giving.

Thank You for friends who can understand

and the peace that flows from Your loving hand.

Help me to wake with the morning sun,

With the prayer today, 'Thy will be done.''

For with Your help I will find the way.

Thank You again, dear God, for AA.

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++++Message 1969. . . . . . . . . . . . Wilmington Baltimore Preamble Prologue

From: ny-aa@att.net . . . . . . . . . . . . 8/3/2004 2:51:00 PM

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Hi, Group:

I have seen the old Alcoholics Anonymous Preamble that Lee asked about

referred

various explanations. Most of those are people saying that they remember it

or their sponsor remembers it from a long time ago.

One source includes more details. Article 247 here in AAHistoryLovers forwards

some research by Bill Lash which explains the dual Wilmington and Baltimore

origin. Bill says it was by sportswriter Mickey M who wrote it for the

Wilmington (Delaware) Group in June or July 1944. That was long before the

Grapevine's AA Preamble. While covering horseraces at Pimlico, Mickey gave

it to the Baltimore Group as well.

---------------

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/247

THE HISTORY OF THE WILMINGTON PREAMBLE

From: "Lash, William (Bill)"

The Wilmington Preamble has long been surrounded by controversy and discussion

of such has sparked many a debate almost from its inception in the early years

of Alcoholics Anonymous. The history of our fellowship has mostly been passed

from member to member over the expanse of many years; member whose very

disease

following is in no way an attempt to dispel those controversies, but an effort

to establish an accurate history of the birth of the Wilmington Preamble and