Latest / Sober Readings / Seeds Of Faith
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Welcome back everyone. Today is Tuesday, the fourth of August, and this is Sober Readings. Let's begin today with the Serenity Prayer. God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Today's reading from Daily Reflections, Seeds of Faith. Faith to be sure is necessary, but faith alone can avail nothing. We can have faith yet keep God out of our lives. And that's on page thirty four of twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. As a child I constantly questioned the existence of God. To a scientific thinker, like me, no answer could withstand a thorough dissection until a very patient woman finally said to me, You must have faith. With that simple statement, the seeds of my recovery were sown. Today, as I practice my recovery, cutting back the weeds of alcoholism, slowly I am letting those early seeds of faith grow and bloom. Each day of recovery, of ardent gardening, brings the higher power of my understanding more fully into my life. My God has always been with me through faith, but it is my responsibility to have the willingness to accept his presence. I ask God to grant me the willingness to do his will. Today's reading from twenty four hours a day. August four AA Thought for the Day. We in AA are offering a kind of psychological program as well as a spiritual one. First, people must be mentally able to receive it. They must have made up their minds that they want to quit drinking, and they must be willing to do something about it. Their confidence must be obtained. We must show them that we are their friends and really desire to help them. When we have their confidence, they will listen to us. Then the AA fellowship is a kind of group therapy. Newcomers need the fellowship of other alcoholics who understand their problem because they have had it themselves. Individuals must learn to re educate their minds. They must learn to think differently. Do I do my best to give mental help please? Today's meditation for the day. And this is life eternal, that they may know thee. It is the flow of life eternal through spirit, mind, and body that cleanses, heals, restores, and renews. Seek conscious contact with God more and more each day. Make God an abiding presence during the day. Be conscious of His Spirit helping you. All that is done without God's Spirit is passing. All that is done with God's Spirit is life eternal. And today's prayer for the day. I pray that I may be in the stream of eternal life. I pray that I may be cleansed and healed by the eternal spirit. And for today's final reading, I'm gonna read a story from AA in prison inmate to inmate. And this is also another AA Grapevine publication. So this is on page twenty seven, and the story is titled No Longer a Phony. Two words kept jumping out at me from chapter 5 in the big book: rigorous honesty. Chapter 5 speaks of honesty three times on the first page. But why is rigorous thrown in there? After I got an AA, I kept trying to work the program. I tried working that fourth step. At last I understood. To succeed in this program, I had to be honest with myself. Without honesty, I can't work the steps. I can't work the program. I can't stay sober. To show how this affected my life, I'd like to share an experience. It's about my time with other inmates in AA and others who are thinking about joining a group. In prison, we have an unwritten code. It constantly affects our everyday decisions. Every day, a person faces a choice will I be honest or not? I work here as a draftsman. I help prepare plans for construction buildings. I have access to art supplies. I needed to find some means of support. I decided to design and sell greeting cards. It was a hobby for profit. What better position could I be in? I could buy a few low-cost supplies. We have to, if we want to do artwork in the cell. I could take the other supplies while I was on the job. I did a good job for them all day, five days a week. So why shouldn't I borrow a few supplies? About that same time, I got political in the AA program here. I was phony as a three dollar bill at this point. I hustled enough support and votes to win the Secretary's spot. I was a big shot in one of the largest AA groups in the Texas Department of Corrections. Then the monkey wrench got thrown into the old machines. I decided to start reading the books about the program. I did it because I didn't want to be embarrassed. I was afraid someone might ask me questions I could not answer. Well, most of you AAs know the rest of the story. I got hooked on the program, and the battle with my conscience began. I fought with my inner self day and night. Here I stood on Sundays in front of more than two hundred inmates. I would tell them that AA was an honest program. But I couldn't get honest with myself. I can't put my finger on exactly when it hit me, but it did. I unloaded every piece of stolen goods I had in my house. My cell. We talk about getting rid of the heavy load we carry on our shoulders. Well, I did. I became 10,000 pounds lighter at the moment of truth. I wanted to go out and tell the world all about it. I went to three or four of my close friends in the AA program. I told them about what had happened and how great it felt. No one in prison accepts things at face value. They thought this was a phase I was going through. Knowing what a phony I had been, I sure couldn't blame them. I don't know if this was my spiritual awakening, but I do know my life has changed for the better. I am more pleased with myself and others. I work the program with more rigorous honesty than ever before. In closing, I want to say this to any newcomers to Prison AA programs. The meat of the program is the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book. Pick this book up and read it from cover to cover. You'll be glad you did. And that was written by Stan in Texas. And that's gonna do it for today's episode of Sober Readings. I hope you enjoyed the show. If you did, click the like button and the subscribe and share this episode with someone you think might like it. And if you're someone who loves to read sober literature and would like to be a part of the show as a guest reader, ⁓ send me an email at sober readingswithscott at gmail.com and we can make that happen. And if you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket for today's episode, just go to my website, soberreadings.com and click the donate button. So again, thank you so much for listening. Stay sober, keep reading, and I'll catch you in the next episode. Until then, take care of yourselves and each other, and remember, just for today. Don't drink, go to a meeting and keep coming back. Have a great day, everyone, and as my friend Larry says, best day ever.