Latest / Sober Readings / First Things First
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- Scott Hayes: Morning, everyone. Welcome back to Sober Readings. Today is Friday, the twenty-fifth of September. My name is Scott. I am glad you're here for today's readings. Let's get started with the serenity prayer. 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. Today's reading from Daily Reflections. First things first. Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth Job or no job, wife or no wife, we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God. That's from page ninety eight of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Before coming to AA, I always had excuses for taking a drink. She said, he said, I got fired yesterday, I got a great job today. No area of my life could be good if I drank again. In sobriety, my life gets better each day. I must always remember not to drink, to trust God, and to stay active in AA. Am I putting anything before my sobriety, God and AA today? Today's reading from twenty four hours a day, september twenty five, AA Thought for the Day. Let us consider the term spiritual experience, as given in Appendix 2 of the big book, Alcoholics Anonymous. A spiritual experience is something that brings about a personality change. By surrendering our lives to God as we understand Him, we are changed. The nature of this change is evident in recovered alcoholics. This personality change is not necessarily in the nature of a sudden and spectacular upheaval. We do not need to acquire an immediate and overwhelming. God consciousness, followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook. In most cases the change is gradual. So ask yourself today, do I see a gradual and continuing change in myself? The meditation for the day. Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. For rest from the care of life, you can turn to God each day in prayer and communion. Real relaxation and serenity come from a deep sense of the fundamental goodness of the universe. God's everlasting arms are underneath all and will support you. Commune with God, not so much for petitions to be granted as for the rest that comes from relying on His will and His purposes for your life. Be sure of God's strength available to you, be conscious of His support, and wait quietly until that true rest from God fills your being. The prayer for the day. I pray that I may be conscious of God's support today. I pray that I may rest safe and sure therein. And since they mentioned spiritual experience and appendix two of the big book in Alcoholics Anonymous, let's go to Appendix Two and read the actual spiritual experience from the Big Book. Appendix two Spiritual Experience. The terms spiritual experience and spiritual awakening Are used many times in this book which, upon careful reading, shows that the personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism has manifested itself among us in many different forms. Yet it is true that our first printing gave many readers the impression that these personality changes, or religious experiences, must be in the nature of sudden and spectacular upheavals. Happily for everyone, this conclusion is erroneous. In the first few chapters, a number of sudden revolutionary changes are described. Though it was not our intention to create such an impression, many alcoholics have nevertheless concluded that in order to recover, they must acquire an immediate and overwhelming God consciousness, followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook. Among our rapidly growing membership of thousands of alcoholics, such transformations, though frequent, are by no means the rule. Most of our experiences are what the psychologist William James calls the educational variety because they develop slowly over a period of time. Quite often, friends of the newcomer are aware of the difference long before he is himself. He finally realizes that he has undergone a profound alteration in his reaction to life, that such a change could hardly have been brought about by himself alone. What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been accomplished by years of self-discipline. With few exceptions, our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource, which they presently identify with their own conception of a power greater than themselves. Most of us think this awareness of a power greater than ourselves is the essence of spiritual experience. Our more religious members call it God consciousness. Most emphatically, we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. He can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial. We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty, and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery, but these are indispensable. And then there's a quote at the bottom of the page. There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is contempt prior to investigation. And that's a quote by Herbert Spencer. Let's talk about that last line for a minute. Contempt prior to investigation. That fits the spirituality of AA because it describes the danger of rejecting something before I've actually given it a chance. That can be especially true with the spiritual side of the program. I might hear words like God, prayer, meditation, higher power, or spiritual awakening, and immediately decide that's not for me. But if I make that decision before actually trying any of it, I'm allowing old ideas and prejudices to close the door before I know. what might be on the other side. For me, AA spirituality doesn't require having all the answers or even knowing exactly what I believe. It asks me to become willing. I can pray even when I'm unsure who or what I'm praying to. I can meditate even if I don't think I'm good at it. I can watch other people live spiritually and pay attention to whether it seems to change their lives. Instead of saying I don't believe in that, I can say, I don't know. But I'm willing to investigate. That willingness is important because contempt can sometimes be another form of self-reliance. I already know. I've already decided. Nobody can tell me differently. AA has taught me that some of the things I once dismissed turned out to be exactly the things I needed. Spirituality for me isn't about blindly believing something. It's about being open-minded enough to try something before deciding it has nothing to offer me. And if you'd like to share your experience, Strength and Hope, or your spiritual experience with me, just scroll down to the show notes and you can find a link to my email. Or another way to get a hold of me is to navigate over to my website, soberreadings.com, and there's a be a guest page. Just fill out that short form with your comments or your request to become a guest reader, and we can certainly make that happen. And while you're there at the website, if you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket, just click the support page. And there's a button that says drop a dollar in the basket. And there's also a link in the show notes here if you'd like to use that one. So thank you everyone for listening today. 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. ⁓ and don't forget to ask yourself today, where are my feet?