Latest / Recovering Out Loud / Big Book Daily Meditation Readings P. 86-88
Transcript
- 0:00A moment of silence followed by the serenity prayer.
- 0:04God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot
- 0:08change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom
- 0:12to know the difference. Thy will not mind be done.
- 0:16When we retire at night, we constructively review our day.
- 0:20Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid?
- 0:24Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to
- 0:27ourselves which should be discussed with another person at
- 0:30once? Were we kind and loving toward
- 0:32all? What could we have done better?
- 0:34Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time, or were we
- 0:37thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack
- 0:41into the stream of life? But we must be careful not to
- 0:45drift into worry, remorse, or morbid reflection, for that
- 0:49would diminish our usefulness to others.
- 0:51After making our review, we ask God's forgiveness and inquire
- 0:55what corrective measures should be taken on awakening.
- 0:58Let us think about the 24 hours ahead.
- 1:01We consider our plans for the day.
- 1:03Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially
- 1:07asking that it be divorced from self pity, dishonest or self
- 1:10seeking motives. Under these conditions we can
- 1:13employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all, God
- 1:17gave us brains to use our thought.
- 1:20Life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking
- 1:23is cleared of wrong motives. In thinking about our day, we
- 1:27may face indecision. We may not be able to determine
- 1:31which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration,
- 1:35an intuitive thought or a decision.
- 1:37We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle.
- 1:40We are often surprised how the right answers will come after we
- 1:43have tried this for a while. What used to be the hunch or the
- 1:47occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the
- 1:50mind. Being still inexperienced and
- 1:52having just made conscious contact with God, it is not
- 1:55probable that we are going to be inspired at all times.
- 1:59We might pay for this presumption and all sorts of
- 2:01absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our
- 2:05thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on a plane of
- 2:09inspiration. We come to rely upon it.
- 2:12We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that
- 2:15we be shown all through the day. What our next step is to be that
- 2:19we are given whatever we need to take care of such problems.
- 2:22We ask especially for freedom from self will and are careful
- 2:25to make no requests for ourselves only.
- 2:28We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be
- 2:30helped. We are careful never to pray for
- 2:33our own selfish ends. Many of us have wasted a lot of
- 2:37time doing that, and it doesn't work.
- 2:39You can easily see why. If circumstances weren't, we ask
- 2:43our wives or friends to join us in a morning meditation.
- 2:46If we belong to a religious denomination which requires A
- 2:50definite morning devotion, we attend to that also.
- 2:53If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and
- 2:57memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have
- 3:01been discussing. There are many helpful books
- 3:03also. Suggestions about these may be
- 3:06obtained from one's priest, minister or rabbi.
- 3:08Be quick to see where religious people are right.
- 3:11Make use of what they offer. As we go through the day, we
- 3:15pause when agitated or doubtful and ask for the right thought or
- 3:20action. We constantly remind ourselves
- 3:22we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves
- 3:26many times each day, Thy will be done.
- 3:29We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger,
- 3:34worry, self pity or foolish decisions.
- 3:37We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we
- 3:41are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were
- 3:44trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.
- 3:48It works, it really does. We Alcoholics are undisciplined,
- 3:52so we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just
- 3:55outlined. But this is not all.
- 3:58There is action and more action. Faith without works is dead.