Latest / Sober Readings / Spiritual Health
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- Scott Hayes: Welcome to Sober Readings, today is Saturday the 23rd of May. 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. Spiritual Health. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically. That's a line from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous page 64. It is very difficult for me to come to terms with my spiritual illness because of my great pride, disguised by my material successes and my intellectual power. Intelligence is not incompatible with humility, provided I place humility first. To seek prestige and wealth is the ultimate goal for many in the modern world. To be fashionable and to seem better than I really am is a spiritual illness. To recognize and to admit my weaknesses is the beginning of good spiritual health. It is a sign of spiritual health to be able to ask God every day to enlighten me, to recognize His will, and to have the strength to execute it. My spiritual health is excellent when I realize that the better I get, the more I discover how much help I need from others. Today's reading from 24 Hours, May 23, AA Thought for the Day. The 12th step of AA, working with others, can be subdivided into five steps, five words beginning with the letter C. Confidence, confession, conviction, conversion, and continuance. The first thing in trying to help another alcoholic is to get his confidence. We do this by telling him our own experiences with drinking so that he sees that we know what we're talking about. If we share our experiences frankly, he will know that we are sincerely trying to help him. He will realize that he's not alone and that others have had experiences as bad or worse than his. This gives him confidence that he can be helped. So ask yourself, do I care enough about another alcoholic to get his confidence? The Meditation for the Day. I fail not so much when tragedy happens, as I did before the happening, by all the little things I might have done, but did not do. I must prepare for the future by doing the right thing at the right time now. If a thing should be done, I should deal with that thing today and get it righted with God before I allow myself to undertake any new duty. I should look upon myself as performing God's errands and then coming back to Him to tell Him in quiet communion that the message has been delivered, or the task done. today's prayer for the day. I pray that I may seek no credit for the results of what I do. I pray that I may leave the outcome of my actions to God. And for today's final reading, I'm going to continue reading chapter two from AA Comes of Age, a brief history of a unique movement. And if you'll remember, chapter two is the three legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous. And so we're picking up on page 56. And if you'll remember the last time ⁓ We left off on this page, Bill W was in the hospital. And so I'll pick it up from there. After leaving the hospital in that month, I kept sober for a while on stark fear and constant vigilance. November came and I still had not had a drink. This was unheard of. The fear of getting drunk was getting hazier now. I did not have to exert myself so much to resist. I actually began to talk to people about alcoholism. When I was offered drinks, I would volunteer the information I had acquired about the nature of my disease. I found this a defense against taking anything and also a justification for my former condition. Confidence was beginning to grow fast and my fear left me. Somehow I managed to pick up a few dollars. Perhaps I was not such a serious case after all. I was proving I could stop. I had learned how. Armistice Day 1934 rolled around. Lois had to go to the Brooklyn department store where she worked. Wall Street was closed down and I began to wonder what I would do. I thought of golf. I hadn't played golf in a long time. My family purse was slender, so I suggested to Lois that I might go over to Staten Island where there was a public course. She could not quite conceal her apprehension, but she managed to say cheerfully, ⁓ please do. That would be wonderful. I crossed on the ferry and took a bus. I found myself seated beside a man with a target rifle. That brought back memories of the Remington single-shot piece grandfather had given me when I was 11 years old. We got to talking about shooting. Suddenly, our bus collided with the bus ahead of us. There was little shock or damage. My friend and I alighted on the pavement to wait for the next bus to come along. Still talking about shooting irons, we noticed something that looked like a speakeasy. He said to me, What about a little nip? I said, fine, let's go. We walked into the place. He ordered a scotch and I ordered a ginger ale. Don't you drink? He said, no, I said, I'm one of those people who can't manage it. And then I dwelt on the allergy and the obsession and the whole business of alcoholism. I told him about the terrible time I had had with liquor and how I was through with it forever. I carefully explained the whole illness to We got onto another bus and presently found ourselves in front of a country inn well down on the island. I was to go to the golf course nearby and my new friend was to take another bus to his rifle range. But it was noon time and he said, let's go in and have a sandwich. Besides, I'd like to have another drink. We sat at the bar this time. As I have said, it was Armistice Day. The place was filling up and so were the customers. There was the familiar buzz which arises from drinking crowds. My friend and I continued to talk, still on the subject of shooting. Sandwiches and another drink for him, sandwiches and ginger ale for me. My mind turned again to Armistice Day in France, to all the joy of those hours, to the great celebration. I no longer heard what my friend was saying. Suddenly, the big Irish bartender came up to us, beaming. In each hand he held a drink. Have one on the house, boys," he cried. It's Armistice Day. Without an instant hesitation, I picked up the liquor and drank it. My friend looked at me aghast. My God, he cried out, is it possible that you can take a drink after what you just told me? You must be crazy. And my reply was, I am. The next morning about five o'clock, Lois found me unconscious in the area way of our house. I had fallen against the iron grating. and was bleeding from a bad scalp wound. My hand still clutched the strap of my golf bag. When I regained consciousness, nothing much was said. Indeed, there was nothing much to say. We both hit an all-time low. I went back to drinking one, two, three bottles of bathtub gin in a day. I could not stop, and I knew it. And I'll stop right there in this chapter. I love this relapse story from Bill He clearly thought, as it says in the big book, that he could stay sober on self-knowledge alone. Obviously this was before the whole AA program was around, so no one really knew how to stay sober, or anything about alcoholism for that matter. But the behaviors are all the same. Our ego telling us that we're better and we've kicked the problem. Putting your sobriety at risk by going into a bar just for a sandwich and a ginger ale. And then finally caving into peer pressure and taking that drink. You know, like they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, if you hang around the barbershop long enough, you're gonna end up with a haircut. And as we heard, Bill did, only ended up drunk, unconscious at home with a disappointed loved one. So I cheated and read ahead a little bit in this story, and this is where it picks up in the big book where Ebby comes over to the house sober after... finding religion as he puts it. And then we all know how it goes from there so I won't give it away. But what I will say is that I will continue reading from this chapter, maybe not tomorrow, but in the next few days. And so that's it for today's episode of Sober Readings. I hope you enjoyed that last reading. If you'd like to be a guest reader on the show and read some of these stories with me, just send me an email at soberreadingswithscott at gmail.com and we can make that happen. Also, if you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket for today's reading, just go to soberreadings.com and click the donate button. So again, thank you so much for listening. Stay sober, keep reading, and I'll see 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. And as my friend Larry says, best day ever.