Transcript

Hope · Sober Readings

Scott Hayes: Good morning everyone, it's Monday the 2nd of March, welcome back to Sober Readings. Today's reading from Daily Reflections. Hope. The next line says, do not be discouraged. And that is from Alcoholics Anonymous, page 60. Few experiences are of less value to me than fast sobriety. Too many times discouragement has been the bonus for unrealistic expectations, not to mention self-pity or fatigue from my wanting to change the world by the weekend. Discouragement is a warning signal that I may have wandered across the God line. The secret of fulfilling my potential is in acknowledging my limitations and believing that time is a gift, not a threat. Hope is the key that unlocks the door of discouragement. The program promises me that if I do not pick up the first drink today, I will always have hope. Having come to believe that I keep what I share every time I encourage, I receive courage. It is with others that, with the grace of God and the fellowship of AA, I trudge the road of happy destiny. May I always remember that the power within me is far greater than any fear before me. May I always have patience, for I am on the right road. Today's reading from 24 hours, March 2, AA Thought for the Day. Over a period of drinking years, we've proved to ourselves and to everybody else that we can't stop drinking by our own willpower. We have been proved helpless before the power of alcohol. So the only way we could stop drinking was by turning to a power greater than ourselves. We call that power God. The time a man really gets this program is when he gets down on his knees and surrenders himself to God, as he understands him. Surrender means putting your life into God's hands. So ask yourself today, have I made a promise to God that I will try to live the way He wants me to live? The Meditation for the Day. Spirit power comes from communication with God in prayer and times of quiet meditation. I must constantly seek spirit communication with God. This is a matter directly between me and God. Those who seek it through the medium of the church do not always get the joy and the wonder of spirit communication with God. From this communication comes life, joy, peace. and healing. Many people do not realize the power that can come to them from direct spirit communication. The prayer for the day. I pray that I may feel that God's power is mine. I pray that I may be able to face anything through that power. Finally today, a reading from As Bill Sees It. Today we're reading from page 249. God's gifts. We see that the sun never sets upon AA's fellowship. That more than 350,000 of us have now recovered from our malady. That we have everywhere begun to transcend the formidable barriers of race, creed, and nationality. This assurance that so many of us have been able to meet our responsibilities for sobriety and for growth and effectiveness in the troubled world where we live will surely fill us with the deepest joy and satisfaction. But as people who have nearly always learned the hard way, we shall certainly not congratulate ourselves. We shall perceive these assets to be God's gifts, which have been in part matched by an increasing willingness on our part to find and do His will for us. That was written in a Grapevine article in July of 1965. And since this article was written in 1965 and it says that more than 350,000 of us have now recovered from our malady, I'd like to give some updated numbers as of 2021 anyway. The number of estimated AA active members in 2021 was 1.9 million and approximately 73 % of them are located in the United States and Canada. And also another interesting fact is that studies suggest that about 30 % of individuals who enter treatment for alcohol addiction achieve long-term sobriety. But this also includes all treatment modalities, not just Alcoholics Anonymous. So how long have you stayed sober using the program of Alcoholics Anonymous? Or do you stay sober without using the program? I'm interested to hear from my listeners. You can send me an email at soberreadingswithscott at gmail.com. or you can go to my website soberreadings.com and fill out that form. And if you'd like to leave a dollar in the donation basket for today's readings, just click the donate button. So thanks for listening today, everyone. 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.