Latest / The Daily Ripples Podcast / July 17 – Freedom Through Surrender

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July 17 – Freedom Through Surrender · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:04
  Hey guys, this is Corey and Pastor Mike is out doing pastor things and, you know, I was
• 0:14
  thinking about it like, you know, well, we got to split some of these days up because,
• 0:18
  yeah, we just have to, that's what we got to do right now.
• 0:21
  But, yeah, I was thinking about going into this.
• 0:24
  I was like, you know, man, it's so much cooler when you got someone to do this besides like
• 0:28
  recording by yourself. And so, Pastor Mike, if you want to know, it's easier when I got you with me.
• 0:36
  But it's cool. Y'all can listen to me ramble about some stuff. And today's July 17th. Freedom
• 0:43
  through surrender. The stone. Freedom grows when I stop demanding and start surrendering.
• 0:50
  Ripple one practical. Today I will pay attention to what disturbs me. Instead of blaming others,
• 0:57
  I will look underneath and ask what I am expecting or demanding.
• 1:02
  I will release those expectations and choose to respond with honesty and balance.
• 1:09
  Ripple to spiritual.
• 1:11
  The Father calls me to a life of surrender, not self-sufficiency.
• 1:16
  Jesus shows me that giving, not demanding, is the path to life.
• 1:22
  The Holy Spirit reveals the unhealthy dependencies in me and gives me the strength to let them go.
• 1:29
  As I surrender these demands, I am free to live, to love, and to walk in real emotional and spiritual stability.
• 1:37
  And when I first read this, you know, I, like I said, I just find some words normally and I pick out some things.
• 1:45
  But, you know, when I think about the freedom grows when I stop demanding and start surrendering,
• 1:51
  And, you know, I don't, I didn't just come into a place of surrendering, you know, and
• 2:01
  because my life I never had to.
• 2:02
  I mean, I had, I mean, I probably should have, but when I come into that, this position, right,
• 2:09
  on page 60 of the big book, it says most people live on self-propulsion, or it says most people
• 2:18
  try to live by self-propulsion. And, um, I think most people can do it to some extent, you know,
• 2:28
  fairly well. Um, and maybe not, I have no idea, but you know, and I, I came to a position where,
• 2:35
  you know, I couldn't, um, and maybe you can't, I don't know. But so it says in here, you know,
• 2:43
  each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show. And, you know, I've tried to run the
• 2:47
  whole show and I found out that you don't act appropriately to me and you don't do exactly what
• 2:54
  I want. And then I'll try to change the wording up of how I'm, how I'm approaching the situation.
• 3:00
  Do I approach it more nice? Do I be nicer? Do I, do I get angry? You know, and you know,
• 3:06
  it depends on, you know, the time, but you know, that's kind of what this book aligns to. And,
• 3:12
  but when I was really thinking of the surrender thing, you know, when I surrender,
• 3:17
  That doesn't like, you know, and I think about an army surrendering, that doesn't mean that I came in a position of not fighting.
• 3:25
  Like I was fighting to surrender.
• 3:27
  Right.
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  So you got, you got this team, you got blue and red team and they're fighting and someone surrenders because it's about to lose.
• 3:35
  And so when I think about that, I think, you know, well, something had to happen for that to happen.
• 3:41
  And, you know, that's what happened for me in my life of, you know, drinking and, you know, living the life I used to live because, you know, I went against the grain.
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  I fought everybody.
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  I fought the family.
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  I fought the law.
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  I fought the attorneys, the doctors.
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  You know, I went against everybody and everything.
• 4:03
  On page 52 of the big book of Alcox Anonymous, it says,
• 4:09
  it says, maybe not so long either is not our age characterized by the ease with which we discard old
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  ideas for new, by the complete readiness which we throw away the theory or gadget which does not
• 4:23
  work for something new which does. Well, maybe, you know, your theory and gadget is working,
• 4:28
  And that's cool. So why would you come into a place of surrender anyways, if what you're doing
• 4:33
  is working? Like, you know, and I think about this a lot, you know, if my drinking is working
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  and it did for, it didn't just not, like, I didn't just take a drink and it quit working right away.
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  It worked and it worked very well. And so why would I surrender at that point? Why would I stop
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  and concede to my innermost self that I'm an alcoholic? If it was working, I wouldn't.
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  what would be the need?
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  You know, when people come to me and talk to me today and, you know,
• 5:03
  probably not alcoholic or alcoholic and they're out there drinking and they're
• 5:08
  like, man, you know, I probably need to do this.
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  And I ask them, I'm like, why?
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  What's the point?
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  Why?
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  If it's still not, if it's still working for you,
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  why would you quit in general?
• 5:19
  Right.
• 5:20
  And so when I'll read freedom grows,
• 5:22
  when I stopped demanding and start surrendering and, you know,
• 5:24
  this was looking at something completely different, but, you know,
• 5:27
  I have to come into a place of it not working. And man, you know, it sucks because, you know,
• 5:33
  a lot of things in my life, I run them out until they run, until they run me out, you know? And
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  so, you know, I just think about this surrendering thing and, you know, I got to come into a place of
• 5:47
  battle. And so, but then comes freedom. So maybe, and I've been thinking about this a little bit,
• 5:54
  So whatever. So in the big book, the word surrender is not used. The word abandon is,
• 6:02
  conceit is, but the word surrender is not. And I've thought about why that is. And maybe because
• 6:11
  into the surrender, because surrender is kind of bad. You know, it's almost saying like, you know,
• 6:17
  man, I'm done. I beat up. And you know, I was, and that was, you know, what had to happen. But
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  it. So I think, you know, maybe there, you know, the surrender word's not there. It's just telling
• 6:29
  me to give myself to God in a more softer way, maybe. I don't know. But so, and then it goes on
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  to say in the practical today, I will pay attention to what disturbs me. And I like that, you know,
• 6:43
  the wording that Michael used in that because, you know, on page 84, and I talk about this almost
• 6:48
  every time, but it tells me continue to watch. So I will pay attention. The big book tells me
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  need to watch them. How do I do that? The same way I would do at a stop sign, the same way I would
• 7:00
  do as I'm driving, I'm going to pay attention. And I'm not going to, you know, if I've got someone
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  and I'm driving and I got someone on the right side, you know, going 90 miles an hour and I'm
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  going 65, the speed limit, I'm not going to run my car over and try to stop them. That'd be crazy.
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  I'm going to watch them pass me and I might have some feelings about it, but like, what else am I
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  going to do. So I'm not going to go in the way of them. And, you know, I sometimes come into conflict
• 7:27
  with that in my life, right? You know, I'll see someone just living their life. I'll do it at the
• 7:30
  gym too, you know, and I think I'm helping, you know, and I'll be like, Hey, you know, I think you're
• 7:37
  doing it the wrong way. And maybe they didn't want my advice. Maybe they did, but you know, that's,
• 7:42
  you know, I, you know, so when I, my sponsor and me talk a lot about this for some reason,
• 7:48
  Well, I don't interject in people's lives.
• 7:52
  Man, you know, it just goes calm.
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  But for some reason, my ego tells me everybody's not doing exactly the way I want them to do it.
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  And so, you know, I think, you know, that I think maybe, you know, coming into this program and working this, working this thing, man, you know, like the four, fifth, six, seven, eight, nine, the house cleaning.
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  coming to one with other people.
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  You know, it's setting aside that I'm less or more than
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  and not fighting those people.
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  Because knowing that I'm just another one of God's kids.
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  In Proverbs 11, chapter 11, verse 2,
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  it says, when pride comes, then comes disgrace.
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  But with humility comes wisdom.
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  And I don't think I can just be like, you know, get some humility.
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  I think different things in my, what it's saying is, right?
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  Like, so pride, so it's not saying, you know, if pride comes, it says when pride comes.
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  So I'm waiting, like it's going to come.
• 9:00
  Then it says, then comes this grace.
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  So when I'm on this mountain, you know, I'm going to get knocked off the mountain eventually.
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  And then it goes on to say, but with humility.
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  So when I get knocked off the mountain, I'm going to figure out why.
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  Why did I get knocked off that mountain?
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  Then comes wisdom.
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  Then I might be able to not get knocked off the mountain.
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  You know, my friend Doug Krill, he's passed away.
• 9:22
  But, you know, man, he used to say, he's like, Corey, you, what did he say?
• 9:27
  He was like, you know, you don't have enough time in the world to make every mistake there is.
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  So start learning from other people's mistakes.
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  And what's really cool about in this recovery deal and, you know, being around people, you know,
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  I don't have to make every mistake.
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  Like, I can watch you.
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  I can watch people in the world.
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  I can watch people at work.
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  And they can mess up.
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  I can mess up, too, but I can watch them mess up, and maybe I don't have to go and do what they did.
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  And that hasn't always been true in my life.
• 10:00
  You know, when I went back drinking, I think I tried to make every mistake.
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  You know, it was almost like a job of mine.
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  How can I do this and, you know, make another one, make another mistake, make another mistake?
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  And anyways, but now I can pay attention to what disturbs me.
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  And then it goes on to say, I, instead of blaming others.
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  And I, uh, I find so many times, you know, this is another place where like, I can just
• 10:30
  keep my mouth shut because right when something happens, something inside of me wants to just
• 10:38
  point at you immediately.
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  Why would I look at me?
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  The house always wins.
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  But, you know, when I have this, you know, God conscience and I've woke up and I've got
• 10:50
  on my knees and I've done these things first thing in the morning and I ask God, how can
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  I help you and not me?
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  I'm more aware of these thoughts, too.
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  I'm more God conscious and more love conscious as well to pointing the finger.
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  So maybe instead of my immediate, immediate reaction, maybe I'll pause and stop, say, hey,
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  Whoa, in my head, of course, maybe you did something here.
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  Hopefully that, you know, it doesn't happen all the time.
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  You know, I'm not just this dude that's spiritually fit every single moment.
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  I mess up.
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  And I like how it says the Father calls me to a life of surrender, not self-sufficiency.
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  But what if, for some people, self-sufficiency is working?
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  And I've thought a little bit about this in the past.
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  And so self-sufficiency worked up to a point.
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  Why would I stop being self-sufficient?
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  And I think, you know, that's what maybe a lot of people in these different programs are really searching for.
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  Because, you know, I mean, this independent this and this.
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  And what's really cool about the program I'm in and the recovery rooms I'm in is the unity.
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  Because the unity, when I walked in those doors, they said, hey, sit down and smiled at me.
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  When I didn't think the rest of the world could smile at me, but I even deserve to be smiled at.
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  But, you know, when it's a we thing, right, when it's this we, and I got these people that call me.
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  Man, if I didn't call these people all the time, I would imagine, I would hope they would call me and say, hey, what's going on?
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  And they would because I'm a part of.
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  And, you know, I'm not just, I think there's a difference between going to these recovery rooms, just going, and then being in these recovery rooms and being a part of.
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  Because when I'm a part of, you know, I get to have that, you know, thing that was separated from me as well.
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  You know, because when I first started drinking, man, that I felt a part of.
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  And God is a huge piece.
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  I was thinking about this a little bit.
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  So if you got all these people are broken,
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  and you bring us into a place,
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  and this is kind of how it all works anyways,
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  but you bring us all into a place.
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  Well, we all are broken from this one thing,
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  depending on what rooms you are.
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  And it could be a variety of different things,
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  but I go into a room that the problem is one thing,
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  and everybody's problem is that.
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  But with that just being said, I could go into a certain cell block and everybody's problem
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  would be the same thing.
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  And there's no, so without the recovery part of this, we're just hanging around, having a
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  desire not to do whatever we're doing.
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  But there's a, there's a 12 step program and it talks about that on page 17 and page 17
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  says, it says, the tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common
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  solution. But I don't think everybody wants to do that common solution. And that's fine.
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  That's up to them. Because in the 12 and 12, it says, why all the instance that every,
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  or it's on page 24. So if anybody wants to go back and I don't know if anybody ever goes
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  back and looks at page numbers anyways. But it says, why all this insistence that every AA must
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  hit bottom first? The answer is that few people would sincerely try to practice the AA program
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  unless they have hit bottom. And so if I haven't hit bottom, why would I do this stuff anyways?
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  And you know, that kind of puts me in a position of if I haven't hit bottom in a certain place,
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  How am I just going to surrender it out?
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  Well, when I'm committed through the four through nine and I'm practicing 10, 11, and 12,
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  maybe my life, since I've asked this new employer, because it says we had a new employer,
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  and to come into my life every morning, maybe I'm, you know, and it tells me what happens,
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  right?
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  There's promises to that morning thing.
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  There's promises to doing this stuff.
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  I think there's a promise to every step in the book of Alcoholics Anonymous.
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  It says,
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  We are then in the much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions.
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  We become much more efficient.
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  We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.
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  Because it's not about my life.
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  I'm not on here about my life.
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  So I'm on here maybe out of, you know, a little hope that maybe this might help somebody, right?
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  Maybe, and my thought was when I first got into this, right,
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  because I really do enjoy the literature and how everything connects and this connects over here.
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  And that's the way my head works.
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  But, you know, I have this passion for this.
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  And, you know, I have a little hope that maybe someone might gain a little passion
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  for looking at this work in the way it does.
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  So when I really look at the spiritual part of this, it says,
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  And page 164 sums that up, right?
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  It says,
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  And I was talking to somebody today about this, and it says, abandon yourself to God as you
• 16:50
  understand God. And I was thinking about believing. And if I believe something works, man, that's
• 16:55
  half the battle, right? Even if it's right or wrong. But if I go through it and it's a morally
• 17:01
  right thing, and I'm abandoning myself to whatever that is, to some degree, I believe that that works.
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  You know, whatever you believe in.
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  If you put your time and energy into anything and you believe in it and it's good, then I think it's good.
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  And there might be some argument to that.
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  But, you know, so if I'm putting myself into this God as I understand it, and to me that's love.
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  Man, where can I mess up if I'm, you know, my life is about love instead of hurt and about me.
• 17:31
  Because I don't even think I wake up and it won't, like when I say, hey, start living my life on self-will run riot.
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  I'm not thinking that I'm going to hurt you because I'm running.
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  And when I'm running, I'm not paying attention as much,
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  and I'm not seeing things, and I'm not being able to watch.
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  But if I stay planted amongst what I do, and what I do is this.
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  I wake up in the morning every morning and ask God to direct my thinking,
• 17:59
  taking away self-pity, selfish, fear, resentment,
• 18:04
  and I say the seven-step prayer, then I get up.
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  I pour myself a coffee.
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  And the last I forget to make it the night before,
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  I've done that the last couple of days,
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  and I'm sitting there with water.
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  And I'm, anyways, but then I do some reading.
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  And then I do a little writing off that reading,
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  just some thoughts that come to my head
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  and some pages or whatever.
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  Then I pray for some people.
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  I have a prayer book.
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  I pray for them.
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  I finish my morning with a little meditation.
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  I get on my knees and be quiet for 5 to 15 minutes.
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  And I'll tell you, you know, during my day, I call dudes.
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  I call guys and check on them.
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  And they call me.
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  And it's really cool.
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  I go about my work day.
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  Then I get off work.
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  And then I might do something, a part of the program I'm in.
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  Or I might go to the gym.
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  Then I go be a part of my family.
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  Or I just go straight from work to be a part of my family.
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  Because where I practice is first is in my home.
• 19:02
  Then the second is occupation.
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  So my home comes before occupation in case something happens, right?
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  I got to be there for my home.
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  And then affairs is third.
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  But affairs is the thing that I get to, you know, experience and see.
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  I can see it happening.
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  And that's the real cool thing.
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  I can see these dudes that I'm able to take through this work in their life, become something just great.
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  And it's the most amazing thing that I can ever describe.
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  And I think, you know, we'll end this with the prayer.
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  Father God, show me the demands that are disturbing my peace.
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  Through your Holy Spirit, help me surrender them and trust you more fully.
• 19:44
  Shape my life through the example of Jesus and teach me to live in love with freedom and honesty.
• 19:49
  Amen.
• 19:50
  Thank you.