Latest / Sober Readings / Righting The Harm
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Good morning. Welcome back to Sober Readings. My name is Scott. Thank you for joining me today. Today is Monday, the 17th of August. Let's get started 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. In many instances we shall find that though the harm done others has not been great, the emotional harm we have done ourselves has. And that's from page seventy nine of twelve steps and twelve traditions. Have you ever thought that the harm you did a business associate or perhaps a family member was so slight that it really didn't deserve an apology because they probably wouldn't remember it anyway? If that person and the wrong done to him keeps coming to mind time and again, causing an uneasy or perhaps guilty feeling, then I put that person's name at the top of my amends list and become willing to make a sincere apology. Knowing I will feel calm and relaxed about that person once this very important part of my recovery is accomplished. Today's reading from twenty four hours a day, august seventeenth, AA Thought for the Day. To one who feels he is an atheist or agnostic, a spiritual experience seems impossible, but to continue as he is means disaster. To be doomed to an alcoholic death or to live on a spiritual basis are not always easy alternatives to face. But we have to face the fact that we must find a spiritual basis of life or else. Lack of power is our dilemma. We have to find a power by which we can live, and it has to be a power greater than ourselves. So today's question is have I found that power by which I can live? Meditation for the day Sunshine is the laughter of nature. Live out in the sunshine. The sun and air are good medicine. Nature is a good nurse for tired bodies. Let her have her way with you. God's grace is like the sunshine. Let your whole being be enrapped in the divine spirit. Faith is the soul's breathing in of the divine spirit. It makes glad the hearts of human beings. The divine spirit heals and cures the mind. Let it have its way and all will be well. And today's prayer for the day. I pray that I may live in the sunshine of God's spirit. I pray that my mind and soul may be energized by it. Today's meditation from touchstone. Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely. That is a quote from Karen Kaiser Clark. We can certainly count on change. We become fathers, our children become more independent, we make new friends, and other friends move away. When a man clings too tightly to the status quo or tries to control the direction of change, he is bound to be disappointed. We are like skiers on a mountain. We must continue down the slope. We can vary our speed somewhat, but if we stop for too long, we will get cold or hungry. If we ski too fast, we may have a serious fall. Part of the pleasure is in not being able to control or predict every circumstance we will meet. We don't control which loved ones come into our lives, and which ones go or whether we become ill or stay healthy. We don't control life's opportunities. We can control how we choose to respond to these transitions. Whatever happens can be used for growth. And we can commit ourselves to use all experiences that way. Today I will not try to control change, but will choose to use whatever happens for growth. And for today's final reading, we are going to finish up as Bill sees it. So this is page 332 and 333, and this is the end of the book. I am responsible. When anyone anywhere reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA always to be there. And for that, I am responsible. And that is the Declaration of Thirtieth Anniversary International Convention 1965. And it's followed by a letter written by Bill W. Dear friends, since 1938, the greatest part of my AA life has been spent in helping to create, design, manage, and ensure the solvency and effectiveness of AA's World Services, the office of which has enabled our fellowship to function all over the globe and as a unified whole. It is no exaggeration to say that, under their trustees, These all important services have accounted for much of our present size and overall effectiveness. The AA General Service Office is by far the largest single carrier of the AA message. It has well related AA to the troubled world in which we live. It has fostered the spread of our fellowship everywhere. AA World Services Inc. stands ready to serve the special needs of any group or isolated individual, no matter the distance or language. Its many years of accumulated experience are available to us all. The members of our trusteeship, the General Service Board of AA, will in the future be our primary leaders in all of our world affairs. This high responsibility has long since been delegated to them. They are the successors in World Service to Dr. Bob and to me, and they are directly accountable to AA as a whole. This is the legacy of World Service responsibility and That we vanishing old timers are leaving to you the AAs of today and tomorrow. We know that you will guard, support, and cherish this world legacy as the greatest collective responsibility that AA has or ever can have. Yours in trust and in affection. Bill W. died on January 24th, 1971. And the final three pages of this book are followed by the twelve steps, the twelve traditions, and the twelve concepts. And so that's gonna do it for the reading of As Bill Sees It, but don't worry, just like all the other literature in sobriety, in Alcoholics Anonymous, we go right back and start from the beginning and read it all over because it is that relevant. And also that important to our sobriety that we continue to remember this stuff. And if you're anything like me, I need to continuously read this stuff over and over to keep it fresh in my mind. And I also want to mention that I'm excited that I'm getting some new literature in tomorrow and they each have daily readings in them, and so I'll be incorporating them into sober readings on a daily basis. So I'm excited for that. I'm not gonna give you the titles, you'll have to listen and find out what they are, but ⁓ That'll be coming up in the next few days. And so that's gonna do it for today's episode of Sober Readings. Thank you so much for listening, everyone. I hope you enjoyed the show. If you did, hit that like button and share this episode and leave a comment down below. I really enjoy those. ⁓ also if you'd like to be a guest reader on the show, I'd love to have you. Just shoot me an email at soberreadingswithscott at gmail.com. Or like I said, you can leave a comment down below and I'll see it that way also. If you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket, just go to my website, soberreadings.com and click the donate button. So again, thank you so much for listening. Stay sober, keep reading, and I'll catch 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, everyone, and as my friend Larry says, best day ever.