Latest / Sober Readings / A World Of The Spirit
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Good morning, happy Friday. Today is March 13th. This is Sober Readings. Today's reading from Daily Reflections. A World of the Spirit. We have entered the world of the spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime. That's from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, page 84. The word entered and the phrase entered into the world of the spirit are very significant. They imply action, a beginning, getting into. prerequisite to maintaining my spiritual growth, the spirit being the immaterial part of me. Barriers to my spiritual growth are self-centeredness and a materialistic focus on worldly things. Spirituality means devotion to spiritual instead of worldly things. It means obedience to God's will for me. I understand spiritual things to be unconditional love, joy, patience. kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, and humility. Anytime I allow selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear to be a part of me, I block out spiritual things. As I maintain my sobriety, growing spiritually becomes a lifelong process. My goal is spiritual growth, accepting that I'll never have spiritual perfection. Today he's reading from 24 Hours. March 13th, AA Thought for the Day. We've got rid of our false drinking selves and found our real sober selves. And we turned to God, our Father, for help, just as the prodigal son arose and went to his father. At the end of the story, the father of the prodigal son says, he was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. We alcoholics who have found sobriety in AA were certainly dead and are alive again. We were lost and are found. So ask yourself, am I alive again? meditation for the day. Gently breathe in God's Spirit. That Spirit which, if not barred out by selfishness, will enable you to do good works. This means, rather, that God will be enabled to do good works through you. You can become a channel for God's Spirit to flow through you and into the lives of others. The works that you can do will only be limited by your spiritual development. Let your spirit be in harmony with God's spirit and there is no limit to what you can do in the realm of human relationships. the prayer for the day. I pray that I may become a channel for God's Spirit. I pray that God's Spirit may flow through me into the lives of others. And for today's final reading, we're going back to the grapevine. This time, it's last month's issue, February of 2026. And this short reading is titled, So Long Liquor Store. I once knew the hours of every local liquor store. Frequently, I would go to different ones so no one would realize that I had a problem. This is a small community, so people know one another. It was not uncommon for me to be at a liquor store at 8am when it opened. One day, I couldn't make it to the liquor store until noon. As I walked over to get my bottle, the thought occurred to me that maybe I did have a problem. I placed the bottle on the counter and waited for the cashier. When he arrived, he looked at me and then the bottle and said, lunch? That was enough. I took the bottle and gently placed it back on the shelf. I then said to the man, thank you. I needed to hear that. As I exited, I saw the surprised look on his face. I now have seven years of sobriety in AA. I often think back to that day with a smile. I thank that liquor store guy. I shared this at a meeting. someone asked me to send it into the grapevine. So here you go. And that was written by Vern N. in Kenai, Alaska. And that's it for today's readings. Thanks for listening. If you'd like to send your thoughts and your comments on today's readings, send me an email at soberreadingswithscott at gmail.com. Or you can go over to my website soberreadings.com and fill out that form. While you're at the website, if you haven't already, click the scrolling red link to follow the show. And if you'd like to drop a dollar in the donation basket for today's readings, just click donate. Again, thanks everyone for listening. 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.