Latest / Sober Readings / The Circle And The Triangle
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Welcome everyone to the last episode of Sober Readings for September of 2026, anyway. Today's the last day of September. That is amazing. Tomorrow is October already. My name is Scott. I am glad you're here with me today. Today we're gonna get into daily reflections, 24 hours a day, keep it simple, and then a final reading from As Bill sees it. But let's get started as we always do with the Serenity Prayer. God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change. Courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference. From Daily Reflections, September 30. The Circle and the Triangle. The circle stands for the whole world of AA, and the triangle stands for AA's three legacies of recovery, unity, and service. Within our wonderful new world, we have found freedom from our fatal obsession. That comes from AA Comes of Age, page 139. Early in my AA life, I became employed in its services, and I found the explanation of our society's logo to be very appropriate. First, A circle of love and service with a well balanced triangle inside, the base of which represents our recovery through the twelve steps. Then the other two sides representing unity and service respectively. The three sides of the triangle are equal. As I grow in AA, I soon identified myself with this symbol. I am the circle, and the sides of the triangle represent three aspects of my personality physical, emotional sanity, and spirituality. The latter forming the symbol's base. Taken together, all three aspects of my personality translate into a sober and happy life. Today's reading from twenty four hours a day, september thirty AA Thought for the Day. There are no leaders in AA, except as they volunteer to accept responsibility. The work of carrying on AA, leading group meetings, serving on committees, speaking before other groups, doing twelfth step work, spreading AA among the alcoholics of the community, all these things are done on a volunteer basis. If I don't volunteer to do something concrete for AA, the movement is that much less effective. I must do my fair share to carry the load. AA depends on all its members to keep it alive and to keep it growing. Am I doing my share for AA? The meditation for the day. When you look to God for strength to face responsibility and are quiet before Him, His healing touch causes the divine quiet. To flow into your very being. When in weakness you cry to God, His touch brings healing, the renewal of your courage, and the power to meet every situation and be victorious. When you faint by the way or are distracted by feelings of inferiority, then rely on the touch of God's Spirit to support you on your way. Then arise and go forth with confidence. The prayer for the day. I pray that I may lay myself open today to the healing touch of God. I pray that I may not falter or faint by the wayside, but renew my courage through prayer. Today's reading from Keep It Simple, Daily Meditations for Twelve Step Beginnings and Renewal. Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. That's from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, and as many of us know, it's the opening line to how it works. If we follow the twelve steps, we'll leave failure behind. We may have tried and tried to be sober, good people, but we failed if we were doing it our own way. Now is the time to stop listening to ourselves and to start listening to the pros, those who have gone before us. When we follow their lead, exciting changes happen. First, we stay sober, we regain self-respect. We meet people we respect and become friends. Our families start to trust us again. And why? Because we gave up doing it our way and listened. We listened to the experts. And the prayer for the day from Keep It Simple. Higher power, allow me to become an expert listener. Today's action for the day. Today I'll find someone I respect and ask how they work their program. I'll ask them to share their wisdom. And for today's final reading, let's go to Asbill Sees It. And today we're reading from page twenty-three. Worshippers All. We found that we had indeed been worshipers. What a state of mental goose flesh that used to bring on. Had we not variously worshipped people, sentiment, things, money, and ourselves? And then, with a better motive, had we not worshipfully beheld the sunset, the sea, or a flower? Who of us had not loved something or somebody? Were not these things the tissue out of which our lives were constructed? Did not these feelings, after all, determine the course of our existence? It was possible to say we had no capacity for faith or love or worship. In one form or another, we had been living by faith and little else. That's from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, page fifty four. And now for my take on today's readings, let's go back to keep it simple and the opening of the was a quote from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous. It was the first line from How It Works. Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. And this quote this first line will always remind me of my friend Vince, who recently passed away after thirty years of sobriety. And Vince would talk about early on in his sobriety when those words, he was sitting in a meeting and those words for the first time when someone read it jumped out at him. And he realized what he had to do. He had to take action in order for him to stay sober. So here's my take on rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. For me, the most important word in that sentence might be thoroughly. It doesn't say rarely have we seen a person fail who occasionally goes to meetings, who works the program when life gets difficult, who stays connected when it's convenient. It says Thoroughly followed our path. That reminds me that recovery asks something more from me than simply not drinking or using. It asks me to participate in my own sobriety, to go to meetings, to work the steps, to stay connected, to help other alcoholics, and continue doing the things that got me sober in the first place. I know what can happen when I stop following that path thoroughly. Before my relapse, I didn't wake up one morning and suddenly abandon everything. It happened little by little. Meetings became optional, phone calls and texts became less frequent, prayer and meditation became inconsistent. I slowly started doing recovery my way instead of following the path that had worked for me. So today when I hear that first line and how it works, I don't hear a guarantee that I'll never drink again. I hear a reminder that there's a path in front of me that has worked for countless people. And my responsibility is to keep walking it. Not perfectly, but honestly, willingly and thoroughly, one day at a time. And when I hear that first line of how it works, I hear my friend Vince tell me, if you want to stay sober, hang out with sober people. That's how it works. And so that's gonna do it for today's episode of Sober Readings. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you heard something today that you can carry with you today and help you along your journey. And if you enjoyed sober readings today, please help support the podcast by scrolling down to the show notes and finding that donation link and drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket. So thank you for listening, and as always, 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.