Latest / Sober Readings / No Ordinary Success Story
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Good morning, welcome back to Sober Readings. Today is Thursday, the 26th of February. Today's daily reflections. No ordinary success story. AA is no success story in the ordinary sense of the word. It is a story of suffering transmuted, under grace, into spiritual progress. That's from As Bill Sees It, page 35. Upon entering AA, I listened to others talk about the reality of their drinking, loneliness, terror, and pain. As I listened further, I soon heard a description of a very different kind, the reality of sorrity. It is a reality of freedom and happiness, of purpose and direction, and of serenity and peace with God, ourselves and others. By attending meetings, I am reintroduced to that reality over and over. I see it in the eyes and hear it in the voices of those around me. By working the program, I find the direction and strength with which to make it mine. The joy of AA is that this new reality is available to me. Today's reading from 24 Hours, The AA Thought for the Day. When we came into AA, we came to believe in a power greater than ourselves. We came to believe in that divine principle in the universe which we call God, and to which we could turn for help. Each morning we have a quiet time. We ask God for the power to stay sober for the next 24 hours. And each night we thank him for helping us to keep sober that day. So ask yourself, Do I believe that each man or woman I see in AA is a demonstration of the power of God to change a human being from a drunkard to a sober person? the meditation for the day. I should pray for more faith as a thirsty man prays for water in a desert. Do I know what it means to feel sure that God will never fail me? Am I sure of this as I am sure that I still breathe? I should pray daily and most diligently that my faith may increase. There is nothing lacking in my life because really all I need is mine, only I lack the faith to know it. I am a king's son who sits in rags, and yet all around me are stores of all I could desire. Today's prayer for the day. I pray for the realization that God has everything I need. I pray that I may know that His power is always available. And the final reading for today is from As Bill Sees It. Today we're reading from page 245. Single-handed combat. Few indeed are those who, assailed by the tyrant alcohol, have ever won through in single-handed combat. It is a statistical fact that alcoholics almost never recover on their personal resources alone. That's from the 12 and 12, page 22. Way up toward Point Barrow in Alaska, a couple of prospectors got themselves a cabin and a case of scotch. The weather turned bitter, 50 below, and they got so drunk they let the fire go out. Barely escaping death by freezing, one of them woke up in time to rekindle the fire. He was prowling around outside for fuel, and he looked into an empty oil drum filled with frozen water. Down in the ice cake he saw a reddish-yellow object. When thawed out, it was seen to be an AA book. One of the pair read the book and sobered up. Legend has it that he became the founder of one of our farthest North groups. And that's from AA Comes of Age, pages 82 to 83. And that's it for today's readings. Thanks for listening. Speaking of the book AA Comes of Age, I'd like to know your opinion on adding a reading from that to my daily readings. It could be a replacement for As Bill Sees It or an addition to it. But I'd like to know your opinion. So send me an email at soberreadingswithscott at gmail.com or you can go to my website and fill out the form. And 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 reading, click the donate button. Again, thanks 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.