Latest / Sober Readings / The Good And The Bad
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Morning, welcome to Sober Readings. Today is Wednesday, the twenty second of July. Let's begin today's episode with the Serenity Pro. 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 The Good and the Bad. My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, the good and the bad. That's on page 76 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, and that's also the first line of the seventh step prayer. The joy of life is in the giving. Being freed of my shortcomings that I may more freely be of service allows humility to grow in me. My shortcomings can be humbly placed in God's loving care and be removed. The essence of step seven is humility, and what better way to seek humility than by giving all of myself, good and bad to God, so that He may remove the bad and return to me the good? Today's reading from 24 Hours, July 22, AA Thought for the Day. One of the finest things about AA is the diversity of its membership. We come from all walks and stations of life. All types and classes of people are represented in an AA group. Being different from each other in certain ways, we can each make a different contribution to the whole. Some of us are weak in one respect, but strong in another. AA can use the strong points of all its members and can disregard their weaknesses. AA is strong not only because we all have the same problem, but also because of the diversified talents of its members. Each person can contribute part. Do I recognize the good points of all my group's members? Today's meditation for the day. And greater works than these shall ye do. Each individual has the ability to do good works through the power of God's Spirit. This is the wonder of the world, the miracle of the earth, that God's power goes out to bless the human race through the agency of so many people who are actuated by His grace. We need not be held back by doubt, despondency, and fear. A wonderful future can lie before any person who depends on God's power. A future of unlimited power to do good works. And today's prayer for the day. I pray that I may not limit myself by doubting. I pray that I may have confidence that I can be effective for good. Today's daily meditation from Touchstone. Suffering is a journey which has an end. That's a quote from Matthew Fox. Pain is part of life. To live a masculine spiritual life, we need a way to understand the suffering we sometimes endure. Looking back at other difficult times can give us a better perspective on the pain we feel today. All of us can recall a loss or a sudden difficult change that we never would have chosen for ourselves. Perhaps it brought us face to face with insecurities or doubts about our survival. Now, after the suffering has ended, we see how much we grew. We changed, we were strengthened, and perhaps were liberated by what happened to us. Thoughts about today's suffering may not be clear as to what good it holds for us, but we are on a journey, and it can only happen one step at a time. We know that journeys teach us great lessons, and they do have endings. Our pain today affirms that we are vital and alive people. We know others suffer as we do. And we can turn to each other to give and receive comfort while we are on the journey. My pain will teach me something I need to know, and it will have an end. I will pay attention to its lessons. And for today's final reading, I'm gonna read from As Bill Sees It, page 319. Two authorities. Many people wonder how AA can function under a seeming anarchy. Other societies have to have law and force and sanction and punishment administered by authorized people. Happily for us, we found that we need no human authority whatever. We have two authorities which are far more effective. One is benign. The other malign. There is God our Father, who very simply says, I am waiting for you to do my will. The other authority is named John Barleycorn, and he says, You had better do God's will or I will kill you. And that's from AA Comes Vage page one zero five. The AA traditions are neither rules, regulations, nor laws. We obey them willingly because we ought to, and because we want to. Perhaps the secret of their power lies in the fact that these life giving communications spring out of living experience and are rooted in love. And that is from AA Today, page eleven. And so that's gonna do it for today's episode of Sober Readings. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please do me a huge favor and hit that like button and share this episode with someone you think might like it. And also click that subscribe button so that you don't miss the next episode. And also, if you'd like to be a guest reader on the show, just send me an email at soberreadings with Scott at gmail.com. And as always, 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 today. Stay sober, keep reading, and I'll see 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, and as my friend Larry says, best day ever.