Latest / Sober Readings / A Prayer For All Seasons
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Sober Readings for the last day of July in 2026. Today is Friday, the 31st of July. Let's begin today's episode 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, a prayer for all seasons. And this is actually the reading. From daily reflections. I'm not repeating myself. 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. And that's on page 125 of the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. The power of this prayer is overwhelming in that its simple beauty parallels the AA Fellowship. There are times when I get stuck while reciting it. But if I examine the section which is troubling me, I find the answer to my problem. The first time this happened I was scared, but now I use it as a valuable tool. By accepting life as it is, I gain serenity. By taking action, I gain courage, and I thank God for the ability to distinguish between those situations I can work on and those I must turn over. All that I have now is a gift from God. My life is My usefulness, my contentment, and this program. The serenity enables me to continue walking forward. Alcoholics Anonymous is the easier, softer way. The reading from 24 Hours a Day, July 31st, AA Thought for the Day. This leaves only one day, today. Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burden of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives us mad. It is the remorse or bitterness for something that happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Let us therefore do our best to live but one day at a time. And today's question is Am I living one day at a time? The meditation for the day. Give God the gift of a thankful heart. Try to see causes of thankfulness in your everyday life. When life seems hard and troubles crowd, then look for some reasons for thankfulness. There is nearly always something you can be thankful for. The offering of thanksgiving is indeed a sweet incense going up to God throughout a busy day. Seek diligently for something to be glad and thankful about. You will acquire in time the habit of being constantly grateful to God for all his blessings. Each new day, some new cause for joy and gratitude will spring to your mind, and you will thank God sincerely. And today's prayer for the day. I pray for a truly thankful heart. I pray that I may be constantly reminded of causes for sincere gratitude. Today's daily meditation from Touchstones. Look at the past as a bullet. Once it's fired, it's finished. And that's a quote from Catherine Bauby. Today is before us as an unformed experience. Yesterday took its own shape, and whatever it was has now gone. Our only opportunities exist in what we will do this day. Perhaps we can enhance the day by starting with a review of yesterday and then letting go. What were the major events in our experiences yesterday? How do we feel about them? Is something left unfinished in our feelings or actions that we need to complete or repair today? Can we take yesterday's experience to build a better today? We have centered ourselves in this day by reviewing where we just came from. We have taken a spot check inventory. Now we can let go of yesterday and move forward in the present. That does not mean we never think about the past again. It means we build on the past by learning from our experiences that And letting them shape our activities now. In that way we draw ever closer into accord with the will of our higher power. I will let go of the past by learning from it. I give myself to shaping today. And for today's final reading, I'm gonna read from As Bill Sees It. Today I'm reading from page three two four, and we are coming very close to the end of As Bill Sees It, but you know what that means, we're just gonna start right back at the beginning. So, page three two four Spirituality and Money. Some of us still ask, just what is this third legacy business anyhow? And just how much territory does service take in? Let's begin with my own sponsor, Ebbie. When Ebbie heard how serious my drinking was, he resolved to visit me. He was in New York, I was in Brooklyn. His resolve was not enough. He had to take action and he had to spend money. He called me on the phone and then got into the subway. Total cost. Ten cents. At the level of telephone booth and subway turnstile, spirituality and money began to mix. One without the other would have amounted to nothing at all. Right then and there, Ebbie established the principle that AA in action calls for the sacrifice of much time and a little money. And that's from AA Comes of Age, pages 140 and 141. And that's gonna do it for today's readings. Before I close, I would like to go back to Daily Reflections again and say that I did not repeat myself. I I start every episode with the Serenity Prayer, and the first paragraph in today's readings of Daily Reflections is, in fact, the Serenity Prayer. And I wanted to comment on that. It does say in the reading that ⁓ that it does parallel the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, ⁓ because it asks for acceptance, courage, wisdom. And reliance on a higher power. Accepting the things that I cannot change reflects surrendering control over other people, the past, and alcohol itself. Courage to change the things I can points towards taking personal responsibility, working the steps, making amends, and changing harmful behaviors. Wisdom to know the difference requires honesty, humility, and continued spiritual growth. Like AA, the prayer reminds us that recovery is not about controlling everything. It's about trusting God, doing the next right thing, and living life one day at a time. And what I heard, something that I heard about the serenity prayer early on, and I'll pass it on to you, the first part of the prayer, the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, that's everything outside of me, exterior. Courage to change the things we can, those are the things interior. inside of me and the wisdom to know the difference. Do I know the difference between things inside of me and things outside of me, the interior and the exterior? And so during the day when something comes up that's bothering me, that's where the serenity prayer comes in. I ask myself, is this interior or exterior? Can I can I control this? Is this within me or is this outside of me? And most of the time it's outside of me and I have no control over And that's where acceptance comes in. That's where letting go comes in. That's where giving it over to God comes in. And so what about you? How do you use the serenity do you use the serenity prayer in your day when things come up that are difficult that you have to deal with? I'd love to hear your response. You can leave a comment or you can send me an email at sober readings with Scott at gmail dot com. I would love to read your your comments and your responses on the next show. That'd be great. And so that's gonna do it for today's episode of Sober Readings. Thank you so much for listening today. If you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket for today's episode, I would have very much appreciated that. Just go to my website, soberreadings.com, and you can click the donate button. So again, thank you so much for listening today. 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 good day. Great day, and as my friend Larry says, best day ever.