Latest / Sober Readings / An Inside Look
Transcript
- Scott Hayes: Welcome to Sober Readings. Today is Wednesday, the 8th of April. Today's reading from Daily Reflections. An Inside Look. We want to find exactly how, when, and where our natural desires have warped us. We wish to look squarely at the unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves. By discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can move toward their correction. That's from the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions book, page 43. Today I am no longer a slave to alcohol. Yet in so many ways enslavement still threatens, myself, my desires, even my dreams. Yet without dreams I cannot exist. Without dreams there is nothing to keep me moving forward. I must look inside myself, to free myself. I must call upon God's power to face the person I feared the most, the true me, the person God created me to be. Unless I can or until I do, I will always be running and never be truly free. I ask God daily to show me such a freedom. Today's reading from 24 Hours. April 8th, AA Thought for the Day. Second, an alcoholic recovers his faith in a power greater than himself. He admits that he's helpless by himself, and he calls on that higher power for help. He surrenders his life to God as he thinks he understands him. He puts his drink problem in God's hands and leaves it there. He recovers his faith in a higher power that can help him. So ask yourself, have I recovered my faith? The Meditation for the Day You must make a stand for God. Believers in God are considered by some as peculiar people. You must even be willing to be deemed a fool for the sake of your faith. You must be ready to stand aside and let the fashions and customs of the world go by, when God's purposes are thereby forwarded. Be known by the marks that distinguish a believer in God. These are honesty, purity, unselfishness, love, gratitude, and humility. Today's prayer for the day. pray that I may be ready to profess my belief in God before men. I pray that I may not be turned aside by the skepticism and cynicism of unbelievers. And for today's final reading, we're going back to As Bill Sees It, and today we're reading from page 269. When Infancy is Over. You must remember that every AA group starts, as it should, through the efforts of a single man and his friends, a founder and his hierarchy. There is no other way. But when infancy is over, the original leaders always have to make way for that democracy which springs up through the grassroots and will eventually sweep aside the self-chosen leadership of the past. And that's from a letter written in 1950. Letter to Dr. Bob. Everywhere, the AA groups have taken their service affairs into their own hands. Local founders and their friends are now on the sidelines. Why so many people forget that, when thinking of the future of our world's I shall never understand. The groups will eventually take over and maybe they will squander their inheritance when they get it. It is probable, however, that they won't. Anyhow, they really have grown up. AA is theirs. Let's give it to them. And that is from a separate letter written in 1949. And that brings us to the end of today's episode of Sober Readings. If you enjoyed the show, please do me a favor and hit the like button and share this episode with someone who might need it. Drop a comment and let me know what you thought, and make sure you're following the show or subscribed so you don't miss the next episode. And if you love to sober literature and you would like to be a guest reader on the show, I'd love to have you just shoot me an email at soberreadingswithscott at gmail.com and I can make that happen for you. If you'd to drop a dollar in the donation basket, the virtual donation basket, go to soberreadings.com and click the donate button. So thank you so much everyone 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.