Latest / Sober Readings / As We Understand Him
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- Scott Hayes: Good morning everyone and happy Monday. Today is March 16th and this is Sober Readings. Today's reading from Daily Reflections. As we understand him. My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. Why don't you choose your own conception of God? That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years. I stood in the sunlight at last. It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning. And that's from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, page 12. I remember the times I looked up into the sky and reflected on who started it all and how. When I came to AA, an understanding of some description of the spiritual dimension became a necessary adjunct to a stable sobriety. After reading a variety of versions, including the scientific, of a great explosion, I went for simplicity and made the god of my understanding the great power that made the explosion possible. With the vastness of the universe under his command, he would, no doubt, be able to guide my thinking and actions if I was prepared to accept his guidance. But I could not expect help if I turned my back on that help and went my own way. I became willing to believe and I have had 26 years of stable and satisfying surprise. from the 24 Hours book, March 16th, AA Thought for the Day. Before we decide to quit drinking, most of us have to come up against a blank wall. We see that we're licked, that we have to quit, but we don't know which way to turn for help. There seems to be no door in that blank wall. AA opens the door that leads to sobriety by encouraging us to honestly admit that we're alcoholics. and to realize that we can't take even one drink, and by showing us which way to turn for help, AA opens the door in that blank wall. So ask yourself, have I gone through that door to sobriety? The Meditation for the Day I must have a singleness of purpose to do my part in God's work. I must not let material distractions interfere with my job of improving personal relationships. It is easy to become distracted by material affairs, so that I lose my singleness of purpose. I do not have time to be concerned about the multifarious concerns of the world. I must concentrate and specialize on what I can do best. Today's prayer for the day. I pray that I may not become distracted by material affairs. I pray that I may concentrate on doing what I can do best. And for today's final reading, we'll go back to November 2024's issue of Grapevine. This one is titled, Kind of Cool. When I had 10 years of sobriety, my 6-year-old daughter, Shannon, asked me about my sobriety. She wanted to know what an AA meeting was. So one Saturday morning, I casually offered to take her with me to an open meeting. She agreed, and my wife overheard her telling her two sisters that she would report back. Before the meeting started, people smiled and said hello to her. The speaker made a subtle suggestion to not use profanity or get too descriptive about our drinking stories today. He then told a story about being newly sober and driving cross-country taking his 18-year-old daughter to college and the profound connection they made and the healing that occurred between them. The story was not lost on anyone in the room. It was great. A couple of days later, my wife was driving our girls to school and heard Shannon telling her sisters about the meeting. It was kind of weird, she explained. They read some rules and stuff about God. There are 12 rules. I had a donut. A guy talked about when he was drunk all the time, which was kind of sad. Then people talked to him about when they were drunk too. Then everybody stood up and held hands and prayed, which was weird. The people were really nice to me. Then she added, it was actually kind of cool. That's from AM in Orindo, California. And I can relate to that story because I take my 12 year old daughter to AA meetings. And I hope one day, maybe even today, that she talks to her friends like that about the AA meetings. One thing I do know for sure is that she's happy that I'm going to them. Can you relate to that story too? Or do you want to comment on the other readings? Just send me an email at soberreadingswithscott at gmail.com. Or you can go to my website soberreadings.com and fill out the form. And if you want to drop a dollar in the donation basket for today's reading, click the donate button. So again, thank you for listening everyone. 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.