Latest / Sober Readings / The Heart Of True Sobriety
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- Scott Hayes: Welcome back to Sober Readings. Today is Thursday, the second of July. Let's begin today's episode with the Serenity Prayer. 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 Heart of True Sobriety We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty, and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery, but these are indispensable. That's from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, page 568. Am I honest enough to accept myself as I am and let this be the me that I let others see? Do I have the willingness to go to any length to do whatever is necessary to stay sober? Do I have the open-mindedness to hear what I have to hear, to think what I have to think, and to feel what I have to feel? If my answer to these questions is yes, I know enough about the spirituality of the program to stay sober. As I continue to work the twelve steps, I move on to the heart of true sobriety, serenity with myself, with others, and with God as I understand it. Today's reading from twenty four hours, july two, AA Thought for the Day. In the association with members of the AA group to which we belong, we have the advantage of sincere friendship and understanding of the other members who, through social and personal contact, take us away from our old haunts and environments and help to remove in large measure the occasions of alcoholic suggestion. We find in this association a sympathy and a willingness on the part of most members to do everything in their power to help us. So ask yourself. Do I appreciate the wonderful fellowship of AA? The meditation for the day. Except ye become as little children, ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. In this saying it is urged that all who seek heaven on earth or in the hereafter should become like little children. In seeking things of the Spirit and in our faith, we should try to become childlike. Even as we grow older, the years of seeking can give us the attitude of the trusting child. Not only for its simple trust should we have the childlike spirit, but also for its joy in life, its ready laughter, its lack of criticism, and its desire to share. In Charles Dickens' story A Christmas Carol, even old Scrooge changed when he got the child spirit. And today's prayer for the day. I pray that I may become like a child in faith and hope. I pray that I may, like a child, be friendly and trusting. Today's meditation from Touchstone. Fair play is primarily not blaming others for anything that is wrong with us. That's a quote from Eric Hoffer. As adults, we accept responsibility for our feelings and our circumstances. We haven't chosen our own troubles, but we have the job of dealing with them. If a man falls and breaks a leg, he might say to someone, It's your fault and I'll make you pay for this. But that won't fix his leg. The healing still has to come from within. Our impulse to blame others is an attempt to escape our responsibilities. We become overcritical. We want someone else to take the wrap for our pain and our misdeeds. But this only delays our wholeness as men. There is no point in blaming ourselves either. When we first confront our discomfort directly and accept responsibility for dealing with it, we feel an inner urge to escape again. If we stay with the discomfort a while, a new stage begins, the healing and acceptance stage. A feeling of wholeness comes. A feeling of being a real person, of having reached our full size. May I not indulge in blame today, toward myself or anyone else. Instead, may I be a strong, responsible person. And for today's final reading, we'll read from As Bill Sees It Page three seven. Circle and Triangle. Above us at the International Convention at St. Louis in nineteen fifty five floated a banner on which was inscribed the then new symbol for AA, a circle enclosing a triangle. The circle stands for the whole world of AA, and the triangle stands for AA's three legacies recovery, unity, and service. It is perhaps no accident that priests and seers of antiquity Regarded this symbol as a means of warding off spirits of evil. And that's from AA Comes of Age, page 139. When in 1955, we old timers turned over our three legacies to the whole movement, nostalgia for the old days blended with gratitude for the great day in which I was now living. No more would it be necessary for me to act for, decide for, or protect AA. ⁓ For a moment I dreaded the coming change, but this mood quickly passed. The conscience of AA, as moved by the guidance of God, could be dependent upon to ensure AA's future. Clearly, my job henceforth was to let go and let God. That's also from AA Comes of Age, pages forty six and forty-eight. And that's gonna do it for today's episode of Sober Readings. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the show, Hit the like button and subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. And if you'd like to be a guest reader on Sober Readings, just send me an email at sobereadingswithscott at gmail.com. And also, if you'd like to drop a dollar in the virtual donation basket for today's readings, just go to my website, sobereadings.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.