Talked to a friend in the program today. What a gift the telephone is to people in the program. We can pick it up and dial someone and have a meeting over the phone. I remember when it was commonplace to hear the admonition to call someone before you picked up a drink. We were told that if we were having trouble in any part of our life to call our sponsor or someone else. Alexander Graham Bell never knew that there was going to be a class of people like us, when he invented the telephone. But it certainly has been a miraculous gift for us.
Today we talked about the evidence and change. He was telling me about his reading from AA Comes of Age. Dr. Sam Shoemaker speaking to the convention in St. Louis about our being able to look at the evidence of those around us, who are sober and being able to witness the lives they lead. How great is that. If ever we waver and think we need to wander, all we have to do is to look around us. For those of us, who are convinced and are sober, there’s no argument. But think of how many come here and looking for an answer have found it in the example they see. I know it was true of me. My first meeting gave me hope. There it was in front of my eyes. Later it got into my ears. And much later into my heart and my mind.
The other thing we talked about was change. The application of the 6th and 7th step into our lives. I was talking to someone else about it the other night. We have these character defects, which we find can give us what we think are seemingly good payoffs, but always with bad consequences. We all have them. Bill W. said that often they lead to humiliation and pain. But, he said that maybe we will learn that seeking humility for its own sake is the answer to these
painful consequences and is the relief we need.
My friend pointed out that it’s not enough to just turn it over. We have to take action ourselves. I can pray, but then I must act. Why? So that I can change and not drink again.
This may not seem like much, but it’s what I was thinking about today.