How Helping Others Saved My Sobriety and My Life: AA Speaker – Dave A. – Frisco, TX
Dave A. from Frisco, TX shares how focusing on helping other alcoholics transformed his financial fears, spiritual life, and recovery. An AA speaker tape on Step 3 and primary purpose.
Dave A. from Frisco, TX is blind and has built his sobriety on a single principle: staying close to God and helping another alcoholic achieve sobriety. In this AA speaker tape, he walks through how shifting his focus from his own problems to service work—particularly during a financial crisis—unlocked a supernatural experience of God’s provision and transformed his entire understanding of Step 3.
Dave A., an AA speaker from Frisco, TX, explains how the primary purpose of staying sober to help others is not just about carrying the message but about activating God’s power in every area of life. He illustrates this through his own story of financial hardship, showing how focusing on sponsorship and service work instead of fear allowed God to manage his circumstances in remarkable and unexplainable ways. The core recovery principle he teaches is that keeping close to God and performing His work well—as outlined in the Big Book—creates a supernatural relationship with a Higher Power that addresses all of life’s problems, not just drinking.
Episode Summary
Dave A. opens with a striking reminder: the most important service work in AA does not come from a podium. He then launches into a deep exploration of Bill Wilson’s story from Chapter 1 of the Big Book, focusing on a passage that changed everything for him. Bill said his friend promised that taking the steps would give him “a way of living which answered all my problems”—not just his drinking, but everything. When Bill was unemployed for a year and a half, waves of self-pity and resentment nearly drove him back to drink. But he and his wife committed themselves with enthusiasm to helping other alcoholics, and that service work saved him.
Dave emphasizes that Step 3 is about turning over your entire life and will—not just your drinking problem. The Big Book describes a clear contractual agreement with God: “If you will keep close to him and perform his work well, he will provide what you need.” That work, Dave explains, is the primary purpose—staying sober and helping another alcoholic achieve sobriety. God promises to manage your life in remarkable ways if you commit to that purpose.
His sponsor, an old-timer who founded his home group, hammered this principle relentlessly, quoting the passage about watching for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear, then resolutely turning your thoughts to someone you can help. At first, Dave found it annoying. But when he got a letter from Social Security cutting his disability check by $600 a month, everything shifted. In that moment of terror, he heard his sponsor’s voice—or God’s voice—telling him to ask for the fear to be removed, discuss it with someone, make amends, and resolutely turn his thoughts to someone he could help. He realized that “resolutely” meant to lean into the fear, push through it, and reach out to help someone else despite his own crushing circumstances.
Dave then describes the next five months in detail. He and his wife went through Christmas with no apparent way to pay for it, yet there were presents under the tree. When they sat down to budget for January, the math said they’d be $500 short by month’s end—but somehow, they weren’t. By February, Dave called his bank and found $500 more than he expected. He discovered in his gratitude journal an earlier entry from January: “Called the bank today. There was $100 more than I thought I had.” Over five months, including the loss of income, they never bounced a check. He can’t explain how they got through it. That’s the world of the spirit.
In March, exhausted from working all night and being awake all day, Dave didn’t want to go to his home group meeting. But his wife insisted. At 5 minutes to 8, the announced speaker canceled. The chairperson grabbed Dave and asked him to speak with no notice. He felt completely unprepared, but his wife prayed with him. About 10 minutes into the talk, something shifted. Dave describes it as feeling like a chain catching hold of him—like being pulled out of mud by a tow truck. Something laid hold of him, and he felt God’s power pulling him through. The room erupted in applause.
Driving home, his wife handed him a note someone had given her. Inside the note was $500, which carried them through March.
Dave then teaches from the Big Book’s passage on Step 3: “If you will keep close to him and perform his work well, he will provide what you need and take away your difficulties.” He contrasts Bill Wilson’s dismal afternoon in a hotel lobby in Akron with his own. Bill was discouraged, broke, and nearly reached for a drink—until he remembered his responsibility to other alcoholics. “What about the men who will die because they won’t know how to get well?” That voice turned Bill’s mind back to his vision of helping others, and he called for Dr. Bob instead. His sanity returned.
Dave recounts another test: a hailstorm damaged his roof to the tune of $5,000 in repairs, but he had only $900 in savings. His wife mentioned she could retire five years early for $4,250—but only if he decided by October. As Dave did his evening inventory, he felt God asking him, “Did you ever finish paying for your seeing eye dog?” This was from 1982, over 20 years ago. Dave initially dismissed it, but God kept bringing it back—even through a radio show about seeing eye dogs. When Dave called and found he owed only $35, he paid it. That payment, he realized, was the condition God was asking for to unlock the rest.
Within days, a man at a meeting turned out to be a former roofer. He fixed Dave’s entire roof for $2,300—the exact amount of the insurance payout. No deductible came out of pocket. Shortly after, a financial advisor helped restructure his wife’s retirement and she got five years of service without additional cost. Everything fell into place once Dave got right with God by cleaning up his past, even the forgotten debt.
The lesson: Dr. Bob resisted Step 9 (making amends) because it seemed foolish and dangerous to his business. But after he finally did it, he went on a bender—then took “the bull by the horns” and made the rounds of those he’d hurt. The Big Book says, “He trembled as he went about, but at midnight, he returned exhausted, but very happy.” His business did well during the Depression not because he had a lot of customers, but because he’d found something “better than gold”—serenity and a new relationship with God.
Dave’s core message: if you commit to your primary purpose—staying sober and helping another alcoholic—and you keep close to God through inventory, honesty, amends, and service, God will manage all of your life’s problems in ways you cannot explain. It’s not theory. It’s a supernatural experience. You’re in tow. God lays hold of you and pulls you out of the mud.
Notable Quotes
The most important service work that goes on in AA does not come from a podium.
My friend promised that when these steps were taken, I would enter upon a new relationship with my creator and would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems.
When all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day.
When I perform my primary purpose—to stay sober and help another alcoholic achieve sobriety—all sorts of remarkable things will happen. Kachink. You’re in tow.
I can’t explain how we got through those five months. I’ve sat down before and tried to figure it out. It’s the world of the spirit.
Just to the extent that we do as we think he would have us, he’ll match our calamity with serenity.
You can’t afford not to. That’s the clear and simple terms of our relationship: keep close to him and perform his work well.
Sponsorship
Primary Purpose & Service Work
Step 10 – Daily Inventory
Big Book Study
Topics Covered in This Transcript
- Step 3 – Surrender
- Sponsorship
- Primary Purpose & Service Work
- Step 10 – Daily Inventory
- Big Book Study
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Full AA Speaker Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated and may contain minor errors. For the best experience, listen to the audio above.
Welcome to Sober Sunrise, a podcast bringing you AA speaker meetings with stories of experience, strength, and hope from around the world. We bring you several new speakers weekly. So, be sure to subscribe.
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We hope that you enjoy today's speaker. I love this program. But even on the drive up here, as my wife and I were praying, we said, "God, help us to remember that the most important service work that goes on in AA does not come from a podium." And I pray God will never let me become so intrigued by speaking from behind a podium that I forget that the most important service work in AA does not come from behind a podium.
And I want y'all to all know that. So don't envy the speakers. Okay.
Very good. So but before I start, let me say this. Uh, a lot of people would ask us when me and Norma go places, uh, can y'all send us some CDs or something.
So, what we did is we just hooked up a website and put stuff on that website and you can just go there and download it. So, it's just daveanorma.com. You will very rarely ever hear Dave.
By the way, I am blind Dave and I don't mind being called that, but you'll always hear blind Dave and Norma. It's just you can't hardly separate us. And so, it's daveanorma.com.
You can go there and see if you want to listen to some stuff, download it, give it away, whatever you want to do. So remember that, davidonorma.com. And also, uh, Norma is going to be speaking at that primary purpose group in Arlington.
And I am, too, aren't I? >> Yeah, you are. >> Yeah.
Yeah, I'm going to be speaking in the afternoon, 3, I think 3:00 in the afternoon. But Norma's going to be the main speaker that evening at their anniversary celebration, January 10th. So, we'll email somebody up here and get a flyer into y'all's hands.
And some of y'all want to come do that. Okay, great. Cool.
Okay. Well, you know, I'm going to start tonight from uh Bill's story. And I'm not going to tell you my story.
I'm gonna tell you Bill's. So, in chapter one, Bill said this. He said, "My friend promised." This is when Ebie brought in those uh you know the program uh the steps as from the Oxford group.
But he said, "My friend promised that when these steps were taken, I would enter upon a new relationship with my creator and would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems." Then he says, "As I lay in the hospital," Ebie left and Bill went back to his room there in the hospital. He said, "As I lay in the hospital, the thought came that there must be thousands of hopeless alcoholics who'd be glad to have what had been so freely given to me. Perhaps I could help some of them.
They in turn might help others." My friend had emphasized the absolute necessity of demonstrating these principles in all my affairs. Particularly, he had said it was imperative to work with others as he had worked with me. For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead.
My wife and I abandoned oursel with enthusiasm to this idea of helping other alcoholics find the solution to their problems. It was fortunate for my old business associates remained skeptical for a year and a half during which time I found little work. I was not too weld at the time and was plagued with waves of self-pity and resentment.
He was getting upset that nobody would hire him. He was depressed and all that waves of self-pity and resentment. This nearly sometime drove me back to drink.
But I soon found that when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day. Now notice he said it was fortunate. What was fortunate?
Was it fortunate that Bill did not find any work for a year and a half? No, I don't think that's what he meant was fortunate. I think what he meant was fortunate was that he and his wife abandoned their self with enthusiasm to this idea of helping other alcoholics.
Why was that fortunate? Well, because his friend had said that um if he failed to do that, he could not survive the certain trials and those spots ahead. So, it's fortunate that he did that.
What low spots? Are we talking about the waves of self-pity and resentment? Uh, yes.
That's that's a that's a trying low spot. Uh, he was plagued with waves of self-pity and resentment. Did working with other alcoholics get him out of that?
Yes, it did. He said, "I soon found when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day." So, it did get him out of himself, as we say. But what about the year and a half during which time he found little work?
Did working with other alcoholics answer that need? You bet it did. He said, "My friend promised that when these steps were taken, I would enter upon a new relationship with my creator and would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems.
Not only his drinking problem, not only his waves of self-pity and resentment, not only his year and a half without all of them. We have quite a program here. And that's what Bill got excited about because he heard that.
See, he heard him say, the elements of a way of living which would address all your needs. And he got excited about that. And he said, "My wife and I abandon oursel with the enthusiasm to what?
Helping other alcoholics." He said, "There must be thousands of hopeless alcoholics. Would be glad to have what have been so freely given to me." Is he talking about a way to get sober? That, but not only that.
He said, "My wife and I banned ourselves with enthusiasm for this idea of helping other alcoholics find a solution to their problems." This program is all-encompassing your whole life. and all the needs that you're going to have in it. Look at step one.
It says we admitted we were powerless over alcohol. Part A, part B, that our lives had become unmanageable. And when you get to step three, it says we made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.
No mention of alcoholism. So by the time we get to step three, we need to realize that I'm turning my will and my entire life over to this program. I'm going to learn to apply this program to all aspects of it.
So let's take a little bit of a look at step three. First of all, uh as a foundation here, let me mention that on page 28 of the big book, it says, "Whatever our race, creed, or color, we are all children of a living creator with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try." So notice that it says that when I go to form a relationship with my creator, it will be upon terms, terms and conditions. This experience that I'm going to have with my higher power is on simple and understandable, clearly defined terms, and I need to know what they are.
And I find those terms right in the middle of page 63 where we are doing step three made a decision to turn our will in life over to the care of God as we understood him. It says when we sincerely took such a position all sorts of remarkable things followed. Notice it did not say a remarkable thing happened.
I got sober it. Yes, that's pretty remarkable. But then it goes on to say all sorts of remarkable things followed when we sincerely took such a position.
What position? The position as described by the terms. It says we had a new employer being all powerful.
He provided what we needed if now the price tag is attached to it. That's a pretty good deal. He is all powerful.
Whoa. Is anything outside of his reach? Anything he can't do?
And he will provide anything left out. He will provide what you need. Anything excluded.
Well, if that's true, then I better see what this if is because I want that. I want that all powerful providing what I need and taking away my difficulties that victory over them will bear witness to those I'm going to help. I won't in on that.
So, if I will keep close to him and perform his work well, which by the way translates to our primary purpose, to stay sober and help another alcoholic to achieve sobriety. That's what God asked me to do. And look what he said he would do for me if I would do that.
Manage my life in a remarkable way with all his power. All sorts of remarkable things would begin to happen if I would make a commitment to stay sober in order to help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. The big book says we have been given a great sense of purpose.
That's our primary purpose. And it is accompanied by a growing consciousness of the power of God in our lives. So I'm going to have a as I participate in that primary purpose, I'm going to have a an experience with God working right along beside me.
Uh managing all aspects of my life, giving me a story to tell. We vigorously commence this way of living as we cleaned up the past. We have entered the world of the spirit.
When I enter into this uh uh this agreement with God, that's what step three is. And God says, "I will do this if you will do this." Do you agree? And it tells you to think well before taking that step.
God takes it very serious. God is putting all himself into what he's offering you. and he wants a commitment from me and you to stay sober, to help another alcoholic achieve sobriety.
And if God's really going to do all that stuff he said he would do, if I would do that, then there is absolutely nothing in this world more important than for me to do that. because everything I need from this all powerful being is going to come to me in response to my participation in that. So I better realize real quick that my life being managed in a remarkable way is attached to that.
And we vigorously commence this way of living. I vigorously I'm going to get excited about it just like Bill did. Enthusiastic.
Whoa. Man, it sounds like a good deal to me. We vigorously commence this way of living as we cleaned up the past.
We have entered the world of the spirit. What does that mean? That I'm going to put on a suit and go to church every Sunday.
The world of the spirit. Uh, no. Uh, some of us do that.
I'm just now kind of starting to creep back into the back doors of church a little bit. Sit on the back row, see what's going on there. I don't know if I'm trying not to let them scare me or me not scare them.
I don't, but I'm checking it out. And uh, I've been there before. I went there before I came to AA and I'm now kind of tripping back in that direction a bit.
But that's not what we mean by we have entered the world of the spirit. We mean we have entered into a clear understanding of a contractual agreement with a higher power and we have a partnership here. He is my employer and I am his employee and he pays well and I'm going to have a supernatural experience of watching him do that.
And we have ceased fighting with anything or anyone, even alcohol. And notice again, it's not just about not drinking, is it? We have ceased fighting with anything.
I told you it was all inclusive. Anything or anyone and even alcohol. For by this time, sanity will have returned.
Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately, make amends quickly if we've harmed anyone, then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help.
You know, my first sponsor used to hammer this passage uh so much that it began to annoy me. You know, uh he was he was the the old guy in our AA group. In fact, he founded my home group.
And um so I was real honored when I asked him if he'd be my sponsor. I thought, "Wow, I've got the I've got the grandpa of the group to be my sponsor, you know." And uh and and he was about 80 years old, I guess. And and every time in the meeting whenever somebody say, "How about you, uh Ed, you got something you want to share today?" He go, "Uh yeah.
Um are you continuing to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear, and are you continuing to ask God to cut?" And I thought, after a while, I thought, "Oh, God, I guess it's got to be my sponsor. He only knows one passage FROM YOUR BOOK. YOU KNOW, YOU WALK into Western Trails any day and uh and if your if your halo wasn't on just right, he'd say, "How's your serenity today, boy?" And you'd say, "Well, it's it's off a little bit today." And he'd say, "Well, are you continuing to watch for selfishness?
Have you asked God to remove?" No, I haven't done that right yet. Oh, then you haven't made amend. You haven't uh discussed it with your spouse.
You haven't made amends quickly. You haven't turned your thoughts you can help. Uh, no.
I haven't done that yet, Ed. And he'd say, "Well, thank God." Cuz if you hadn't done that and still felt this way, I wouldn't know what to tell you. Ed said, "This was a wrench that would fit any nut." And he applied it to everything.
And I thought, "Oh god, here we go again." you know, and but I'll tell you when uh one day uh I get a little bit of a disability check from Social Security. And one day I had just finished all this nightstep stuff and was beginning to get some relief from the fear of financial insecurity, y'all know. And uh but I got a letter from Social Security right before Thanksgiving.
And we opened it up and it said, "Your check is going to be cut $600 a month starting the 1st of December, two week notice." And the fear of financial insecurity that I had just gotten rid of a little bit jumped back on me with a vengeance. In fact, it was crushing me to the ground. And in that desperate moment of terror, I heard the voice of God.
Actually, he sounded kind of like Ed. He said, "Ask God to remove that fear at once, boy. Discuss it with someone immediately.
Make amends quickly if you've harmed anyone and resolutely turn your thoughts to someone you can help." And I remember thinking, "What does resolutely mean?" Well, this was right at the front end of the Christmas season. I knew that right after Christmas, people were going to make New Year's resolutions. And I I knew that what they meant was uh come January 1st, bless God, they was going to quit smoking or go on a diet or something.
But they meant they was going to dig in their heels and uh embrace themsel and lean into that thing and push against it and resist and with resolve. That's what we're talking about, with resolve. So, I figured if I was supposed to resolutely turn my thoughts to someone I could help, that meant it wasn't going to be easy.
That meant that I was going to have to lean into that fear and push against it and push through it and and not let it wrap me up in myself and my stuff and push through it and reach out and help somebody else. You know, every one of us is going to have a day in our program. It's it's neat to get sober and have the first few months in here and smile and go to the barbecues and the dances, but every day one of you is going to get that letter in the mail or that something and all of a sudden it's >> you and God.
>> It's you and God. And you're either going to do it or you're not. It's not a theory.
We have to live it. And so I thought, okay. And I tightened up my belt.
I called my sponsor. I reported in about my fear. I asked God to remove it.
I I um you know uh discussed it with someone immediately made my amends. I resolutely began turning my thoughts to someone I could help. I started going to meetings instead of going to meetings trying to stay sober for another day.
I started going to meetings to see who I could help stay sober for another day. I started listening to people talk in that meeting. Not for the ones sharing great stuff that but for the ones who seem to be struggling.
and I'd go find them after the meeting and pray with them and say anything I could to encourage them. I didn't know much at the time, but I started finding myself going home and be reading my big book later and go, "OH, WOW. THIS IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED TO SHARE WITH that guy this morning.
I wish I'd have known this. I'd make a note of it in my book. I'd go back to meeting tomorrow looking for him.
I wanted to read him that." It changed my whole perspective of reading the big book, too. All of a sudden, my whole program became more about who I can help than me trying to stay sober. And I want you to know that I got into that.
And when I got that letter from Social Security, I thought, "Oh, God, there goes Christmas this year." I want you to know that me and my wife went through a great Christmas. There was no lack of presents under the tree. We came to the 1st of January and sat down to figure our bills.
We do the budget twice a month, the first of the month and the middle of the month. and we had enough money in the bank to pay the bills for the first half of the month and we sat there wasn't sure how that happened. And then Norma says, "Uh, why don't we go ahead and just kind of figure the whole month and see how it looks?" And I thought, "Oh, well, I don't know if I want to look that far into the future, you know." But I said, "Okay, let's go ahead and figure it up." So, we added it up and on paper it said we was going to hit the end of January $500 short.
And I said, "But Norma, if you get scared, ask God at wants to remove that fear and discussion with someone. Make a man quick if you harm anyone and resolutely turn your thoughts someone you can help." And I want you to know this is where my wife and I became joined at the hip and what this program is really about. And we came to the 1st of February and sat down to figure our bills.
We had enough money to pay the bills. Wasn't sure how that happened. 1st of March, 1st of April, 1st of May, somewhere around about that time, I begin to um you know uh you begin to readjust your life around change circumstances and before long it just kind of all balance, you know, you regain a new equilibrium.
But during that five months, including Christmas, I can't explain really what happened. I I've sat down before and tried to figure out how did we get through that? There was some obvious things.
Doesn't really explain it all, but uh I remember uh toward the end of February, right down at the end of the month, I thought I better call the bank and see how much money is in the checking account cuz we don't want to start bouncing checks and we're right down to the last few dollars according to uh our bookkeeping, you know. And so I called the bank and it says you have $500 in your checking account. $500.
Have I made a $500 miscalculation here? I I don't think so. You say, "What are you saying?
That God dropped $500 in your bank account." I don't know if I've entered into the world of the spirit that much. I But I don't know that I haven't either. I don't know what to say.
But I can tell you I was real excited and happy. And I ran and grabbed my gratitude journal cuz I keep one of those, too. And uh so I I went flipping through my gratitude journal cuz I was going to write about this in my uh February entry there.
And as I'm flipping through that journal uh to get to the February page, as I passed by the January page, I noticed an entry there in January that said, "I called the bank today. There was $100 in the bank more than I thought I had." I thought, "Yeah, I remember that." It happened in January, too. you know, in March, um, uh, there was a night I was up all night Friday night, and Saturday came around, I didn't get a chance to sleep, and I was up all day Saturday.
And by the end of Saturday, I was wasted and really ragged out. They had been announcing there was going to be a good speaker at our home group there. And uh, so Saturday evening, Norman said, "What do you want to do tonight?
You want to go somewhere or something?" I said, "Oh, no, not really." I said, "There's supposed to be a good speaker over at the home group." I said, "We'll go there. You can listen to the speaker, and I can doze in the chair if I NEED TO. SO WE DRIVE UP, IT'S 5 minutes to 8.
And as we're walking up, the door flies open and the chair person come out and grab me and said, "Dave, our great speaker just called and canled." And I said, "Yeah." He said, "Will you speak?" Now, I had never spoken before. I had just started going to a detox unit, a treatment center with different people and taking my little few-minute turn. And I was working at trying to get better at that.
But all these people gathered to hear this great speaker and me step in and feel no way. And I said, I I said, I didn't sleep all night and I've been up all day and I don't have the presence of life. I can't do this.
I can't do this. And Norma said, you can do it, Dave. And she drugged me aside and prayed with me just like y'all saw her brought me up here.
And see, they took me in there and propped me up behind that podium. And they said, "Well, with 5 minutes notice, here's Blind Dave." And I started out kind of rough. And I said, "Well, um, I'm blind Dave.
I was uh born in Houston, Texas in u 1948, I think. Uh, and and I was trying to pull it together, but I struggled a little bit there. about I don't know 10 minutes into it or something I felt something happen.
You know, you hear people say I found a groove or I I connected or something. I don't know. I think it was a God experience.
What it felt like, you know, uh I I I I felt like something laid hold of me. I remember one time I was about 15 or 16, some of my buddies, one of them, you know, finally got old enough to get our first car and he had his driver's license in a car and we all went out on a Sunday evening drive. We went down some dirt country road and it had been raining real hard and we slid off in the ditch and sunk deep in the mud off in that ditch down this country road.
We were stuck good and one of them got out and walked back to the main highway and hitched hiked back to town and got a record truck to come out there and drive down this dirt road. And he they could it was so muddy he that truck couldn't get that close to us. They had to run a long chain down there and hook onto that car.
And they said, "Okay, accelerate a little bit and we're going to start taking the slack out of this chain." And I'm sitting in the front seat with this guy who's accelerating a little bit. And u and all of a sudden that chain caught, you know, that when the slack comes out, you feel it go and you just you're in tow you and that car is just sliding around. It keeps pulling us out.
That big old truck was just pulling us out of that mud. And that's the way I felt that night. And you know, it's still one of my deepest experiences to this day.
I've had lots of them since then. And they're always connected to turning your thoughts to someone you can help. But that night, I was struggling.
I was in the mud. And all of a sudden, something just latched on to me and pulled me through. And it was great.
I wished I had the tape. And those people jumped and cheered and I mean I was the man of the hour and it really felt good. It really did feel good, man.
And uh they were all coming up to me and talking to me afterward and and uh so then we're driving home when it's all over and now I'm sleepy again cuz the excitement's all over. And we get home and and walk in the house and Norma says, "Oh, said somebody uh gave me a note that someone gave to them to give to me to read to you when we get home." I said, "Cool. What does it say?" and she unfolded that note and $500 fell out of it.
And that got us through March. And I was introduced or initiated into the truth of this program. If you will keep close to him and perform his work well, he will provide what you need and take away your difficulties.
The big book says, "Both you and the new man must walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress. If you persist, remarkable things will happen. When you look back, you'll realize that the things which came to you when you put your life in God's hands was better than anything you could have planned.
Follow the dictates of your higher power, and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances. So what are the dictates of your higher power? Keep close to him and perform his work well.
Kachink and you're in tow. You are in tow. And you will presently live in a new and wonderful world.
No matter what you're going through, no matter what your present circumstance, God will lay hold of you and pull you out of the mud. Does keeping close to him and turning your thoughts to someone you can help get you out of yourself? Well, of course it does.
But is is that all? No. It brings God into the situation and puts me and my present circumstance in God's hands.
It says when we look back, we realize that the things which came to us when I put myself in God's hands. When I put my life in God's hands, how do I put my life in God's hands? I asked God it was to remove it.
Discuss with similar media and make amends quickly if I've harmed anyone. And turn my thoughts to someone I can help with. Resolve.
Push through the fear. Reach out. It ain't about me.
Don't let fear paralyze me from thinking I can help somebody else. Follow the dictates of your higher power. And you will presently live in a new and wonderful world.
You keep close to him and perform his work well. And kachchink you're in tow. You'll you'll feel that slack come out of that chain and God lay hold of you in whatever circumstance.
And when I formed a relationship with my creator, it was upon simple and understandable terms. And when I agreed to those terms, is that step three? That was the decision.
I agreed to the terms and I put my life in God's hands. When I act upon my primary purpose, I activate a supernatural experience of having God manage my life and provide what I need in all sorts of remarkable ways. It says, so the big book says like a gaunt prospector belt drawn in over the last ounce of food, a pig struck gold.
Are you catching the vision? Your pick will strike gold like a gaunt prospector belt drawn in over the last ounce of food. I GOT IT.
I see what you mean. Our pick struck gold. joy at our release from a life of frustration.
Are you frustrated with trying to manage life, trying to wrestle satisfaction and happiness out of life? Catch the vision. Strike gold, joy at our release from that life of frustration.
It says, "Knew no bounds." We feel we have struck something better than gold. Do I have all the gold that I need? No.
Am I worried about that? Nope. That's better than gold.
I don't have to worry about how much gold I do or don't have. I've got a a deal going with a higher power. And I clearly understand the terms.
My friend promised that when these things were done, I would enter upon a new relationship with my creator and would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems. And that's better than gold. Y'all all know the story of Bill Wilson.
You know, for all that time he didn't have work and finally he had a job opportunity and they sent him down to Akran and uh and they promised him that if he did good on this little assignment with this company, they would give him a permanent position with the company. Y'all are familiar with that story, aren't you? Okay.
You can read about this in chapter 11. And it says, "From a business standpoint, his trip came off badly. Had he been successful in his enterprise, he would have been set on his feet financially, which at the time seemed important.
What time? It's the depression, the middle of the depression. Been without work for quite a while, which at the time seemed important, but his venture wound up in a lawsuit and bogged down completely.
I mean, it he didn't just not sell any brooms or whatever he was doing. He got drugged into court. It says the proceeding was uh the proceeding was shot through with much hard feeling and controversy.
It it became a a legal battle and got ugly and Bill was in the middle of it. Probably did not even know he was stepping off into a hornet's nest. Bitterly discouraged, he found himself in a strange town.
discredited. His reputation was shot and almost broke. One dismal afternoon, he paced the hotel lobby wondering how his bill was to be paid.
He wanted to get out of town. It's getting ugly. He don't even have the money to check out.
It's a dismal day. It says one dismal afternoon, he paced the hotel lobby wondering how his bill was to be paid. That's where I was the day I got that letter.
It's a dismal afternoon. We're all going to have them. Then he began to hear tinkling glasses down at the end of the hall, didn't he?
It's not good for me to stay in a place like that. In his mind, he began to drift toward them tinkling glasses. Y'all know the story.
It says, "But what about his responsibilities?" I used to have them thoughts when I was, you know, it's 2:00 in the morning and you're trying to think of where to get another drink and uh and you're thinking, uh, I'm supposed to go to work in the morning. What am I going to tell the boss? How long did it take you to come up with what you're going to tell the boss?
And then he says, "What about his family? What am I going to tell the wife when I didn't come in tonight? How long did it take you to come up with that one?" >> >> None of them things ever stop me from reaching for the next drink.
And then it says, "What about the men who will die because they will not know how to get well. Where' that voice come from?" Sounds like the same voice. He said, "What you remember back there in that in that hospital room?" And he says, "Suddenly the thought came, there must be thousands of hopeless alcoholics.
Maybe I can help some of them." I think this thought came from the same place that one did. And here he is about to reach for a drink and something says, "What about the men who going to die? Cuz you won't be there." He says, "Oh yeah, them other alcoholics.
I bet there's a bunch in this town. What other alcoholics? The ones he saw in his vision back there on that hospital bed." God reminded him, "If I don't have that vision, there's going to be some low spots and trials ahead." Oh yeah, some other alcoholics.
I bet there's a bunch in this town. He headed, it says his sanity returned and he thanked God. He headed for the phone.
Y'all know the story. He made phone calls until someone set him up with Dr. Bob and he met Dr.
Bob the next day. The story goes on to have a great ending. How him and Bob got together and and then they formed the the whole summer he was there with Dr.
Bob. the first AA group was formed and and AA was born out of that story. And I'm reading through it going, "Wow, WOW, WHAT A GREAT ENDING.
What a great ending." And then one day I thought, "Hey, wait a minute, Bill. Uh, you never did tell us how you got out of that jam back there on that dismal afternoon." I found myself wondering about, you know what? I can't tell you how me and Norma got through them five months either.
>> >> You can't explain it. It's the world of the spirit. And Bill carried the message to Dr.
Bob and uh and started to show him the steps and then he come to that step nine making an amends thing. And Dr. Bob said, "No, ain't no way.
Why?" He argued, should I should I uh uh ruin the rest of my business by foolishly admitting my problem to people from whom I make my livelihood? You know, sometimes sometimes it looks foolish, doesn't it? Foolishly.
Oh my god. You think I'm going to do that? Ain't no way.
Why? He argued. Should I f do something foolish?
I remember one time um few years ago, we had a hell storm in South Austin. A bad hell storm. I've heard of these kind on the news, but I'd never been in one.
I'm sitting in my room about mid in our living room about midnight one night, folding clothes. And uh it was in October, nice time of the year. Had the windows open and all that stuff.
And I heard some thunder off in the distance. I thought, "Oh, cool. It's going to rain.
I love rain." A little while later, the thunder boom was a little closer. And I thought, "Oh, wow. It's coming this way." And a few minutes later, it didn't rain.
It sounded like a giant duck truck backed up to my house and dumped a load of rocks on my house. And you know, I've been I've been where it rains and then it rains real hard and then all of a sudden you start hearing a little bit of hail in the rain. You know, go, "Wow, it's starting to hail now." Y you know, that's what it usually is.
There was no rain. It was just hail. And it hailed 10 minutes of big old hail, golf ball size hail for about 10 minutes before it ever started to rain.
It scared me. I went and woke Norma up and said, "We need to pray." And it ruined my roof. And uh so I called the um you know, the uh yeah, the insurance adjuster guy.
He comes out and he looks at my roof and he comes down and says, "Yes, sir. You got about $3,200 worth of damage up there." He says, "And you have a $900 deductible." Oh, God. And he says, "And you've got a year to settle this claim." And I said, "Well, good, cuz I need a year to save up my $900 deductible.
So, I didn't think any more about that. That was in October. We swung all the way around to the next June.
And in June, I thought, "Oh, wow. I've got a few more months to come up with my $900 deductible." So, I called a roofer to come out and and uh look at it and give me a bid. And he come down.
He said, "About $5,000." I SAID, "NO, NOT $5,000." SAID, "That insurance adjuster told me$ 3,200." He said, "Well, he must not have looked very good." He said, "You got a double roof on this house and I'm going to have to take both of them off to put a new one on." He said, "Because of whoever put this put this up there and didn't do it right, and water has leaked under there, and all your decking is rotten." And he said, "And your two befores that jut out past the wall are rotten all the way around the house, and your fascia is rotten all the way around the house." He said, "I'm going to have to redo all that to put a roof on." And he said, "And that's not hell damage. your insurance company isn't going to cover that at all. Oh god, a dismal afternoon.
And then Norma walked in and said, "Hey, guess what? I can retire 5 years early earlier if we buy back that 5 years of my retirement." At what price? She said, "Uh, I can get it for $4,250." I said, "I'm trying to do this roof thing right now." I said, "Oh, God, don't hit me with that on." I said, "Ain't no way.
Forget that." She said, "Well, that that's only good till October. After October, it's going up." I said, "I got to get the roof done by October." So, I go to bed that night, and I'm learning to do my evening inventory pretty good, you know, and uh and and and I'm So, I'm fear. Yes, there's some fear.
I found the fear in my inventory. So, I asked God to remove it. I jump in bed.
I plan to get up the morning, call my sponsor, and discuss it with him immediately. You know, that's that's the way the deal is. I'm finally learning it, you know.
And as I'm going to sleep, I heard that little voice that I'm starting to get familiar with say, "Did you ever finish paying for your seeing eye dog?" Oh, don't bring that up now. I DON'T, YOU KNOW, I'm asking you for help, God, not to add to the problem. Yeah.
And I said, "That couldn't be God." I tried to put my head under the pillow and go to sleep. I got up the next day. See, back in ' 82, uh, I went and got a CNI dog.
They used to give them dogs away, but they found out that we'd take better care of them if they made us pay some. So, and they said, uh, they said, "We don't care how you pay it. You can pay a dollar a month.
You can pay $5. We don't care what you do. You just pay it.
Don't get some charity organization to pay it for you or something like that. You pay it." I said, "Cool. No pressure." I went back to Texas.
Uh, went through another divorce. You know, we all got a lot of those, don't we? And um and in the process of that, I walked away from that marriage with a lot of debt.
And I'm trying to pay all this stuff off. And since CNI didn't seem to be really pressuring me, I thought, I don't know what I did with that one. I probably put it on the back burner and I may have just forgot all about it.
I don't know. But it was 20some freaking years ago. Hadn't thought of it in a long time.
And I said, God, I need some help. And did you finish paying for your sin? That couldn't be God.
God wouldn't do that to me. WHY SHOULD I BY FOOLISHLY admitting my, you know, it's I sounded just like Dr. Bob.
And so I get up the next day and I'm walking around the house going, "That couldn't have been God. That couldn't have been God. I've been sober for a while now and all's been going well.
I don't have to think about that right now. Uh, no, that wasn't on my men's list. I had forgotten all about that when it couldn't have been God." Finally, I got myself talked out of believing that was God.
And you know what? You can talk yourself out of thinking it was God if you want to. And so finally I thought, "Okay, cool.
Everything's cool." I walked in the living room. I mean in the kitchen I fixing to do supper and I got a little radio on the table there. Uh I like to listen to talk radio.
So uh I flipped on the radio and uh started to make supper and just as I flipped on the radio, the first words that come out of that radio, this lady said, "Hi, I'm Jane Doe." Said, "Today we're going to be talking to John Smith." Said, "John recently went blind." and he went and got a see an eye dog and he wants to talk to you about a see an eye dog. We have entered the world of the spirit. And I turned off the radio and I looked up and said, "God, I can't afford to pay that right now." And what came booming back at me?
Booming. I mean, booming. See, I don't hear God's voice.
I feel it. But you know what it says when you feel it, don't you? And it boom back at me.
I said, "God, I can't afford to pay that." Boom. You can't afford not to. What are the clear and simple, understandable terms of our relationship, keep close to him, and perform his work well.
And that keeping close to him is your inventory. And continuing to take personal inventory and continuing to set right and clean up the mess from the past. And if I want God in this picture with me and managing my life in all sorts of remarkable ways, I better continue to clean up my spills.
And if I forgot one and he brought it up, I better not say, "I can't afford to pay that right now." Cuz he'll say, "You can't afford not to unless you want to handle this one by yourself." >> Mhm. >> And I said, "Yes, I I guess you're right." So I called CNI. I said, "I may owe y'all some money from He said,"From when?" I said, "1982." He said, "God dang, I don't know if we got records back that far." He said, "I'll call you in a few days." He called me in a few days.
He said, "Yes, sir, Mr. Dart." The boss said, "Did you still owe us $35?" Oh, hallelujah. All right.
Oh, I thought it was a lot, man. We wrote a $35 check and dropped it in the mail. And I said, "God, you sure a big fuss over $35?
And and I I said um I and and God said I felt him say you didn't know it's $35. You thought it was a lot more than that and you were willing to pay it. And you know it says just to the extent that we do as we think he would have us, he'll match our calamity with serenity.
I felt that serenity wrap itself around me. I felt good about doing what God asked me to do. And I felt serenity wrap itself around me.
It was so cool. It was real cool. It takes away that dismal afternoon.
It said Bill sanity returned and he thanked God. Right in the middle of the same dismal afternoon. I want you to know that a few days after that, I was sitting in my living room floor working steps with some new guys and uh we stopped for a smoke break and I mentioned something about my roof.
We're sitting out on the front porch and I mentioned about my roof and this guy said, "Oh, I used to be a roofer." He climbed up on my roof and looked at it and come down and said, "What' that guy say he'd pay you?" I said, "Well, deducting my 900, he's going to give me 23." He said, "I can fix that roof for $2,300." He went and got a um a roofer friend of his and they come over and took that $2,300, put my whole new roof on there, even put me a few extra things that I wanted. And it didn't cost me nothing out of my pocket. The $900, no deductible, no nothing.
It was real cool. And then shortly after that, I called the teacher retirement people and I said, "Ask the guy to come out here and help me figure this out." And he's looking at Norma's check and he says, "What? Let's see.
You got this deductible here for this uh 40 503b whatever something other." and and he says, "What's this deduction over here, Norman?" She says, "I don't know." He said, "Well, they're taking a little bit out of your check and putting in this other little pension." He said, "You know, I used to work for that company and they're not very good. That's why I changed to this other." He said, "Let me close out that account and roll it over into this one. And then we're going to uh I don't know what all he did." He reshuffled the deck somehow.
And when he got through and dealt out a new hand, he got enormous 5 years of of retirement. It didn't cost me anything. I a few weeks later after sending that money, I had a new roof on my house and Norma's 5 years of retirement in the bag.
Cost me nothing. Cost me $35. Why?
He argued, Dr. Bob, why he argued, should I do something foolish LIKE PC AND I right in the middle of all THIS? I CAN'T DO THAT.
and and he wouldn't do it. And it says right after that he went on to drunk to beat all a bender to beat all benders. One morning it says that he took the bull by the horns and set out to face those he feared.
Stepping into his car, he made the rounds of those he had hurt. He trembled as he went about cuz this could mean ruin to a to a man in his line of business. At midnight, he returned exhausted, but very happy.
Serenity wraps itself around you. He has not had a drink since. So, this program took care of his drinking problem, didn't it?
But what about that fact that he was afraid it was going to ruin his business? If you read in Dr. Bob's Nightmare, he says, "My business is doing as well as can be expected in this troubled time." What time?
We're talking about the depression, remember? He said, "My business is doing as well as can be expected in this troubled time." Did he sound like he had a lot of business? No.
Did he sound like he was worried about it? No. And that's better than gold.
Joy at our release from a life of frustration knew no bounds. We have struck something better than gold. That's the promise of our program.
My friend promised that when all when these steps were taken, I would enter upon a new relationship with my creator and would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems. That's what Eddie said to Bill and that's what I'm saying to you. I can promise you that this program has the elements of a way of living which answers all your problems.
My wife and I abandon oursel with enthusiasm to the idea of helping other alcoholics find the solution to their problems. Bill said, "I was soon catapulted into what I like to call the fourth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness, and a way of living that grows incredibly more wonderful as time passes.
There's no ceiling to this spiritual experience. We have been given a great sense of purpose. Our primary purpose accompanied by a growing consciousness of the power of God in our lives.
Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help another alcoholic to achieve sobriety. you're in tow. And you will presently live in a new and wonderful world.
No matter what your present circumstances, reach out. Resol with resolve. Push through the fear.
It's about them, not about how I'm going to fix this roof. The roof is a problem. But don't let it become such a problem that I don't have time for my primary purpose.
I am to stay sober to help another alcoholic to achieve sobriety. My problem is in tow ignition. Liftoff and we are rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we have not even dreamed.
Thank you. Thank you for listening to Sober Sunrise. If you enjoyed today's episode, please give it a thumbs up as it will help share the message.
Until next time, have a great day. >>