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Big Book Daily Meditation Readings P. 86-88

4m 3s

Big Book Daily Meditation Readings P. 86-88

This passage outlines a daily spiritual practice centered on prayer, self-examination, and reliance on God's guidance. It begins with the Serenity Prayer, which asks for acceptance of unchangeable things, courage to change what can be changed, and wisdom to distinguish between the two. At night, individuals conduct a constructive review of their day, honestly assessing whether they were resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid, whether they owe an apology, and whether they were kind and loving toward others. The review must avoid worry, remorse, or morbid reflection, as these diminish usefulness to others. Afterward, one asks for God's forgiveness and seeks corrective measures. Upon waking, individuals plan their day and ask God to direct their thinking, free from self-pity and selfish motives. When facing indecision, they ask for inspiration, relax without struggling, and trust that right answers will come. Meditation concludes with a prayer for daily guidance, freedom from self-will, and requests made only when others will benefit. Throughout the day, one pauses when agitated or doubtful, asks for right thought or action, and humbly acknowledges no longer running the show, repeating "I don't know what to do."

Transcription

618 Words, 3414 Characters

English
Speaker 1A moment of silence followed by the serenity prayer. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I will not mind be done. When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse, or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review, we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken. On awakening, let us think about the 24 hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest, or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions, we can employ our mental faculties with assurance. For after all, God gave us brains to use. Our thought life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives. In thinking about our day, we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers will come after we have tried this for a while. What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still and experienced, and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on a plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it. We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we are given whatever we need to take care of such problems. We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no requests for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends. Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that, and it doesn't work. You can easily see why. If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in a morning meditation. If we belong to a religious denomination, which requires a definite morning devotion, we attend to that also. If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing. There are many helpful books also. Suggestions about these may be obtained from one's priest, minister or rabbi. Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer. As we go through the day, we pause when agitated or doubtful and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show. Humbly saying to ourselves many times each day, "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do." "I don't know what to do."

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. The passage opens with the Serenity Prayer, asking for acceptance of what cannot be changed, courage to change what can, and wisdom to know the difference.
  2. At night, individuals should constructively review their day by examining whether they were resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid, and whether they owe an apology.
  3. The review should avoid drifting into worry, remorse, or morbid reflection because that diminishes usefulness to others.
  4. After the nightly review, one asks God's forgiveness and seeks guidance on corrective measures to take.
  5. On awakening, individuals should think about the next 24 hours, ask God to direct their thinking away from self-pity and dishonest or self-seeking motives, and plan their day.
  6. When facing indecision, one should ask God for inspiration through intuitive thought or decision, relax without struggling, and trust that right answers will come with practice.
  7. Meditation typically concludes with a prayer for guidance throughout the day, freedom from self-will, and requests made only if they will help others, never for selfish ends.
  8. Throughout the day, one should pause when agitated or doubtful, ask for the right thought or action, and humbly remind themselves they are no longer running the show.

Summary:

This passage outlines a daily spiritual practice centered on prayer, self-examination, and reliance on God's guidance. It begins with the Serenity Prayer, which asks for acceptance of unchangeable things, courage to change what can be changed, and wisdom to distinguish between the two. At night, individuals conduct a constructive review of their day, honestly assessing whether they were resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid, whether they owe an apology, and whether they were kind and loving toward others.

The review must avoid worry, remorse, or morbid reflection, as these diminish usefulness to others. Afterward, one asks for God's forgiveness and seeks corrective measures. Upon waking, individuals plan their day and ask God to direct their thinking, free from self-pity and selfish motives.

When facing indecision, they ask for inspiration, relax without struggling, and trust that right answers will come. Meditation concludes with a prayer for daily guidance, freedom from self-will, and requests made only when others will benefit.

FAQs

It asks God to grant serenity to accept what cannot be changed, courage to change what can be changed, and wisdom to know the difference.

Constructively review the day by asking if you were resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid, if you owe an apology, or if you kept something to yourself that should be discussed.

Avoid drifting into worry, remorse, or morbid reflection, as that would diminish your usefulness to others.

Ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken.

Think about the 24 hours ahead, consider plans for the day, and ask God to direct your thinking away from self-pity, dishonest, or self-seeking motives.

Ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought, or a decision, then relax and take it easy without struggling.

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Transcription

618 words