Why the Vision of Tomorrow Requires a Real Look at Yesterday – Judith R.

Let's roll. Hi, Judith. Hey, long time no see. I know. Hi Nikki. There's a lot of people. Of course, you don't know my schedule of my life. I don't expect everybody to keep up with that. But this last weekend, I shoved a bunch of newcomers into a 12-passenger van and we drove 20 hours through the night to Akron, Ohio. And then Tim met us there because he lives in Cleveland and he was our tour guide for Friday and Saturday. So we just saw each other this weekend. It was so much fun. It was. talk about language of the heart I got to he has his little hoodie on that we gave him we have recovery road dog shirts that have year 12 on them I do I got to say the third step prayer in Dr. Bob's house with my arm around Judith and there was a force field of power coming out of that place it was so cool so that That said, my name is Tim Pollack. I'm an alcoholic from Cleveland, Ohio. My sobriety dates April 21st, 1996. And my home group is the Men's Interaction Big Book Study, which meets Thursday nights at 730 on the east side of Cleveland in person, currently still on Zoom. Welcome to join us. And my name ist Judith Roberts. I'm a alcoholic from Bismarck, North Dakota. My home group is the Three Legacies Group on Thursdays at 7 p.m. We are going through the concepts right now. I think we're on concept seven, maybe eight. Eight. Eight. Thank you. Judith and I do not speak for AA. We are certainly not experts. We just love AA and the history and the literature and the fellowships. we agreed to meet once per week to discuss the language of the heart. AA preamble. Alcoholics is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership. We are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution. Does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety. We are here today to discuss the language of the heart, which is not just the common bond that allows us to relate to each other, it's a publication that brings together nearly every article written for the AA Grapevine by our co-founder Bill W. The Grapevine started in 1944 as a local newsletter out of concern that there was a lack of understanding among groups in the U.S. and Canada. And in these articles, the painstaking process of trial and error that resulted in a spiritual principles of recovery unity and service is documented it's the hope of the grapevine editors that Bill W's timeless insights written in the 1940s 50s and 60s will serve as a mirror for a members today reminding us what it used to be like what happened and why it happened and illuminate the present with the wisdom of A's experience in its first 30 years this uh this particular meeting is that each week the two of us will have a conversation and share our experience thoughts what we've learned regarding the articles this will include spiritual principles steps traditions concepts histories examples etc it is not scripted but rather a conversation then for the last 10 minutes we'll open it for questions and comments from you all please raise your virtual hand and Mike will unmute you it will be very helpful to you if you have the book language of the heart and read each week because we will not be taking the time to read each article and if you've not read it it may be a little confusing however we rarely stick to the article anyway yes no we don't we don't Okay. Our seventh tradition states that we ought to be fully self-supporting by our own contributions, and we've put a link in the chat to make a contribution to AA after the meeting. Go online, click that, open up the link. Even $1 helps carry the message to the next suffering alcoholic. Okay, we just want to point out that each and every one of us is now a pioneer in the digital age of AA. We ask that everyone act like you are sitting in a chair at a local AA meeting. Because meetings online deserve the same respect that we would show at an in-person AA meeting, if you find it necessary to pay attention to something other than the meeting on your screen, please turn your video off as to not disrupt the other attendees however we love to see your faces this morning so thank you for having your video on yes I like when I listen to Steve speak a couple weeks ago Carl M said guys we've been at this for a while now just please behave yourself on camera right but some We don't know who's here for the first time or what happened, so I think reading the deal is a good thing. However, regardless of what I think or what Judith thinks, let's get she and I out of the way. Is that correct? She and I? Get her and I. Her and I, I don't Know. Get her an eye out of The Way. And let's turn this over to our collective higher power, if you'd join me, please. our creator help me help us set aside everything that we think we know about you and everything that we know ourselves and each other and everything that we think about life and recovery also that we can have a new experience in you and a new experience with ourselves and with each other and a much needed new experience in life and recovery. Amen. Amen. Are you the lead today or am I? We have not even spoken. Am I what? Am I the lead tonight? Or are you? You are. I was the lead last week and you talked the whole time, so I thought we'd just let you officially do it this week. oh i'm so sorry you know who knows i i don't think i have much today but we shall see i say that every single week right we'll get it done together a couple things that i want to point out number one we're going to go through um what outsiders say about aa that's one thing i want to talk about what not us in here because we like us but what do outsiders say about aaa and also there is some beautiful inspiring poetry bill w really really uh kicked it up a notch with some i i just think it's beautiful poetry and and inspiration and a call to arms so So that's a couple things. I'll start with just a few thoughts on what the outsiders think of us. Let me interrupt you real quick, everybody. We are on page 135, The Vision of Tomorrow, just in case anyone's not following. Yes. Okay. And it was written in 1952. and he's still it's almost like he's just still on a high uh from from what has been happening in the past year the the conference that occurred um uh in in 1951 and uh he talks about about um the third legacies you know the the concepts and what he was really pushing for and the difference uh in the structure and turning over and aa is coming to age and and and he's he seems to be really still uh looking back and just super excited about the the things that have happened. The one sentence, it's a paragraph all to itself, a second paragraph, and it says, every AA will agree that we have just lived through an awesome destiny-shaping 12 months. And so that's basically how he feels about 1951, that it was destiny-shaped. Now, to relate it to us, I don't think that we had been through a 12 months of destiny shaping however in the fellowship however we have been through a very interesting 12 months a very significant um 18 months with the the difference uh that we have now been thrust into the digital age and it's so funny because this very this very topic has been debated and for years there's been people pushing and pushing let's make use of technology let's make use it can be done it can be done responsibly and I in fact have been part of a big book study between a groups not just meetings but groups one in one in Bismarck North Dakota and one in California. And we linked these two groups together about seven years ago, because we didn't have a big book study here in town. And I didn't feel capable. Because that I, you know, I was 12 years sober now minus seven, I at that, you Know, just a few years sober, I didn'T feel like Like, I had the experience necessary to lead a big book study. So we knew of one in California, and we tapped them, and we were using technology to link two AA groups from opposite sides of the country together for a big-book study so that we could learn because there was no one in town that was doing that. so well technology but boy here's the deal back then we got hugely criticized hugely criticized intergroups were contacted gso was contacted about what we were doing that we were violating traditions yada yada which we weren't we weren'T broadcasting we were DOING exactly what we're doing now but it was just two groups not open to anyone else like zoom is now today but so So it was happening, but the fellowship as a whole was resisting, resisting, resisting. But because of the pandemic, it's like AA was kicked into the digital age, ready or not, like it or not. Here we come. And so we have been through an awesome, maybe not destiny shaping year, year but pretty significant pretty pretty significant and actually from what i've heard it has changed the fellowship because here's the deal small places remote places uh places that don't have many resources the traditions were opened up they had never heard these things before. They had never been taught these things. Concepts totally opened up. We've delved more deeply into the literature of AA. We have dealt more deeply into all three legacies of AA and so there is a lot, a lot of growth and benefits that have resulted from the Zoom age but anyway I just wanted to link what was happening to us to Bill's awesome and destiny shaping 12 months. Judith, I think when anyone takes any real action in AA, they're always subject to some criticism by somebody. But when you get criticized to the point that somebody's calling GSO on you as if they have the authority to do anything about it. But, I mean, when that happened, is your first thought to be defensive? Is it to be like, oh, my God, are we doing something wrong? Because this seems severe. You know, how did that go? Right. Just to be honest, my first reaction is always fear. Yeah. And that's a natural default. Oh, my gosh, they've contacted GSO. What do they think of me? As though they know who I am out here in Dakota, right? Right. That would be mine. Right. And does it even matter? But so that's my first reaction. But then, of course, I have a sponsor do step 10. And and here's the other. Well, then I leave it. Then I set it down because what someone says about me or thinks about me is none of my business. Even though it's about me, it's still none of our business because I have no way to control what someone thinks about us, about me. So, but so I contact my sponsor. I did the step 10 and I didn't fight them. I didn'T argue. We just kept doing it kept doing it kept Doing It and then all right. This is a little bit of a bad part of me you sit long enough. It's a character defect of I was right. Oh, yeah, but you sit long enough and you just do Do what you know. I mean, to the best of your ability, do the right thing and keep doing it. I have been criticized so much, and it really gets scary. You keep doing, my sponsor says, just put your head down and keep working with those women. Put your head done and keep workin' with those woman. Keep doin' the next indicated action. Don't worry what other people are saying. and uh you wait it out and uh eventually uh if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing living by the spiritual practice principles it all comes out and eventually you get to be right without saying a word which is super fun but that takes me back to the article as well because Because the very first line is so useful in what you just asked, Tim. That's kind of what made me think of it. Yep. It's all about inventory. I have to do inventory. And clear vision for tomorrow, Bill writes at the top of the 135, clear vision für tomorrow comes only after a real look at yesterday. And this is why we personally take inventory. And as AA, we need to take inventory, Tori if I get criticized by somebody I need to pause and listen and if I've found that if I bristle you know I call it bristling have a reaction to it then there's something that needs to be addressed within me not what necessarily what they're saying needs to be addressed they may be completely wrong but my negative reaction my bristling my fear my my defensiveness, my need to strike back or to do something. The fear, that needs to be addressed. And my sponsor always gives me a prayer. Bless him, change me. Bless him. Change me. And the blessing that that person gets that I'm asking for is that they really have a spiritual experience. I'm not asking that they have good health or wealth or fun or whatever because I don't care about that. But the bless him is allow that person to have a true and deep and meaningful spiritual experience with a higher power. I mean, what more of a blessing could you possibly hope for someone? And then the change me part is do I need to have the spirit of forgiveness, of acceptance, of tolerance? Do I need fear removed? What changes in me need to happen so I'm not reacting interacting and bristling over whatever is happening. So inventory helps with that. Yeah, yeah, I think, I mean, I've never had GSO called on me, but if I reflect honestly on, because yeah, when, you know, if you're a seeker and a doer, you have ideas, and I take action, and people don't like things changing from what they know, you So my first reaction is probably I want to change what I'm doing to make you happy, catch myself in that. Then I would look at is there truth to what they're saying? Like I would start checking my literature, my traditions, my whatever's going on. I actually think of a specific thing right now where I was like, I know that you're wrong in my facts, but I want to make sure then I would probably look for someone to side with, you know, well, this group in California is doing it with me. They obviously know what they're doing. So we're right together and I'm right. But what I like about what you said is first inventorying it, running it past my higher power, then through my sponsor and then carry on because this isn't my business anymore. You know? That's right. Yep. And I have found that, um, uh i have found jerk you're so funny jerk wrote in the chat you can determine your success in blazing new trails by counting the number of arrows in your back amen it can be true however um i'd like to count the successes but i look at uh the lives transformed man uh because if i would do it all over again for one person what's one life worth that's that's what i'm focused on is what's one life work it's worth some criticism criticism but here's the other thing too we cannot be all uh i have i have to watch not to get um and i think i'm i'm doing fair now i'd have to ask my sponsor uh not to Get On A Spiritual High Top as being smug spiritually or spiritually smug like Like, you know, that type of arrogance is very, very dangerous for me. But anyway, moving on. So what happened in 1951 is three things. Bill says that our grown-up society, he considered AA grown-ups in 1952. but they for the first time one we knew our it know its own mind meaning aa as a fellowship we know our own mind number one and and i find that with recovery that um that that applies to me personally as well because when i got sober i think i know everything but my sponsor says at one year, you learn your name. And at 10 years, you get your walking around papers, meaning I could go out unsupervised at 10 Years, you know, I'm still not unsupervised, however. But we don't know our own mind. That's step two. Yeah, you know, it brings to mind step two, we, we need to be restored to sanity. And I had to look up the the word sanity. And that meant wholeness, W-H-O-L, wholenness, like a pie, pumpkin pie, a wholenesse of thinking. Okay? So sanity's definition when I looked it up was wholeneness of thinking and I don't have wholenESS of thinking it's like someone came in but took a big triangle chunk out of my pumpkin pie. I no longer have a whole pumpkin pie and that's how my mind is. I have a chunk, a big chunk in my thinking, in my wholeness of thinking missing and those chunks are how I put my perspective, how I perceive me, how I perceive you and the universe and the higher power and relationships and everything. I've a chunk. So in step two which I didn't think related to me when when I was new, relates totally to me because I need to be restored to wholeness of thinking. Then when we get to step 11, it says by this time sanity will have returned. So we getto start using our minds and using – and we still run it by our sponsor and stuff because we're still prone to ridiculous activity and thinking. But when we have this spiritual experience, we begin and get some time and some practice using these spiritual principles and steps we get to know our own mind you know we need to be careful we need to run it by people but we getto know our mind just like AA grown up you know were grown up in our recovery were growing up inour fellowship and for the first time we get to knowour own mind and thats pretty cool number two he says we assume the guidance of That because of the third legacy, the concepts, we're assuming the guidance of its principal affairs, meaning the direction of AA as a whole. And number three, guardianship of its traditions. We cannot change our traditions. The trustees are the guardians of the steps, the traditions, and funnily enough, just concept 12. whoa, the rest of the concepts can be changed. But the steps, the traditions in Concept 12 cannot be changed without three-fourths written ballot of all the registered AA groups in the world. And they have six months to get all those ballots in. So the chances of that happening are not very likely. we can that they they can change the first 164 pages of the big book but they cannot change the steps the traditions and concept 12. I like Bill's uh well I should say I find Bill's language in that paragraph fascinating I don't mean it's the only word I can think of and I don'T mean it in a negative sense it's almost a little bit manipulating in like almost like a uh like an affirmation is like um is assumption of the third legacy of service it's because he is the one that brought these traditions and concepts forward so he is assuming our assuming of these things i mean it's been agreed on in the sense that no one's fighting back but he brought it to the table and he's like you know i'm really glad that we're moving forward with these things but kind of assuming people are on board and um same thing with the abandonment of the petty squabbles um it's kind of like telling everybody we're done with that now you know what i mean we're We're moving forward from that because you don't wait for everybody to agree. You just say, we're done with that phase and we're moving forward with what we have agreed on at our meetings, our conferences. It's just really good leadership. The right guy for the job. That's so funny. And we have not abandoned our petty squabbles for a far more mature statementship. right but that's like good leadership saying we're done with that now you know so that when it comes up it's like remember we aren't even doing that anymore well they say honey attracts more bees than vinegar and it's almost like he's giving a compliment oh you know instead of saying knock it off y'all you know it's more like oh we're dumb with that and now we're more mature and it's more yeah like you're saying this a little bit more positive affirmations or something to get everybody on board um i was going to leave the poetry till the end but right at the end of that paragraph is well not at the in the middle of that paragraph i just oh my gosh listen to this This language, it just gets me so excited. He says, upon our cathedral of spirit, the spire of service was firmly anchored aloft. Oh my gosh, isn't that just beautiful? High above its great floor, symbolizing recovery. High above those protecting walls denoting our unity. a a spire of service rose to beckon the millions who do not yet know how do you write like that man i don't know he gets in there i mean i think this very first paragraph has a great tone as well but it's amazing me when he has these single lines in the middle of paragraphs you know where it's like easy to pass over and almost most. Our cathedral of spirit. You know that, um, so the, uh, what I was saying about the language, it's kind of like, have you ever gone to gossip to somebody and they just go, well, everybody's doing the best they can at any given moment, you know? And it's like, Like, it's good leadership without saying, can we agree to not do this? You know what I mean? Or I really don't want to participate in talking about somebody. They just kind of like leave you with nothing left to say and move forward. And that's kind of what I see him doing in this paragraph. Yep. Yep. All right. So a little bit of what the outsiders think of us. he goes into great detail of everything that happened the last year yeah and um you know we can talk about how great aa is all the time inside but it at one time i heard and it was billy noonan years and years ago and i have um i was looking for my book and i think i have it at home and not Not here or earlier this morning. I was searching for it. But Billy Ann said that he pointed out a few things. And one was that Time Magazine, you know, not you younger ones, but older ones may remember Time Magazine. Well, Time Magazine had its 80th birthday years back. And so what they did was they gathered 40 of the most prominent historians in the field and asked them to come up with a list of the 80th or 80 greatest events from in the past 80 years, 80. right from when they started to to you know that anniversary and so man what a job in 80 years what would be the 80 most um monumental dates in the world not just in america in the work And there are things like man walking on the moon, World War II, the fall of the Berlin Wall, things like that. Huge things. And if you look in there in 1930s, there's just a few listed in the 1930s. but you can find um a full both pages some just have little sections but this has two pages you open it up it's a big coffee book and it says on mother's day uh 1934 right 35 i'm terrible at days 1935, a down-and-out stockbroker met a physician in Akron and the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous happened. That is what the most renowned historians put as the most influential 80 things that happened in that time. That's pretty significant. And then also in the Library of Congress, the top 100 most influential books, AA is listed in that one of 100. And theologians have said that AA is the most significant spiritual movement ever to come out of America, which may not be saying much for America, but it's pretty cool. So those are the ones I know. And I have that book. I got on eBay, or actually it was given to me as a gift by Billy. But you can get used ones if you're a nerd like me. And so those are the things I know that outsiders say about AA. And that's kind of what's going on in this article. He's talking about people approaching us. like up till now the writing has been like um clergy and medicine cooperating with us but this is talking about people approaching us saying hey how can we borrow some of your ideas here you guys seem to have something really good going on and um so not only endorsing us but almost wanting to to not mimic us, but adopt some of what we have going on, which is like a new chapter in, I guess, what you would call endorsement. Right. And he mentions the World Health Organization. Right. I had Coleman look up what that was, if it's the same as today. I don't know if he found anything of interest. He said there wasn't much. but um uh so he's referring to the world health organization um a metropolitan life insurance company gave wholesale approval to aa um and of course he goes into we can't endure for any of these efforts but um that but we're very grateful for you know and any rights in another place we We don't defend ourselves. We let our friends do that, and that's what's happening here. And then in a very special February 1951 issue of the magazine Fortune, which now I want to Google and look up that article. I've got it. I got there this morning. I'm going to put it in the chat. Okay, so it's called A Uniquely American Phenomenon. Isn't that interesting? thousands and thousands of good words about AA. And Fortune Magazine titled the article, A Uniquely American Phenomenon. That's pretty cool. Then the American Public Health Association gave a stamp of complete approval to AA during 1951 and we were presented with the prized lasker award which he's comparing to the nobel peace prize and in fact wasn't he nominated for the nobo peace prize lasker no bill wilson who bill i don't know i don' t know if it's urban legend that whether whether he was just being considered for it or he wasn't and turned it down. I do know that he did turn down being on the cover of time magazine as man of the year. I think, well, I mean, the Lasker award situation is an appendix at the back of the big book. If you've never gotten that far. And, you know, I've heard millions of times of readers digest article Liberty magazine article, Saturday Evening Post. I never heard of this Fortune magazine article. So I did a search and found it. It's pretty long. It is worth reading. There is nothing in it that was like somebody giving an overview of what we are. But it is worth reading when you see someone else's words summing up how we operate and kind of the I can't think of the word what's the word paradoxes um of how we operate it is really like a formal organization it has almost none yet it averse, it ought never have any. And someone describing what AA is and how it works is really cool to read in a summed up way. And I will read you guys one part just because I just find it fascinating. It talks about if you were to attend a meeting, it would look something like this. It says there's no set speech for the chairman, but a typical opening might be something like this ladies and gentlemen I wonder if the new people who are here for the first second or third time would please raise your hands that's fine I'll ask the old-timers to please make themselves known to the new people and try to see that they have a good time as you know AA groups have two kinds of meetings open and closed the closed meetings are for alcoholics only but tonight is an open meeting so everybody is welcome if there are any reporters here i just want to remind you you can write anything you like so long as you don't use anybody's name you've got to respect us on that because some people are funny they used they used to not mind being seen in the hotel metropolis so drunk that they couldn't stand up but they're a little bit sensitive about being seen sitting down here cold and sober So maybe you think we have some fancy test that can tell you whether you're an alcoholic or not, but we haven't. The only person who can decide whether you are an alcoholic is yourself. If you want a helpful hint, I'll tell you something I heard Fanny J say at a meeting a couple of months ago. When anybody stops boasting about how much he had to drink the night before and starts lying about it, there's maybe just a little bit of a chance that he's getting to be one of us. But that's up to you. And it kind of goes on from there, just in this kind of 40s, 50s-ish language and tone to the way they're speaking. It's a really neat article to read in full. I urge you to do so. And you posted that in the chat. And Mike also posted the link to the book I was was talking about the coffee table book 80 days that changed the world and that is um where the time magazine and then you um tim you mentioned readers digest and i have this on my shelf i i got it uh as a gift from someone it's an old those of you who are my age or older do you guys remember these there's a reader just digest condensed uh books and we'd get them and read them and they always had four stories that someone else wrote but then they had permission to publish in here and in in this particular readers digest condensed book it it says bill w right here bill ILW, don't know if you can see that. And then you open it up and it starts like that is a picture and it says the deeply moving story of Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. And then it goes on to tell the story of Bill Wilson in this old Reader's Digest. I have that on my shelf. So all in all, this whole section and we're running out of time but it's just here's the here's the reason why I wanted to bring that up what other people outside of Alcoholics Anonymous think about AA they have given awards like you know Reader's Digest, Man of the Year although he turned it down, the Lasker Award all these recognitions all these you know being the top top 100 book in America, according to the Library of Congress, being one of the most significant or one of The 80 Days That Changed the World. That's according to The Top Historians, all these things and how they view AA. And what that does to me is it allows me to take some personal inventory of myself. How do I view the thing that changed my life, that saved my life? Do I take it for granted? Do i take it casually? Do respect it in how I conduct myself in meetings? Do Do I share it with others? Do I look like a member of one of the most amazing fellowships that has changed the world? How much do I appreciate this absolute miracle and gift that other people view with astonishment? And I'm like, yeah, it's an AA meeting. you know maybe i'll go to group conscience maybe i won't and maybe i will uh you know belong to a home group with the gsr maybe i' ll vote you know now those traditions those concepts that's kind of boring you know what how do i view this fellowship and how do I conduct myself in this fellowship that the the experts in religious fields in historical fields in medical fields psychological fields they view it as one of the greatest things to have ever occurred and I'm just like yeah you know take it or leave it now I don't I'm not like me Yeah, I'm known as kind of a little bit overboard because I'm just so grateful. And and I have been taught that gratitude is shown through my actions, not my words. Right. I'm grateful. You'll see it in my my behavior, how I conduct myself and what I do in the fellowship. ship. Anything, Tim? Well, just on that, you know, so he cites all these different recognitions that people are giving us and explains that while it's encouraging and we can feel good about that, the approval doesn't mean that we align with it. We just cooperate. We We can't support any of the sources like, oh, because they like us, maybe we can team together and, you know, help homelessness and alcoholism or whatever the case may be. And he says that we do so by we avoid internal division and adverse public notoriety. Yep. And it just goes, I think he brings up a couple times, our mission is to carry the message, period. That is what we do. And if we have cooperation that helps us do that, that's great. We don't argue with anybody. We don'T, you know, endorse anybody. We just cooperate and move forward on what we're doing. Yep. The other thing I really liked is even with all these accolades, even with All These Yay Pats on the Back and recognition and awards and, you Know, all this stuff, I love what he writes in, it's like the third last paragraph. He humbly exclaims, humbly explains, what indeed hath God wrought? Meaning it's not about me. It's not what I have done. It's Not What Even We Have Done. but it's uh what indeed hath god wrought now a little bit of old-fashioned english but but basically he's saying this is all due to our higher power at seconds and inches it has succeeded even though in despite us you know i heard someone i can't remember who it was that that said, you know the best thing about AA? Are the people. You know what the worst thing about a AA is? The people. And it's like, oh my God, if it was up to us we would have destroyed ourselves long ago. So we have to give credit where credit's due and what great things indeed has our higher power wrought. We only got two minutes so I'd love to get the questions. Tim, I just want to read a little bit of the poetry at the end unless you have something else. I have nothing, you know, important. Read your poetry. Okay. He ends this article with, if as AA members we can each, so he's talking to us personally, If we can each refuse public prestige and renounce any desire for personal power, if as a movement we insist on remaining poor, If we steadfastly decline all political, sectarian, or other alliances, we shall avoid internal division and adverse public notoriety. If, as a movement, we remain a spiritual entity concerned only with carrying our message to fellow sufferers then only can we most effectively complete our mission calls it a mission he says which in effect is to pray lead us not into temptation let us not be spoiled for as long as we shall humbly meditate in the spirit upon our our great yesterdays, just so long will God grant us our vision of tomorrow. Ah, isn't that great? If we humbly meditate in this spirit, you know, the spirit of service and humility upon all the wonderful blessings, then that's, and God will grant us our vision for tomorrow. And we have been given so many blessings. You know, and I noticed him kind of opening and closing with this idea of using yesterday. And it has a very unique flavor of being present, using yesterday in this moment versus being stuck in yesterday and missing this moment. You know? It's a little bit reading between the lines, I think. He doesn't flat out say that. But I think it's interesting. The tone of which he's talking about yesterday and tomorrow can only be practiced right now, if you read what he's saying. Just more poetry. Isn't that exactly what we do with our steps? That's right. We have to take inventory for our resentment, fears, and sex. We look at our yesterdays so that we can have a completely new tomorrow. But that takes action today. Does anyone have... Mike? What page did you read that from, that poetry? And what book or article is that from? Somebody in the chat. All of it is from the article. today in language of the heart page uh um vision of tomorrow the first thing about upon our cathedral of spirit this sphere of service was firmly anchored a lot that's on page that section is on page 135 and then what i just read is at the end of 136 it's the last um three paragraphs paragraphs of 136 language of the heart yeah all right well let's close and uh with the weak version of the serenity prayer god grant us the serENITY to accept the things we cannot change the courage to change the things WE can and the wisdom to know the difference amen thank you everybody for joining joining us today.