Corey brings a question a friend put to him about recovery as a spiral (always circling, always moving) and the thing that troubled him about the picture: there was no way out of it. He points instead to the free man in the Big Book, the one who can go anywhere other free people go so long as he keeps a certain simple attitude, and lands on what actually changed for him. It was rarely the circumstances; it was the point of view he brought into them. Pastor Mike picks it up with his own first Fourth Step, when he told his sponsor he had no resentments at all; he loved everybody, got along with everyone; and then found everything buried so deep he couldn't see it until he started writing. He pairs it with the promise in Psalm 147 that God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, and notes that the breaking open has to come before the binding up. Paris turns the conversation back to the foundation underneath all of it, the utter defeat that came before any of the steps, and the sacred date nobody can take from you. It closes with a Third Tradition pop quiz, some laughter, and an unexpected bit of affirmation about counting the right day.

The stone for today: God often uses the pain I face honestly to heal the pain I've carried for years.

Read today's full Daily Ripple at www.dailyripples.com — and we'd love to hear from you. Reach out any time at wave@dailyripples.com.

Healing what still hurts | facing buried resentments | freedom and point of view | Christian recovery | 12-step faith | Fourth Step inventory | Psalm 147 | Big Book study | sobriety devotional | addiction recovery

Daily Ripples is a daily devotional reflection connecting recovery principles with the life of faith. New episodes every day at dailyripples.com.