Hope And Action

Gratitude is the product of hope plus action.  A farmer prays for rain.  He has hope that it will come and then takes action with prayer.  He realizes he is powerless to make rain come.  So when it comes, he is grateful.  You may say his prayer has nothing to do with rain.  It was just good timing.  But the farmer is nonetheless grateful.  Sobriety is hope plus action.  You hope to stay sober or get sober and then you take action.  You get into a spiritual solution of fellowship, steps, service.  This is the action that follows the hope.  Without action, all you have is a brief and unhappy period of dryness.  No sober person ever said it was just a fluke that they did something and got sober.  They all know they have no more power to get sober and stay sober than a farmer has of making rain come.  They are forever grateful. Whenever I hoped for something but did nothing, no action, all I got was “nothing.”