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April 16
Daily Reflections ANGER: A "DUBIOUS LUXURY" If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of the normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 66 "Dubious luxury." How often have I remembered those words. It's not just anger that's best left to nonalcoholics; I built a list including justifiable resentment, self-pity, judgmentalism, self-righteousness, false pride and false humility. I'm always surprised to read the actual quote. So well have the principles of the program been drummed into me that I keep thinking all of these defects are listed too. Thank God I can't afford them--or I surely would indulge in them. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day In A.A. we have insurance. Our faith in God is a kind of insurance against the terrible things that might happen to us if we ever drink again. By putting our drink problem in the hands of God, we've taken out a sort of insurance policy, which insures us against the ravages of drink, as our homes are insured against destruction by fire. Am I paying my A.A. insurance premiums regularly? Meditation For The Day I must try to love all humanity. Love comes from thinking of every man or woman as your brother or sister, because they are children of God. This way of thinking makes me care enough about them to really want to help them. I must put this kind of love into action by serving others. Love means no severe judging, no resentments, no malicious gossip, and no destructive criticism. It means patience, understanding, compassion, and helpfulness. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may realize that God loves me, since He is the Father of us all. I pray that I in turn may have love for all of His children. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It "Perfect" Humility, p. 106 For myself, I try to seek out the truest definition of humility that I can. This will not be the perfect definition, because I shall always be imperfect. At this writing, I would choose one like this: "Absolutely humility would consist of a state of complete freedom from myself, freedom from all the claims that my defects of character now lay so heavily upon me. Perfect humility would be a full willingness, in all times and places, to find and to do the will of God." When I meditate upon such a vision, I need not be dismayed because I shall never attain it, nor need I swell with presumption that one of these days its virtues shall all be mine. I only need to dwell on the vision itself, letting it grow and ever more fill my heart. This done, I can compare it with my last-taken personal inventory. Then I get a sane and healthy idea of where I stand on the highway to humility. I see that my journey toward God has scarce begun. As I thus get down to my right size and stature, my self-concern and importance become amusing. Grapevine, June 1961 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Fix the Need Taking Inventory Recovering users have a saying: "Need a fix? Fix the need" It's great advice, if we combine it with our daily inventory. In good behavior and bad, we're always trying to meet our needs. As compulsive people, we have lots of experience with destructive ways of meeting them. Driven by nameless hungers, we tried desperately to combat boredom, to raise our low self-esteem, to find companionship. What we actually did was place more distance between ourselves and the true satisfying of our needs. On the new path, one way of fixing needs is to come to terms with them. Maybe we had a need for success that was really a frantic effort to "show others" that we were all right. We should want to succeed, but let's begin by exchanging any false goal for one that's right for us. Maybe we have other needs that are based on defective principles and immature hopes. What do we rally need? All of us need self-honesty, self-worth, friendship, and purpose.... all available in the AA program as part of sober living. Finding these, we'll gain insight that will enable to sort out and understand other needs,..... and perhaps find those that correspond to our heart's desire and bring real happiness. It's something we can turn over, because God knows our needs before we even ask. I'll remember today that my needs exist to serve my way of life, and that I must never be a slave to them. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple No human creature can give order to love.George Sand If we are trying to get others to love us, all we’re really doing is trying to be in control. Trying to control others can be a powerful drug. Remember, we can’t control others. We can’t make others love us. Our Higher Power has control, not us. So, what do we need to do? Turn things over to our Higher Power and just be ourselves. Sure, it can scare us to just be ourselves. The truth is, not everyone will love us. But if we’re honest about who we are, others will respect us. We’ll like ourselves better. And we’ll have a better chance of loving others and being loved. Prayer for the Day: I pray to have my need for control lifted from me. I pray to be rid of self-will. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list five ways my self-will---my need to control---has gotten me in trouble. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning In the face of an obstacle which is impossible to overcome, stubbornness is stupid. --Simone de Beauvoir Sudden obstacles, barriers in the way of our progress, doors that unexpectedly close, may confuse, frustrate, even depress us. The knowledge that we seldom understand just what is best for us, comes slowly. And we generally fight it, even after we've begun to understand. Fortunately, the better path will keep drawing us to it. We may wonder why a door seems to have closed. Our paths are confounded only when our steps have gone astray. Doors do not close unless a new direction is called for. We must learn to trust that no obstacle is without its purpose, however baffling it may seem. The program can help us understand the unexpected. We perhaps need to focus on the first three Steps when an obstacle has surfaced. We may need to accept our powerlessness, believe there is a higher power in control, and look to it for guidance. We may also need to remind ourselves that fighting an obstacle, pushing against a closed door, will only heighten our frustration. Acceptance of what is will open our minds and our hearts to the better road to travel at this time. The obstacles confronting me invite me to grow, to move beyond my present self. They offer me chances to be the woman I always dreamed of being. I will be courageous. I am not alone. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards This painful past may be of infinite value to other families still struggling with their problem. We think each family which has been relieved owes something to those who have not, and when the occasion requires, each member of it should be only too willing to bring former mistakes, no matter how grievous, out of their hiding places. Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now. Cling to the thought that, in God’s hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have—the key to life and happiness for others. With it you can avert death and misery for them. p. 124 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." At this juncture, his A.A. sponsor usually laughs. This, the newcomer thinks, is just about the last straw. This is the beginning of the end. And so it is: the beginning of the end of his old life, and the beginning of his emergence into a new one. His sponsor probably says, "Take it easy. The hoop you have to jump through is a lot wider than you think. At least I've found it so. So did a friend of mine who was a one-time vice-president of the American Atheist Society, but he got through with room to spare." p. 26 ************************************************** ********* "One of the tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon, instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today." --Dale Carnegie The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. --Oprah Winfrey Deep, abiding joy is available to anyone who learns the secret of pursuing every task with energy and dedication, as though it were a calling. --Thomas Kinkade The value of life lies, not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them: a man may live long, yet live very little. --Michel de Montaigne It is not length of life, but depth of life. --Ralph Waldo Emerson Do not return hurt for hut. --Jerry C. Whybrew ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation LAUGHTER "You grow up the day you have the first real laugh - at yourself." --Ethel Barrymore Today I can laugh at myself. I do not take myself too seriously and I am beginning to grow. I used to be so serious. Having the "poor me's", sitting on my pity pot demanding attention; I was so unhappy. And I was causing my unhappiness. Then a friend listened to my complaints for half an hour and then began to laugh, giving out a real belly-laugh and at that point I began to laugh, too! My attitude was so stupid, selfish and futile that it demanded a laugh to shake me out of it - at that point I began to grow. Today I laugh at my funny little ways, my funny little walk, my ridiculous pretensions, my grandiose behavior. Today with the laughter comes humility. O Lord, let me experience the miracle of laughter. ************************************************** ********* "Peace be with you. John 20:21a "If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another." 1 John 1:7 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Don't spend a lot of time second guessing yourself because often times our first choice is the best choice and, if it isn't, we are free to choose again. Lord, guide me through all of my decisions and help me to be flexible enough to change my mind when necessary. Never let the abundance of gifts from God cause you to forget the Giver. Lord, may I start and end each day with a thank you to You for all of my blessings including those which I take for granted. |
April 17
Daily Reflections LOVE AND FEAR AS OPPOSITES All these failings generate fear, a soul-sickness in its own right. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 49 "Fear knocked at the door; faith answered; no one was there." I don't know to whom this quote should be attributed, but it certainly indicates clearly that fear is an illusion. I create the illusion myself. I experienced fear early in my life and I mistakenly thought that the mere presence of it made me a coward. I didn't know that one of the definitions of "courage" is "the willingness to do the right thing in spite of fear." Courage, then, is not necessarily the absence of fear. During the times I didn't have love in my life I most assuredly had fear. To fear God is to be afraid of joy. In looking back, I realize that, during the times I feared God most, there was no joy in my life. As I learned not to fear God, I also learned to experience joy. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Every time we go to an A.A. meeting, every time we say the Lord's Prayer, every time we have a quiet time before breakfast, we're paying a premium on our insurance against taking that first drink. And every time we help another alcoholic, we're making a large payment on our drink insurance. We're making sure that our policy doesn't lapse. Am I building up an endowment in serenity, peace, and happiness that will put me on easy street for the rest of my life? Meditation For The Day I gain faith by my own experience of God's power in my life. The constant, persistent recognition of God's spirit in all my personal relationships, the ever accumulating weight of evidence in support of God's guidance, the numberless instances in which seeming chance or wonderful coincidence can be traced to God's purpose in my life. All these things gradually engender a feeling of wonder, humility, and gratitude to God. These in turn are followed by a more sure and abiding faith in God and His purposes. Prayer For The Day I pray that my faith may be strengthened every day. I pray that I may find confirmation of my life in the good things that have come into my life. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Learn in Quiet, p. 108 In 1941, a news clipping was called to our attention by a New York member. In an obituary notice from a local paper, there appeared these words: "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." Never had we seen so much A.A. in so few words. With amazing speed the Serenity Prayer came into general use. << << << >> >> >> In meditation, debate has no place. We rest quietly with the thoughts or prayers of spiritually centered people who understand, so that we may experience and learn. This is the state of being that so often discovers and deepens a conscious contact with God. 1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 196 2. 12 & 12, pp. 101-100 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places We can't go home again…. Living here and now. Despite all evidence that we must live for today, some of us persist in trying to recapture the past. We may be holding a few good memories that we would like to bring alive today. More likely, we may also be re-fighting old battles in the hope that this time we'll come out winners. But since change is taking place everywhere at every moment, we can never return to any previous place or time. Time does march on, and we are part of the parade. Whether we were winners or losers in the past, we can live only in the here and now. The good news is that we can retain any lessons from the past and put them to use today. If we have scalding memories of twisted relationships, we can remind ourselves that growth and understanding now place us out of harm’s way. And if we remember the things that did turn our right even in the confused past, we can reflect that even greater good is possible today. Our home is never in the past. It is in the time and place where we are today. As we make the best of it, all of our future homes in place and time will improve, for “in God’s house are many mansions.” Accepting the value of all of its lessons, I will close the door firmly on the past, knowing that I must devote all of my interest and energies to the present moment. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple We create revolution by living it.---Jerry Rubin There’s a lot wrong in the world---Child abuse, homeless and hungry people, pollution. Our old way of dealing with these troubles was to break the rules or to “drop out” by using chemicals. Now we have a new way to change the world. We’re changing ourselves. One Day at a Time, we’re acting like the caring , responsible people we want to be. We use the ideas of the program in our lives. We’re kinder. We’re more honest. We stand up for ourselves and for others who need our help. What if the whole world started working the Steps? What a wonderful world this would be! Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, please work through me today. Help me make the world a little better place. Action for the Day: I’ll list one thing that brothers me about the world today. How can using the ideas of the program help solve that problem? Remember, the program tells us to look at our own behavior. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning I can stand what I know. It's what I don't know that frightens me. --Frances Newton Fear of the unknown, often referred to as free-floating anxiety, catches up to us on occasion. But it needn't. The program offers us strength whenever we need it, and faith diminishes all fear. It is said that fear cannot exist where there is faith. We have many days when we feel strong, in touch with our higher power, able to meet all situations. On those days, we are seldom conscious of how our faith is guiding us. But the hours of fear that we experience on other days make us aware of faith's absence. There is a simple solution: We can reach out to a friend. We can be attentive to her needs, and the connection to God will be made. Shifting our focus, from self-centered fears to another person's needs, offers us a perspective on our own life. It also offers us a chance to let God work through us. Our own faith is strengthened each time we offer our services to God and to a friend in need. What may frighten us seems less important the closer we are to the people in our lives. When I touch someone else, God touches me in return. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards It is possible to dig up past misdeeds so they become a blight, a veritable plague. For example, we know of situations in which the alcoholic or his wife have had love affairs. In the first flush of spiritual experience they forgave each other and drew closer together. The miracle of reconciliation was at hand. Then, under one provocation or another, the aggrieved one would unearth the old affair and angrily cast its ashes about. A few of us have had these growing pains and they hurt a great deal. Husbands and wives have sometimes been obliged to separate for a time until new perspective, new victory over hurt pride could be rewon. In most cases, the alcoholic survived this ordeal without relapse, but not always. So we think that unless some good and useful purpose is to be served, past occurrences should not be discussed. pp. 124-125 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." "Well," says the newcomer, "I know you're telling me the truth. It's no doubt a fact that A.A. is full of people who once believed as I do. But just how, in these circumstances, does a fellow `take it easy'? That's what I want to know." "That," agrees the sponsor, "is a very good question indeed. I think I can tell you exactly how to relax. You won't have to work at it very hard, either. Listen, if you will, to these three statements. First, Alcoholics Anonymous does not demand that you believe anything. All of its Twelve Steps are but suggestions. Second, to get sober and to stay sober, you don't have to swallow all of Step Two right now. Looking back, I find that I took it piecemeal myself. Third, all you really need is a truly open mind. Just resign from the debating society and quit bothering yourself with such deep questions as whether it was the hen or the egg that came first. Again I say, all you need is the open mind." p. 26 ************************************************** ********* See with your heart not with your eyes for beauty lies everywhere. The mind reasons. The heart knows. Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. --Martin Luther King Jr. God, help me take guided action, then surrender to your will. Help me remember that true power comes from aligning my will, intentions, and desires with you. --Melody Beattie God, help me learn to take care of myself and live with passion, compassion, and an open heart. --Melody Beattie Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes. --Unknown Compromise often leads to the solution to a problem, so keep your heart open to it. God is with us through all the changes in our lives. --Greg Faggart ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation POWER "Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts, perhaps the fear of loss of power." --John Steinbeck In my recovery I am beginning to understand that so much "power" in the world is really fear. The power that seeks to attack first in order to feel secure is really fear. The power that always has to have an answer is really fear. The power that arrogantly refuses to listen is really fear. So much power is "fear" dressed in illusion! Spiritual power has the ability to be vulnerable. It can live with confusion. It can stand alone. It allows others to walk away to pursue their happiness. Spiritual power can exist in suffering and loneliness, and it does not expect perfection. My recovery is teaching me to live and let others live, too. My freedom must respect the freedom of others; respect is a two-way street! Give me the power that can rest in imperfection. ************************************************** ********* "My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you." Proverbs 3:1 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration It's very possible that our problems may not be as big as they seem and could sometimes actually be a blessing. Lord, I place my trust in You to see me through my trials and help me to become a stronger and wiser person because of them. Enthusiasm will be yours if you love God, love people, and love life. Lord, the nearer I follow Your way, the happier I become. |
April 18
Daily Reflections SELF-HONESTY The deception of others is nearly always rooted in the deception of ourselves. . . . When we are honest with another person, it confirms that we have been honest with ourselves and with God. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 17 When I was drinking, I deceived myself about reality, rewriting it to what I wanted it to be. Deceiving others is a character defect--even if it is just stretching the truth a bit or cleaning up my motives so others would think well of me. My Higher Power can remove this character defect, but first I have to help myself become willing to receive that help by not practicing deception. I need to remember each day that deceiving myself about myself is setting myself up for failure or disappointment in life and in Alcoholics Anonymous. A close, honest relationship with a Higher Power is the only solid foundation I've found for honesty with self and with others. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day As I look back over my drinking career, have I learned that you take out of life what you put into it? When I put drinking into my life, did I take out a lot of bad things? Hospitals with the D.T.'s? Jails for drunken driving? Loss of job? Loss of home and family? When I put drinking into my life, was almost everything I took out bad? Meditation For The Day I should strive for a friendliness and helpfulness that will affect all who come near to me. I should try to see something to love in them. I should welcome them, bestow little courtesies and understandings on them, and help them if they ask for help. I must send no one away without a word of cheer, a feeling that I really care about them. God may have put the impulse in some despairing one's mind to come to me. I must not fail God by repulsing that person. They may not want to communicate with me unless they are sure of a warm welcome. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may warmly welcome all who come to me for help. I pray that I may make them feel that I really care. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Freedom Through Acceptance, p. 109 We admitted we couldn't lick alcohol with our own remaining resources, and so we accepted the further fact that dependence upon a Higher Power (if only our A.A. group) could do this hitherto impossible job. The moment we were able to accept these facts fully, our release from the alcohol compulsion had begun. For most of us, this pair of acceptances had required a lot of exertion to achieve. Our whole treasured philosophy of self-sufficiency had to be cast aside. This had not been done with sheer will power; it came instead as the result of developing the willingness to accept these new facts of living. We neither ran nor fought. But accept we did. And then we begun to be free. Grapevine, March 1962 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Mistakes are for learning_____Personal growth. One sign of an alcoholic's immaturity is revealed in responses to personal mistakes. We take each simple mistake as further proof of our inadequacy. As one person observed, "I can handle a general catastrophe, but running my nylons can ruin my day." Some of us may feel we're victims of past conditioning… a parent, for example, who berated us when the slightest thing went wrong. But we're at fault if we continue to let ourselves be victimized by such experience. We should give no person.. past, present, or future---the right to set the level of our self-esteem . Properly viewed, all mistakes are for learning purposes. We often have to make a few mistakes before we can learn anything. Sometimes a mistake can occur simply to teach us one basic lesson… that we are human and cannot be perfect in everything we do. Above, all, we should never condemn ourselves for the countless mistakes that occurred while we were drinking. Our alcoholism, a terrible mistake in the sight of many, led to the deep learning we find in AA. Nothing that brings us this far can really be a mistake in the sight of God. In sobriety, I'm learning tolerate the shortcomings and mistakes of others. I will extend the same grace to myself today if I make a simple mistake. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Patience is needed with everyone, but first of all with ourselves. ---St. Francis de Sales How do you treat yourself? Do you talk to yourself in a kind and loving voice? We can’t be kind and loving to others until we learn to be kind and loving with ourselves. To live this way, we must give ourselves the gift of patience. Let’s practice patience with ourselves daily. Practice talking to yourself in a kind, loving voice. Your voice will be that of a loving parent who helps a child with a new task. Your Higher Power Is willing to be patient with you. Give yourself the same gift. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I pray that I’ll treat myself and others with the same loving patience You’ve shown me. Action for the Day: I will listen to how I talk to myself. I will practice talking to myself with a kind, loving, and patient voice. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning To oppose something is to maintain it. --Ursula K. LeGuin Most of our struggles are with other persons or perhaps situations we want to change. We discover that our continual opposition adds fuel to the fires (at least our own internal ones). But can we turn our backs when we feel justified in our opposition? There's perhaps no more difficult action to take than to walk away from those situations we feel so strongly about, but the wisdom of this program says, "Let go and let God." And when we do let go, as if by magic, relief comes. The fires die out. That which we opposed is less troubling, maybe even gone. We no longer feel the need to struggle today. The need may rise again, but again we can turn to our higher power. Trusting that relief awaits us, ensures its arrival. As women we discover many opportunities for opposition, too many persons and situations that make difficult our changing roles--too many persons who don't easily accept our changing characters. The strength to let go and let God we must share with one another. I maintain my struggles with righteous behavior. They lose their sting when they lose my opposition. I will step aside and let God. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards We families of Alcoholics Anonymous keep few skeletons in the closet. Everyone knows about the others’ alcoholic troubles. This is a condition which, in ordinary life, would produce untold grief; there might be scandalous gossip, laughter at the expense of other people, and a tendency to take advantage of intimate information. Among us, these are rare occurrences. We do talk about each other a great deal, but we almost invariably temper such talk by a spirit of love and tolerance. p. 125 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." The sponsor continues, "Take, for example, my own case. I had a scientific schooling. Naturally I respected, venerated, even worshipped science. As a matter of fact, I still do--all except the worship part. Time after time, my instructors held up to me the basic principle of all scientific progress: search and research, again and again, always with the open mind. When I first looked at A.A. my reaction was just like yours. This A.A. business, I thought, is totally unscientific. This I can't swallow. I simply won't consider such nonsense. pp. 26-27 ************************************************** ********* Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. --Michael Jordan Live For Today. . . Yesterday's History. . . And Tomorrow Belongs To God The will of God will never take you to where the grace of God will not protect you. To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else. --Bernadette Devlin A good mountain climber never looks up to see how far he has to go............ He looks down to see how far he's come. --Mark Kostew The difficulties of life are intended to make us better not bitter. "Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see a bird that had the blues? One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses." --Dale Carnegie ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation GOD "Any God I ever felt in Church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did, too. They come to Church to share God, not find God." --Alice Walker God is within us! At one time I would find that statement blasphemous or incomprehensible. I always thought God was a long way off - separate, unknowable and judgmental. He was much more a judge than a friend. I saw myself more the sinner than the son. Naturally, with such a low self-esteem it was hard to associate God with my life, let alone consider God existing within me! Then I began to search for the spiritual path that leads to a deeper understanding of self - and I found a loving, gentle and friendly God. His love was so pervasive in His world that I was able to discover Him in my life and the lives of others. The concept of meeting together to share God made sense. The concept of discovering a God within and without made God knowable and comprehensible. Because God lives in me, I am alive. Master, in the breaking of the bread, may I share Your life in my world. ************************************************** ********* "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles." Isaiah 40:31 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" Matthew 6:25 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Spend some of your time in prayer just being with God. Lord, for the moment I am letting go of my concerns so that I can feel Your presence in my life. Thoughts are powerful, so pay close attention to what you think about. Lord, help me to think thoughts of love, peace and abundance so that this becomes my experience. |
April 19
Daily Reflections BROTHERS IN OUR DEFECTS We recovered alcoholics are not so much brothers in virtue as we are brothers in our defects, and in our common strivings to overcome them. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 167 The identification that one alcoholic has with another is mysterious, spiritual--almost incomprehensible. But it is there. I "feel" it. Today I feel that I can help people and that they can help me. It is a new and exciting feeling for me to care for someone; to care what they are feeling, hoping for, praying for; to know their sadness, joy, horror, sorrow, grief; to want to share those feelings so that someone can have relief. I never knew how to do this--or how to try. I never even cared. The Fellowship of A.A., and God, are teaching me how to care about others. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Since I've been putting sobriety into my life, I've been taking out a lot of good things. I can describe it best as a kind of quiet satisfaction. I feel good. I feel right with the world, on the right side of the fence. As long as I put sobriety into my life, almost everything I take out is good. The satisfaction you get out of living a sober life is made up of a lot of little things. You have the ambition to do things you didn't feel like doing when you were drinking. Am I getting satisfaction out of living a sober life? Meditation For The Day It is a glorious way - the upward way. There are wonderful discoveries in the realm of the spirit. There are tender intimacies in the quiet times of communion with God. There is an amazing, almost incomprehensible understanding of the other person. On the upward way, you can have all the strength you need from that Higher Power. You cannot make too many demands on Him for strength. He gives you all the power you need, as long as you are moving along the upward way. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may see the beautiful horizons ahead on the upward way. I pray that I may keep going forward to the more abundant life. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Trouble: Constructive or Destructive?, p. 110 "There was a time when we ignored trouble, hoping it would go away. Or, in fear and in depression, we ran from it, but found it was still with us. Often, full of unreason, bitterness, and blame, we fought back. These mistaken attitudes, powered by alcohol, guaranteed our destruction, unless they were altered. "Then came A.A. Here we learned that trouble was really a fact of life for everybody--a fact that had to be understood and dealt with. Surprisingly, we found that our troubles could, under God's grace, be converted into unimagined blessings. "Indeed, that was the essence of A.A. itself: trouble accepted, trouble squarely faced with calm courage, trouble lessened and often transcended. This was the A.A. story, and we became a part of it. Such demonstrations became our stock in trade for the next sufferer." Letter, 1966 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Who pushes my buttons? Personal Relations AA old-timers would be mystified today to hear program members talk about people “pushing their buttons.” (They can't get your goat if they don't know where it is tied) This expression wasn't around when the early AA members pulled themselves out of the swamp and began their long journey to sobriety. But they had their buttons pushed aplenty. Dr. Bob, treating alcoholics at St. Thomas Hospital; heard snide comments from other physicians who resented giving bed space to drunks. Bill W. struggling to launch a worldwide movement, took most every alcoholic, then and now, gets some heavy kidding from the world of drinkers. What is the real problem in these instances? Are others pushing our buttons, or do we set ourselves up for this by being sensitive and vulnerable? Nobody could push our buttons if we didn't have buttons to push. We no longer have to worry about button-pushers if we accept them as they are, realizing that we don't need their approval and can't really be hurt by anything they do or say. Our serenity in the face of such problems may actually serve to attract people to AA. Nobody can push my buttons unless I let them. Today I'll be serene and clam no matter what others say and do. Thanks to the program, I'll not worry about certain individuals who try to get under my skin. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning In the process of defining myself, I have a tendency to set up rules and boundaries and then forget that rules are made to be broken, as are boundaries to be expanded and crossed. --Kathleen Casey Theisen Recovery has given us the freedom to address life honestly, with forethought and a certainty about the rightness of our actions. We need be mindful that what is right today may not be right tomorrow or thereafter. As we move through our experiences, we are changed, and then we look with a new perspective on old conditions. Our new perspective hones our value systems, and yesterday's rules and boundaries no longer fit today's situations. Our growth as women is an unending process. What we confront today with assurance, we prepared for yesterday. And tomorrow will be eased by our definition of today. The program has gifted us with clarity - clarity about ourselves, clarity regarding others, and clarity on how to continue our growth. My value system awaits finer definition, and every experience, today, presents me with an opportunity for that definition. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. Sacred ritual chant. Good things keep happening to us. We are sober. We can think clearly. We can see progress on how we handle our problems. We have friends. We have love. We have hope. We are starting to feel joy. Our fears are getting smaller. We are starting to trust our new way of life. Our new life brings good things to us. It brings blessings every day. We are beginning to expect them. But we’re still surprised at how good life can be. What a difference from the days before we entered our program! Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for the blessings You keep on giving. And thanks for whatever today will bring. Action for the Day: One way to give thanks for my blessings is to share them with others. How can I share my recovery today? ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards Another principle we observe carefully is that we do not relate intimate experiences of another person unless we are sure he would approve. We find it better, when possible, to stick to our own stories. A man may criticize to laugh at himself and it will affect others favorably, but criticism or ridicule coming from another often produce the contrary effect. Members of a family should watch such matters carefully, for one careless, inconsiderate remark has been known to raise the very devil. We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time to outgrow that serious handicap. p. 125 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." "Then I woke up. I had to admit that A.A. showed results, prodigious results. I saw that my attitude regarding these had been anything but scientific. It wasn't A.A. that had the closed mind, it was me. The minute I stopped arguing, I could begin to see and feel. Right there, Step Two gently and very gradually began to infiltrate my life. I can't say upon what occasion or upon what day I came to believe in a Power greater than myself, but I certainly have that belief now. To acquire it, I had only to stop fighting and practice the rest of A.A.'s program as enthusiastically as I could. p. 27 ************************************************** ********* Time is the greatest gift of all. --Cited in Even More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES Gifts are for giving. --Ian and Sylvia Tyson "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." --John Wooden "A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes." -Scottish Proverb My sponsor pointed out that now that I've been around the program for awhile there is no denial . . . there is only refusal. --Anonymous With accepting God in my life each day, Through the trials and triumphs, I rest in comfort knowing God is leading me to Him. --Tammy B. You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind. --Irish Proverb ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation FREEDOM "Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for yourself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice and the exercise of choice a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing ..." --Archibald MacLeish Spirituality involves the freedom to change; it requires the variety of choice in order to grow. My past addiction was a life of slavery because it removed from me creative choice and left me obsessing about drugs and alcohol. My life, conversation and thoughts revolved around the bottle, and I was oblivious to the true meaning of life. I could not "do better" in my life because I was addicted not only to drugs but to the destructive lifestyle that goes with them. My freedom to experience the spiritual power of God's creativity was lost to a mindless craving for drugs; in this sense, drug addiction is slavery. Today I am free to see God's world in people, places and things and I make a choice to live, love and laugh. I am growing in the awareness of Your multifaceted love for me. ************************************************** ********* Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Peace is one of our greatest needs because it provides for the strength we need in times of turmoil. Lord, I turn to You because You are my source of peace. Stand tall and smile often and it will be very difficult to be unhappy. Lord, may my disposition reflect the joy and peace that is Your Will. |
April 20
Daily Reflections SELF-EXAMINATION . . . we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 86 When said sincerely, this prayer teaches me to be truly unselfish and humble, for even in doing good deeds I often used to seek approval and glory for myself. By examining my motives in all that I do, I can be of service to God and others, helping them do what they want to do. When I put God in charge of my thinking, much needless worry is eliminated and I believe He guides me throughout the day. When I eliminate thoughts of self-pity, dishonesty and self-centeredness as soon as they enter my mind, I find peace with God, my neighbor and myself. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The satisfaction you get out of living a sober life is, made up of a lot of little things, but they add up to a satisfactory and happy life. You take out of life what you put into it. So I'd say to people coming into A.A.: "Don't worry about what life will be like without liquor. just hang in there and a lot of good things will happen to you. And you'll have that feeling of quiet satisfaction and peace and serenity and gratitude for the grace of God." Is my life becoming really worth living? Meditation For The Day There are two paths, one up and one down. We have been given free will to choose either path. We are captains of our souls to this extent only. We can choose the good or the bad. Once we have chosen the wrong path, we go down and down, eventually to death. But if we choose the right path, we go up and UP, until we come to the resurrection day. On the wrong path, we have no power for good because we do not choose to ask for it. But on the right path, we are on the side of good and we have all the power of God's spirit behind us. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may be in the stream of goodness. I pray that I may be on the right side, on the side of all good in the universe. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Surveying the Past, p. 111 We should make an accurate and really exhaustive survey of our past life as it affected other people. In many instances we shall find that, though the harm done others has not been great, we have nevertheless done ourselves considerable emotional injury. Then, too, damaging emotional conflicts persist below the level of consciousness, very deep, sometimes quite forgotten. Therefore, we should try hard to recall and review those past events which originally induced these conflicts and which continue to give our emotions violent twists, thus discoloring our personalities and altering our lives for the worse. << << << >> >> >> "We reacted more strongly to frustrations than normal people. By reliving these episodes and discussing them in strict confidence with somebody else, we can reduce their size and therefore potency in the unconsciousness." 1. 12 & 12, pp. 79-80 2. Letter, 1957 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Avoiding emotional whirlpools Serenity If we were rattling down a rough river, we would try to steer away from whirlpools and rocky rapids. Living each day requires the same alertness. We're asking for trouble if we drift into malicious discussions about other people… even those who seem to deserve it. We're also sliding into rocky rapids if we get into supercharged arguments about political and religious issues. How do we avoid touchy situations that can lead to violent arguments or terrible breakdowns in personal relationships? We can begin by recognizing that we're not on this earth to judge, manipulate, or control other people. We'll do well today to keep our own performance up to a good standard. We can also respond correctly to people who seem hopelessly wrong. Borrowing an idea from one Twelve Step program, we can detach from such people with love, even if circumstances require continuing contact with them. At whatever cost, we must avoid emotional whirlpools and rocky rapids in life. Looking ahead at the things might happen today. I'll adjust my thinking for situations that could be troublesome or destructive. I will try especially hard to avoid trouble with my fellow workers. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple A great obstacle to happiness is to expect too much happiness.---Fontenelle Our disease is sometimes call the disease of “always wanting more.” We push ourselves to get as much pleasure as we could. If one was good , two was better. We didn’t see that what we were lacking was faith. At times in recovery, we still crave “more.” We must pay attention to these cravings. When we have a craving, maybe we’re scared, and our Higher Power is trying to tell us that, if we have faith, we’ll be taken care of. Perhaps our Higher Power just has a message of love for us. All we need to do is listen. It may be that this is only “more” we really need. Prayer for the Day: I pray to see my as spiritual needs. I pray to turn to my Higher Power instead of to alcohol or other drugs. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll think about how much recovery has given me. I will share this with a friend and with my Higher Power. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning One has to grow up with good talk in order to form the habit of it. --Helen Hayes Our habits, whatever they may be, were greatly influenced, if not wholly formed, during childhood. We learned our behavior through imitation, imitation of our parents, our siblings, our peer group. But we need not be stuck in habits that are unhealthy. The choice to create new patterns of behavior is ours to make--every moment, every hour, every day. However, parting with the old pattern in order to make way for the new takes prayer, commitment, determination. All of us who share these Steps have broken away from old patterns. We have chosen to leave liquor and pills alone. We may have chosen to leave unhealthy relationships. And we are daily choosing to move beyond our shortcomings. But not every day is a successful one. Our shortcomings have become ingrained. Years of pouting, or lying, or feeling fearful, or overeating, or procrastinating beckon to us; the habit invites itself. We can find strength from the program and one another to let go of the behavior that stands in the way of today's happiness. And we can find in one another a better, healthier behavior to imitate. The program is helping me to know there is a better way, every day, to move ahead. I am growing up again amidst the good habits of others, and myself. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards Many alcoholics are enthusiasts. They run to extremes. At the beginning of recovery a man will take, as a rule, one of two directions. He may either plunge into a frantic attempt to get on his feet in business, or he may be so enthralled by his new life that he talks or thinks of little else. In either case certain family problems will arise. With these we have had experience galore. pp. 125-126 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." "This is only one man's opinion based on his own experience, of course. I must quickly assure you that A.A.'s tread innumerable paths in their quest for faith. If you don't care for the one I've suggested, you'll be sure to discover one that suits if only you look and listen. Many a man like you has begun to solve the problem by the method of substitution. You can, if you wish, make A.A., itself your `higher power.' Here's a very large group of people who have solved their alcohol problem. In this respect they are certainly a power greater than you, who have not even come close to a solution. Surely you can have faith in them. Even this minimum of faith will be enough. You will find many members who have crossed the threshold just this way. All of them will tell you that, once across, their faith broadened and deepened. Relieved of the alcohol obsession, their lives unaccountably transformed, they came to believe in a Higher Power, and most of them began to talk of God." pp. 27-28 ************************************************** ********* You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. --Les Brown You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old. --George Burns Make your life's goal to learn and become a better person. --Anonymous How can we possibly describe feeling the Presence of God? It is the difference between being a child left alone in an empty house at night and a child who knows that her mother is in the next room. Even though she can't see or hear her mother, she feels comforted by her warm, loving, protective presence. And while a human parent can't always be with us, our spiritual parent will never abandon us. --Mary Manin Morrissey "Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." --Paul Boese The heart has eyes that the brain knows nothing of. --American Proverb ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation CHANGE "There is nothing permanent except change." --Heraclitus Today I know that I need to change. I accept that my behavior and attitude was negative and destructive. Today I make a choice to work on my addiction. I was changing before I embraced a spiritual program but the change was for the worse. Each day I grew more dependent, more isolated, more angry and depressed. I felt I was a hopeless case! Today I am working on my anger and loneliness. I talk about those things that cause me pain and distress. I express my fears and resentments - and it is getting better. God created this world in perpetual change and I believe that He is to be discovered in the change. I am evolving into Truth with my small steps towards recovery. The steps I take towards recovery are my "yes" to God. In the daily changes I discover the stability of God. ************************************************** ********* "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life...." Psalm 23:6 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration We are not given peace of mind. We must trust in God and He will be our peace of mind. Lord, You are within my heart and therefore I need look no farther to find my peace. There is a time for everything. Take time to pray, to sing, to laugh, to work and to touch the hearts of others. Lord, help me be aware that today will never return so that I will not misuse my time or waste it unwisely. |
April 21
Daily Reflections CULTIVATING FAITH "I don't think we can do anything very well in this world unless we practice it. And I don't believe we do A.A. too well unless we practice it. . . . We should practice . . . acquiring the spirit of service. We should attempt to acquire some faith, which isn't easily done, especially for the person who has always been very materialistic, following the standards of society today. But I think faith can be acquired; it can be acquired slowly; it has to be cultivated. That was not easy for me, and I assume that it is difficult for everyone else . . . . " DR. BOB AND THE GOOD OLDTIMERS, pp. 307-08 Fear is often the force that prevents me from acquiring and cultivating the power of faith. Fear blocks my appreciation of beauty, tolerance, forgiveness, service, and serenity. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day After we've been in A.A. for a while, we find out that if we're going to stay sober, we have to be humble people. The men and women in A.A. who have achieved sobriety are all humble people. When I stop to think that but for the grace of God I might be drunk right now, I can't help feeling humble. Gratitude to God for His grace makes me humble. When I think of the kind of person I was not so long ago, when I think of the person I left behind me, I have nothing to be proud of. Am I grateful and humble? Meditation For The Day I must arise from the death of sin and selfishness and put on a new life of integrity. All the old sins and temptations must be laid in the grave and a new existence rise from the ashes. Yesterday is gone. All my sins are forgiven if I am honestly trying to do God's will today. Today is here, the time of resurrection and renewal. I must start now, today, to build a new life of complete faith and trust in God and a determination to do His will in all things. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may share in making the world a better place to live in. I pray that I may do what I can to bring goodness a little nearer to the earth. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Complete Security?, p. 112 Upon entering A.A., the spectacle of years of waste threw us into panic. Financial importance was no longer our principal aim; we now clamored for material security. Even when we were re-established in our business, terrible fears often continued to haunt us. This made us misers and penny-pinchers all over again. Complete financial security we must have--or else. We forgot that most alcoholics in A.A. have an earning power considerably above average; we forgot the immense good will of our brother A.A.'s who were only too eager to help us to better jobs when we deserved them; we forgot the actual or potential financial insecurity of every human being in the world. And, worst of all, we forgot God. In money matters we had faith only in ourselves, and not too much of that. 12 & 12, pp. 120-121 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places The Good that I do____ Action Why do we hold back when we're offered the opportunity to help others or to do something unusually kind? Why is it that many people are reluctant to give of themselves unless rewarded with recognition or praise? We may hold back because we do not understand that any good action always brings its own reward. Despite Shakespeare's timeless saying, the good we do is not "interred with our bones"… it does survive, now and in the future. We've learned in Twelve Step programs that it's not really satisfying to work only for recognition and praise. There also has to be a confident feeling that our efforts are contributing to a large good with a worthwhile purpose. That's what makes AA so special to people who are completely devoted to it… we know that anything done for AA makes the world a better place. We should also know that those who can help others are fortunate, well-favored people. Others may want to help, but lack the tools. We have the tools to give the help that changes lives---- and the world. The good that I do today is a treasure I'll always possess. I need not fear the act of letting my higher self take over and guide me. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple One of the most important parts of the AA program is to give our drinking problem to God honestly and fully… Twenty-Four Hour a Day, March 1 We don’t handle our drinking or other drug problem. We don’t take care of this problem by ourselves. We turn our problem over to God as we understand Him. We need to be very clear about this. We can’t handle our drinking or other drug problem! Our Higher Power keeps us sober through the Steps and the fellowship of the program. Our job is to hand over our problem to our Higher Power. We do this daily by acting like sober people. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I know I can’t handle drinking and using other drugs. I turn my problem over to you. Please take from me the urge to drink or use. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll remember why I can’t handle or take care of my problem with alcohol or other drugs. And I’ll remember why my Higher Power can. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward. --Margaret Fairless Barber When we contemplate last month, last year, the period of time just before we came into this Twelve Step program, we can see many changes, good changes, have come our way. But we take the changes for granted sometimes. Or maybe we fail to reflect on them at all. We get caught up in the turmoil of the present, believing it will last forever, forgetting that yesterday's turmoil taught us much that we needed to know. The past, for most of us, was rife with pain. But now we have hope. We have gained on life. We may be back in the good graces of our family. Perhaps we have patched up some failed relationships. A career has beckoned to us. Good experiences have come to pass. But we aren't free of difficulties. They need not get us down again. Hindsight assures us that this, too, will pass. It also guarantees that we will move forward, just as we have again and again, if we have but faith. I will take this moment to look back at last year or the last binge. I can rest assured that I am moving forward. I will continue to do so. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards We think it dangerous if he rushes headlong at his economic problem. The family will be affected also, pleasantly at first, as they feel their money troubles are about to be solved, then not so pleasantly as they find themselves neglected. Dad may be tired at night and preoccupied by day. He may take small interest in the children and may show irritation when reproved for his delinquencies. If not irritable, he may seem dull and boring, not gay and affectionate as the family would like him to be. Mother may complain of inattention. They are all disappointed, and often let him feel it. Beginning with such complaints, a barrier arises. He is straining every nerve to make up for lost time. He is striving to recover fortune and reputation and feels he is doing very well. Sometimes mother and children don’t think so. Having been neglected and misused in the past, they think father owes them more than they are getting. They want him to make a fuss over them. They expect him to give them the nice times they used to have before he drank so much, and to show his contrition for what they suffered. But dad doesn’t give freely of himself. Resentment grows. He becomes still less communicative. Sometimes he explodes over a trifle. The family is mystified. They criticize, pointing out how he is falling down on his spiritual program. p. 126 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Consider next the plight of those who once had faith, but have lost it. There will be those who have drifted into indifference, those filled with self-sufficiency who have cut themselves off, those who have become prejudiced against religion, and those who are downright defiant because God has failed to fulfill their demands. Can A.A. experience tell all these they may still find a faith that works? p. 28 ************************************************** ********* The only thing you get from sitting on the pity pot is a ring around your butt and nobody to show it to! --Anonymous "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." --John Wooden "Simmering resentment saps energy." --Nido Qubein "Pain is an experience. Suffering is a choice." --Jeff Alexander Open to a larger, more abundant source. That source is God. And God's supply is the universe. When we look to God and the universe, we open ourselves to a never-ending supply of what we need--love, energy, teaching, support, information, guidance, and nurturing. Certain people and places may help us along the way, but God is our source for love. --Melody Beattie ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation VALUES "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life." --Charles Darwin Life is not to be wasted. Time is not to be wasted. Friends, relationships, opportunities are not to be wasted. Why? Because as vulnerable human beings we do not have the ultimate control of our lives and none of us know when our lives will end, when we shall die, when time and opportunity will be no more! Life is too precious to waste. During my years as an addict I did not value my life. I did not value time. I did not value friends and relationships. Nothing was valued except the alcohol! Life was meaningless. God was absent and I felt nothing - just a "dullness" at the center of my being. Today this is not the case. Through my pain I have found the value of life and I have discovered a God as I understand Him. God, let me value what I have while I have it. ************************************************** ********* "Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists, and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Don't allow the difficult people around you to get you down. Lord, may I not make other people's problems my own and take on things that I can't do anything about anyway. There is light behind every shadow. Lord, You are the light of the world. May I never forget to turn to You when my life fills with shadows. |
April 22
Daily Reflections NEW SOIL . . . NEW ROOTS Moments of perception can build into a lifetime of spiritual serenity, as I have excellent reason to know. Roots of reality, supplanting the neurotic underbrush, will hold fast despite the high winds of the forces which would destroy us, or which we would use to destroy ourselves. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 173 I came to A.A. green--a seedling quivering with exposed taproots. It was for survival but it was a beginning. I stretched, developed, twisted, but with the help of others, my spirit eventually burst up from the roots. I was free. I acted, withered, went inside, prayed, acted again, understood anew, as one moment of perception struck. Up from my roots, spirit-arms lengthened into strong, green shoots: high-springing servants stepping skyward. Here on earth God unconditionally continues the legacy of higher love. My A.A. life put me "on a different footing . . . [my] roots grasped a new soil." (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 12). ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day People believe in A.A. when they see it work. An actual demonstration is what convinces them. What they read in books, what they hear people say doesn't always convince them. But when they see a real honest-to-goodness change take place in a person, a change from a drunkard to a sober, useful citizen, that's something they can believe because they can see it. There's really only one thing that proves to me that A.A. works. Have I seen the change in people who come into A.A.? Meditation For The Day Divine control and unquestioning obedience to God are the only conditions necessary for a spiritual life. Divine control means absolute faith and trust in God, a belief that God is the Divine Principle in the universe and that He is the intelligence and the Love that controls the universe. Unquestioning obedience to God means living each day the way you believe God wants you to live, constantly seeking the guidance of God in every situation and being willing to do the right thing at all times. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may always be under Divine Control and always practice unquestioning obedience to God. I pray that I may be always ready to serve Him. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It To Be Fair-Minded, p. 113 Too often, I think, we have deprecated and even derided projects of our friends in the field of alcoholism just because we do not always see eye to eye with them. We should very seriously ask ourselves how many alcoholics have gone on drinking simply because we have failed to cooperate in good spirit with these many agencies--whether they be good, bad, or indifferent. No alcoholics should go mad or die merely because he did not come straight to A.A. at the beginning. << << << >> >> >> Our first objective will be the development of self-restraint. This carries a top-priority rating. When we speak or act hastily or rashly, the ability to be fair-minded and tolerant evaporates on the spot. 1. Grapevine, July 1963 2. 12 & 12, p. 91 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Faking it, and then making it. Finding the Spirit of the Thing. We're sometimes advised to "fake it until you make it." But how can anything false really lead us to recovery? Aren't we told that this is an honest program? We're not being dishonest by pushing ourselves to become actively involved in AA. The self-help movements have told us for years that we have to form an image of what we want to be in order to reach our goals. We are forming an image that corresponds to the sober people we want to be. We are actually rehearsing sober living and working to accept a picture of sobriety in our heart of hearts. There's also much to be said for "faking it" enough to attend meetings and try to benefit from association with people….. even those we don't like. This puts us in line for the change we really need. A lot of members say that they "white-knuckled it" during the first months or years of sobriety. If this worked to bring recovery, it had to be the right approach. Even if there is rebellion within, today I'll talk and act like the sober person I want to be. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple One meets his destiny often on the road one takes to avoid it.---French proverb None of us, perhaps, ever thought we'd end up in recovery. But we were working at joining recovery years before we got here! Maybe recovery was our fate from the day we first took a drink or a pill. Others around us could see the writing on the wall, but we couldn't. We were to busy trying to avoid the pain. Alcoholism and other drug abuse have to do with us trying to find spiritual wholeness--- the kind of spiritual wholeness we're finding now. . .in recovery. So, let's welcome recovery into our lives. We have found our spiritual home. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I got lost because I acted like I knew the way to a good life. You lead the way. Thank-you for putting me on the right track. Action for the Day: Today, I'll think about why it's my fate to be in recovery. I will list ways that I try to avoid my fate. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Our own rough edges become smooth as we help a friend smooth her edges. --Sue Atchley Ebaugh Focusing on a good point in every person we encounter today will benefit us in untold ways. It will smooth our relations with that person, inviting her to respond kindly also. It will increase our awareness of the goodness all around us. It will help us realize that if everyone around us has positive traits, then we must also have them. But perhaps the greatest benefit of focusing on good points is that it enhances us as women; a healthy, positive attitude must be cultivated. Many of us had little experience with feeling positive before the turning point, recovery. Recovery is offering us a new lease on life every moment. We are learning new behaviors, and we are learning that with the help of a higher power and one another, all things that are right for us are possible. It is energizing, focusing on the good points of others, knowing that their good points don't detract from our own. In the past, we may have secretly hated other women's strengths because we felt inferior. We are free from that hate now, if we choose to be. A strength we can each nurture is gratitude for being helped by, and privy to, the strengths of our friends and acquaintances. Bad points get worse with attention. My good points will gain strength. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards This sort of thing can be avoided. Both father and the family are mistaken, though each side may have some justification. It is of little use to argue and only makes the impasse worse. The family must realize that dad, though marvelously improved, is still convalescing. They should be thankful he is sober and able to be of this world once more. Let them praise his progress. Let them remember that his drinking wrought all kinds of damage that may take long to repair. If they sense these things, they will not take so seriously his periods of crankiness, depression, or apathy, which will disappear when there is tolerance, love, and spiritual understanding. pp. 126-127 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Sometimes A.A. comes harder to those who have lost or rejected faith than to those who never had any faith at all, for they think they have tried faith and found it wanting. They have tried the way of faith and the way of no faith. Since both ways have proved bitterly disappointing, they have concluded there is no place whatever for them to go. The roadblocks of indifference, fancied self-sufficiency, prejudice, and defiance often prove more solid and formidable for these people than any erected by the unconvinced agnostic or even the militant atheist. Religion says the existence of God can be proved; the agnostic says it can't be proved; and the atheist claims proof of the nonexistence of God. Obviously, the dilemma of the wanderer from faith is that of profound confusion. He thinks himself lost to the comfort of any conviction at all. He cannot attain in even a small degree the assurance of the believer, the agnostic, or the atheist. He is the bewildered one. p. 28 ************************************************** ********* "Spiritual growth results from absorbing and digesting truth and putting it to practice in daily life." --White Eagle There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up. --John Andrew Holmes "Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." --Carl Sandburg >From that place of stillness, the right action will emerge and you will find your next step. From that place of stillness, you can move into the present moment. There you will find your power, and there you will find God. --Melody Beattie You don't have to wait for Christmas to give gifts of love and joy. Give that love to others and yourself. Give it often. Give it freely. Give it all year round. --Melody Beattie When we listen, God speaks and guides. --Paul K. McAfee ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation MUSIC "I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours. But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love belong to all of us, in all times and in all places. Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality." --H. A. Overstreet A language for the world is music. It unites all peoples, cultures, religions and backgrounds; it points man beyond himself, while at the same time breathing through him God's glory. Music makes man wonder, enables him to dream, allows him to rest in the miracle of creativity. Drugs stopped me from appreciating the gift of music. They twisted and corrupted sounds and made them destructive and coarse. Drugs took from me so much and left me with a feeling of utter emptiness. In my recovery I can hear again. My spiritual program incorporates music, different types of music, the inexhaustible joys of melody. I can feel in it, through it, with it - another miracle. Thank You for the gift of music that enables me to grow in my understanding of self and my need of others. ************************************************** ********* "But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Matthew 6:3 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was." James 1:22-24 "I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right.... Let your steadfast love become my comfort.... For your law is my delight." Psalm 119:75-77 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration When you feel the need to tell someone how bad your day has been, tell them how good it's been instead. Lord, help me to highlight the parts of my day that will bring me to a peaceful and joyful place. There is always a reason why people act as they do. Lord, help me to be more patient and understanding. |
April 23
Daily Reflections A.A. IS NOT A CURE-ALL It would be a product of false pride to claim that A.A. is a cure-all, even for alcoholism. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 285 In my early years of sobriety I was full of pride, thinking that A.A. was the only source of treatment for a good and happy life. It certainly was the basic ingredient for my sobriety and even today, with over twelve years in the program, I am very involved in meetings, sponsorship and service. During the first four years of my recovery, I found it necessary to seek professional help, since my emotional health was extremely poor. There are those folks too, who have found sobriety and happiness in other organizations. A.A. taught me that I had a choice: to go to any lengths to enhance my sobriety. A.A. may not be a cure-all for everything, but it is the center of my sober living. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Men and women keep coming into A.A., licked by alcohol, often given up by doctors as hopeless cases, they themselves admitting they're helpless to stop drinking. When I see these men and women get sober and stay sober over a period of months and years, I know that A.A. works. The change I see in people who come into A.A. not only convinces me that A.A. works, but it also convinces me that there must be a Power greater than ourselves which helps us to make that change. Am I convinced that a Higher Power can help me to change? Meditation For The Day Cooperation with God is the great necessity for our lives. All else follows naturally. Cooperation with God is the result of our consciousness of His presence. Guidance is bound to come to us as we live more and more with God, as our consciousness becomes more and more attuned to the great Consciousness of the universe. We must have many quiet times when we not so much ask to be shown and led by God, as to feel and realize His presence. New spiritual growth comes naturally from cooperation with God. Prayer For The Day I pray that God may supply me with strength and show me the direction in which He wants me to grow. I pray that these things may come naturally from my cooperation with Him. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It No Personal Power, p. 114 "At first, the remedy for my personal difficulties seemed so obvious that I could not imagine any alcoholic turning the proposition down were it properly presented to him. Believing so firmly that Christ can do anything, I had the unconscious conceit to suppose that He would do everything through me--right then and in the manner I chose. After six long months, I had to admit that not a soul had surely laid hold of the Master--not excepting myself. "This brought me to the good healthy realization that there were plenty of situations left in the world over which I had no personal power--that if I was so ready to admit that to be the case with alcohol, so I must make the same admission with respect to much else. I would have to be still and know that He, not I, was God." Letter, 1940 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places When am I manipulative? Personal relations. Without understanding our motives, we can easily lapse into behavior aimed at manipulating others. Sulking is a means of letting others know we are displeased and forcing them to attempt to win our approval. Flattery is a false expression of approval that we don't really feel…. Giving others good strokes for our own purpose. Withholding deserved praise is a means of putting others down, something we're likely to do because of our jealousy. Manipulative behavior is almost always selfish behavior. IT is usually a false means of trying to get our own way. It is certainly an immature way of dealing with people and situations. The best way to avoid being manipulative is to be ourselves at all times. We have neither the right nor the responsibility to control or regulate other people. Our best approach, in trying to influence others' actions, is simply to state our own case with sincerity and honest. Others must be free to act, free to choose, and free to make their own decisions without manipulative interference on our part. I will be myself at all times today. I will not assume false roles simply for the purpose of bending others to my own will. Manipulative behavior is controlling behavior, which I must avoid. The door to the human heart can only be opened from the INSIDE. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. --- Ernest Hemingway It's hard to listen in a complete way. Often we listen, but we're still thinking about ourselves. We wonder, "How do their words relate to me? Do I have anything to add?" Often, fear is behind these questions. We fear saying the wrong thing. We fear looking stupid. Good listeners know how to let go of their fears. To listen completely, we step outside ourselves, and we're totally there for someone else. Sometimes we listen for only a few moments. Sometimes we don't even agree with the people we're listening to. But we let them know that they count. What a gift we give when we listen in a complete way! Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me to listen in a complete way. Teach me to step outside myself and be their for others. Action for the Day: Today, I'll listen to what the person says. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die. --Eleanor Roosevelt We need to take note, today, of all the opportunities we have to offer a helping hand to another person. We can notice too, the many times a friend, or even a stranger, reaches out to us in a helpful way. The opportunities to contribute to life's flow are unending. Our own vibrancy comes from involvement with others, from contributing our talents, our hearts to one another's daily travels. The program helps us to know that God lives in us, among us. When we close ourselves off from our friends, our fellow travelers, we block God's path to us and through us. To live means sharing one another's space, dreams, sorrows, contributing our ears to hear, our eyes to see, our arms to hold, our hearts to love. When we close ourselves off from each other--we have destroyed the vital contribution we each need to make and to receive in order to nurture life. We each need only what the other can give. Each person we meet today needs our special contribution. What a wonderful collection of invitations awaits me today! ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards The head of the house ought to remember that he is mainly to blame for what befell his home. He can scarcely square the account in his lifetime. But he must see the danger of over-concentration on financial success. Although financial recovery is on the way for many of us, we found we could not place money first. For us, material well-being always followed spiritual progress; it never preceded. p. 127 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Any number of A.A.'s can say to the drifter, "Yes, we were diverted from our childhood faith, too. The overconfidence of youth was too much for us. Of course, we were glad that good home and religious training had given us certain values. We were still sure that we ought to be fairly honest, tolerant, and just, that we ought to be ambitious and hardworking. We became convinced that such simple rules of fair play and decency would be enough. pp. 28-29 ************************************************** ********* All I have is today, this moment, now. I can spend this moment making it the best moment yet with fearlessness, trust, courage, confidence, faith and love or I can waste it with doubt, anxiety, worry, regret, anger, fear, distress and hurt. Knowing that whichever way I choose determines the experiences I will have, I choose to use the opportunity of each moment to live my life to the fullest, always choosing love. --Carol A James Those who enjoy the greatest lives are not extraordinary people, or even ordinary people with something added. They are not necessarily the wealthiest or most professionally acclaimed. Those who sparkle with aliveness are ordinary people with nothing taken away. They have not lost their wonder of the moment. They cherish the presence of a friend; they marvel when a child takes their hand. They find a gift in each moment of living. --Mary Manin Morrissey I choose to love others, as God would. This means no severe judging, no resentments, no malicious gossip, no destructive criticism. --SweetyZee Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and better ideas if our efforts are appreciated. --Alexander F. Osborn Forgiveness is a not a gift we give to the other person, rather, God's gift to us. God goes ahead of us, preparing the way. --Jean A Samples ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation DIVINITY "To say that a man is made up of certain chemical elements is a satisfactory description only for those who intend to use him as a fertilizer." --Herbert J. Muller Man is more than chemicals. Man is more than an animal. Man is a human being, carrying the image of God, the imprint of Divinity, the power of the creative God. As an addict I doubted myself, only adding to my "powerlessness" and "unmanageability". I internally said, "I can't" before I tried. My low self-esteem was evident long before I took a drink. I was always trying to get my "outsides" to match what I imagined your "insides" to be like. When I accepted my alcoholism I was able to discover God in my life. Today I am able to create through Him and in Him. Spirituality comes with the awareness of our God-given divinity. May I never cease to see You in my life. ************************************************** ********* "Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12 Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Matthew 6:12 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-9 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration We have the ability to influence those around us and therefore it is necessary to think of ourselves as the center of peace so that we may bring calm to those who need it. Lord, may I bring Your peace to everyone I am with today. God promises His forgiveness to those who repent. Lord, I am sorry for all that I have done wrong this day and all the days of my life. |
April 24
Daily Reflections LEARNING TO LOVE OURSELVES Alcoholism was a lonely business, even though we were surrounded by people who loved us... We were trying to find emotional security either by dominating or by being dependent upon others . . . We still vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy sort of domination or dependence. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 252 When I did my personal inventory I found that I had unhealthy relationships with most people in my life- my friends and family, for example. I always felt isolated and lonely. I drank to dull emotional pain. It was through staying sober, having a good sponsor and working the Twelve Steps that I was able to build up my low self-esteem. First the Twelve Steps taught me to become my own best friend, and then, when I was able to love myself, I could reach out and love others. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day It's been proved that we alcoholics can't get sober by our willpower. We've failed again and again. Therefore I believe there must be a Higher Power which helps me. I think of that power as the grace of God. And I pray to God every morning for the strength to stay sober today. I know that power is there because it never fails to help me. Do I believe that AA. works through the grace of God? Meditation For The Day Once I am "born of the spirit," that is my life's breath. Within me is the life of life, so that I can never perish. The life that down the ages has kept God's children through peril, adversity, and sorrow. I must try never to doubt or worry, but follow where the life of the spirit leads. How often, when little I know it, God goes before me to prepare the way, to soften a heart, or to overrule a resentment. As the life of the spirit grows, natural wants become less important. Prayer For The Day I pray that my life may become centered in God more than in self. I pray that my will may be directed toward doing His will. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Essence of Growth, p. 115 Let us never fear needed change. Certainly we have to discriminate between changes for better. But once a need becomes clearly apparent in an individual, in a group, or in A.A. as a whole, it has long since been found out that we cannot stand still and look the other way. The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. Grapevine, July 1965 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Do I trigger gossip? ______ Personal inventory. There is a saying that "listening to gossip is gossip". How true! If there were no listeners, there would never be any gossip. Some of us who pride ourselves in refraining from gossip may still have a problem with it. It's possible we still keep our ears open for any juicy gossip that could fall our way. We might also "shake the tree" if we believe another person has some gossip to share with us. This is done in seemingly innocent ways, sometimes just by mentioning the name of a person to another who may have strong opinions to express. The harm of gossip lies in what we do to ourselves when we engage in it. There is no way we can continue to have spiritual growth if we practice gossip, even as passive listeners. Spiritual growth takes place within us, and it needs an environment completely free of an ill will. Let's beware of any tendency to say things that induce others to gossip. At the same time, let's tune out gossip that seems to occur spontaneously. Gossip is the enemy of the growth we desire. It is a real relief to know that today I have no desire to spread gossip or listen to it. This includes things I might read in magazines or newspapers. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which bridge to burn.---David Russell Making big decisions is like crossing bridges. Sometimes, these decisions change our lives. We find that turning back will be very hard. This is why we have to be very careful when we decide to burn bridges. When we decide to make changes, we act carefully. We don't want to make decisions out of anger or envy. Instead , we can think about what we want and how our program can help us make wise decisions. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me cross those bridges that are on my path. Action for the Day: What do I really want in life? What decisions do I need to make to get there? ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning She knows omnipotence has heard her prayer and cries "it shall be done--sometime, somewhere." --Ophelia Guyon Browning Patience is a quality that frequently eludes us. We want what we want when we want it. Fortunately, we don't get it until the time is right, but the waiting convinces us our prayers aren't heard. We must believe that the answer always comes in its own special time and place. The frustration is that our timetable is seldom like God's. When we look back over the past few weeks, months, or even years, we can recall past prayers. Had they all been answered at the time of request, how different our lives would be. We are each on a path unique to us, offering special lessons to be learned. Just as a child must crawl before walking, so must we move slowly, taking the steps in our growth in sequence. Our prayers will be answered, sometime, somewhere. Of that we can be sure. They will be answered for our greater good. And they will be answered at the right time, the right place, in the right way. I am participating in a much bigger picture than the one in my individual prayers. And the big picture is being carefully orchestrated. I will trust the part I have been chosen to play. And I can be patient. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards Since the home has suffered more than anything else, it is well that a man exert himself there. He is not likely to get far in any direction if he fails to show unselfishness and love under his own roof. We know there are difficult wives and families, but the man who is getting over alcoholism must remember he did much to make them so. p. 127 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." "As material success founded upon no more than these ordinary attributes began to come to us, we felt we were winning at the game of life. This was exhilarating, and it made us happy. Why should we be bothered with theological abstractions and religious duties, or with the state of our souls here or hereafter? The here and now was good enough for us. The will to win would carry us through. But then alcohol began to have its way with us. Finally, when all our score cards read `zero,' and we saw that one more strike would put us out of the game forever, we had to look for our lost faith. It was in A.A. that we rediscovered it. And so can you." p. 29 ************************************************** ********* "With the gift of listening comes the gift of healing." --Catherine de Hueck Doherty "Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power." --Shirley MacLaine Encourage your friends, family and co-workers to think positive. Their enthusiasm will boost you as well. --Anonymous Take a break. Move around. Learn to change your perspective. Maybe you don't need to change what you're looking at. You just need to change where you stand. --Melody Beattie One step at a time. That's how you will get where you are going. You are being led, each step of the way. --Melody Beattie Focus not on circumstances but on our loving and unchanging God. --Robert Truesdale ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation MAN "Man is what he believes. " --Anton Chekhov My miracle is that I now believe in me. Today I accept my disease of addiction and I do not resist or deny it. I believe that I am an alcoholic. I believe that I am an overeater. I am a co-dependent. I believe that I am an adult child of an alcoholic. And this belief enables me to be free. For too long I played the game of control; blaming and bargaining - and I lost. Now I choose to surrender to the reality of who I am. I accept my disease on a daily basis and I make choices with the awareness of my disease. And it is getting better. My belief about my addiction has also given me an insight into God and His gift of freedom. He loves me enough to give me choice and with this gift comes responsibility. I believe that I am responsible for how I live with my addictions. Today I accept that responsibility. What I believe reflects the God I believe in; I believe in Freedom. ************************************************** ********* "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32 "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20 "Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler." Psalm 91:3-4 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration To allow past problems into your present moments can make you feel depressed, worried and overwhelmed. Lord, help me to let go of that which I can do nothing about so that I can take care of that which I can. If you would be ashamed to sign your name to your conversation, don't say it. Lord, my words can have far reaching effects. May the effect always be good. |
April 25
Daily Reflections ENTERING A NEW DIMENSION In the late stages of our drinking, the will to resist has fled. Yet when we admit complete defeat and when we become entirely ready to try A.A. principles, our obsession leaves us and we enter a new dimension - freedom under God as we understand Him. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 283 I am fortunate to be among the ones who have had this awesome transformation in my life. When I entered the doors of A.A., alone and desperate, I had been beaten into willingness to believe anything I heard. One of the things I heard was, "This could be your last hangover, or you can keep going round and round." The man who said this obviously was a whole lot better off than I. I liked the idea of admitting defeat and I have been free ever since! My heart heard what my mind never could: "Being powerless over alcohol is no big deal." I'm free and I'm grateful! ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day I don't believe that A.A. works because I read it in a book or because I hear people say so. I believe it because I see people getting sober and staying sober. An actual demonstration is what convinces me. When I see the change in people, I can't help believing that A.A. works. We could listen to talk about A.A. all day and still not believe it, but when we see it work, we have to believe it. Seeing is believing. Do I see A.A. work every day? Meditation For The Day Try saying "God bless her (or him)" of anyone who is in disharmony with you. Also say it of those who are in trouble through their own fault. Say it, willing that showers of blessings may fall upon them. Let God do the blessing. Leave to God the necessary correcting or disciplining. You should only desire blessing for them. Leave God's work to God. Occupy yourself with the task that He gives you to do. God's blessing will also break down all your own difficulties and build up all your successes. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may use God's goodness so that it will be a blessing to others. I pray that I may accept God's blessing so that I will have harmony, beauty, joy, and happiness. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Each Man's Vision, p. 116 "Beyond a Higher Power, as each of us may vision Him, A.A. must never, as a society, enter the field of dogma or theology. We can never become a religion in that sense, lest we kill our usefulness by getting bogged down in the theological contention." << << << >> >> >> "The really amazing fact about A.A. is that all religions see in our program a resemblance to themselves. For example, Catholic theologians declare our Twelve Steps to be in exact accord with their Ignatian Exercises for Retreat, and, though our book reeks of sin, sickness, and death, the Christian Science Monitor has often praised it editorially. "Now, looking through Quaker eyes, you, too, see us favorably. What happy circumstances, these!" 1. Letter, 1954 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Fixing needs____ Inventory. AA pioneers once thought of their work as "fixing" drunks. That was dropped in AA, but "getting a fix" survives in the drug culture The truth is, we can't fix anybody, nor can we fix any problem with a destructive, mood altering drug. What we're really seeking … what every compulsive person really seeks…. Is to fix the conflicting needs that tear us apart at the seams. We can fix many of those needs over time if we practice Twelve step principles. "That searching and fearless moral inventory", humbling though it may be, will expose the fierce drives that are consuming us. Sharing the truth about ourselves with others helps us understand both what is right and what is wrong in our lives. The power to change ourselves, when we desire it, comes from a Higher Power… God as we understand Him. Somebody has summed this process up this way: "Need a fix? Fix the need!" We can use that idea to fix our needs today by following the Twelve step program. At times, we may not even by completely aware of our real needs. This too will be revealed to us as we continue in this program. I'll start my day by affirming that there's no need that can cause me to do anything destructive. As any problem arises, I learn how to fix my needs in healthy ways. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple You're never to old to grow up.---Shirley Conran Some of us have spent many years trying not to grow up. As children, we watched the adults around us. They may not have seemed happy. "Is life all hard work for grown-ups?" we wondered. No, it's not hard work. There are lots of good things about growing up. We can take charge of our life. We can learn to take care of ourselves. We can learn to share feelings with good friends. We can make our world safe enough for us to express feelings again. We learn how to love others. We do have choices. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me grow up into a happy, grateful adult. Action for the Day: There are happy grown-ups. I'll find one to be my sponsor. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content. --Helen Keller There is wonder in the moment, if we but look for it, let it touch us, believe in it. And with the recognition and celebration of the wonder comes the joy we desire and await. Being wholly in tune with the present moment is how we'll come to know the spiritual essence that connects all of life. We search for peace, happiness, and contentment outside of ourselves. We need instead to discover it within us, now and always, in whatever we are experiencing. We can let our experiences wash over us. Longing for a different time, a distant place, a new situation breeds discontent. It prevents us from the thrill, the gifts offered in this present moment. But they are there. We can practice feeling joyful in the present, be thrilled with the realization that right now, all is well. All is always well. Life is full of mystery and wonder and each moment of our awareness adds to the wonder. I am moving forward; we all are. I am on target. I am participating in a glorious, wonderful drama. Let me jump for joy. I have been specially blessed. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards As each member of a resentful family begins to see his shortcomings and admits them to the others, he lays a basis for helpful discussion. These family talks will be constructive if they can be carried on without heated argument, self-pity, self-justification or resentful criticism. Little by little, mother and children will see they ask too much, and father will see he gives too little. Giving, rather than getting, will become the guiding principle. pp. 127-128 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Now we come to another kind of problem: the intellectually self-sufficient man or woman. To these, many A.A.'s can say, "Yes, we were like you--far too smart for our own good. We loved to have people call us precocious. We used our education to blow ourselves up into prideful balloons, though we were careful to hide this from others. Secretly, we felt we could float above the rest of the folks on our brainpower alone. Scientific progress told us there was nothing man couldn't do. Knowledge was all-powerful. Intellect could conquer nature. Since we were brighter than most folks (so we thought), the spoils of victory would be ours for the thinking. The god of intellect displaced the God of our fathers. But again John Barleycorn had other ideas. We who had won so handsomely in a walk turned into all-time losers. We saw that we had to reconsider or die. We found many in A.A. who once thought as we did. They helped us to get down to our right size. By their example they showed us that humility and intellect could be compatible, provided we placed humility first. When we began to do that, we received the gift of faith, a faith which works. This faith is for you, too." pp. 29-30 ************************************************** ********* God, when I am faced with a tough decision, help me be gentle with myself and others as I sort out, with your help, what's right for me. --Melody Beattie Every moment is an opportunity for Love. Where there is hatred, may we bring Love. Where there is prejudice and injustice, may we bring Love. Where there is insecurity and small-mindedness, may we bring Love. Where there is fear in any form, may we bring the illuminating Light of Love. We do not open our hearts 'when'; we open them 'in spite of.' God grants us the opportunity and power to transform every negativity into everlasting love. --Mary Manin Morrissey "Faith is like electricity. You can't see it, but you can see the light." --Anonymous ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation IMPERFECTION "In the country of the blind the one eyed king can still goof up." --Anonymous For years I tried to control everything and everybody. Things had their place; there was a correct code of behavior for doing things; everything had to have its place. I felt responsible for the universe and everybody in it. Today I can laugh at my mistakes and the mistakes of others. When I catch myself organizing the world, I remember where the "perfect" yesterdays got me - and I laugh. God made me with a navel and flat feet; I would have preferred something different but there is a loving message within my imperfections. It is okay to goof up! Today I relax in the humor of being human. Thank You for making me an angel in the dirt. ************************************************** ********* "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14 "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you." Matthew 25:34 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration To allow past problems into your present moments can make you feel depressed, worried and overwhelmed. Lord, help me to let go of that which I can do nothing about so that I can take care of that which I can. Take care of yourself so that you may give care to others. Lord, may I never totally ignore myself and my feelings for the sake of others and fit in time daily to refresh my spirit. |
April 26
Daily Reflections HAPPINESS IS NOT THE POINT I don't think happiness or unhappiness is the point. How do we meet the problems we face? How do we best learn from them and transmit what we have learned to others, if they would receive the knowledge? AS BILL SEES IT, p. 306 In my search "to be happy," I changed jobs, married and divorced, took geographical cures, and ran myself into debt--financially, emotionally and spiritually. In A.A., I'm learning to grow up. Instead of demanding that people, places and things make me happy, I can ask God for self-acceptance. When a problem overwhelms me, A.A.'s Twelve Steps will help me grow through the pain. The knowledge I gain can be a gift to others who suffer with the same problem. As Bill said, "When pain comes, we are expected to learn from it willingly, and help others to learn. When happiness comes, we accept it as a gift, and thank God for it." (As Bill Sees It, p. 306) ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The A.A. program is one of submission, release, and action. When we're drinking, we're submitting to a power greater than ourselves, liquor. Our own wills are no use against the power of liquor. One drink and we're sunk. In A.A. we stop submitting to the power of liquor. Instead, we submit to a Power, also greater than ourselves, which we call God. Have I submitted myself to that Higher Power? Meditation For The Day Ceaseless activity is not God's plan for your life. Times of withdrawal for renewed strength are always necessary. Wait for the faintest tremor of fear and stop all work, everything, and rest before God until you are strong again. Deal in the same way with all tired feelings. Then you need rest of body and renewal of spirit force. Saint Paul said: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." This does not mean that you are to do all things and then rely on God to find strength. it means that you are to do the things you believe God wants you to do and only then can you rely on His supply of power. Prayer For The Day I pray that God's spirit may be my master always. I pray that I may learn how to rest and listen, as well as how to work. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It The Sense of Belonging, p. 117 Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us. We no longer live in a completely hostile world. We are no longer lost and frightened and purposeless. The moment we catch even a glimpse of God's will, the moment we begin to see truth, justice, and love as the real and eternal things in life, we are no longer deeply disturbed by all the seeming evidence to the contrary that surrounds us in purely human affairs. We know that God lovingly watches over us. We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter. 12 & 12, p. 105 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Never withholding ourselves. Living Sober. We may have let ourselves believe that we're supposed to display an attitude that expresses our opinions of others. If a person is crude and boorish, we should be cool and defensive for our self-protection. If a person is warm and friendly, we should respond in warm and friendly ways. If we have believed these things, then we're actually letting others control our attitudes and behavior. We are letting personalities interfere with the high principles we are learning in AA. We are not living at the best possible level. In reality, we should always display an attitude that reflects kindness, optimism, friendliness, and concern. There other person's disposition, whether it's sour or sweet, should have nothing to do with our being what we want to be. We should never withhold the fine inner qualities that develop and grow as we continue to live the program. In time, we begin to learn that this attitude always comes back to us in the form of greater peace and happiness. And what's great about iti s that it's always under our direct control. As I go about my business today, I will express a kindliness and concern toward everybody. Nobody's behavior can make me adopt a suspicious or defensive attitude. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.---Maurice Setter Silver shines as bright as gold does. So often we forget this. So often we push, push, push. We forget to live for the moment. Trying too hard can be a defect of character. It can be a way we avoid life. Gratitude, being thankful, is key part of recovery. Not just gratitude for getting our self-respect back. Not just gratitude for having a Higher Power. But gratitude for the moment. We're alive again. Let's see each moment as a time to explore life.. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks for helping me to enjoy each moment. I have gratitude for being alive. Action for the Day: I'll list ten gifts of recovery for which I have gratitude. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning . . . pain is the root of knowledge. --Simone Weil We don't want pain in our lives. We dread the situations we anticipate will be painful. We probably even pray to be spared all painful experiences. But they come anyway, at times in profusion. And we not only survive the pain, we profit from it. It seems that pain stretches us to our limits, generally forcing us to look for guidance from others, and it pushes us to consider new choices in our present situation. Pain is our common denominator as women, as members of the human family. It softens us to one another. It fosters empathy. It helps us to reach out and realize our need for one another. New knowledge, new awareness, are additional benefits of accepting, rather than denying, the pain that accompanies life. This journey that we're on is moving us further and further along the path of enlightenment. We can consider that each problem, each crisis, is our necessary preparation for moving another step down the road. I learn out of necessity. And when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards Assume on the other hand that father has, at the outset, a stirring spiritual experience. Overnight, as it were, he is a different man. He becomes a religious enthusiast. He is unable to focus on anything else. As soon as his sobriety begins to be taken as a matter of course, the family may look at their strange new dad with apprehension, then with irritation. There is talk about spiritual matters morning, noon and night. He may demand that the family find God in a hurry, or exhibit amazing indifference to them and say he is above worldly considerations. He may tell mother, who has been religious all her life, that she doesn’t know what it’s all about, and that she had better get his brand of spirituality while there is yet time. p. 128 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Another crowd of A.A.'s says: "We were plumb disgusted with religion and all its works. The Bible, we said, was full of nonsense; we could cite it chapter and verse, and we couldn't see the Beatitudes for the `begats.' In spots its morality was impossibly good; in others it seemed impossibly bad. But it was the morality of the religionists themselves that really got us down. We gloated over the hypocrisy, bigotry, and crushing self-righteousness that clung to so many `believers' even in their Sunday best. How we loved to shout the damaging fact that millions of the `good men of religion' were still killing one another off in the name of God. This all meant, of course, that we had substituted negative for positive thinking. After we came to A.A., we had to recognize that this trait had been an ego feeding proposition. In belaboring the sins of some religious people, we could feel superior to all of them. Moreover, we could avoid looking at some of our own shortcomings. Self-righteousness, the very thing that we had contemptuously condemned in others, was our own besetting evil. This phony form of respectability was our undoing, so far as faith was concerned. But finally, driven to A.A., we learned better. p. 30 ************************************************** ********* Children are our most valuable natural resource. --Herbert Hoover "Forgiving those who hurt us is the key to personal peace." --G. Weatherly "Being happy does not mean everything's perfect, It means I've decided to see beyond the imperfections." --Unknown "Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." --Carl Bard Spending time with God changes the rhythm of our life. --Cheryle L. Cooper ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation ANSWERS "If the work of God could be comprehended by reason, it would be no longer wonderful, and faith would have no merit if reason provided proof." --Pope Gregory I Some things happen that I do not understand or comprehend, but I have faith that they will happen tomorrow: sunsets, night following day, the song of the bird, the colors of nature, and the joy and adventure of being alive. Perhaps the biggest mystery for mankind to grapple with is love - a man will suffer, endure persecution, even be put to death for that which he loves; the pain and sorrow of love is mingled into what it is to be a human being. Reason does not have the answer to life. Faith is the medication for our existence. We have a belief in tomorrow because of what we have experienced today. If I can say "no" to alcohol today then I can do it tomorrow - if I really want to. Lord, let me not seek for proof but daily seek to grapple with the problems of life. ************************************************** ********* "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." James 4:10 "Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29 "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration There are truly no bad days, just different kinds of days. Lord, thank You for today and for Your help through every situation. Use your difficult times to learn more about God's love and blessings. Lord, may I see Your hand working in every moment of my life and realize that, even in my darkest hour, things are far better than they could be because You are blessing me with what I need to make it through. |
April 27
Daily Reflections JOYFUL DISCOVERIES We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164 Sobriety is a journey of joyful discovery. Each day brings new experience, awareness, greater hope, deeper faith, broader tolerance. I must maintain these attributes or I will have nothing to pass on. Great events for this recovering alcoholic are the normal everyday joys found in being able to live another day in God's grace. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day By submitting to God, we're released from the power of liquor. It has no more hold on us. We're also released from the things that were holding us down: pride, selfishness, and fear. And we're free to grow into a new life, which is so much better than the old life that there's no comparison. This release gives us serenity and peace with the world. Have I been released from the power of alcohol? Meditation For The Day We know God by spiritual vision. We feel that He is beside us. We feel His presence. Contact with God is not made by the senses. Spirit-consciousness replaces sight. Since we cannot see God, we have to perceive Him by spiritual perception. God has to span the physical and the spiritual with the gift to us of spiritual vision. Many persons, though they cannot see God, have had a clear spiritual consciousness of Him. We are inside a box of space and time, but we know there must be something outside of that box, limitless space, eternity of time, and God. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may have a consciousness of God's presence. I pray that God will give me spiritual vision. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Prelude to the Program, p. 118 Few people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have "hit bottom," for practicing A.A.'s Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking. The average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme, doesn't care for this prospect--unless he has to do these things in order to stay alive himself. << << << >> >> >> We know that the newcomer has to "hit bottom"; otherwise, not much can happen. Because we are drunks who understand him, we can use at depth the nutcracker of the-obsession-plus-the-allergy as a tool of such power that it can shatter his ego. Only thus can he be convinced that on his own unaided resources he has little or no chance. 1. 12 & 12, p. 24 2. A.A. Today, p. 8 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Happy People are likable. Personal relations. Who are the people we really like, and to be with? Most of the time, they are happy people, people who like themselves and others. Being happy is almost the entire secret of being likable. Though no person can expect to be liked by everybody, likable people have the inside track most of the time. How do we become happy and thus likable? We're continuously told that happiness cannot be found in property, power, and prestige. It is rooted instead in self-acceptance. In feeling loved and wanted, and in giving genuine service, maybe just in the form of very useful work. Twelve Step programs are structured to make us happy if we persevere long enough in working the individual steps. While it may seem contradictory, even people with heavy burdens and personal sorrows can find underlying happiness in the program. A great deal of this also hinges on our belief in a Higher Power and a confidence that we have a place in the universal system. I can be happy today in spite of things that others would consider burdensome and depressing. Happiness really comes from God, and it also serves to attract friends into my life. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple I noticed my hopelessness was because I had lost my freedom of choice.---AA member By doing a Fourth Step, we start to see ourselves more clearly. We see how we've acted against ourselves. Soon, we hear a little voice inside telling us to stop before we act. "Are you sure you want to say or do that?" the little voice asks. Then we make a choice: we do something the same old way, or we try a new way. One part of us will always want to do things the old, sick way. This is natural. But we're getting stronger every day. Our spirit wants to learn new ways so we can be honest and loving. Sometimes we don't know how. But we still have a choice. We can ask for help. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me listen to the little voice inside that helps me see that I have choices. Action for the Day: Today, I'll make a choice between old ways and new ways of acting. I will call my sponsor this evening to talk about my choices. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning So much to say. And so much not to say! Some things are better left unsaid. But so many unsaid things can become a burden. --Virginia Mae Axline The occasions are many when we'd like to share a feeling, an observation, perhaps even a criticism with someone. The risk is great, however. She might be hurt, or he might walk away, leaving us alone. Many times, we need not share our words directly. Weighing and measuring the probable outcome and asking for some inner guidance will help us decide when to speak up and when to leave things unsaid. But if our thoughts are seriously interfering with our relationships, we can't ignore them for long. Clearing the air is necessary sometimes, and it freshens all relationships. When to take the risk creates consternation. But within our quiet spaces, we always know when we must speak up. And the direction will come. The right moment will present itself. And within those quiet spaces the right words can be found. If I am uncomfortable with certain people, and the feelings don't leave, I will consider what might need to be said. I will open myself to the way and ask to be shown the steps to take. Then, I will be patient. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards When father takes this tack, the family may react unfavorably. The may be jealous of a God who has stolen dad’s affections. While grateful that he drinks no more, they may not like the idea that God has accomplished the miracle where they failed. They often forget father was beyond human aid. They may not see why their love and devotion did not straighten him out. Dad is not so spiritual after all, they say. If he means to right his past wrongs, why all this concern for everyone in the world but his family? What about his talk that God will take care of them? They suspect father is a bit balmy! p. 128 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." "As psychiatrists have often observed, defiance is the outstanding characteristic of many an alcoholic. So it's not strange that lots of us have had our day at defying God Himself. Sometimes it's because God has not delivered us the good things of life which we specified, as a greedy child makes an impossible list for Santa Claus. More often, though, we had met up with some major calamity, and to our way of thinking lost out because God deserted us. The girl we wanted to marry had other notions; we prayed God that she'd change her mind, but she didn't. We prayed for healthy children, and were presented with sick ones, or none at all. We prayed for promotions at business, and none came. Loved ones, upon whom we heartily depended, were taken from us by so-called acts of God. Then we became drunkards, and asked God to stop that. But nothing happened. This was the unkindest cut of all. `**** this faith business!' we said. p. 31 ************************************************** ********* Never give up ten minutes before the miracle. --Anonymous Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. --Henry Ford God is a never ending source of all we need. --SweetyZee Just as we experience joy in caring for others, they experience joy in caring for us. --Linda Nocks Shah "Invest the first hour of the day, the 'Golden Hour,' in yourself." --Brian Tracy "Pray not for lighter burdens but for stronger backs." --Theodore Roosevelt "The easiest way to save face is to keep the lower half shut." --Anon "A good laugh is sunshine in a house." --William Makepeace Thackeray "If you keep doing things like you've always done them, what you'll get is what you've already got." --Anon "Action conquers fear." --Peter N. Zarlenga "The best way out of a difficulty is through it" --Anon ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation RELIGION "All religions must be tolerated . . . for . . . every man must get to heaven his own way." --Frederick the Great There are many ways to God and I believe that Christianity is one way. However, I am convinced that there are other ways with or without religion. My experience of the church has been good, and I have been encouraged to question and doubt, search for new areas of faith within my agnosticism, explore other religions. My experience of Christianity has been supportive of openness and compassion. God is not a prisoner of any religion and we can all learn from each other's experiences - but we need to listen. To dismiss arrogantly the value that a religion can bring is, to my way of thinking, as negative and sick as to accept what a religion says without question. Let me find in the religions of the world the ONENESS of Your truth. ************************************************** ********* The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn; shining brighter till the full light of day. Proverbs 4 :18 We love Him, because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Rely on the strength and understanding that you possess. Each of us has more of it in us that we can imagine possible. Lord, through faith in You I can face any difficulty and conquer it. Have the courage to forgive. Lord, may I bring myself to a place of peace by never holding a grudge. |
April 28
Daily Reflections TWO "MAGNIFICENT STANDARDS" All A.A. progress can be reckoned in terms of just two words: humility and responsibility. Our whole spiritual development can be accurately measured by our degree of adherence to these magnificent standards. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 271 To acknowledge and respect the views, accomplishments and prerogatives of others and to accept being wrong shows me the way of humility. To practice the principles of A.A. in all my affairs guides me to be responsible. Honoring these precepts gives credence to Tradition Four--and to all other Traditions of the Fellowship. Alcoholics Anonymous has evolved a philosophy of life full of valid motivations, rich in highly relevant principles and ethical values, a view of life which can be extended beyond the confines of the alcoholic population. To honor these precepts I need only to pray, and care for my fellow man as if each one were my brother. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day We're so glad to be free from liquor that we do something about it. We get into action. We come to meetings regularly. We go out and try to help other alcoholics. We pass on the good news whenever we get a chance. In a spirit of thankfulness to God, we get into action. The A.A. program is simple. Submit yourself to God, find release from liquor, and get into action. Do these things and keep doing them and you're all set for the rest of your life. Have I got into action? Meditation For The Day God's eternal quest must be the tracking down of souls. You should join Him in His quest. Through briars, through waste places, through glades, up mountain heights, down into valleys. God leads you. But ever with His leadership goes your helping hand. Glorious to follow where the Leader goes. You are seeking lost sheep. You are bringing the good news into places where it has not been known before. You may not know which soul you will help, but you can leave all results to God. just go with Him in His eternal quest for souls. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may follow God in His eternal quest for souls. I pray that I may offer God my helping hand. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Prelude to the Program, p. 118 Few people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have "hit bottom," for practicing A.A.'s Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking. The average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme, doesn't care for this prospect--unless he has to do these things in order to stay alive himself. << << << >> >> >> We know that the newcomer has to "hit bottom"; otherwise, not much can happen. Because we are drunks who understand him, we can use at depth the nutcracker of the-obsession-plus-the-allergy as a tool of such power that it can shatter his ego. Only thus can he be convinced that on his own unaided resources he has little or no chance. 1. 12 & 12, p. 24 2. A.A. Today, p. 8 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Expect Miracle-working Coincidences Spiritual direction Somebody said that a wonderful coincidence is when God acts but does not choose to leave a signature. Wonderful coincidences are appearing every moment of the day. People who live the spiritual life are especially positioned to recognize and understand coincidences. The founding of AA abounds with coincidences that boggle the mind. Almost by chance, the Oxford Group ideas found their way to Bill Wilson. A business trip took him to Akron where, coincidentally. An earnest group of Oxford Group people were trying to help Dr. Bob Smith to sobriety. With his business venture in collapse, Bill made the telephone call that put him in touch with Dr. Bob, eventually resulting in the launch of AA. Such miraculous coincidences work for the fellowship, and they're also at work in our individual lives. If we look closely, we'll discover that many such coincidences helped bring about our recovery or some other blessing. God is the guiding power behind these coincidences. What appears to be chance is really a marvelous intelligence coordinating random events for the good of all. I'll have confidence today that God is always bringing positive results out of a number of random events. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Unless I accept my faults I will most certainly doubt my virtues. --- Hugh Prather Before recovery, we saw only a blurry picture of ourselves, like we were looking through an out-of-focus camera lens. We couldn't see the good in ourselves because we wouldn't look close enough. Step Four helps us look more closely. We see a picture of ourselves, with our good points and our faults. We don't like everything we see. But we can't change until we accept ourselves as we are. Then we can start getting ready to change. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see the good in me and love myself. Action for the Day: Today, I'll make a list of four of my good points and four of my faults. Am I getting to have my Higher Power remove these defects of character? ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning . . . suffering . . . no matter how multiplied . . . is always individual. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh Knowing that others have survived experiences equally devastating gives us hope, but it doesn't diminish our own personal suffering. Nor should it; out of suffering comes new understanding. Suffering also encourages our appreciation of the lighter, easier times. Pain experienced fully enhances the times of pleasure. Our sufferings are singular, individual, and lonely. But our experiences with it can be shared, thereby lessening the power they have over us. Sharing our pain with another woman also helps her remember that her pain, too, is survivable. Suffering softens us, helps us to feel more compassion and love toward another. Our sense of belonging to the human race, our recognition of the interdependence and kinship of us all, are the most cherished results of the gift of pain. Each of our sufferings, sharing them as we do, strengthens me and heals my wounds of alienation. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards He is not so unbalanced as they might think. Many of us have experienced dad’s elation. We have indulged in spiritual intoxication. Like a gaunt prospector, belt drawn in over the ounce of food, our pick struck gold. Joy at our release from a lifetime frustration knew no bounds. Father feels he has struck something better than gold. For a time he may try to hug the new treasure to himself. He may not see at once that he has barely scratched a limitless lode which will pay dividends only if he mines it for the rest of his life and insists on giving away the entire product. pp. 128-129 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." "When we encountered A.A., the fallacy of our defiance was revealed. At no time had we asked what God's will was for us; instead we had been telling Him what it ought to be. No man, we saw, could believe in God and defy Him, too. Belief meant reliance, not; defiance. In A.A., we saw the fruits of this belief: men and women spared from alcohol's final catastrophe. We saw them meet and transcend their other pains and trials. We saw them calmly accept impossible situations, seeking neither to run nor to recriminate. This was not only faith; it was faith that worked under all conditions. We soon concluded that whatever price in humility we must pay, we would pay." p. 31 ************************************************** ********* A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark. --Anonymous Your mind is an encyclopedia of your lessons in life. Expand it by making memories with loved ones, reading a good book, or just by doing something positive rather than negative. --Anonymous When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us. --Alexander Graham Bell Only God can make us whole. --Barbara Haynes "When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all." --Les Brown "The country clubs, the cars the boats, your assets may be ample, but the best inheritance you can leave your kids is to be a good example." --Barry Spilchuk "Next time someone tells you 'never,' remember that means 'not for at least one hour.'" --Jeffrey Gitomer ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation PREJUDICE "It is never too late to give up your prejudices." --Henry David Thoreau Prejudice divides people and feeds upon anger, resentment and fear. Today I can see that my prejudices stemmed from my seeing in others what I disliked in myself. I hated people who appeared "weak" because I knew that I was weak and vulnerable. I hated people who were "different" because I knew there were parts of me that were different from how I appeared. I hated the people who stood up for their principles and talked about their feelings because, as a drunk, I never really had any principles and I couldn't get in touch with my feelings. Today I try to talk about my prejudices and overcome them. A knowledge of those people I disliked has proven useful in slowly overcoming my prejudices. Teach me to locate myself in my criticism of others. ************************************************** ********* "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life." John 6:47 You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works. James 2:18 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Give your day to God and let Him bring out the best in you in all situations. Lord, I will use Your power within me to make the best of this day. You are a blessed, creative, lovable and needed being created by God. Lord, may these qualities shine forth and be used to bless those around me. |
April 29
Daily Reflections GROUP AUTONOMY Some may think that we have carried the principle of group autonomy to extremes. For example, in its original "long form," Tradition Four declares: "Any two or three gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that as a group they have no other affiliation." . . . . But this ultra-liberty is not so risky as it looks. A.A. COMES OF AGE, pp. 104-05 As an active alcoholic, I abused every liberty that life afforded. How could A.A. expect me to respect the "ultra-liberty" bestowed by Tradition Four? Learning respect has become a lifetime job. A.A. has made me fully accept the necessity of discipline and that, if I do not assert it from within, then I will pay for it. This applies to groups too. Tradition Four points me in a spiritual direction, in spite of my alcoholic inclinations. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The A.A. program is one of faith, hope, and charity. It's a program of hope because when new members come into A.A., the first thing they get is hope. They hear older members tell how they had been through the same kind of he!! that they have and how they found the way out through A.A. And this gives them hope that if others can do it, they can do it. Is hope still strong in me? Meditation For The Day The rule of God's kingdom is perfect order, perfect harmony, perfect supply, perfect love, perfect honesty, perfect obedience. There is no discord in God's kingdom, only some things still unconquered in God's children. The difficulties of life are caused by disharmony in the individual man or woman. People lack power because they lack harmony with God and with each other. They think that God fails because power is not manifested in their lives. God does not fail. People fail because they are out of harmony with Him. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may be in harmony with God and with other people. I pray that this harmony will result in strength and success. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It On The Broad Highway, p. 119 "I now realize that my former prejudice against clergymen was blind and wrong. They have kept alive through the centuries a faith which might have been extinguished entirely. They pointed out the road to me, but I did not even look up, I was so full of prejudice and self-concern. "When I did open my eyes, it was because I had to. And the man who showed me the truth was a fellow sufferer and a layman. Through him, I saw at last, and I stepped from the abyss to solid ground, knowing at once that my feet were on the broad highway if I chose to walk." Letter, 1940 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Remember the Past, but don't live in it. Living today. In some ways, the Twelve Step recovery process invites trouble in dealing with the past. We're supposed to forget the past and live for today. But the opening thoughts delivered at meetings often review the past in painful detail, thus reinforcing the tendency to relive it. How should we approach this problem? Our need is to remember the past while releasing any bitterness, regrets, or hurts connected with it. We must never live in the past, which we are doing when we feel either resentment or remorse about actions of others or ourselves. It is, however, helpful to remember what happened in the past so that we will no longer repeat the same mistakes. We should also remember the past as a means of keeping ourselves both humble and honest. It should help us feel gratitude that we no longer have to live as we once did. Remembering the past in open "lead" meetings is sometimes called "qualifying" as an alcoholic. It is an aid to carrying the message of recovery and a way of building more strength and understanding for today and tomorrow. I'll be pleased today that I can remember the past without living in it. I am free from the old hurts and problems that would keep me from directing all of my energies and attention to what I am doing here and now. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple I’m as pure as the driven slush.---Tallulad Bankhead The Steps are filled with words and phrases like shortcomings, exact nature of our wrongs, persons we had harmed, and when we were wrong. The Steps help us accept all parts of who we are. Our program asks us to share these parts of ourselves with others. We heal by doing this. It’s hard to talk about how wrong we can be, but we must. It’s part of how we recover. Remember, all of us have bad points. At times, we act like jerks. When we can talk about our mistakes, we end up having less shame inside of us. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to love and accept myself---as You love and accept me. Give me the courage to share all my secret wrongs. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll review my Fourth Step. If I haven’t done this Step, I’ll start today. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Love between two people is such a precious thing. It is not a possession. I no longer need to possess to complete myself. True love becomes my freedom. --Angela L. Wozniak Self-doubt fosters possessiveness. When we lack confidence in our own capabilities, when we fear we don't measure up as women, mothers, lovers, employees, we cling to old behavior, maybe to unhealthy habits, perhaps to another person. We can't find our completion in another person because that person changes and moves away from our center. Then we feel lost once again. Completion of the self accompanies our spiritual progress. As our awareness of the reality of our higher power's caring role is heightened, we find peace. We trust that we are becoming all that we need to be. We need only have faith in our connection to that higher power. We can let that faith possess us, and we'll never need to possess someone else. God's love is ours, every moment. Recognition is all that's asked of us. Acceptance of this ever-present love will make us whole, and self-doubt will diminish. Clinging to other people traps us as much as them, and all growth is hampered, ours and theirs. Freedom to live, to grow, to experience my full capabilities is as close as my faith. I will cling only to that and discover the love that's truly in my heart and the hearts of my loved ones. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards If the family cooperates, dad will soon see that he is suffering from a distortion of values. He will perceive that his spiritual growth is lopsided, that for an average man like himself, a spiritual life which does not include his family obligations may not be so perfect after all. If the family will appreciated that dad’s current behavior is but a phase of his development, all will be well. In the midst of an understanding and sympathetic family, these vagaries of dad’s spiritual infancy will quickly disappear. p. 129 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Now let's take the guy full of faith, but still reeking of alcohol. He believes he is devout. His religious observance is scrupulous. He's sure he still believes in God, but suspects that God doesn't believe in him. He takes pledges and more pledges. Following each, he not only drinks again, but acts worse than the last time. Valiantly he tries to fight alcohol, imploring God's help, but the help doesn't come. What, then, can be the matter? pp. 31-32 ************************************************** ********* The mind is like a parachute; it works much better when it's open. --Dpurpleldy "A friend will see us at our worst, as well as our best. A friend will not close his or her heart when we have made a mistake. A friend will not condemn us but will compassionately support our return to a state of grace." --Marianne Williamson "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." --Carl Jung We must release the old to make room for the new. --Alan Cohen "People will come and go from my life. Today I'm trying to learn how to be the kind of person that I want to spend the rest of my life with." --Unknown "People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within." Elizabeth Kubler-Ross ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation ENJOYMENT "Man, unlike the animals, has never learned that the sole purpose of life is to enjoy it." --Samuel Butler Spirituality enables me to enjoy my life. I enjoy my sobriety. I enjoy the freedom of a "God as I understand Him". I enjoy the fellowship of ideas and opinions that are based on love and honest sharing. The world is to be enjoyed and not endured! God is fun. For years I thought that God was a judge to be feared; angry, hostile and revengeful. Strange how silly this all seems now, but for years I was afraid of God and feared His presence. Then I was introduced to a God who is beyond institutions and dogmas, free of creeds and punishments, a loving and joyous God who created me to be happy. Today I am enjoying my freedom. God, the Father of the Universe, is also "Daddy" to us all. ************************************************** ********* "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth." Psalms 145:18 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration When someone makes you happy, let them know and you will both feel better. Lord, may Your love flow through me so that I can easily praise and encourage the goodness in others. To have a great day isn't always doing what you like, but trying to like what you must do. Lord, today I will spruce up my attitude and have a great day no matter what my circumstances. |
April 30
Daily Reflections A GREAT PARADOX These legacies of suffering and of recovery are easily passed among alcoholics, one to the other. This is our gift from God, and its bestowal upon others like us is the one aim that today animates A.A.'s all around the globe. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 151 The great paradox of A.A. is that I know I cannot keep the precious gift of sobriety unless I give it away. My primary purpose is to stay sober. In A.A. I have no other goal, and the importance of this is a matter of life or death for me. If I veer from this purpose I lose. But A.A. is not only for me; it is for the alcoholic who still suffers. The legions of recovering alcoholics stay sober by sharing with fellow alcoholics. The way to my recovery is to show others in A.A. that when I share with them, we both grow in the grace of the Higher Power, and both of us are on the road to a happy destiny. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The A.A. program is one of faith because we find that we must have faith in a Power greater than ourselves if we are going to get sober. We're helpless before alcohol, but when we turn our drink problem over to God and have faith that He can give us all the strength we need, then we have the drink problem licked. Faith in that Divine Principle in the universe which we call God is the essential part of the A.A. program. Is faith still strong in me? Meditation For The Day Each one of us is a child of God, and as such, we are full of the promise of spiritual growth. A young person is like the springtime of the year. The full time of the fruit is not yet, but there is promise of the blossom. There is a spark of the Divine in every one of us. Each has some of God's spirit that can be developed by spiritual exercise. Know that your life is full of glad promise. Such blessings can be yours, such joys, such wonders, as long as you develop in the sunshine of God's love. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may develop the divine spark within me. I pray that by so doing I may fulfill the promise of a more abundant life. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Word Of Mouth, p. 120 "In my view, there isn't the slightest objection to groups who wish to remain strictly anonymous, or to people who think they would not like their membership in A.A. known at all. That is their business, and this is a very natural reaction. "However, most people find that anonymity to this degree is not necessary, or even desirable. Once one is fairly sober, and sure of this, there seems no reason for failing to talk about A.A. membership in the right places. This has a tendency to bring in other people. Word of mouth is one of our most important communications. "So we should criticize neither the people who wish to remain silent, nor even the people who wish to talk too much about belonging to A.A., provided they do not do so at the public level and thus compromise our whole Society." Letter, 1962 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Addicted to Crisis___Personal Relations It's sometimes a surprise to learn that we mismanage our affairs even in sobriety. We may even find that we seem to be addicted to problem situations. It takes a crisis, it seems, to give us the energy and purpose we need to get things done. One common form of this strange addiction is procrastination. Some of us have a tendency to put off important tasks until the very last moment, and then work overtime to get the job done. Is this laziness? Maybe it is, to some extent. Maybe, however, we need an impending emergency to get motivated and energized to do what needs to be done. Maybe we're addicted to crisis. If so, this may be another disease that can be arrested but not cured. We arrest it by slowly adopting better work habits and paying closer attention to schedules and deadlines. Working with greater efficiency, we'll have more time and energy for the things that really matter. Today I don't need a crisis to take charge of my life and do what needs to be done. I'll tackle at least one thing I've been putting off, and either complete the task or get a good start on it. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple When you want to be something, it means you really love it.---Andy Warhol At times, we turned to chemicals because we couldn't love ourselves. Our addiction gave a promise of relief, but it gave us self-hate. We wanted to love, but couldn't. What is it we really love ? Where should we put out energy ? In raising children ? In creating art ? In helping addicts who still suffer ? There's much in this world that needs our love. We can be many things in our lives. Let's be people we believe in. Let's be people we can love. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know myself through my inventories. My skills, talents, values, and my loves must be clear to me so I can use them to do Your will. Action for the Day: Today I'll think about what I'd really love to do through my work. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Accustomed as we are to change, or unaccustomed, we think of a change of heart, of clothes, of life, with some uncertainty. --Josephine Miles Being used to a situation, even a painful one, carries with it a level of comfort. Moving away from the pain, changing the situation, be it job, home, or marriage, takes courage and support from other persons. But even more it takes faith that the change will benefit us. For most of us, the pain will need to worsen. In retrospect, we wonder why it took us so long. We forget, from one instance to the next, that a new door cannot open until we've closed one behind us. The more important fact is that a new one will always open without fail. The pain of the old experience is trying to push us to new challenges, new opportunities, new growth. We can handle the change; we can handle the growth. We are never given more than we can handle, and we are always given just what we need. Experience can't prepare us for the ramifications of a new change. But our trust in friends, and our faith in the spiritual process of life, can and will see us through whatever comes. If a change of any kind is facing me today, I will know that I am not alone. Whatever I am facing is right for me and necessary to my well-being. Life is growth. The next stage of my life awaits me. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards The opposite may happen should the family condemn and criticize. Dad may feel that for years his drinking has placed him on the wrong side of every argument, but that now he has become a superior person with God on his side. If the family persists in criticism, this fallacy may take a still greater hold on father. Instead of treating the family as he should, he may retreat further into himself and feel he has spiritual justification for so doing. p. 129 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." "When we encountered A.A., the fallacy of our defiance was revealed. At no time had we asked what God's will was for us; instead we had been telling Him what it ought to be. No man, we saw, could believe in God and defy Him, too. Belief meant reliance, not; defiance. In A.A., we saw the fruits of this belief: men and women spared from alcohol's final catastrophe. We saw them meet and transcend their other pains and trials. We saw them calmly accept impossible situations, seeking neither to run nor to recriminate. This was not only faith; it was faith that worked under all conditions. We soon concluded that whatever price in humility we must pay, we would pay." p. 31 ************************************************** ********* The only real win, is the win of tapping into the spirit. --Oprah Winfrey Getting sober is like learning to ride a horse, if you fall off, get back on, you can't learn to ride on the ground. --Patricia D "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." --Albert Einstein "Success is living up to your potential. That's all. Wake up with a smile and go after life … Live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it, feel it." --Joe Kapp "As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey." --Thomas A. Edison I embrace the lightness I feel when I trust, and give all of me to God. --SweetyZee No matter the storm... when you're with God there's always a rainbow waiting. Remember, God answers knee-mail! --Anonymous Men trip not on mountains! They trip on molehills. --Chinese Proverb Wish not so much to live long, as to live well. --Benjamin Franklin ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation ORIGINALITY "Originality does not consist in saying what no one has ever said before, but in saying exactly what you think yourself." --James Stephens Sometimes I surprise myself with what I say, think or contemplate. Within my being is a very strange world that I wish to share with others. Why? Because if I am truly honest about what I think and feel, it may unite me with the true identity of others. Perhaps we are all a little strange! However I will never know what people are thinking or feeling unless I take a risk and share my honest feelings. My involvement with my fellow man revolves around my honesty. In the knowledge of Your love let me share my feelings. ************************************************** ********* Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:3-4 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Each day guide your thoughts and actions so that you may set God's will above your own. Lord, may Your will be my will. No matter what you must confront today, know that God is with you. Lord, today is part of Your plan for me. I do not doubt You and therefore I will not doubt You within me. |
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