AA Thoughts For Today - September

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AA Thought for the Day

September 18

Prayer and Meditation

Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no
more do without it than we would refuse air, food, or sunshine. And for
the same reason. When we refuse air, light, or food, the body suffers.
And when we turn away from meditation and prayer, we likewise deprive
our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support.
As the body can fail its purpose for lack of nourishment, so can the soul.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Eleven) p. 97

Thought to Ponder . . .
Relationships are built with communication; so we pray.

AA-related 'Alconym'
P A U S E = Pay Attention, Use Step Eleven.

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~

Fellowship
"Today, I'm counting my blessings instead of my troubles.
When I walked into the friendly atmosphere
of my first AA meeting, I knew I was where I belonged.
Here were people who had thought and felt as I had.
Here was the understanding I'd been searching for all my life.
These people were my friends,
and I felt their sincere interest in me.
With these new and enlightening doors opening up to me,
I was able to make the eventual decision to stop drinking,
a day at a time -- because I, too, was an alcoholic.
And with this came the only real freedom,
the freedom of truth."
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 355

Thought to Consider . . .
If you love someone, tell them now.
Eternity is time enough for silence.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
C A R E = Comforting And Reassuring Each other

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

Camel Metaphor
From: "As Dr. Bob said"
According to Ed, Dr. Bob would explain prayer by telling how the camels in a caravan would kneel down in the evening, and the men would unload their burdens. In the morning, they would kneel down again, and the men would put the burdens back on. It's the same with prayer, Dr. Bob said. We get on our knees to unload at night. And in the morning when we get on our knees again, God gives us just the load we are able to carry for that day.
1980, AAWS, Inc., DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, page 229

*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"The inner energy that is love connects all the parts of us - our emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual selves."
Calif., March 1984
"Powerful Simplicity"
Emotional Sobriety II

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*

"Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them
help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up
about you, to have a host of friends‚ this is an experience you
must not miss."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 89~

...we then look at Step Six. We have emphasized willingness as
being indispensable. Are we now ready to let God remove from us
all the things which we have admitted are objectionable? Can He now
take them all-every one? If we still cling to something we will not
let go, we ask God to help us be willing.
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 76~

We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 87

Having opened our channel as best we can, we try to ask for those right things of which we and others are in the greatest need.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 102

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

My self-analysis has frequently been faulty. Sometimes I've failed to share my defects with the right people; at other times, I've confessed their defects, rather than my own; and at still other times, my confession of defects has been more in the nature of loud complaints about my circumstances and my problems.
When A.A. suggests a fearless moral inventory, it must seem to every newcomer that more is being asked of him than he can do. Every time he tries to look within himself, Pride says, 'You need not pass this way,' and Fear says, 'You dare not look!'
But pride and fear of this sort turn out to be bogymen, nothing else. Once we have a complete willingness to take inventory, and exert ourselves to do the job thoroughly, a wonderful light falls upon this foggy scene. As we persist, a brand-new kind of confidence is born, and the sense of relief at finally facing ourselves is indescribable.

Prayer for the Day: The Twelve Steps Prayer - Power, greater than myself, as I understand You, I willingly admit that without Your help I am powerless over my addiction and my life has become unmanageable. I believe You can restore me to sanity. I turn my life and my will over to You. I have made a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself and I admit to You, to myself, and to another the exact nature of my wrongs. I am entirely ready to have You remove these defects of character. I humbly ask You to remove my shortcomings. I have made direct amends to all persons I have harmed, except when to do so would injure them or others. I will continue to take personal inventory and when I am wrong I will promptly admit it. I seek through prayer and meditation to improve my conscious contact with You and pray only for knowledge of Your will for me and the power to carry it out. Grant me the grace to carry the message of Your help unto others and to practice the principles of the Twelve Steps in all my affairs.