Daily Recovery Readings - March

[bluidkiti]

March 26

Daily Reflections

THE TEACHING IS NEVER OVER

Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your
faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the
wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and
join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the
Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge
the Road of Happy Destiny. May God bless you and keep you
-- until then.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164

These words put a lump in my throat each time I read them.
In the beginning it was because I felt, "Oh no! The
teaching is over. Now I'm on my own. It will never be
this new again." Today I feel deep affection for the A.A.
pioneers when I read this passage, realizing that it sums
up all of what I believe in, and strive for, and that
-- with God's blessing -- the teaching is never over, I'm
never on my own, and every day is brand new.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Strength comes also from working with other alcoholics.
When you are trying to help a new prospect with the program,
you are building up your own strength at the same
time. You see the other person in the condition you might
be in yourself and it makes your resolve to stay sober
stronger than ever. Often, you help yourself more than
the other person, but if you do succeed in helping the
prospect to get sober, you are stronger from the experience
of having helped another person. Am I receiving strength
from helping others?

Meditation For The Day

Faith is the bridge between you and God. It is the bridge
which God had ordained. If all were seen and known, there
would be no merit in doing right. Therefore God has
ordained that we do not see or know directly. But we can
experience the power of His spirit through our faith. It
is the bridge between us and Him, which we can take or
not, as we will. There could be no morality without free
will. We must make the choice ourselves. We must make the
venture of belief.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may choose and decide to cross the bridge of
faith. I pray that by crossing this bridge I may receive
the spiritual power I need.

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As Bill Sees It

Life Is Not A Dead End, p. 85

When a man or a woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important
meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe
that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and
resources alone. He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new
state of consciousness and being.

He has been set on a path which tells him he is really going
somewhere, that life is not a dead end, not something to be endured or
mastered. In a very real sense he has been transformed, because he
has laid hold of a source of strength which he had hitherto denied
himself.

12 & 12, pp. 106-107

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Walk in Dry Places

I can't.... God can.... I think I'll let God
Guidance
One of the delusions that keep alcoholics in bondage is the belief in the power of the personal will. "I still think I'm strong enough to whip it," alcoholics have declared defiantly, just before heading out for another debacle.
Willpower has a role in recovery, but only in making a decision to turn the problem over to Higher Power. This sets in motion powerful forces that come to our assistance. We don't know how and why this process works as it does. We do know that it has worked repeatedly for those who sincerely apply it in their lives.
What's needed to start the process is an admission of defeat, a willingness to seek a Higher Power, and at least enough open-minded-ness to give it all a fair chance. The outcome can be very surprising.
There's also no need to be apologetic about our Higher Power after we've found sobriety. Nobody had a better plan, and we can remember that other severe problems can be handled in the same way.
I'll do my best today to solve every problem and meet every responsibility. If something is too much for me, I'll turn it over in the same way I did my drinking problem.

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Keep It Simple

We are here to add what we can to, not to get what we can get from, Life. Sir William Osler
Service is a word we hear in our recovery program. Service means work we do for others. It's the backbone of our program. The reason is simple. Service to our Higher Power and to others breaks down our wanting to be self-centered. Service brings us back into the world. We really are part of the group when we pitch in to make coffee, set up chairs, or talk in meetings. We really feel like part of the family when we run errands and help with meals and housework. We really connect with our Higher Power when we pray, "Use me today to help others." Service breaks down the feeling of being alone that being self -centered brings.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to be of service to You and others. Show me what is needed.
Action for the Day: Today will be a service day. I'll see how valued I am. I'll give to others, knowing that I, too, will receive.

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Each Day a New Beginning

To believe in something not yet proved and to underwrite it with our lives; it is the only way we can leave the future open.
--Lillian Smith
Today stands before us, ready for our involvement. And it will offer us opportunities for personal growth and occasions to help another make progress on her path to the future. Challenges are to be expected. They further our purpose. They foster our maturity.
How different it is, for many of us, to look forward today with secure anticipation, to trust in what the future holds! We can still remember, all too vividly perhaps, the darker periods in our lives, periods that seemed to hold no promise; a time when we dreaded the future, fearing it would only compound those awful times.
The fear and the dread are not gone completely. They hover about us, on occasion. They no longer need to darken all of a day, however. We can recognize their presence as parts of our whole, not all of it. How free we are, today! Our choices are many.
I can step toward today with assurance, reaching out to others along the way, trusting that my accumulated steps add stability to my future.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 8 - TO WIVES

At first, some of us did not believe we needed this help. We thought, on the whole, we were pretty good women, capable of being nicer if our husbands stopped drinking. But it was a silly idea that we were too good to need God. Now we try to put spiritual principles to work in every department of our lives. When we do that, we find it solves our problems too; the ensuing lack of fear, worry and hurt feelings is a wonderful thing. We urge you to try our program, for nothing will be so helpful to your husband as the radically changed attitude toward him which God will show you how to have. Go along with you husband if you possibly can.

p. 116

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Foreword

Alcoholics Anonymous began in 1935 at Akron, Ohio, as the outcome of a meeting between a well-known surgeon and a New York broker. Both were severe cases of alcoholism and were destined to become co-founders of the A.A. Fellowship.

p. 16

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Like a tree blowing in the wind, friendships can bend and waver, yet
they will both remain standing if they have strong roots.
--Suzanne Long

To the world you're just one person but to one person you could mean
the world.
--Anon

There is light within a person of light, And it shines on the whole world.
--The gospel of Thomas

". . . I saw people willing to compromise themselves, or change
themselves, to acquire what they thought was important. I don't judge
what other people do, many choices that may be right for others are
definitely not right for me."
--Kathy Ireland

God is singing and Creation is the melody.
--David Palmer

Forgiveness restores us and our relationships.
--J. Keith Brown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

TEACHING

"The art of teaching is the art of
assisting discovery."
-- Mark Van Doren

I have a need of a "sponsor" in my life. Somebody I turn to when I have
problems, when I am confused or in pain, when I simply need to talk,
when I feel lonely or when I am about to make a major change in my
life. Every addict needs a sponsor; somebody to bounce ideas off,
especially ideas that affect the living of my life because I truly
understand that the disease of alcoholism lives in my life!

My sponsor guides, suggests and gently leads me to where I need to go;
he does not demand or dictate. My sponsor is a friend whom I can trust,
and he makes a point of not being a "fixer" in my life. He will not allow
me to escape into his life. He will not allow me to become addicted to
him.

O God, let me always be free enough to discover You in my life.

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Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the
peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus.
Phil. 4:6-7

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because
the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."
I John 4:4

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be
refreshed."
Proverbs 11:25

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding.
Proverbs 3:13

"The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the
will of God lives forever."
1 John 2:17

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Daily Inspiration

Trouble comes to everyone, but feeling miserable is no reason to make others miserable. Lord, may I never destroy another's happiness.

With our blessings come responsibilities. Much is required of those to whom much has been given. Lord, may I use my blessings to be a blessing to others.