Daily Recovery Readings - March

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March 29

Daily Reflections

TRUSTED SERVANTS

They are servants. Theirs is the sometimes thankless
privilege of doing the group's chores.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 134

In Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis describes an
encounter between his principle character and an old
man busily at work planting a tree. "What is it that
you are doing?" Zorba asks. The old man replies: "You
can see very well what I am doing, my son, I'm planting
a tree." "But why plant a tree," Zorba asks, "if you
won't be able to see it bear fruit?" And the old man
answers: "I, my son, live as though I were never going
to die." The response brings a faint smile to Zorba's
lips and, as he walks away, he exclaims with a note of
irony: "How strange -- I live as though I were going
to die tomorrow!"
As a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, I have found that
the Third Legacy is a fertile soil in which to plant
the tree of my sobriety. The fruits I harvest are
wonderful: peace, security, understanding and twenty-four
hours of eternal fulfillment; and with the soundness of
mind to listen to the voice of my conscience when, in
silence, it gently speaks to me, saying: You must let go
in service. There are others who must plant the harvest.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Before I met A.A. I was very dishonest. I lied to my wife
constantly about where I had been and what I'd been doing.
I took time off from the office and pretended I'd been
sick or gave some other dishonest excuse. I was dishonest
with myself, as well as with other people. I would never
face myself as I really was or admit when I was wrong. I
pretended to myself that I was as good as the next fellow,
although I suspected I wasn't. Am I now really honest?

Meditation For The Day

I must live in the world and yet live apart with God. I can
go forth from my secret times of communion with God to the
work of the world. To get the spiritual strength I need, my
inner life must be lived apart from the world. I must wear
the world as a loose garment. Nothing in the world should
seriously upset me, as long as my inner life is lived with
God. All successful living arises from this inner life.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may live my inner life with God. I pray that
nothing shall invade or destroy that secret place of peace.

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As Bill Sees It

Will Power And Choice, p. 88

"We A.A.'s know the futility of trying to break the drinking
obsession by will power alone. However, we do know that it takes
great willingness to adopt A.A.'s Twelve Steps as a way of life that
can restore us to sanity.

"No matter how grievous the alcohol obsession, we happily find that
other vital choices can still be made. For example, we can choose to
admit that we are personally powerless over alcohol; that
dependence upon a 'Higher Power' is a necessity, even if this be
simply dependence upon an A.A. group. Then we can choose to try
for a life of honesty and humility, of selfless service to our fellows
and to 'God as we understand Him.'

"As we continue to make these choices and so move toward these
high aspirations, our sanity returns and the compulsion to drink
vanishes,"

Letter, 1966

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Walk in Dry Places

Stick with the winners
Making the Right Choices
In the world of drinking, people lead each other down paths of further destruction. In the world of AA, that same destructive process can still go on through wrong thinking. It's possible for AA members to encourage resentments, criticism, gossip, and other dead-end practices.
That's why people are urged to "stick with the winners" in order to find and maintain sobriety. Seek out people who are doing well in the program, people whose progress is noticeable and admirable. The can be of real help as sponsors, as friends, or simply as role models.
It's important to remember that the winners can be from all walks of life. The first AA member in Detroit earned only a modest living, while the second Detroit member became a wealthy manufacturer after finding sobriety. In AA terms, both men were winners. They stayed sober, they stayed active in the fellowship, and they helped others.
"Sticking with the winners" does not mean we should shun people who are having difficulty with the program. It does mean we should avoid accepting ideas and ways of living that do not lead to sobriety.
I'll spend time in the company of people who have a good record of following the program.

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Keep It Simple

Whatever is in the heart will come up to the tongue.---Persian proverb
During our illness, we wouldn't let people get close to us. We spoke of what was in our heart. And much of what filled our heart was sadness, anger, and hopelessness. Those who want to be close to us heard what was in our heart. In short, we had become our illness. Recovery is about changing what's in our heart. We open our hearts up to our Higher Power. The first three Steps are about honesty and needing others. They're about turning our will and our lives over to a Higher Power.
If you're wondering where you are with these Steps, listen to the words you speak.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, keep my heart open to the first three Steps.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll work at really listening to what I have to say.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Love is an expression and assertion of self-esteem, a response to one's own values in the person of another. --Ayn Rand
The struggle to love one another may be a daily one for us, and it is made more difficult because we are still stumbling in our attempts at self-love. Many of us have lived our whole adult lives feeling inadequate, dull, unattractive, fearing the worst regarding our relationships with others.
But this phase, this struggle, is passing. We see a woman we like in the mirror each morning. We did a task or a favor yesterday that we felt good about. And when we feel good about our accomplishments, we look with a loving eye on the persons around us. Self-love does encourage other love.
Self-love takes practice. It's new behavior. We can begin to measure what we are doing, rather than what we haven't yet managed to do, and praise ourselves. Nurturing our inner selves invites further expression of the values that are developing, values that will carry us to new situations and new opportunities for accomplishments, and finally to loving the woman who looks back at us every morning.
Self-love makes me vulnerable and compassionate towards others. It's the balm for all wounds; it multiplies as it's expressed. It can begin with my smile.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 8 - TO WIVES

Some of the snags you will encounter are irritation, hurt feelings and resentments. Your husband will sometimes be unreasonable and you will want to criticize. Starting from a speck on the domestic horizon, great thunderclouds of dispute may gather. These family dissensions are very dangerous, especially to your husband. Often you must carry the burden of avoiding them or keeping them under control. Never forget that resentment is a deadly hazard to an alcoholic. We do not mean that you have to agree with you husband whenever there is an honest difference of opinion. Just be careful not to disagree in a resentful or critical spirit.

p. 117

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Foreword

Nevertheless, the infant Society determined to set down its experience in a book which finally reached the public in April 1939. At this time the recoveries numbered about one hundred. The book was called "Alcoholics Anonymous," and from it the Fellowship took its name. In it alcoholism was described from the alcoholic's point of view, the spiritual ideas of the Society were codified for the first time in the Twelve Steps, and the application of these Steps to the alcoholic's dilemma was made clear. The remainder of the book was devoted to thirty stories or case histories in which the alcoholics described their drinking experiences and recoveries. This established identification with alcoholic readers and proved to them that the virtually impossible had now become possible. The book "Alcoholics Anonymous" became the basic text of the Fellowship, and it still is. This present volume proposes to broaden and deepen the understanding of the Twelve Steps as first was written in the earlier work.

p. 17

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People always ask, "How did you succeed?" Simply put, I chose not to
fail.
--Xernona Clayton

"Real friendship is shown in times of trouble; prosperity is full of
friends."
--Euripides

Honesty gets us sober, tolerance keeps us sober.
--Bill W.

"To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved."
--George MacDonald

"The principles you live by create the world you live in; if you change the
principles you live by, you will change your world."
--Blaine Lee

"Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not
that it brings abundance to drive away hunger."
--St. Basil

"If the only prayer you say in your life is 'thank you,' that would
suffice."
--Meister Eckhart

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

OPINIONS

"Opinions cannot survive if one
has no chance to fight for them."
-- Thomas Mann

An opinion is worth fighting for, and I have opinions on a great number
of subjects --- as a result of sobriety.

Drugs have a tendency to make insane remarks appear brilliant; the
drunk is always the unsung poet or victimized genius when he is "in
alcohol". I did not have opinions when I was drinking but rather a series
of chaotic and incoherent reactions.

But today I have considered opinions. I am able to think and make
decisions. I am able to make a contribution to life and the world in which
I live. I am involved.

More than this, today I have the spiritual confidence to fight for what I
believe and "speak out" my concerns in love. Today I am alive and I
love it --- also I love me.

Let me always hear the opinions of others but not fail to express my
own.

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Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2

'Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be
saved; for thou art my praise."
Jeremiah 17:14

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God
is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But
when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can
stand up under it."
I Corinthians 10:13

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Daily Inspiration

Few things are worthy of worry and fewer are worthy of anger. Lord, bless me with patience for my circumstances and wisdom to overcome the obstacles.

We only have so much time and so much energy in a day. To use it grumbling leaves less time for enjoyment and accomplishment. Lord, may I focus on looking for Your blessings in every part of my life.