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Daily Recovery Readings - March
March 1
Daily Reflections IT WORKS It works -- it really does. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 88 When I got sober I initially had faith only in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. Desperation and fear kept me sober (and maybe a caring and/or tough sponsor helped!). Faith in a Higher Power came much later. This faith came slowly at first, after I began listening to others share at meetings about their experiences -- experiences that I had never faced sober, but that they were facing with strength from a Higher Power. Out of their sharing came hope that I too would -- and could -- "get" a Higher Power. In time, I learned that a Higher Power -- a faith that works under all conditions -- is possible. Today this faith, plus the honesty, openmindedness and willingness to work the Steps of the program, gives me the serenity that I seek. It works -- it really does. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day When I find myself thinking about taking a drink, I say to myself. "Don't reach out and take that problem back. You've given it to God and there's nothing you can do about it." So I forget about the drink. One of the most important parts of the A.A. program is to give our drink problem to God honestly and fully and never to reach out and take the problem back to ourselves. If we let God have it and keep it for good and then cooperate with Him, we'll stay sober. Have I determined not to take the drink problem back to myself? Meditation For The Day Constant effort is necessary if I am to grow spiritually and develop my spiritual life. I must keep the spiritual rules persistently, perseveringly, lovingly, patiently, and hopefully. By keeping them, every mountain of difficulty shall be laid low, the rough places of poverty of spirit shall be made smooth, and all who know me shall know that God is the Lord of all my ways. To get close to the spirit of God is to find life and healing and strength. Prayer For The Day I pray that God's spirit may be everything to my soul. I pray that God's spirit may grow within me. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Brain Power Alone?, p. 60 To the intellectually self-sufficient man or woman, 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 brain power 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 God of our fathers. "But 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." 12 & 12, pp. 29-30 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Danger in excitement____Mood alterations The lure of excitement is hard to understand. While we may think of ourselves as sensible, practical people, the hard truth is that many alcoholics have a strong need to feel excited. This excitement can take many forms, and some of them are dangerous. One lure of excitement comes through the impulsive need for change. Some of us have had weird habits of suddenly quitting jobs and pulling up stakes for no reason other than being bored. An even more destructive attraction is the belief that a new romance can restore our zest for living and bring new joys and happiness. The sober truth is that nobody can live sensibly and sanely by seeking continuous excitement and stimulation. We are better off with steady growth in the patterns we know best than with seeking excitement that finally leads to destruction. At the same time, we should not belittle the pleasures and joys we get through ordinary living. If we earn those pleasures and joys through responsible actions, they will give us far more happiness than momentary feelings of excitement. In quietness and confidence is our strength. I do not need to be excited in any way today. I am more effective and more in control when I am not being swayed by feverish emotion that distorts my judgment. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Made the decision to turn our will and lives over to God as we understand Him.--Step Three Care. This is what turn our will and lives over to care of our Higher Power. What peace follows! We see our God as caring, as loving. We turn everything over to this Higher Power, who can take better care of us than we can by ourselves. Care can guide us. If we want to do something, we can ask ourselves, "Would my Higher Power see this as an act of care?" If the answer is yes, then we go ahead. If the answer is no, we don't it. If we can't be sure, we wait and talk it over with our friends and sponsor. We wait until we know whether it would be an act of care or not. What wonderful guidance! Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I give to You my will. I give to you my life. I gladly jump into Your loving arms. Action for the day: Today, I'll care about others. I'll find as many as I can to care for others. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning What a strange pattern the shuttle of life can weave. --Frances Marion Each experience we have plays its part in the total picture of our lives. The steps we have taken, the path we travel today, and our direction tomorrow are not by chance. There is a pattern. We each have a destiny. We may have veered off the path in the past, and we may veer off it again. But we'll be guided back, and our paths intersect. None of us is traveling alone. We have each other and the creative force that is at the helm. When we look around us and reflect on how our lives are influenced by the persons close to us, we become aware that our presence affects their lives as well. Most of us could never have predicted the events that have influenced us. Nor can we anticipate what the future may hold. We can be certain, however, that we are safe; a power greater than ourselves is orchestrating our affairs. There were times we feared we'd never survive an experience. Perhaps we still struggle with fears about new experiences. But every experience adds a necessary thread to the pattern our life is weaving. We have the gift of reflection. We can understand, today, the importance of particular events of the past. Next month, next year, we'll understand today. I shall enjoy the richness of today. My life is weaving an intricate, necessary pattern that is uniquely mine. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES Try not to condemn your alcoholic husband no matter what he says or does. He is just another very sick, unreasonable person. Treat him, when you can, as though he had pneumonia. When he angers you, remember that he is very ill. p. 108 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Eleven - "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films." Let's see how these two contrasting ideas--attraction and promotion--work out. A political party wishes to win an election, so it advertises the virtues of its leadership to draw votes. A worthy charity wants to raise money; forthwith, its letterhead shows the name of every distinguished person who support can be obtained. Much of the political, economic, and religious life of the world is dependent upon publicized leadership. People who symbolize causes and ideas fill a deep human need. We of A.A. do not question that. But we do have to soberly face the fact that being in the public eye is hazardous, especially for us. By temperament, nearly every one of us had been an irrepressible promoter, and the prospect of a society composed almost entirely of promoters was frightening. Considering this explosive factor, we knew we had to exercise self-restraint. p. 181 ************************************************** ********* Those who laugh...last. --Cited in BITS & PIECES Don't give up before the miracle happens. "When I dig another out of trouble, the hole from which I lift him is the place where I bury my own." --Chinese proverb "Winners do what they have to do and losers do what they want." Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind. --Bruce Lee "The spiritual journey, the path of recovery and personal growth, is a detoxification process in which we bring up and out the negative beliefs we have carried with us from the past and that now poison the present." --Marianne Williamson "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 Sometimes there are no answers, there are only examples. --Mark Kostew Part of intimacy with God is listening. --Lori Sweety ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation UNDERSTANDING "Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand." -- Saint Augustine Today I understand that God is love and that it makes more sense to live my life with love than with anger, resentment and despair. I know that the answer to life, with all the problems that may arise, is love. Not simply loving those people who love me, but beginning to love and understand those who dislike or hate me. Being imperfect people in an imperfect world produces enemies. Today I love my world by listening to my critics, changing unreasonable attitudes, growing in the humility that comes from silence. Change is part of God's blessing of love. This I believe. This I understand. And step by step it is beginning to work in my life. May my love for the world give me an understanding of self. ************************************************** ********* "Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord." Psalm 31:24 "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." Hebrews 12:15 "Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles." Isaiah 40:31. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration If you look for things that make you happy, those are the things that you'll find. Lord, help me remember how lucky I am to be alive and how much goodness surrounds me. Determination and faith will carry you through to your goals. Lord, You and I together can accomplish my dreams. |
March 2, 2014
Daily Reflections HOPE Do not be discouraged. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 60 Few experiences are of less value to me than fast sobriety. Too many times discouragement has been the bonus for unrealistic expectations, not to mention self-pity or fatigue from my wanting to change the world by the weekend. Discouragement is a warning signal that I may have wandered across the God line. The secret of fulfilling my potential is in acknowledging my limitations and believing that time is a gift, not a threat. Hope is the key that unlocks the door of discouragement. The program promises me that if I do not pick up the first drink today, I will always have hope. Having come to believe that I keep what I share, every time I encourage, I receive courage. It is with others that, with the grace of God and the Fellowship of A.A., I trudge the road of happy destiny. May I always remember that the power within me is far greater than any fear before me. May I always have patience, for I am on the right road. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Over a period of drinking years, we've proved to ourselves and to everybody else that we can't stop drinking by our own willpower. We have been proved helpless before the power of alcohol. So the only way we could stop drinking was by turning to a Power greater than ourselves. We call that Power God. The time that you really get this program is when you get down on your knees and surrender yourself to God, as you understand Him. Surrender means putting your life into God's hands. Have I made a promise to God that I will try to live the way He wants me to live? Meditation For The Day Spirit-power comes from communication with God in prayer and times of quiet meditation. I must constantly seek spirit-communication with God. This is a matter directly between me and God. Those who seek it through the medium of the church do not always get the joy and the wonder of spirit communication with God. >From this communication comes life, joy, peace, and healing. Many people do not realize the power that can come to them from direct spirit-communication. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may feel that God's power is mine. I pray that I may be able to face anything through that power. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Resolving Fear, p. 61 Fear somehow touched about every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn't deserve. But did we not often set the ball rolling ourselves? << << << >> >> >> The problem of resolving fear has two aspects. We shall have to try for all the freedom from fear that is possible for us to attain. Then we shall need to find both the courage and the grace to deal constructively with whatever fears remain. 1. Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 67-68 2. Grapevine, January 1962 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Do we need some Fear? Courage It's easy to get into an argument about the role of fear in our lives. Some say that we need some fear…. It helps us get out of the path of an oncoming truck. Is that really true? If it is, it's still not like the fear that was present with alcoholism. This fear was more likely to make us freeze and lose all power of action in the face of a threat. It was the sort of fear that paralyzes us, making us unable to move out of the way when the truck is bearing down on us. Fear is even more destructive when it keeps us from doing the simple things we need to function in our lives. Fear certainly can't be helpful when it makes us unable to face a new customer or ride in an airplane for necessary business travel. Some people even put off medical exams simply because they fear bad news… and thus delay treatment, so that their condition becomes worse. We might not need to get rid of all fear, but we do need to dispose of the unhealthy kind that keeps us from necessary actions on our own behalf. A really strong sense of the program can help me deal with fear today. One good idea for coping with fear is to remember that if God is for us, nobody can really be against us. Keeping that thought in mind can help stabilize our feelings in the face of threatening situations. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Love conquers all; let us surrender to love.---Virgil In Step Three, we turn our lives over to God's care, God love. If we turn our lives over to a loving God, we can conquer all. If you need proof, look around at your next meeting. The room will be full of people who know that love conquers addiction. Like them, we've surrendered to love. Once we've done this, we can't use again. For us, using alcohol or others drugs is an act of hate, not love. To Face the hard things in life, we'll need a lot of love. We'll find love in our Higher Power, groups, and friends .We're all working at turning our lives over to love. Prayer for the Day: There was a time that love scared me. It still does, at times. Higher Power, help me see that You are love, and I must follow where love takes me. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads. --Erica Jong There was a time when we didn't believe we had any talents. We couldn't imagine we had any purpose or any gift to give to the world. But it's true: We all have talents, many of them. If we each haven't yet discovered ours, we soon will. With time and the Steps and friends, we will be encouraged to recognize them, to celebrate them, to cultivate them, to dare to give them away. Utilizing our talents fully, which is part of life's bigger plan, may lead us to new jobs, new friends, to places presently unknown. The prospect of new horizons may excite us. It may also elicit dread. We can trust that, just as we are given no problems too big to handle, we are given no talents too great to develop. The strength to move ahead will always be available if we have faith. And the program offers us faith. I will look for my talents today. I will also look for talents in my friends. I can celebrate them, and soon the way to use them will become clear. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - First Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES There is an important exception to the foregoing. We realize some men are thoroughly bad-intentioned, that no amount of patience will make any difference. An alcoholic of this temperament may be quick to use this chapter as a club over your head. Don't let him get away with it. If you are positive he is one of this type you may feel you had better leave him. Is it right to let him ruin your life and the lives of your children? Especially when he has before him a way to stop his drinking and abuse if he really wants to pay the price. p. 108 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Eleven - "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films." Therefore, a great responsibility fell upon us to develop the best possible public relations policy for Alcoholics Anonymous. Through many painful experiences, we think we have arrived at what that policy ought to be. It is the opposite in many ways of usual promotional practice. We found that we had to rely upon the principle of attraction rather than of promotion. pp. 180-181 ************************************************** ********* The alcoholic is in no greater peril than when he takes sobriety for granted. God, help me remember that letting go is a powerful behavior, one that can change my life and impact the lives of others. Help me be patient with others and myself as letting go becomes a way of life. --Melody Beattie Laughter, like a drenching rain, settles the dust, cleans and brightens the world around us, and changes our whole perspective. --Jan Pishok A big part of my "conversion" has been full acceptance of myself, warts and all. --Mary Zink God is all around us, all the time. --Martha Leonard "Let us always be open to the miracle of the second chance." --Reverend David Stier ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation INTEGRITY "Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor." -- John Gardner I understand integrity to be a willingness to make sacrifices for what we believe to be true. The living of a spiritual program must lead to integrity. Not so many years ago integrity was not an understood word in my vocabulary because of my unwillingness to make sacrifices. I was so selfishly preoccupied with my "wants" that I gave little thought to the needs of others. The more I lost myself in "self", the greater was the emotional pain. Today I live the paradox that it is only in giving that I truly receive. May I daily express the paradox of sacrifice in my life. ************************************************** ********* But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Of Him 1 Peter 2:9 "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!" Psalms 27:14 "We can rejoice when we run into problems... they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady." Romans 5:3-4 In quietness and in trust shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:15 [God] is not far from each of us. Acts 17:27 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Speak to God openly and honestly from your heart and then do not allow yourself to worry. Lord, You are my protection and my provider when I put my trust in you. Keep yourself young in spirit always by thinking new thoughts and getting rid of old habits. Lord, may my spirit never become frail and my abilities never become barren. |
March 3, 2014
Daily Reflections OVERCOMING SELF-WILL So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us! ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 62 For so many years my life revolved solely around myself. I was consumed with self in all forms-- self-centeredness, self-pity, self-seeking, all of which stemmed from pride. Today I have been given the gift, through the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, of practicing the Steps and Traditions in my daily life, of my group and sponsor, and the capacity--if I so choose--to put my pride aside in all situations which arise in my life. Until I could honestly look at myself and see that I was the problem in many situations and react appropriately inside and out; until I could discard my expectations and understand that my serenity was directly proportional to them, I could not experience serenity and sound sobriety. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day After we've made a surrender, the drink problem is out of our hands and in the hands of God. The thing we have to do is to be sure that we never reach out and take the problem back into our own hands. Leave it in God's hands. Whenever I'm tempted to take a drink, I must say to myself: "I can't do that. I've made a bargain with God not to drink. I know God doesn't want me to drink and so I won't do it." At the same time I say a little prayer to God for the strength needed to keep the bargain with Him. Am I going to keep my bargain with God? Meditation For The Day I will try to grow in this new life. I will think of spiritual things often and unconsciously I will grow. The nearer I get to the new life, the more I will see my unfitness. My sense of failure is a sure sign that I am growing in the new life. It is only struggle that hurts. In sloth--physical, mental or spiritual--there is no sense of failure or discomfort. But with struggle and effort, I am conscious not of strength but of weakness, until I am really living the new life. But in the struggle, I can always rely on the power of God to help me. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may see signs of my growth in the new life. I pray that I may always keep trying to grow. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It A Different Swinging Door, p. 62 When a drunk shows up among us and says that he doesn't like the A.A. principles, people, or service management, when he declares that he can do better somewhere else--we are not worried. We simply say, "Maybe your case really is different. Why don't you try something else?" If an A.A. member says he doesn't like his own group, we are not disturbed. We simply say, "Why don't you try another one? Or start one of your own." To those who wish to secede from A.A. altogether, we extend a cheerful invitation to do just that. If they can do better by other means, we are glad. If after trial they cannot do better, we know they face a choice: They can go mad or die or they can return to A.A. The decision is wholly theirs. (As a matter of fact, most of them do come back.) Twelve Conceptions, p. 72 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places What will this change bring? ____ Change When facing change, it's not unusual to feel both apprehension and expectancy. We are apprehensive because we know that change includes risk. We feel expectancy, however, because we know that improvement can come only through some kind of change. The way to handle change is to see it as part of the higher plan working in our lives. If we believe that our lives are in the care and keeping of our Higher Power, we have to know that everything is in good hands. As change occurs, it is simply part of a plan that is unfolding in order to bring more good into our lives. We should not expect change without temporary disruptions or even surprises that appear to be setbacks. All that's necessary is to know that change is good if we maintain the right attitude toward it. It's also helpful to review the past changes that have been so important in our lives. Once change has occurred, we come to accept it as normal, forgetting that it involved a lot of anxiety at one time. So it is with any change that is unfolding now. It's part of a wonderful plan that cannot fail. I accept change without fear or superstition. Change is built into the nature of things, and will always be part of our lives. I accept it as readily as I accept change of the seasons. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple But the alcoholic . . . will be absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of self-knowledge. Alcoholics Anonymous Our program says three things are more important than knowing ourselves: (1) admitting we have no control over our addiction, (2) believing in a Higher Power, and (3) turning our lives over to the care of that Higher Power. knowing ourselves makes our lives better in recovery. But it does not give us sobriety. Sobriety starts with surrender to our Higher Power. We now know we need faith and strength we get from a Higher Power. We also need the support of others in our program. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks you for my sobriety today. Teach me what I need to know about myself to do Your will today. Action for the Day: Today, I'll talk with my sponsor about the change in my spirit that keeps me sober. ************************************************** ********* Each Day A New Beginning Most kids hear what you say; some kids do what you say; but all kids do what you do. --Kathleen Casey Theisen We are role models for many people: our children, our co-workers, other women in the program. Step Twelve encourages us to set good examples for anyone who might be looking on. Living a principled life takes practice, and progress, not perfection, is hoped for. Abstinence has offered is a new set of tools for shaping our behavior. No longer must we regret what we did yesterday or last week. We are learning to monitor our actions, but even more importantly, we are defining our values. They, in turn, influence what we say and do. Thoughtful responses to the situations we encounter require conscious attention to those events. We need reminding, perhaps, that our behavior is continuously telling others who we are, what we value, and how we view people close to us. All of us, consciously or otherwise, imitate behavior patterns of persons we admire. Unfortunately, we sometimes mimic unfavorable behavior, too. There are those casting their attentions our way. The opportunity to model favorable behavior awaits us. People will follow my lead. I shall walk softly, humbly and lovingly. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - First Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES The problem with which you struggle usually falls within one of four categories: One: Your husband may be only a heavy drinker. His drinking may be constant or it may be heavy only on certain occasions. Perhaps he spends too much money for liquor. It may be slowing him up mentally and physically, but he does not see it. Sometimes he is a source of embarrassment to you and his friends. He is positive he can handle his liquor, that it does him no harm, that drinking is necessary in his business. He would probably be insulted if he were called an alcoholic. This world is full of people like him. Some will moderate or stop altogether, and some will not. Of those who keep on, a good number will become true alcoholics after a while. Two: Your husband is showing lack of control, for he is unable to stay on the water wagon even when he wants to. He often gets entirely out of hand when drinking. He admits this is true, but is positive that he will do better. He has begun to try, with or without your cooperation, various means of moderating or staying dry. Maybe he is beginning to lose his friends. His business may suffer somewhat. He is worried at times, and is becoming aware that he cannot drink like other people. He sometimes drinks in the morning and through the day also, to hold his nervousness in check. He is remorseful after serious drinking bouts and tells you he wants to stop. But when he gets over the spree, he begins to think once more how he can drink moderately next time. We think this person is in danger. These are the earmarks of a real alcoholic. Perhaps he can still tend to business fairly well. He has by no means ruined everything. As we say among ourselves, "He wants to want to stop." Three: This husband has gone much further than husband number two. Though once like number two he became worse. His friends have slipped away, his home is a near-wreck and he cannot hold a position. Maybe the doctor has been called in, and the weary round of sanitariums and hospitals has begun. He admits he cannot drink like other people, but does not see why. He clings to the notion that he will yet find a way to do so. He may have come to the point where he desperately wants to stop but cannot. His case presents additional questions which we shall try to answer for you. You can be quite hopeful of a situation like this. Four: You may have a husband of whom you completely despair. He has been placed in one institution after another. He is violent, or appears definitely insane when drunk. Sometimes he drinks on the way home from the hospital. Perhaps he has had delirium tremens. Doctors may shake their heads and advise you to have him committed. Maybe you have already been obliged to put him away. This picture may not be as dark as it looks. Many of our husbands were just as far gone. Yet they got well. pp. 108 -110 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Eleven - "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films." Let's see how these two contrasting ideas--attraction and promotion--work out. A political party wishes to win an election, so it advertises the virtues of its leadership to draw votes. A worthy charity wants to raise money; forthwith, its letterhead shows the name of every distinguished person who support can be obtained. Much of the political, economic, and religious life of the world is dependent upon publicized leadership. People who symbolize causes and ideas fill a deep human need. We of A.A. do not question that. But we do have to soberly face the fact that being in the public eye is hazardous, especially for us. By temperament, nearly every one of us had been an irrepressible promoter, and the prospect of a society composed almost entirely of promoters was frightening. Considering this explosive factor, we knew we had to exercise self-restraint. p. 181 ************************************************** ********* Let us always love the best in others - and never fear their worst. "In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth." --Mahatma Gandhi Whenever you fail or miss out on something you always have tomorrow. Every dawn is a symbol of renewal, telling you to get up, go out and try again. The night of fear has passed, the light of God defines my pathway. God, help me let go of my unreasonable fears, the ones that are preventing me from living my life. --Melody Beattie Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die. We surrender to win. ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation GENIUS "The principal mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers." -- Arthur Koestler I need to remember that genius is often simplicity itself. The original thought need not be abstract, intellectual or technical; the thought exists to transmit the message. In the slogans "Keep it Simple", "One Day at a Time", and "Don't Pick up the First Drink", wisdom combines with simplicity to produce sobriety. God is at work outside of His church and the spiritual message always brings healing. A.A. is more than a "fellowship of genius", it is divinity set to a program. What began with a group of alcoholics will cross new frontiers into the healing of the world. Lord of Truth, let us always be open and receptive to Your voice. ************************************************** ********* The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Isaiah 57:1 "Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths." Psalms 25:4 Physical birth only gains us physical life. Spiritual life, the eternal life Christ promises to those who come to Him, is only gained through spiritual birth. John 3:36 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Know that you make a difference, so choose to make your contribution one of goodness. Lord, help me to touch my world in a positive manner. Each day has a new door. It is up to you to open it. Lord, help me to remember that my life is my choice. Bless me with wisdom and give me guidance as I make my choices. |
March 4, 2014
Daily Reflections WEEDING THE GARDEN The essence of all growth is a willingness to make a change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 115 By the time I had reached Step Three I had been freed of my dependence on alcohol, but bitter experience has shown me that continuous sobriety requires continuous effort. Every now and then I pause to take a good look at my progress. More and more of my garden is weeded each time I look, but each time I also find new weeds sprouting where I thought I had made my final pass with the blade. As I head back to get the newly sprouted weed (it's easier when they are young), I take a moment to admire how lush the growing vegetables and flowers are, and my labors are rewarded. My sobriety grows and bears fruit. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Having surrendered our lives to God and put our drink problem in His Hands doesn't mean that we'll never be tempted to drink. So we must build up strength for the time when temptation will come. In this quiet time, we read and pray and get our minds in the right mood for the day. Starting the day right is a great help in keeping sober. As the days go by and we get used to the sober life, it gets easier and easier. We begin to develop a deep gratitude to God for saving us from that old life. And we begin to enjoy peace and serenity and real quiet happiness. Am I trying to live the way God wants me to live? Meditation For The Day The elimination of selfishness is the key to happiness and can only be accomplished with God's help. We start out with a spark of the Divine Spirit but a large amount of selfishness. As we grow and come in contact with other people, we can take one of two paths. We can become more and more selfish and practically extinguish the Divine Spark within us or we can become more unselfish and develop our spirituality until it becomes the most important thing in our lives. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may grow more and more unselfish, honest, pure and loving. I pray that I may take the right path every day. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Free Of Dependence, p. 63 I asked myself, "Why can't the Twelve Steps work to release me from this unbearable depression?" By the hour, I stared at the St. Francis Prayer: "It is better to comfort than to be comforted." Suddenly I realized what the answer might be. My basic flaw had always been dependence on people or circumstances to supply me with prestige, security, and confidence. Failing to get these things according to my perfectionists dreams and specifications, I fought for them. And when defeat came, so did my depression. Reinforced by what grace I could find in prayer, I had to exert every ounce of will and action to cut off these faulty emotional dependencies upon people and upon circumstances. Then only could I be free to love as Francis had loved. Grapevine, January 1958 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Don't feed the Habit _____ Enhancing Sobriety We quickly learn that it's wrong to do anything that "feeds" a drinking habit. A recovering person would be foolish, for example, to spend time in a drinking environment simply to "be with friends." It's constructive to take that same approach toward other problems we'd like to get out of our lives. If gossip has been my problem, I should not feed it by listening to gossip or even by reading gossipy articles and books. IF I have accumulated debts through overspending, I should cut off window shopping and other practices that may bring on more unnecessary debt. And if I want to rid my life of self-pity, I should not spend a single moment brooding over the bad breaks I have had in the past. Bad habits have a life of their own. They are somewhat like rodents that have found their way into the house and have become star borders. One way to control rodents is to eliminate their food supply. That same principle applies to bad habits we want to eliminate from our own lives. I'll make a strong effort to cut off any line of thinking that feeds my bad habits, whatever they are. This might include avoiding practices that others see as harmless and trivial. However, nothing is harmless or trivial if it has become destructive in my life. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Better bend than break.-------Scottish proverb Our program is based on bending. We call it "surrender." We surrender our self-will to the care of God. We do what we believe our Higher Power want us to do. We learn this as an act of love. Many of us believed surrender was a sign of weakness. We tried to control everything. But we change as we're in the program longer and longer. We learn to bend. We start to see that what is important is learning. We learn to do what's best for us and others. To learn, we need an open mind. To bend, we must stay open. Love and care become the center of our lives. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me that strength comes from knowing how and when to bend. Action for the Day: Today, I'll check myself. How open am I? Do I bend when I need to? ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. --Ursula K. LeGuin Goals give direction to our lives. We need to know who we are and where we want to go. But the trip itself, the steps we travel, offer us daily satisfaction moment by moment--fulfillment, if we'd but realize it. Too often we keep our sights on the goal's completion, rather than the process--the day-to-day living that makes the completion possible. How often do we think, "When I finish college, I'll feel stronger." Or, "After the divorce is final, I can get back to work." Or even, "When I land that promotion, my troubles are over." Life will begin "when"--or so it seems in our minds. And when this attitude controls our thinking, we pass up our opportunity to live, altogether. Looking back on goals already completed in our lives, what so quickly follows the end of a job well done is a let-down. And how sad that the hours, the days, the weeks, maybe even the months we toiled are gone, with little sense of all they could have meant. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - First Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES Let's now go back to number one. Oddly enough, he is often difficult to deal with. He enjoys drinking. It stirs his imagination. His friends feel closer over a highball. Perhaps you enjoy drinking with him yourself when he doesn't go too far. You have passed happy evenings together chatting and drinking before your fire. Perhaps you both like parties which would be dull without liquor. We have enjoyed such evenings ourselves; we had a good time. We know all about liquor as a social lubricant. Some, but not all of us, think it has its advantages when reasonably used. p. 110 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Eleven - "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films." The way this restraint paid off was startling. It resulted in more favorable publicity of Alcoholics Anonymous than could possibly have been obtained through all the arts and abilities of A.A.'s best press agents. Obviously, A.A. had to be publicized somehow, so we resorted to the idea that it would be far better to let our friends do this for us. Precisely that has happened, to an unbelievable extent. Veteran newsmen, trained doubters that they are, have gone all out to carry A.A.'s message. To them, we are something more than the source of good stories. On almost every newsfront, the men and women of the press have attached themselves to us as friends. p. 181 ************************************************** ********* God, help me find and create true joy and peace in my world. --Melody Beattie I have been given a quiet place in bright sunshine. It doesn't matter what we have done in the past. --Melody Beattie Learning and maturation in the life of the spirit cannot be hurried, and as in physical and intellectual development, a great deal depends on our readiness. --Mary McDermott Shideler God's will never takes me where his grace will not sustain me. --Ruth Humlecker Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door to everlasting love. Antidote for stress: Take a deep breath and think of something that pleases you. An argument had with a spouse is a loving moment lost forever. ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation HELL "The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those, who in time of great moral crises, maintain their neutrality." -- Dante Alighieri Each human being makes a personal hell here on earth. Often we do it not by what we perpetrate but in what we allow to happen. So much of the loneliness and isolation that many addicts and their families experience is caused by them remaining hidden and silent. The pretense that everything is okay is not only untrue but deadly. Silence and compliance kills more addicts than a thousand needles! Today I choose not to be neutral in my life. I speak about my alcoholism so that I can on a daily basis make war on the disease that nearly killed me. I speak out about the disease of addiction so that society cannot say that it did not know what was happening. I speak up for treatment and recovery because I know it can work in the vast majority of cases. I am not neutral when it comes to addiction because I am fighting for my life. God, give me the courage to speak up in the crowd; let me live the message I was privileged to receive. ************************************************** ********* "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 God is not unjust, he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped people and continue to help them. Hebrews 6:10 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:9-10 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Life isn't always fair, but don't let that stop you from making the world a better place every chance you get. Lord, help me to serve You where I am right now. The first and most powerful commandment is love. Through love we unite ourselves together with God and with each other and bring ourselves closer to our desired goal. Lord, I love You with all my heart and soul and mind. |
March 5, 2014
Daily Reflections A LIFELONG TASK "But just how, in these circumstances, does a fellow 'take it easy?' That's what I want to know." TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 26 I was never known for my patience. How many times have I asked, "Why should I wait, when I can have it all right now?" Indeed, when I was first presented the Twelve Steps, I was like the proverbial "kid in a candy store." I couldn't wait to get to Step Twelve; it was surely just a few months' work, or so I thought! I realize now that living the Twelve Steps of A.A. is a lifelong undertaking. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Sometimes we try too hard to get this program. It is better to relax and accept it. It will be given to us, with no effort on our part, if we stop trying too hard to get it. Sobriety can be a free gift of God, which he gives us by His grace when He knows we are ready for it. But we have to be ready. Then we must relax, take it easy, and accept the gift with gratitude and humility. We must put ourselves in God's hands. We must say to God: "Here I am and here are all my troubles. I've made a mess of things and can't do anything about it. You take me and all my troubles and do anything you want with me." Do I believe that the grace of God can do for me what I could never do for myself? Meditation For The Day Fear is the curse of the world. Many are our fears. Fear is everywhere. I must fight fear as I would a plague. I must turn it out of my life. There is no room for fear in the heart in which God dwells. Fear cannot exist where true love is or where faith abides. So I must have no fear. Fear is evil, but "perfect love casteth out all fear." Fear destroys hope and hope is necessary for all of humanity. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may have no fear. I pray that I may cast all fear out of my life. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Search For Motives, p. 64 Some of us clung to the claim that when drinking we never hurt anybody but ourselves. Our families didn't suffer, because we always paid the bills and seldom drank at home. Our business associates didn't suffer, because we were usually on the job. Our reputations didn't suffer, because we were certain few knew of our drinking. Those who did would sometimes assure us that, after all, a lively bender was only a good man's fault. What real harm, therefore, had we done? No more, surely, than we could easily mend with a few casual apologies. This attitude, of course, is the end result of purposeful forgetting. It is an attitude which can be changed only by a deep and honest search of our motives and actions. 12 & 12, p. 79 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places A vision for you___A Positive attitude One of the methods that helps in recovery is to see yourself as a sober person living a clean life. This is the "vision for you" that society's founders offered in AA's early days, and it's still powerful today. While being careful to avoid self-will, we can use this method with great success in living each day. Along with seeing ourselves sober, we can see ourselves living and working according to the best principles we know. We can see a business relationship improving. We can see some long-standing problems being solved. We can see a brighter side to negative situations that have persisted in spite of our best efforts to change them. One author also talked about "seeing God on both sides of the table in any business negotiation." We desire success, of course, but it's also important to know that any negotiation ought to be successful for both parties. If we're really practicing spiritual principles in all our affairs, there should be no desire to outmaneuver another person in any negotiation. There is always a price that is fair and satisfactory for both parties, and there are always terms suitable for both sides. I will go through this day visualizing it as I think it should be according to the highest and best principles I know. I will put aside self-will and see everybody benefiting fro any negotiations in which I am involved. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.---William Allen White Big changes are happening to us, but we can trust that changes will bring good things. After all, what have we got to lose? We have lived through the days and years of our addiction. Now, with the help of our Higher Power, the pain of those days has ended. We have no reason to worry. Yet, recovery won't make our lives perfect. Hard things still happened. But we never have to lose hope again. We never have to feel alone with our problems. What will come next? We don't know the details, but we can be sure the future will be good if we stay on our path of recovery. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I know life holds many new things for me. Help me and protect me as I live in Your care today. Action for the Day: Today, I'll trust that each day of my life will bring me good. I will share this idea with one friend. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Loving, like prayer, is a power as well as a process. It's curative. It is creative. --Zona Gale The expression of love softens us and the ones we love. It opens a channel between us. It invites an intimate response that closes the distance. It feels good to express love, whether through a smile, a touch, or a prayer. It heightens our sense of being alive. Acknowledging another's presence means that we, too, are acknowledged. Each of us is familiar with feeling forgotten, unnoticed, or taken for granted, and recognition assures us all that we haven't been overlooked. Knowing we are loved may be the key to our doing the things we fear. Love supports us to charge ahead, and we can support others to charge ahead. We know that if we fail, we have someone to turn to. Love heals. It strengthens, making us courageous both when we receive it and when we give it. Knowing we are loved makes our existence special. It affirms that we count in another's life. We need to honor our friends by assuring them of their specialness, too. I need others. I need to strengthen my supports, my connections to others for the security, even success, of each of us. I can express my love today, and assure my loved ones that they are needed. Then, they and I will surge ahead with new life. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES The first principle of success is that you should never be angry. Even though your husband becomes unbearable and you have to leave him temporarily, you should, if you can, go without rancor. Patience and good temper are most necessary. p. 111 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Eleven - "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films." In the beginning, the press could not understand our refusal of all personal publicity. They were genuinely baffled by our insistence upon anonymity. Then they got the point. Here was something rare in the world--a society which said it wished to publicize its principles and its work, but not its individual members. The press was delighted with this attitude. Ever since, these friends have reported A.A. with an enthusiasm which the most ardent members would find hard to match. p. 182 ************************************************** ********* Today I will ignore "what might have been," and concentrate on "what is..." "Forget regret, or life is yours to miss." -Jonathan Larson It is never too late to be what you might have been. --George Eliot God, help me welcome all the new experiences in my life. Give me the courage to calmly walk my path today, knowing I'm right where I need to be. --Melody Beattie When hate, anger, fear, attack, victimization is thrown at us, we find solace in returning to Spiritual sanity. These emotions only harm us if we embrace them, rather than embrace Gods love. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. --Eleanor Roosevelt The past and the future are great places to visit, but you don't want to live there. --Tom Payne ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation DENTITY "Without freedom, no one really has a name." -- Milton Acorda Part of my identity involves my disease. I am an alcoholic and my name is . . . And with this recognition of who I am comes the liberty and freedom to live and create in God's world. Who I am involves what I am; in the fusion of the two is my spiritual identity. For years I ran from myself because I wanted to be different. I felt that I would not be acceptable or good enough for you. In running from me, I lost my identity; the seed of low self-esteem was sown. With the spiritual recognition that I can only be who I am came the freedom of existence and identity. I am what I am! Lord, You said once, "I am who I am." Well, so am I! ************************************************** ********* Turn your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding. Proverbs 2 : 2 "But surely, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life." Psalm 54:4 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Shine and give praise and it will encourage others to do the same. Lord, may my actions show those in my life that I appreciate and love them. When we give in to fears and worries they will take charge of our lives. Lord, I place my trust in You so that I may experience every opportunity and not miss in life that which is meant for me. |
March 6, 2014
Daily Reflections THE IDEA OF FAITH Do not let any prejudice you might have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 47 The idea of faith is a very large chunk to swallow when fear, doubt and anger abound in and around me. Sometimes just the idea of doing something different, something I am not accustomed to doing, can eventually become an act of faith if I do it regularly, and do it without debating whether it's the right thing to do. When a bad day comes along and everything is going wrong, a meeting or a talk with another drunk often distracts me just enough to persuade me that everything is not quite as impossible, as overwhelming as I had thought. In the same way, going to a meeting or talking to a fellow alcoholic are acts of faith; I believe I'm arresting my disease. These are ways I slowly move toward faith in a Higher Power. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day In A.A., we must surrender, give up, admit that we're helpless. We surrender our lives to God and ask Him for help. When He knows that we're ready, He gives us by His grace the free gift of sobriety. And we can't take any credit for having stopped drinking, because we didn't do it by our own willpower. There's no place for pride or boasting. We can only be grateful to God for doing for us what we could never do for ourselves. Do I believe that God has made me a free gift of the strength to stay sober? Meditation For The Day I must work for God, with God and through God's help. By doing all I can to bring about a true fellowship of human beings, I am working for God. I am also working with God, because this is the way God works, and He is with me when I am doing such work. I cannot do good work, however, without God's help. In the final analysis, it is through the grace of God that any real change in human personality takes place. I have to rely on God's power and anything I accomplish is through His help. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may work for God and with God. I pray that I may be used to change human personalities through God's help. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Growth By The Tenth Step, p. 65 In the years ahead A.A. will, of course, make mistakes. Experience has taught us that we need have no fear of doing this, providing that we always remain willing to admit our faults and to correct them promptly. Our growth as individuals has depended upon this healthy process of trial and error. So will our growth as a fellowship. Let us always remember that any society of men and women that cannot freely correct its own faults must surely fall into decay if not into collapse. Such is the universe penalty for the failure to go on growing. Just as each A.A. must continue to take his moral inventory and act upon it, so must our whole Society if we are to survive and if we are to serve usefully and well. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 231 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Example, not exception___Helping Others. It's always heady stuff when others congratulate us on our victory over alcohol. Fair-minded people will have considerable admiration for what appears to be a bootstrap effort to make a comeback from despair and defeat. We can accept this praise with grace and modesty. At some point, however, we should emphasize that our recovery was an example of spiritual principles at work and that thousands have been able to follow in the same path. Sober AA members are not exceptions; they are examples of what the program can do in people's lives. It is important to emphasize that we are ordinary people. The marvelous thing about the program is that it works for ordinary people like ourselves. Many people in the fellowship have great talent and ability, but those gifts have nothing to do with staying sober. The gifted person gets sober the same way anybody does..... by admitting powerlessness over alcohol and by accepting the program. We are also helped most by people who can serve as examples in our lives. It is always inspiring to know that we can follow in their paths and find what has been given to them. I want to provide a good example for others today. I will go through the day remembering that my sobriety is a gift that can be bestowed on anybody___it was not an exception just for me. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck. Remember how we tried to make others think we were not in trouble? We walked and talked like addicts. We acted like addicts. Most everyone knew the truth but us. We were like ducks pretending to be eagles. We see ourselves as we really are. But sometimes we can't see ourselves that way. This is normal. That's why we need others to help us see what we can't. We were addicts. We are now recovering addicts. We need friends, sponsors, and family members to tell us when we may be acting like addicts again. It may save our lives. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, give my friends and family members the strength to tell me when I'm acting like an addict. Action for the Day: I'll go to people whom I trust and ask them to tell me when I'm acting like an addict. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Life is made up of desires that seem big and vital one minute, and little and absurd the next. I guess we get what's best for us in the end. --Alice Caldwell Rice It is often said that we will be granted our heart's "pure desires." When we have many unmet desires, maybe we should be grateful. Wants, ultimately not for our good, can open the way to many unneeded and painful experiences. How often we sit, wishing for a better job, a more loving relationship, a different weather forecast. How seldom we take positive advantage of what is at hand, not realizing that whatever is, right now, is the ticket to the next act in the drama of our lives. We have before us a very limited picture. We cannot possibly know just what we need to travel the distance that's in store for us. Our desires, when they are pure, will carry us to the right destination. They are inspired. But the desires that are motivated by our selfish egos will lead us astray. Many times in the past we did not give up those desires. And the painful memories linger. Desiring God's will is my most fruitful desire. It's also what is best for me; thus, what I need. All things are working for good when I let my higher power determine my desires. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES Our next thought is that you should never tell him what he must do about his drinking. If he gets the idea that you are a nag or a killjoy, your chance of accomplishing anything useful may be zero. He will use that as an excuse to drink more. He will tell you he is misunderstood. This may lead to lonely evenings for you. He may seek someone else to console him - not always another man. p. 111 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Eleven - "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films." There was actually a time when the press of America thought the anonymity of A.A. was better for us than some of our own members did. At on point, about a hundred of our Society were breaking anonymity at the public level. With perfectly good intent, these folks declared that the principle of anonymity was horse-an-buggy stuff, something appropriate to A.A.'s pioneering days. They were sure that A.A. could go faster and farther if it availed itself of modern publicity methods. A.A., they pointed out, included many persons of local, national, or international fame. Provided they were willing--and many were--why shouldn't their membership be publicized, thereby encouraging others to join us? These were plausible arguments, but happily our friends of the writing profession disagreed with them. p. 182 ************************************************** ********* We surrender to win. A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. --Basil (329-379 A.D.) "What we see depends mainly on what we look for." --John Lubbock "Age is a matter of feeling...not of years." --George William Curtis "The future comes one day at a time." --Dean Acheson Sharing love and life with someone is the one of the greatest gifts of all. Take the time to appreciate it and enjoy it. "Joy is the feeling of grinning on the inside." --Dr. Melba Colgrove ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation HYPOCRISY "Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo." -- Ambrose Bierce As a religious person I could be such a hypocrite. I thought that my "goodness" was dependent upon my judging others to be inferior. I was always putting other people down so that I could appear terrific. But a part of me always knew this was wrong. I ignored the religious teaching that emphasized forgiveness and acceptance and instead focused on judgment and condemnation. It was all part of my sickness. Inside I was hurting and feeling guilty but I hid these feelings with a mask of hypocrisy and respectability. Today I do not need to do this. I have a religion that can accept the non-religious and rejoice in the different cultures and creeds. I do not fear those who are different, and I am slowly beginning to accept my many imperfections. You, who have loved me through forgiveness, help me to forgive. ************************************************** ********* "Put away your former way of life, your old self ... be renewed in the spirit of your minds ... according to the likeness of God." Ephesians 4:22-24 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Luke 12:22-26 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Repeatedly remind yourself what a wonderful person you are. Lord, help me to believe in myself as You believe in me and focus on my goodness. God's plans for you are beyond your imagination. Lord, may I not limit myself to my past experiences, but be willing to accept new opportunities and challenges into my life. |
March 7, 2014
Daily Reflections THE KEY IS WILLINGNESS Once we have placed the key of willingness in the lock and have the door ever so slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 35 The willingness to give up my pride and self-will to a Power greater than myself has proved to be the only ingredient absolutely necessary to solve all of my problems today. Even the smallest amount of willingness, if sincere, is sufficient to allow God to enter and take control over my problem, pain, or obsession. My level of comfort is in direct relation to the degree of willingness I possess at any given moment to give up my self-will, and allow God's will to be manifested in my life. With the key of willingness, my worries and fears are powerfully transformed into serenity. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day There are two important things we have to do if we want to get sober and stay sober. First, having admitted that we are helpless before alcohol, we have to turn our alcoholic problem over to God and trust Him to take care of it for us. This means asking Him every morning for the strength to stay sober for that day and thanking Him every night. It means really leaving the problem in God's hands and not reaching out and getting the problem back to ourselves. Second, having given our drink problem to God, we must cooperate with Him by doing something about it ourselves. Am I doing these two things? Meditation For The Day I must prepare myself by doing each day what I can to develop spiritually and to help others to do so. God tests me and trains me and bends me to His will. If I am not properly trained, I cannot meet the test when it comes. I must want God's will for me above all else. I must expect to have what I am not prepared for. This preparation consists of quiet communion with God every day and gradually gaining the strength I need. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may really try to do God's will in all my affairs. I pray that I may do all I can to help others find God's will for them. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It For Emergencies Only?, p. 66 Whether we had been believers or unbelievers, we began to get over the idea that the Higher Power was a sort of bush-league pinch hitter, to be called upon only in an emergency. The notion that we would still live our own lives, God helping a little now and then, began to evaporate. Many of us who had thought ourselves religious awoke to the limitations of this attitude. Refusing to place God first, we had deprived ourselves of His help. But now the words "Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the works" began to carry bright promise and meaning. 12 & 12, p. 75 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places First things First Order The struggle to bring order into our lives starts with lots of little things. One recovering person discovered that it was a good exercise simply to put the cap back on the toothpaste tube in the morning. This was a reminder that things should be put in their proper place, and the discipline helped later in organizing larger matters. It is very easy to overlook orderly procedures in the haste to get things done, or to avoid anything that seems unpleasant or demanding. But such oversight always carries a heavy price later on. When we don't return things to their proper place, for example, we lose them or waste hours looking for them. We may bungle a job simply because we were too lazy to look up the right information or to read directions. That's why "First things First" is much more than just a slogan. It's actually a principle for living, a guide that tells us there is an orderly approach to everything. If we can find that order without becoming slavishly compulsive about it, we'll find that it simplifies lots of things later on. I'll try to do things in an orderly manner today. When I find myself taking short cuts or becoming too hurried, I'll regain control by remembering to establish priorities. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple To make the world a friendly place One must show it a friendly face.---James Whitcomb Riley We are beginning to learn that we get what we expect. Why? If we believe that people are out to get us, we'll not treat them well. We will think it's okay to "get them" before they "get us." Then, they'll be angry and want to get even. And on it goes. It's great when we can meet the world with a balance. We are honest people. We can expect others to be fair with us. We get the faith, strength, and courage to do this because of our trust in our Higher Power. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I put my life in Your care. Use me to spread Your love to others. Action for the Day: Today, I'll spread friendliness. I will greet people with a smile. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands. --Anne Frank We must take responsibility for ourselves, for who we become, for how we live each day. The temptation to blame others may be ever present. And much of our past adds up to wasted days or years perhaps, because we did blame someone else for the unhappiness in our lives. We may have blamed our own parents for not loving us enough. We may have labeled our husbands the villains. Other people did affect us. That's true. However, we chose, you and I, to let them control us, overwhelm us, shame us. We always had other options, but we didn't choose them. Today is a new day. Recovery has opened up our options. We are learning who we are and how we want to live our lives. How exhilarating to know that you and I can take today and put our own special flavor in it. We can meet our personal needs. We can, with anticipation, chart our course. The days of passivity are over, if we choose to move ahead with this day. I will look to this day. Every day is a new beginning. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES Be determined that your husband's drinking is not going to spoil your relations with your children or your friends. They need your companionship and your help. It is possible to have a full and useful life, though your husband continues to drink. We know women who are unafraid, even happy under these conditions. Do not set your heart on reforming your husband. You may be unable to do so, no matter how hard you try. p. 111 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Eleven - "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films." The Foundation* wrote letters to practically every news outlet in North America, setting forth our public relations policy of attraction rather than promotion, and emphasizing personal anonymity as A.A.'s greatest protection. Since that time, editors and rewrite men have repeatedly deleted names and pictures of members from A.A. copy; frequently, they have reminded ambitious individuals of A.A.'s anonymity policy. They have even sacrificed good stories to this end. The force of their cooperation has certainly helped. Only a few A.A. members are left who deliberately break anonymity at the public level. *In 1954, the name of the Alcoholic Foundation, Inc., was changed to the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc., and the Foundation office is now the General Service Office. pp. 182-183 ************************************************** ********* "I used to say, 'I sure hope things will change.' Then I learned that the only way things are going to change for me is when I change." --Jim Rohn Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things. --Henry Ward Beecher Expecting the world to be fair to you because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian. Today I will do something I should have done yesterday. --Nelle Bruner Weddington It's so important to treat others like you would expect to be treated. It's a universal law that the hurt and pain you have caused on others will come back and affect you, but the love and joy you have inspired in others, will also inspire you. ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation IDEALS "An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup." -- H.L. Mencken The spiritual program teaches me to be an idealist with my feet on the ground. People will continue to hurt, get angry and tell lies; wrestling with imperfections is not just my problem. I need to accept that I live in an imperfect world and recovery involves reality, not illusion. My responsibility in recovery is for my life. I cannot change other people, events or relationships --- I can only change me. I am not God. Each time I forget this fact, I risk another hurt. Help me to aspire for ideals that are within my grasp. ************************************************** ********* "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalms 46:1 For the Lord gives wisdom and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezek 36:26 Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration It is not in the good times, but rather in the times of stress and misfortune, that our faith is tested. Lord, remove my doubts as they creep in and help me turn my times of turmoil into times of spiritual growth. 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. |
March 8, 2014
Daily Reflections TURNING IT OVER Every man and woman who has joined A.A. and intends to stick has, without realizing it, made a beginning on Step Three. Isn't it true that in all matters touching upon alcohol, each of them has decided to turn his or her life over to the care, protection, and guidance of Alcoholics Anonymous? . . . Any willing newcomer feels sure A.A. is the only safe harbor for the foundering vessel he has become. Now if this is not turning one's will and life over to a newfound Providence, then what is it? TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 35 Submission to God was the first step to my recovery. I believe our Fellowship seeks a spirituality open to a new kinship with God. As I exert myself to follow the path of the Steps, I sense a freedom that gives me the ability to think for myself. My addiction confined me without any release and hindered my ability to be released from my self-confinement, but A.A. assures me of a way to go forward. Mutual sharing, concern and caring for others is our natural gift to each other and mine is strengthened as my attitude toward God changes. I learn to submit to God's will in my life, to have self-respect, and to keep both of these attitudes by giving away what I receive. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day A.A. Thought For The Day We must go to A.A. meetings regularly. We must learn to think differently. We must change from alcoholic thinking to sober thinking. We must reeducate our minds. We must try to help other alcoholics. We must cooperate with God by spending at least as much time and energy on the A.A. program as we did on drinking. We must follow the A.A. program to the best of our ability. Have I turned my alcoholic problem over to God and am I cooperating with Him? Meditation For The Day The joy of true fellowship shall be mine in full measure. I will revel in the joy of real fellowship. There will come back a wonderful joy, if I share in fellowship now. Fellowship among spiritually minded people is the embodiment of God's purpose for this world. To realize this will bring me a new life-joy. If I share in humanity's joy and travail, a great blessing will be mine. I can truly live a life not of earth, but a heaven-life here and now. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may be helped and healed by true spiritual fellowship. I pray that I may sense His presence in spiritual fellowship with His children. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Thousands of "Founders", p. 67 "While I thank God that I was privileged to be an early member of A.A., I honestly wish that the word 'founder' could be eliminated from the A.A. vocabulary. "When you get right down to it, everyone who has done any amount of successful Twelfth Step work is bound to be the founder of a new life for other alcoholics." << << << >> >> >> "A.A. was not invented! Its basis were brought to us through the experience and wisdom of many great friends. We simply borrowed and adapted their ideas." << << << >> >> >> "Thankfully, we have accepted the devoted services of many nonalcoholics. We owe our very lives to the men and women of medicine and religion. And, speaking for Dr. Bob and myself, I gratefully declare that had it not been for our wives, Anne and Lois, neither of us could have lived to see A.A.'s beginning." 1. Letter, 1945 2. Letter, 1966 3. Letter, 1966 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places What Do I project? ___ Personal Relations. Were we ever told that our problems with other people really started within ourselves? If we have trouble getting along with another person, for example, is it because we are projecting mixed signals of fear and suspicion toward that person? We tend to reap what we sow----- we get back the attitudes we project. At the same time, however, we can't take total responsibility for the way others treat us or behave toward us. We cannot reform or control impossible people. When dealing with impossible people, we have control over our own feelings and responses. This helps us avoid potential trouble and enables us to deal with difficult situations. But the principle of sowing what we reap….. that is, getting back what we project… can really be proved by the person whose resentments and bitterness have driven away most of his or her friends. A simple change of attitude on our part can bring startling change for the better in there responses of others. With practice, the principle also applies to the broad area of human relations in many ways. For purposes of inventory, therefore, we should always look first at ourselves and our own thoughts and feelings when we find ourselves in a bad situation with others. …….I will take care today to see that my thoughts and feeling toward others reflect what I want in my own life. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple We lose the fear of making decisions, great and small, as we realize that should our choice prove wrong we can, if we will, learn from experience.---Bill W. As our disease grew, we often felt like any decision we made was wrong. We felt like wrong people. We lost self-respect, because deep inside we knew that, for us alcohol and other drugs was wrong. We went against our spirit. Now we go with our spirit. We follow what we think our Higher Power want for us. Now we learn from our mistakes. Another wonderful gift has been given back to us: the gift of learning. From that gift, we stop playing God. How free it feels! Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You have taken away my illness and replaced it with many wonderful gifts. I thank You for everything, even my mistakes. Action for the Day: Today, I'll share with a friend my mistakes of the past week. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning To create is to boggle the mind and alter the mood. Once the urge has surged, it maintains its own momentum. We may go along for the ride, but when we attempt to steer the course, the momentum dies. --Sue Atchley Ebaugh A sense of spiritual well-being warms us when we are selfless, when we step away from our obsessing egos, when we let our pure, unfettered desires direct our thoughts and our steps. Our egos may be keeping us caged in old behavior, old fears. Egos struggle for self-preservation; unfortunately, it's our old, unhealthy self the ego is preserving. The Steps make it possible for us to unload our baggage from earlier days, baggage that intrudes on our perceptions of today's events. The Steps clear the path so we can move responsibly forward. Living creatively is living in the thick of the flow, trusting the flow, spontaneously moving with the flow, not controlling the flow. We are Spirit-full when we let ourselves roll forward, resisting not, doubting not. And our greatest contributions will be discovered when our ego takes a rest. My creativity awaits my discovery. It's there. I will release it from the clutches of my ego. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES We know these suggestions are sometimes difficult to follow, but you will save many a heartbreak if you can succeed in observing them. Your husband may come to appreciate your reasonableness and patience. This may lay the groundwork for a friendly talk about his alcoholic problem. Try to have him bring up the subject himself. Be sure you are not critical during such a discussion. Attempt instead, to put yourself in his place. Let him see that you want to be helpful rather than critical. p. 111 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Eleven - "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films." This, in brief, in the process by which A.A.'s Tradition Eleven was constructed. To us, however, it represents far more than a sound public relations policy. It is more than a denial of self-seeking. This Tradition is a constant and practical reminder that personal ambition has no place in A.A. In it, each member becomes an active guardian of our Fellowship. p. 183 ************************************************** ********* There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up. --John Andrew Holme Keeping hearts happy is a lot like keeping bodies happy. We need to feed our hearts well through reading, prayer, and meditation, and to exercise them by loving. --Jane Nakken The Twelve Steps have powerfully guided me from just surviving to living. --Elizabeth Farrell God's gifts are slowly revealed. --Michele Fedderly God is with us in every problem we face. --Naoko Ezaki ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation DOUBT "Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." -- Will Durant Spirituality is the art of knowing that we do not know. It is waking up in the morning with our eyes fully opened and awaiting the adventure of the new day. New things, new theories, new facts are being discovered every day and it makes for a glorious, confusing and exciting world. There was a time when I could not say this; a time when knowledge and facts were collected and regurgitated. I used knowledge to protect myself from the challenge and inconsistencies of life. God had to be not only a proven fact but evidenced in theories and dogmas --- the mystery was lost. Today I believe that God cannot be contained by dogma and rules. The doubts have become part of my faith. The state of "not knowing" becomes creative and stimulating. My relationship with God today is real. To "not know" is the beginning of wisdom. You, who have spoken through the wind and the fire, speak through my doubts. ************************************************** ********* God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Often times the happiness you seek is already near at hand. Lord, help me to appreciate what I already have because You never stop blessing me even when I don't notice. When you can't seem to be a shining example, at least twinkle a little. Lord, when I am weary, You are there. When I am weak, You are there. When I stumble, You are always ready to pick me up. |
March 9, 2014
Daily Reflections SURRENDERING SELF-WILL Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 34 No matter how much one wishes to try, exactly how can one turn his own will and his own life over to the care of whatever God he thinks there is? In my search for the answer to this question, I became aware of the wisdom with which it was written: that this is a two-part Step. I could see many times where I should have died, or at least been injured, during my previous style of living, and it never happened. Someone, or something, was looking after me. I choose to believe my life has always been in God's care. He alone controls the number of days I will be granted until physical death. The matter of will (self-will or God's will) is the more difficult part of the Step for me. It is only when I have experienced enough emotional pain, through failed attempts to fix myself, that I become willing to surrender to God's will for my life. Surrender is like the calm after the storm. When my will is in line with God's will for me, there is peace within. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day If we had absolute faith in the power of God to keep us from drinking and if we turned our drink problem entirely over to God without reservations, we wouldn't have to do anything more about it. We'd be free from drink once and for all. But since our faith is apt to be weak, we have to strengthen and build up this faith. We do this in several ways. One way is by going to meetings and listening to others tell how they have found all the strength they need to overcome drink. Is my faith being strengthened by this personal witness of other alcoholics? Meditation For The Day It is the quality of my life that determines its value. In order to judge the value of a man's life, we must set up a standard. The most valuable life is one of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love. All men's lives must be judged by this standard in order to determine their value to the world. By this standard, most of the so-called heroes of history were not great men. "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, if he loseth his own soul?" Prayer For The Day I pray that I may be honest, pure, unselfish and loving. I pray that I may make the quality of my life good by these standards. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Renew Your Effort, p. 68 "Though I know how hurt and sorry you must be after this slip, please do not worry about a temporary loss of your inner peace. As calmly as you can, just renew your effort in the A.A. program, especially those parts of it which have to do with meditation and self-analysis. "Could I also suggest that you look at excessive guilt for what it is? Nothing but a sort of reverse pride. A decent regret for what has happened is fine. But guilt--no. "Indeed, the slip could well have been brought about by unreasonable feelings of guilt because of other moral failures, so called. Surely, you ought to look into this possibility. Even here you should not blame yourself for failure; you can be penalized only for refusing to try for better things." Letter, 1958 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places The Best outcome is just and equitable. Principle over personality. Looking ahead to this day, I may face a possible conflict with another person over a certain issue. How should I respond to this? If I'm to follow my principles, I should hold to the idea of seeking the best outcome for everybody concerned. It may be very harmful to look at these conflicts as a case of winning or losing. If I seem to win when I'm wrong, I will lose in the long run. If I seem to lose even when I'm right, I can know that there's just resolution of everything in time. I will always win, however, if I keep my thinking straight and take care to avoid resentment and bitterness. It's not surprising that the world is beset by conflicts. Millions of people have conditioned themselves to selfish ways of thinking and behaving that are bound to cause such conflicts. Much harm is done by people who are absolutely sure they are right at all times. As human beings, we cannot expect to be excluded from these conflicts simply because we have a Twelve Step program. We do, however, have a means of dealing with such conflicts effectively when we respond according to principle. This makes us privileged people in a way, but it is good to know that any person can have the same privileges by following the right principles. Unpleasant as any conflict may seem, it does give me an opportunity to learn and to grow. I will seek to benefit from any such conflict today. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.---Irish Proverb Each of us has been given recovery. Now it's up to each of us what we do with it. At times, we'll work hard to grow quickly. At other times, our growth will be slower. This is okay. We're not in a race. Our pace is not important. What is important is that we're always working on our recovery. We're all part of a fellowship, a caring group. We're one of many. But we're each important. Each of us will have a special way to work our programs through our readings, friends, meetings, and what we know of how life works. each of us puts together a miracle of recovery. We than take our miracle and share it with others, so they can build their miracle. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me work at growing. Help me be a person who is an important part of a group. Action for the Day: Today, I'll work at seeing myself as very important. I'll remind myself that other's recovery also depends on my recovery. I am needed. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning I want to get you excited about who you are, what you are, what you have, and what can still be for you. I want to inspire you to see that you can go far beyond where you are right now. --Virginia Satir Deciding to recover was our first step. That decision meant we did want to go beyond where we were. We did want something better for ourselves. And at times, in fleeting moments, we have been excited about who we are and our prospects for a better life. The excitement and the inspiration come and go; they are seldom stationary. We can actively create the excitement and the inspiration. We need not wait for them to come to us. That's one of the choices we have as human beings, as women. Passively waiting for "the good life" is past behavior. Each day, this day, we can set our sights on reaching a goal--we can take a step, or two, toward that goal. Progress is there for the making--achievement is there for the taking. Whatever our hearts' pure desires, we can move toward that goal. We are what we need to be. We have what we need to move ahead. Today, I will let my excitement for life's possibilities spur me on. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES When a discussion does arise, you might suggest he read this book or at least the chapter on alcoholism. Tell him you have been worried, though perhaps needlessly. You think he ought to know the subject better, as everyone should have a clear understanding of the risk he takes if he drinks too much. Show him you have confidence in his power to stop or moderate. Say you do not want to be a wet blanket; that you only want him to take care of his health. Thus you may succeed in interesting him in alcoholism. pp. 111-112 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." THE spiritual substance of anonymity is sacrifice. Because A.A.'s Twelve Traditions repeatedly ask us to give up personal desires for the common good, we realize that the sacrificial spirit--well symbolized by anonymity--is the foundation of them all. It is A.A.'s proved willingness to make these sacrifices that gives people their high confidence in our future. p. 184 ************************************************** ********* Speaking without thinking is shooting without aiming. --French Proverb Help your brother across the stream and you'll find yourself on the other side. "You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him." --Leo Aikman Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. --Leo Buscaglia Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart. --Anthony J. D'Angelo Make the most of your life by choosing to enjoy everything you do. God, help me open my heart to the full potential of every moment in my life. --Melody Beattie "We aren't bodies at all; who we are is the love inside us, and it is that love alone that determines our value. When our minds are filled with light, there is no room for darkness." --Marianne Williamson Whether our sins are known or not, God offers us forgiveness. --Charles P. Axe ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation GREED "Not he who has little, but he who wishes more, is poor." -- Seneca (4 B. C. -- A. D. 65) In my recovery I must still deal with that compulsive side of my nature that always wants more. I forget to be grateful for what I have. I ruin relationships because I have a code of behavior that I expect from others but not myself! I miss the fun of the moment because I am preoccupied with what I am missing elsewhere. I miss the comfort of my own home as I fantasize about country mansions owned by millionaires. Always I want more --- and yet in my own experience more has always been less. Today I work hard on a spiritual program of gratitude. I have a checklist of things I need to be grateful for; I work on my disease of greed by talking about it. Thank You for that part of me that must remain "poor". ************************************************** ********* "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted to the earth!" Psalms 46:10 God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 Accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. Romans 15:7 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration We all need time for ourselves and time to be with our friends in order to be joyful. Lord, help me to balance my day and renew my spirit. Keep yourself young in spirit always by thinking new thoughts and getting rid of old habits. Lord, may my spirit never become frail and my abilities never become barren. |
March 10, 2014
Daily Reflections TODAY, IT'S MY CHOICE . . . we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.62 With the realization and acceptance that I had played a part in the way my life had turned out came a dramatic change in my outlook. It was at this point that the A.A. program began to work for me. In the past I had always blamed others, either God or other people, for my circumstances. I never felt that I had a choice in altering my life. My decisions had been based on fear, pride, or ego. As a result, those decisions led me down a path of self-destruction. Today I try to allow my God to guide me on the road to sanity. I am responsible for my action--or inaction--whatever the consequences may be. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day We also strengthen our faith by working with other alcoholics and finding that we can do nothing ourselves to help them, except to tell them our own story of how we found the way out. If the person is helped, it's by the grace of God and not by what we do or say. Our own faith is strengthened when we see another alcoholic find sobriety by turning to God. And finally we strengthen our faith by having quiet times every morning. Do I ask God in this quiet time for the strength to stay sober this day? Meditation For The Day My five senses are my means of communication with the material world. They are the links between my physical life and the material manifestations around me. But I must sever all connections with the material world when I wish to hold communion with the Great Spirit of the universe. I have to hush my mind and bid all my senses be still, before I can become attuned to receive the music of the heavenly spheres. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may get my spirit in tune with the Spirit of the universe. I pray that through faith and communion with Him I may receive the strength I need. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Giving Without Demand, p. 69 Watch any A.A. of six months working with a Twelfth Step prospect. If the newcomer says, "To the devil with you," the twelfth-stepper only smiles and finds another alcoholic to help. He doesn't feel frustrated or rejected. If his next drunk responds, and in turn starts to give love and attention to other sufferers, yet gives none back to him, the sponsor is happy about it anyway. He still doesn't feel rejected; instead he rejoices that his former prospect is sober and happy. And he well knows that his own life has been made richer, as an extra dividend of giving to another without any demand for a return. Grapevine, January 1958 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Ousting the Green Demon___Victory over Jealousy. We hear of successful people who drop their old friends after moving up the ladder. Maybe, however, it wasn't their choice. Maybe they were driven to do so because their friend's jealousy made the friendship unworkable. We have little trouble accepting a stranger's good fortune; it's a different feeling, however, when friends and co-workers move ahead of us. If the green demon of jealousy strikes during the day, we can come to terms with it in several ways. First, accept no guilt that it happens, because jealousy is part of the human condition. Next, depersonalize it by remembering that good fortune comes to all people in various ways. Then check your own gratitude level to make sure that it hasn't been sinking. This serves as a reminder that there's no shortage of the things that really make for happiness and personal well-being in life. We can easily tell when we've been able to oust the green demon. We'll be able to be relaxed and gracious while extending congratulations for another person's good fortune. And months down the road, we'll be genuinely sympathetic…. Not vindictive… if the other person's luck turns sour. While I don't expect to feel jealousy today, I accept the fact that it can happen. Should it appear, I'll work calmly to deal with it. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Little things affect little minds.---Benjamin Disraeli Before recovery, we liked things our way. We thought every new thing we tired should go right the first time. Little problems could really upset us. We let little things spoil our day. We let little things affect big things---our entire lives. And our bad moods affected people around us. Funny how we have fewer of those problems now. The program is teaching us to let go. What a relief when we know we don't have to control every little thing. How nice when things get done without our "expert advice"! We are starting to see what's really important, and what's not. One promise of the program is coming true: we know how to handle situations better. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see what is really important for me today. Help me to stop worrying about what's not. Action for the Day: When I'm upset, I'll ask myself, Is this problem really so bad? If I can't change it. I'll let go. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning It is healthier to see the good points of others than to analyze our own bad ones. --Francoise Sagan Looking for the good in others is good for one's soul. Self-respect, self-love grows each time we openly acknowledge another's admirable qualities. Comparisons we make of ourselves with others, focusing on how we fail to measure up (another woman is prettier, thinner, more intelligent, has a better sense of humor, attracts people, and on and on) is a common experience. And we come away from the comparison feeling generally inadequate and unloving toward the other woman. It is a spiritual truth that our love for and praise of others will improve our own self-image. It will rub off on us, so-to-speak. An improved self-image diminishes whatever bad qualities one has imagined. Praise softens. Criticism hardens. We can become all that we want to become. We can draw the love of others to us as we more willingly offer love and praise. We have an opportunity to help one another as we help ourselves grow in the self-love that is so necessary to the successful living of each day. I will see the good points in others today. And I will give praise. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES He probably has several alcoholics among his own acquaintances. You might suggest that you both take an interest in them. Drinkers like to help other drinkers. Your husband may be willing to talk to one of them. p. 112 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." But in the beginning, anonymity was not born of confidence; it was the child of our early fears. Our first nameless groups of alcoholics were secret societies. New prospects could find us only through a few trusted friends. The bare hint of publicity, even for our work, shocked us. Though ex-drinkers, we still thought we had to hide from public distrust and contempt. p. 184 ************************************************** ********* We are prisoners of our own resentments. Forgiveness unlocks the door and sets us free. If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. --Will Rogers H E A R T = Healing, Enjoying, And Recovering, Together. "The time to relax is when you don't have time for it." --Sydney J. Harris "The time is always right to do what is right." --Martin Luther King, Jr. A smile is your most magnetic and attractive characteristic. Wear one today and see how many people it draws to you. My doubts and fears, will drive me back into the wilderness. I must trust God. When God calls, God makes a way. --Lynn Sloan Barnes ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation SCIENCE "We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood." -- William James To change is to be imperfect and to be imperfect is to be wrong --- at times! As an alcoholic I have a problem with ego; always wanting to be right, hating to say, "I am sorry", not wishing to appear out of control. In sobriety I must wrestle with my ego on a daily basis. However, although I find it difficult to accept that I am imperfect, I know that I am! I know that I need to make amends. I know that I produce most of the pain in my life. Today's facts are stepping stones to tomorrow's falsehoods --- and I grow with this knowledge. Spirituality is growing in the knowledge that I do not have all the answers. Let me experience joy and growth in the dilemmas of life. ************************************************** ********* "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act." Psalm 37:4-5 Accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. Romans 15:7 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Proverbs 2 : 10 "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers." Ephesians 4:11 Commit your way to the Lord; trusting Him, and He will act. Psalm 37:5 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Home is a place where we can have a bit of heaven on earth. Lord, bless our home and help make it a place of love and kindness. It is you, not where you are or what you have, that makes the difference. Lord, may I always blossom where I am planted. |
March 11, 2014
Daily Reflections GOOD ORDERLY DIRECTION It is when we try to make our will conform with God's that we begin to use it rightly. To all of us, this was a most wonderful revelation. Our whole trouble had been the misuse of willpower. We had tried to bombard our problems with it instead of attempting to bring it into agreement with God's intention for us. To make this increasingly possible is the purpose of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, and Step Three opens the door. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 40 All I have to do is look back at my past to see where self-will has led me. I just don't know what's best for me and I believe my Higher Power does. G.O.D., which I define as "Good Orderly Direction," has never let me down, but I have let myself down quite often. Using my self-will in a situation usually has the same result as forcing the wrong piece into a jigsaw puzzle--exhaustion and frustration. Step Three opens the door to the rest of the program. When I ask God for guidance I know that whatever happens is the best possible situation, things are exactly as they are supposed to be, even if they aren't what I want or expect. God does for me what I cannot do for myself, if I let Him. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day By having quiet times each morning, we come to depend on God's help during the day, especially if we should be tempted to take a drink. And we can honestly thank Him each night for the strength He has given us. So our faith is strengthened by these quiet times of prayer. By listening to other members, by working with other alcoholics, by times of quiet meditation, our faith in God gradually becomes strong. Have I turned my drink problem entirely over to God, without reservations? Meditation For The Day It seems as though, when God wants to express to men what He is like, He makes a very beautiful character. Think of a personality as God's expression of character attributes. Be as fit an expression of Godlike character as you can. When the beauty of a person's character is impressed upon us, it leaves an image which in turn reflects through our own actions. So look for beauty of character in those around you. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may look at great beauty of souls until their beauty of character becomes a part of my soul. I pray that I may reflect this character in my own life. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Truth, the Liberator, p. 70 How truth makes us free is something that we A.A.'s can well understand. It cut the shackles that once bound us to alcohol. It continues to release us from conflicts and miseries beyond reckoning; it banishes fear and isolation. The unity of our Fellowship, the love we cherish for each other, the esteem in which the world holds us--all of these are products of the truth which, under God, we have been privileged to perceive. << << << >> >> >> Just how and when we tell the truth--or keep silent--can often reveal the difference between genuine integrity and none at all. Step Nine emphatically cautions us against misusing the truth when it states: "We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others." Because it points up the fact that the truth can be used to injure as well as to heal, this valuable principle certainly has a wide-ranging application to the problem of developing integrity. Grapevine, August 1961 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Living with Bad Vibes____Human Relations Some of us are sensitive to the feelings we pick up from people in the immediate environment. The feelings we sense from the people around us can be as powerful as odors and sounds. We can feel tense in the presence of domineering people, and we can be uncomfortable around people who seem resentful. Acceptance and knowledge help us retain mastery of ourselves in these situations. But we don't have to tune in to another person's bad feelings, just as we wouldn't tune in to a radio station whose music bothers us. We can also detach from the situation in thought, just as Al-Anon trained spouses detach from alcoholics in a spirit of love and understanding. The less we try to resist such a situation, the less power it has to disturb us. And the less involved we become with such situations, the sooner they seem to change. People in Twelve Step programs sometimes report miraculous changes when they adjust their own feelings. One frequently hears of outcomes such as this: "I learned not to let this person bother me, and two weeks later he was transferred to another department." My own sensitivity makes me vulnerable to good or bad feelings in the atmosphere. Recognizing them for what they are, I'll enjoy the good feelings and refuse to e disturbed or upset by those that seem bad. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple If it ain't broke, don't fix it.---AA saying Before recovery, we never thought we had enough alcohol or other drugs. More would make us feel better, we thought. Sometimes, we are like this in recovery too. We know we need to change, so we want to do it all right now. If we can just change ourselves totally, we'll feel better, we think. But we can't change all at once. If we ask our Higher Power to take charge of our lives, we'll have the chance to change a little at a time. We'll learn the right things when we need to know them. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me fix what needs fixing today. Action for the Day: I'll make a list of what is broken. Which things on my list can I fix today? ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town. --Eleanor H. Porter We have met certain people who inspired laughter, hope, or changes in us, or those close to us. We look forward to seeing them. We leave their presence believing in ourselves, aware that we can tackle whatever problems had us immobilized. That special gift to inspire is ours for the taking, too. The inspiration comes from God. We can look to God for the strength we need. It will come. We can look also to God for direction, for the steps we need to take today. And then wait. Those persons who inspire us have developed a secure connection to their God. And it's their connection that comes through them to inspire us. We can take some time today, before the demands overwhelm us, to weave our connection to our higher power. When that contact is secure, we won't have to await inspiration from another person to forge ahead with our plans. The inspiration will live within us, and it will beckon us onward. Our way will be illuminated. I shall meditate upon this. Conscious contact with God is only a prayer away. My life will be brightened. My burdens will be lifted. My hopes will become realities, whenever I look to God for the gift of inspiration. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES If this kind of approach does not catch your husband’s interest, it may be best to drop the subject, but after a friendly talk your husband will usually revive the topic himself. This may take patient waiting, but it will be worth it. Meanwhile you might try to help the wife of another serious drinker. If you act upon these principles, your husband may stop or moderate. p. 112 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." When the Big Book appeared in 1939, we called it "Alcoholics Anonymous." Its foreword mad this revealing statement: "It is important that we remain anonymous because are too few, at present, to handle the overwhelming number of personal appeals which may result from this publication. Being mostly business or professional folk, we could not well carry on our occupations in such an event." Between these lines, it is easy to read our fear that large numbers of incoming people might break our anonymity wide open. pp. 184-185 ************************************************** ********* Sometimes we are so eager to give our children what we didn't have that we forget to give them what we did have. If today offers a challenge, be grateful. Challenges are gifts of awareness and growth. The more faithfully you listen to the voice within you, the better you hear what is sounding outside of you. --Dag Hammarskjold Nothing hath separated us from God but our own will, or rather our own will is our separation from God. --William Law Never ask the question you don't want to know the answer to. Pureness in your heart will provide you with fullness in your life. ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation PROFIT "In freeing people . . . our country's blessing will also come; for profit follows righteousness." -- Senator Albert Beveridge Profit is more than financial benefit or material well-being. Profit, for the recovering alcoholic and drug addict, is being aware of life, feeling feelings and having the capacity for a relationship with God, self and others. But a financial benefit is also part of spirituality; the blessing of money and financial stability are part of God's love and trust. His gift of freedom involves our responsibility and stewardship of money. With money and profit we are not only able to have creative comforts, but we can also make the lives of others creative. A responsible use of money is part of my recovery program and has become one of the joys of the "spiritual awakening". Let Your blessing of money in life help me to bless others. ************************************************** ********* When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken." Psalms 30:6 "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Matthew 21:22 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Sometimes we search for God in the wrong places. To help someone in need is the quickest way to touch His hand. Lord, in my ordinary day in my ordinary ways may I come to know and understand You more. Our words are powerful tools and can influence even when we are not aware. Lord, help me to speak with kindness and sensitivity and to be a positive source of encouragement and support to others. |
March 12, 2014
Daily Reflections A DAY'S PLAN On awakening let us think of the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, 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 Every day I ask God to kindle within me the fire of His love, so that love, burning bright and clear, will illuminate my thinking and permit me to better do His will. Throughout the day, as I allow outside circumstances to dampen my spirits, I ask God to sear my consciousness with the awareness that I can start my day over any time I choose; a hundred times, if necessary. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The Prodigal Son "took his journey into a far country and wasted his substance on riotous living." That's what we alcoholics do. We waste our substance with riotous living. "When he came to himself, he said: I will arise and go to my father." That's what an alcoholic does in A.A. He comes to himself. His alcoholic self is not his real self. His sane, sober, respectable self is his real self. That's why we're so happy in A.A. Have I come to myself? Meditation For The Day Simplicity is the keynote of a good life. Choose the simple things always. Life can become complicated if you let it be so. You can be swamped by difficulties if you let them take up too much of your time. Every difficulty can be either solved or ignored and something better substituted for it. Love the humble things of life. Reverence the simple things. Your standard must never be the world's standard of wealth and power. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may love the simple things of life. I pray that I may keep my life uncomplicated and free. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It "How Can You Roll With A Punch?", p. 71 On the day that the calamity of Pearl Harbor fell upon our country, a great friend of A.A. was walking along a St. Louis street. Father Edward Dowling was not an alcoholic, but he had been one of the founders of the struggling A.A. group in his city. Because many of his usually sober friends had already taken to their bottles that they might blot out the implications of the Pearl Harbor disaster, Father Ed was anguished by the thought that his cherished A.A. group would probably do the same. Then a member, sober less than a year, stepped alongside and engaged Father Ed in a spirited conversation--mostly about A.A. Father Ed saw, with relief, that his companion was perfectly sober. "How is it that you have nothing to say about Pearl Harbor? How can you roll with a punch like that?" "Well," replied the yearling, "each of us in A.A. has already had his own private Pearl Harbor. So why should we drunks crack up over this one?" Grapevine, January 1962 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Popular Gossip____Higher Thinking The newsstands are full of publications that seem to delight in exposing the sins and foibles of celebrities and prominent officials. Think of the excitement that's been generated just over the sexual misadventures of important people running for public office. While some of these disclosures may be true, we don't help ourselves by reveling in them or reading them. We may even harm ourselves if we get secret enjoyment over the fall of a celebrity. It's never beneficial to find ourselves thinking, "it serves him right." Reading such trash, even in the daily newspapers, is a form of gossip. We can use our time in better ways if we wish to enhance our sobriety. If this sounds a little too stringent, we should remind ourselves that growth in sobriety calls for better management of our thinking and attitudes. Nobody ever got drunk simply because he or she read gossipy trash. But neither did that person make progress over the general problem of gossip. I'll have no interest in the weaknesses or shortcomings of those who might be in the news. Popular gossip can be just as harmful as personal gossip. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple The Twelve Step program is spiritual, based on action coming from love . . . Martha Cleveland To be spiritual means to be an active person. It means spending time with others. It means sharing love. It means looking for ways to be more loving to others. It means looking for ways to make the world a better place. Step Three helps us to look at the world better. We turn our lives over to the care of our Higher Power. So Lets allow care to direct our lives. Let's always be asking ourselves, "Is what I'm doing something that shows care?" Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, let me be active in a loving, caring way. Let the love in my heart be my guide. Action for the Day: Today, I'll do something good for someone and keep it a secret. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Love is not getting, but giving. It is sacrifice. And sacrifice is glorious! --Joanna Field How easily we mistake attention for love. Even more easily, we trick ourselves into thinking our ability to control someone signifies love - especially theirs for us. But love is something far different from either attention or control. Far different. Love frees others from our grasp--and lets them return on their own. Love is placing another's personal needs above our own, without regret. Love is selfless, yet it exhilarates the self. Giving love softens our edges, completes us, and connects us to the people with whom we are fulfilling our destinies. Wanting love is a normal human desire, not one we should deny. And we shall receive love, the less our emphasis is on getting it, the more on giving it. We invite love when we freely and honestly give it. Another invitation for love comes from loving ourselves; self-hatred, which trapped many of us for years, hampers us no longer. Love inspires--ourselves and those we give it to. It brightens our way, lessens our burdens, makes possible our rightful unfolding. I won't look for love today. I will just give it. It will bless me tenfold. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES Suppose, however, that your husband fits the description of number two. The same principles which apply to husband number one should be practice. But after his next binge, ask him if he would really like to get over drinking for good. Do not ask that he do it for you or anyone else. Just would he like to? p. 112 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." As the A.A. groups multiplied, so did anonymity problems. Enthusiastic over the spectacular recovery of a brother alcoholic, we'd sometimes discuss those intimate and harrowing aspects of his case meant for his sponsor's ear alone. The aggrieved victim would then rightly declare that his trust had been broken. When such stories got into circulation outside of A.A., the loss of confidence in our anonymity promise was severe. It frequently turned people from us. Clearly, every A.A. member's name--and story, too---had to be confidential, if he wished. This was our first lesson in the practical application of anonymity. p. 185 ************************************************** ********* "Take time for solitude. How else can you contemplate the blessings of recovery," --Abby Warman "What we must realize is that we cannot see everything. We do not know everything. More important, we must understand that it is impossible for us to control anything. The process of life is a spiritual one, governed by invisible, intangible spiritual laws and principles." --Iyanla Vanzant "Everyone who has been mistreated by another has mistreated others at one time or another." --Paul Ferrini "Deep faith eliminates fear." --Lech Walesa It's not the burdens of everyday that drive men mad. It is the regret of yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves that rob us of today. --Unknown I completely, and whole heartedly trust Gods love, it will never fail me. --SweetyZee God's grace can turn pain into joy and blessing. --Isabelle Zeigler Ross ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation DREAMS "I have learned this at least by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." -- Henry David Thoreau Drugs brought me nightmares, never dreams. For years I lived in fear. In the night I imagined horrible shapes, strange colors and sounds, experienced unspeakable tortures and awake in tension and sweat. Today in sobriety my dreams are serene and tranquil; I remember friends and loved ones and those I most admire. I imagine God in the beauty of His creation. He breathes His love through me. My dreams are part of my wellness. God, who created men to dream their dreams, help me to live mine. ************************************************** ********* Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5, 6 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer." Psalms 19:14 I sought the Lord , and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. Psalm 34:4-5 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration If you count your blessings and answered prayers, there is less time for grumbling and complaining. Lord, may I always appreciate the wonders of my life and celebrate Your presence in it. You cannot be discouraged for long if you are close to our Heavenly Father, the giver of all hope and blessings. Lord, I will spend time daily with You and strengthen my faith. |
March 13, 2014
Daily Reflections A WORLD OF THE SPIRIT We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84 The word "entered" . . . and the phrase "entered into the world of the Spirit" are very significant. They imply action, a beginning, getting into, a prerequisite to maintaining my spiritual growth, the "Spirit" being the immaterial part of me. Barriers to my spiritual growth are self-centeredness and a materialistic focus on worldly things. Spirituality means devotion to spiritual rather than worldly things, it means obedience to God's will for me. I understand spiritual things to be: unconditional love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control and humility. Any time I allow selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear to be a part of me, I block out spiritual things. As I maintain my sobriety, growing spiritually becomes a lifelong process. My goal is spiritual growth, accepting that I'll never have spiritual perfection. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day We've got rid of our false, drinking selves and found our real, sober selves. And we turn to God, our Father, for help, just as the Prodigal Son arose and went to his father. At the end of the story, the father of the Prodigal Son says: "He was dead and is alive again, he was lost and he is found." We alcoholics who have found sobriety in A.A. were certainly dead and are alive again. We were lost and are found. Am I alive again? Meditation For The Day Gently breathe in God's spirit, that spirit which, if not barred out of selfishness, will enable you to do good works. This means rather that God will be enabled to do good works through you. You can become a channel for God's spirit to flow through you and into the lives of others. The works that you can do will only be limited by your spiritual development. Let your spirit be in harmony with God's spirit and there is no limit to what you can do in the realm of human relationships. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may become a channel for God's spirit. I pray that God's spirit may flow through me and into the lives of others. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Dependence--Unhealthy or Healthy, p. 72 "Nothing can be more demoralizing than a clinging and abject dependence upon another human being. This often amounts to the demand for a degree of protection and love that no one could possibly satisfy. So our hoped-for protectors finally flee, and once more we are left alone--either to grow up or to disintegrate." << << << >> >> >> We discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play God to our fellows, nor would we feel the urge to rely wholly on human protection and care. 1. Letter, 1966 2. 12 & 12, p. 116 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Believing In Justice____Justice "What goes around, comes around," is a popular saying. It's often used to suggest that certain arrogant, unprincipled people will eventually receive their comeuppance. It conveys the idea that there's a hidden justice at work in human affairs that assures all injustice will eventually be punished. But if it works to punish, this hidden justice also rewards right actions, and this is more important in our working of the program. If we act from good motives, we'll always find that our work is rewarded in some way. No alcoholic who performs a service in the fellowship goes unrewarded. Quite often the reward is simply a personal sense of well-being and growth in character, but these may be more important than money or recognition. Justice is one of the cardinal virtues--a Godlike attribute that human beings strive to understand. Believing in justice is believing in the Hidden Power that orders justice in all things. I'll view my world today as something that is controlled and ordered by a Just Power. Reward and retribution are built into the scheme of things, but I'll focus more on actions that bring the right kind of rewards. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple God loves the world through us---Mother Teresa In Step Three, we turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. How do we feel God's care, God's love? We feel God's care and love through how people treat us. Our Higher Power works through people who love us back to life. With time, we begin returning this care and love to others. We feel this warm love flow right through us and out to others. We're kind without trying to be. We smile at others for no reason. We comfort those who hurt just by holding them. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, use me to make Your love real to someone today. Action for the Day: Fear sometimes keeps me from loving. I'll list three things I'm afraid will happen if I'm "to loving." I'll share these fears with my sponsor. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning People need joy. Quite as much as clothing. Some of them need it far more. --Margaret Collier Graham Life is not without pain and travail. They are necessary to new awareness which prompts growth. And the gift of growth is joy. Pain and joy are thus intertwined. It is possible to feel only the burden of pain and not the exhilaration of joy, however. Before seeking help to change our lives, many of us were heavily burdened by pain. But we were unable to open ourselves to the knowledge made possible by that pain. We were on a treadmill, accumulating painful experiences at every step, unable to capture the joy that was ever present. We can have hope. Joy does await each of us today. We must open our eyes to it, just as we must open our hearts to one another. We must be willing to peel away the layers of pain to expose the core, the seedling of joy. And we need joy in our lives, just as surely as we need rest and a good diet. We need the light heart that joy fosters for a better perspective on the many experiences we'll face today, and every day. Recovery has given me this new option. It guarantees me that every hurdle will be lightened. The knowledge that joy is inherent, within every experience, is mine, now and forever. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES The chances are he would. Show him your copy of this book and tell him what you have found out about alcoholism. Show him that as alcoholics, the writers of the book understand. Tell him some of the interesting stories you have read. If you think he will be shy of a spiritual remedy, ask him to look at the chapter on alcoholism. Then perhaps he will be interested enough to continue. pp. 112-113 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." With characteristic intemperance, however, some of our newcomers cared not at all for secrecy. They wanted to shout A.A. from the housetops, and did. Alcoholics barely dry rushed about bright-eyed, buttonholing anyone who would listen to their stories. Others hurried to place themselves before microphones and cameras. Sometimes, they got distressingly drunk and let their groups down with a bang. They had changed from A.A. members into A.A. show-offs. p. 185 ************************************************** ********* The solution is simple. The solution is spiritual. You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of. --Jim Rohn "Happiness is not in our circumstances, but in ourselves." --John B. Sheerin "Nothing is worth more than this day." --Goethe "It is a sign of strength, not of weakness, to admit that you don't know all the answers." --John P. Lougbrane ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation BALANCE "There are two ways to slide easily through life: To believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking." -- Alfred Korzybski This statement is so true for me. I was so compulsive and obsessive not only about the things that I believed in but also about the things I didn't believe in. I was extreme. Everything I did was exaggerated. I either raced through life at ten thousand miles an hour or was in neutral. Balance was absent. Today I am developing balance in my life, more patience and more tolerance. I have discovered that my extremism was a mask by which I hid from life; I did not have to think, consider or ponder --- I simply reacted. Now I know that to believe in everything is to believe nothing; and to doubt everything is not to think. Life is "a many splendored thing" but it has a variety of options. God of the many, help me to discover You in the myriad of thoughts that life produces. ************************************************** ********* "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another." John 15:9-17 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Philippians 2:4 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Take care of your own emotional and spiritual needs first and it will become natural to reach out lovingly to others. Lord, I depend on Your help in every situation. Delighting in the happiness of others will make your heart too big for your body. Lord, help me set aside my jealousies and celebrate the blessings of others. Their blessings will then be a blessing for me too. |
March 14, 2014
Daily Reflections THE KEYSTONE He is the Father, and we are His children. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 62 A keystone is the wedge-shaped piece at the highest part of an arch that locks the other pieces in place. The "other pieces" are Steps One, Two, and Four through Twelve. In one sense this sounds like Step Three is the most important Step, that the other eleven depend on the third for support. In reality however, Step Three is just one of twelve. It is the keystone, but without eleven other stones to build the base and the arms, keystone or not, there will be no arch. Through working of all Twelve Steps, I find that triumphant arch waiting for me to pass through to another day of freedom. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Can I get well? If I mean: "Can I ever drink normally again," the answer is no. But if I mean, "Can I stay sober?" the answer is definitely yes. I can get well by turning my drink problem over to a Power greater than myself, that Divine Principle in the universe which we call God, and by asking that Power each morning to give me the strength to stay sober for the next twenty-four hours. I know from the experience of thousands of people that if I honestly want to get well, I can get well. Am I faithfully following the A.A. program? Meditation For The Day Persevere in all that God's guidance moves you to do. The persistent carrying out of what seems right and good will bring you to that place where you would be. If you look back over God's guidance, you will see that His leading has been very gradual and that only as you have carried out His wishes, as far as you can understand them, has God been able to give you more clear and definite leading. Man is led by God's touch on a quickened responsive mind. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may persevere in what seems right. I pray that I may carry out all of God's leading, as far as I can understand it. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Two-Way Tolerance, p. 73 "Your point of view was once mine. Fortunately, A.A. is constructed so that we need not debate the existence of God; but for best results, most of us must depend upon a Higher Power, and no right-minded A.A. would challenge your privilege to believe precisely that way. We should all be glad that good recoveries can be made even on this limited basis. "But turnabout is fair play. If you would expect tolerance for your point of view, I am sure you would be willing to reciprocate. I try to remember that, down through the centuries, lots of brighter people than I have been found on both sides of this debate about belief. For myself, of late years, I am finding it much easier to believe that God made man, than that man made God." Letter, 1966 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Living with depression___Mood management Getting sober is often only a first small step in getting well. Many recovering alcoholics must also face an underlying depression that seems to mock their efforts to attain real serenity. But sobriety does not cause the depression. It simply lays bare a condition that was present all along, but had been masked by repeated binges. It's probably true, too, that many of us used alcohol partly as a drug to combat depression because it temporarily lifted our mood and relieved our pain. One fact about depression is that it comes and goes; we can endure it partly by knowing that "this too shall pass." Another fact is that physical activity helps in copying with it. AA co-founder Bill W., victimized by profound depression even in his sober years, found that walking provided some relief, though he had to force himself to do it at times. A third fact about depression is that we can usually alleviate its effects by helping others and by staying close to AA circles, even when we're too depressed to contribute much. It's also helpful to discuss the problem with understanding friends and sponsors, or a therapist, if necessary. I'll believe today that I can maintain a good mood level that continues to build as I carry out my responsibilities and make AA first in my life. Depression may challenge me, but I don't have to give in to it. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Archie doesn't know how to worry without getting upset. --- Edith Bunker Most us are like Edith's television husband, Archie. When we worry, we get upset. Problems seem too big for us. We get afraid. We feel powerless. What does the program tell us to do when we feel powerless and our life is upset? We look at the problem honestly . Than we ask our Higher Power to help us with the problem. We take it One Day at a Time. We believe our Higher Power will take care of us and help. We'll have problems. That's life! But we can get through them with care and support. We don't have to get crazy. We don't have to make things worst. We can be kind to ourselves and live through problems just fine---with our Higher Powers help. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me do what I can today about my problems. Help me stop worrying. Action for the Day: If I have problems today, I'll do what I can---and leave the outcome to my Higher Power. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning The child is an almost universal symbol for the soul's transformation. The child is whole, not yet divided. . .when we would heal the mind. . .we ask this child to speak to us. --Susan Griffin Was there ever a time when we did not feel divided from ourselves? Occasionally we get a glimpse of what such spiritual wholeness would be like, but most of the time we struggle with feelings of conflict, unevenness, a divided heart. Perhaps, "the child" is a metaphor for a spiritual guide, like our own higher power, that can help us in our journey toward self-acceptance. "I may not be perfect, but parts of me are excellent," writes author Ashleigh Brilliant. If we can be happy with this proud, funny boast then perhaps we can stop berating ourselves for our imperfections. If we dwell on our own contradictory impulses, we give them too much important, too much power. Let me trust to my glimpses of harmony and wholeness and be grateful for the richness of my spirit. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES If he is enthusiastic your cooperation will mean a great deal. If he is lukewarm or thinks he is not an alcoholic, we suggest you leave him alone. Avoid urging him to follow our program. The seed has been planted in his mind. He knows that thousands of men, much like himself, have recovered. But don’t remind him of this after he has been drinking, for he may be angry. Sooner or later, you are likely to find him reading the book once more. Wait until repeated stumbling convinces him he must act, for the more you hurry him the longer his recovery may be delayed. p. 113 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." This phenomenon of contrast really set us thinking. Squarely before us was the question "How anonymous should an A.A. member be?" Our growth made it plain that we couldn't be a secret society, but it was equally plain that we couldn't be a vaudeville circuit, either. The charting of a safe path between these extremes took a long time. p. 185 ************************************************** ********* "Happiness is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it." --Anon. Courage can't see around corners, but goes around them anyway. --Mignon McLaughlin I have a capacity in my soul for taking in God entirely. I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and the presence of God. --Meister Eckhart Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble as when it forgoes revenge and dares to forgive injury. --Edwin Hubbel Chapin The gift of the Spirit is that we are God's children. --Rita Jorgensen ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation WINE "Wine that maketh glad the heart of man." -- Psalm 104:15 Every good thing can be abused and alcohol is no exception. Although most people are able to enjoy the fruits of the grape and the quality of their lives are enriched by good wine, not a few are destroyed by wine! Millions of people in this world are alcoholic. They did not want to be alcoholic but they are. Their lives and relationships are destroyed by alcohol. They need to stop drinking if they are to find "gladness" in their lives. Alcoholism is a disease that cannot be cured, but it can be arrested by giving up the grape! God can be appreciated in the grape, but He can also be experienced in the soda. We need to find new ways to be happy. Thank You for the precious gift of choice. ************************************************** ********* "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." Psalms 50:15 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalms 51:10 Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Proverbs 30:5 "For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Treat your family as you would treat a best friend. Lord, help me to treasure my family with all of their imperfections as well as my own and cherish the time we have together. Do not act as though you are watching a parade because we are each one of the marchers. Lord, things change so quickly. Help me to celebrate the constant newness of my life. |
March 15, 2014
Daily Reflections THE GOD IDEA When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 52 Like a blind man gradually being restored to sight, I slowly groped my way to the Third Step. Having realized that only a Power greater than myself could rescue me from the hopeless abyss I was in, I knew that this was a Power that I had to grasp, and that it would be my anchor in the midst of a sea of woes. Even though my faith at that time was minuscule, it was big enough to make me see that it was time for me to discard my reliance on my prideful ego and replace it with the steadying strength that could only come from a Power far greater than myself. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day We alcoholics were on a merry-go-round, going round and round, and we couldn't get off. That merry-go-round is a kind of hell on earth. In A.A. I got off that merry-go-round by learning to stay sober. I pray to that Higher Power every morning to help me to keep sober. And I get the strength from that Power to do what I could never do with my own strength. I do not doubt the existence of that Power. We're not speaking into a vacuum when we pray. That Power is there, if we will use it. Am I off the merry-go-round of drinking for good? Meditation For The Day I must remember that in spiritual matters I am only an instrument. It is not mine to decide how or when I am to act. God plans all spiritual matters. It is up to me to make myself fit to do God's work. All that hinders my spiritual activity must be eliminated. I can depend on God for all the strength I need to overcome those faults which are blocks. I must keep myself fit, so that God can use me as a channel for His spirit. Prayer For The Day I pray that my selfishness may not hinder my progress in spiritual matters. I pray that I may be a good instrument for God to work with. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Breach The Walls Of Ego, p. 74 People who are driven by pride of self unconsciously blind themselves to their liabilities. Newcomers of this sort scarcely need comforting. The problem is to help them discover a chink in the walls their ego has built, through which the light of reason can shine. << << << >> >> >> The attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each A.A.'s Twelve Steps. For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all. Nearly all A.A.'s have found, too, that unless they develop much more of this precious quality than may be required just for sobriety, they still haven't much chance of becoming truly happy. Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith that can meet any emergency. 12 & 12 1. p. 46 2. p. 70 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places The Secret of Detachment___Dealing with others. "Detaching with love" is what those close to alcoholics do when they realize they can't change them. The same principle should apply to any distressing situation, but how does it work? How can I detach from people who really bother me____ especially fellow workers, or perhaps a boss or customer? The secret of detachment is expressed in the biblical charge, "Resist not evil." We don't fight or resist the other person, or even try to change their behavior. We stop believing that the other person's behavior can really control us in the future. We become impersonal about something that was once highly charged with resentment and bitterness. At no point, however, do we say that the others' wrong behavior is all right, nor do we lie to ourselves about what the other is doing. Detachment does not mean that the outcome will be recovery or change for the other person. That sometimes happens, and we're grateful when it does. If we detach in the right way, however, the outcome will always be better than anything we could bring about by fighting the situation. We have to count an outcome favorable if we stay sober and under control in the midst of an insane situation. I will detach myself from conflicts with others if they arise today. I am not going to fight anything or anybody, and I know this will bring me closer to the ideal of living at peace with everybody. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple I never loved another person the way I loved myself.---Mae West This sums up how we used to live. We were in love with ourselves. We had to be on center stage. Our self-will ran riot. Recovery pulls us out of that world. We learn to focus on others. We learn to reach out to them with love. This is the best way to love ourselves. This doesn't mean that we live our lives through others. It means we invite others into our lives. It also means we ask to be invited into their lives. Recovery breaks down our self-will. It makes room for others in our lives. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I give You my self-will. I know You'll do better with it than me. Action for the Day: I'll list three ways my self-will has messed up my life. How am I doing at turning over these things to my Higher Power? ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Flattery is so necessary to all of us that we flatter one another just to be flattered in return. --Marjorie Bowen We are all deserving of unconditional love and acceptance. And all the people in our lives, past and present, deserve our unconditional love and acceptance, too. However, it's doubtful that we either feel it all of the time from others or give it away. It's human of us to find fault--to have expectations that are too high. But for this we pay a price. Instead of experiencing our lives serenely, contentedly, flowing with what is, we often criticize, judge, and feel generally disgruntled throughout the day. What a waste! We do have another choice, fortunately. We can let go and let God, and live and let live. Also we can recall, today and every day, that we are all special individuals in this world who are loved, fully, by our Creator. The greatest contribution we can make to the lives of others is to be affirming. We can let our spouse, children, and friends know we care about them. That we love and accept them. The love that we also long for will come back to us. We thrill at being affirmed. And we will thrill at affirming. It feels good to help another feel appreciated. Love and acceptance is my lifeline, from God around us all. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES If you have a number three husband, you may be in luck. Being certain he wants to stop, you can go to him with this volume as joyfully as though you had struck oil. He may not share your enthusiasm, but he is practically sure to read the book and he may go for the program at once. If he does not, you will probably not have long to wait. Again, you should not crowd him. Let him decide for himself. Cheerfully see him through more sprees. Talk about his condition or this book only when he raises the issue. In some cases it may be better to let someone outside the family urge action without arousing hostility. If your husband is otherwise a normal individual, your chances are good at this stage. p. 113 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." As a rule, the average newcomer wanted his family to know immediately what he was trying to do. He also wanted to tell others who had tried to help him--his doctor, his minister, and close friends. As he gained confidence, he felt it right to explain his new way of life to his employer and business associates. When opportunities to be helpful came along, he found he could talk easily about A.A. to almost anyone. These quiet disclosures helped him to lose his fear of the alcoholic stigma, and spread the news of A.A.'s existence in his community. Many a new man and woman came to A.A. because of such conversations. Though not in the strict letter of anonymity, such communications were well within its spirit. pp. 185-186 ************************************************** ********* Joy isn't the absence of pain - it's the presence of God. I am responsible. Although I may not be able to prevent the worst from happening, I am responsible for my attitude toward the inevitable misfortunes that darken life. Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have - life itself. --Walter Anderson "Remember the difference between a boss and a leader; a boss says 'Go!' - a leader says 'Let's go!'" --E.M. Kelly God backs me up, there is no greater power. I am safe. --SweetyZee If you listen carefully to what a child is saying to you, you'll see that he has a point to make. So I listen. And I answer them just as seriously as possible. And if I don't know the answer, I'll tell them I don't know. --Bill Cosby ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation THOUGHT "By thought I embrace the universal." -- Blaise Pascal My ability to think and communicate enables me not only to live in this world, but also to understand this world. Relationships are dependent upon me understanding my responsibilities --- and when I do not think, I am usually very irresponsible. Alcohol stopped me from thinking and behaving responsibly and created dishonesty in my life. Instead of feeling I belonged, I felt I was on the outside; instead of enjoying relationships, I was forever fighting and involved in bitter disputes; instead of enjoying the peace that comes from being a "child of God", I felt like an abandoned creature. My problem was alcohol, and I needed to do something about it. I did --- I stopped taking the first drink. Today I am alive in my life, alive in God's world and enjoying this universe. When I think clearly, I know I belong. ************************************************** ********* He [God] Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you." Hebrews 13:5 "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 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 1:4 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration To be rich is to have good friends, good health, and the energy to experience the many things that life offers. Lord, I rejoice in the true and most meaningful riches of my life. God will give you strength because He gives of Himself. Lord, bless us, deliver us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life. |
March 16, 2014
Daily Reflections AS WE UNDERSTAND HIM My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea . . . "Why don't you choose your own conception of God?" That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years. I stood in the sunlight at last. It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 12 I remember the times I looked up into the sky and reflected on who started it all, and how. When I came to A.A., an understanding of some description of the spiritual dimension became a necessary adjunct to a stable sobriety. After reading a variety of versions, including the scientific, of a great explosion, I went for simplicity and made the God of my understanding the Great Power that made the explosion possible. With the vastness of the universe under His command, He would, no doubt, be able to guide my thinking and actions if I was prepared to accept His guidance. But I could not expect help if I turned my back on that help and went my own way. I became willing to believe and I have had 26 years of stable and satisfying sobriety. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Before we decide to quit drinking, most of us have come up against a blank wall. We see that we're licked, that we have to quit. But we don't know which way to turn for help. There seems to be no door in that blank wall. A.A. opens the door that leads to sobriety. By encouraging us to honestly admit that we're alcoholics and to realize that we can't take even one drink, and by showing us which way to turn for help, A.A. opens the door in that blank wall. Have I gone through that door to sobriety? Meditation For The Day I must have a singleness of purpose to do my part in God's work. I must not let material distractions interfere with my job of improving personal relationships. It is easy to become distracted by material affairs, so that I lose my singleness of purpose. I do not have time to be concerned about the multifarious concerns of the world. I must concentrate and specialize on what I can do best. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may not become distracted by material affairs. I pray that I may concentrate on doing what I can do best. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Losing Financial Fears, p. 75 When a job still looked like a mere means of getting money rather than an opportunity for service, when the acquisition of money for financial independence looked more important than a right independence upon God, we were the victims of unreasonable fears. And these were fears which would make a serene and useful existence, at any financial level, quite impossible. But as time passed we found that with the help of A.A.'s Twelve Steps we could lose those fears, no matter what our material prospects were. We could cheerfully perform humble labor without worrying about tomorrow. If our circumstances happened to be good, we no longer dreaded a change for the worse, for we had learned that these troubles could be turned into great values, for ourselves and for others. 12 & 12, pp. 121-122 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Anger…. A dangerous weapon Self-control One reason some of us have trouble overcoming anger is that we've used it too often as an offensive weapon. It can be employed as an excuse to leave the house, it can bring an argument to an explosive end, and it can make others fearful and defensive. In the past this brought results of a sort, and helped reinforce the idea that anger works. The trouble with anger, though, is that it's destructive. Once angry, we hurt ourselves and we hurt others. Terrible things said in anger leave wounds that never heal, creating problems that lead to more anger. The AA program can show us that there is virtually no justification for anger, under any and all circumstances. If we sense it coming on, we have the choice of taking charge of our feelings. If we're angry over another's behavior, we can remember that anger might be a way of reacting, but it's not necessary in our lives. I'll make it through this day without a trace of anger. I'll frequently remind myself that anger is destructive and that my real purpose is to build a better life. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.---Oscar Wilde We all change. We learn, and change, and grow. We once made alcohol or other drugs our Higher Power. Perhaps we had other higher powers too---like money, gambling, food, or sex. But, it's never too late to be in touch with a true Higher Power. Each day we follow a false higher power, we aren't. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me put my life and will in Your hands today. Help me be a saint, just for today. Action for the Day: How have my ideas about saints and sinners changed since I got into a Twelve Step program? I'll talk with my sponsor about it today. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning True intimacy with another human being can only be experienced when you have found true peace within yourself. --Angela L. Wozniak Intimacy means disclosure--full expression of ourselves to another person. Nothing held back. All bared. There are risks, of course: rejection, criticism, perhaps ridicule. But the comfort we feel within is directly proportional to the peace we've come to know. Each day we commit ourselves to recovery, we find a little more peace. Each conversation we have with our higher power brings us a little more security. Each time we turn our full attention to another person's needs, we feel our own burdens lightened. Peace comes in stages. As we continue to accept our powerlessness, the depth of our peace increases. Turning more often to a power greater than ourselves eases our resistance to whatever condition prevails. Forgiving ourselves and others, daily, heightens our appreciation of all life and enhances our humility. Therein lies peace. We each are a necessary part of the creative spirit prevailing in this world. The details of our lives are well in hand. We can be at peace. Who we are is who we need to be. Intimacy lets me help someone else also live a full and peace-filled life. I will reach out to someone today. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES You would suppose that men in the fourth classification would be quite hopeless, but that is not so. Many of Alcoholics Anonymous were like that. Everybody had given them up. Defeat seemed certain. Yet often such men had spectacular and powerful recoveries. p. 113 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." But it became apparent that the word-of-mouth method was too limited. Our work, as such, needed to be publicized. The A.A. groups would have to reach quickly as many despairing alcoholics as they could. Consequently, many groups began to hold meetings which were open to interested friends and the public, so that the average citizen could see for himself just what A.A. was all about. The response to these meetings was warmly sympathetic. Soon, groups began to receive requests for A.A. speakers to appear before civic organizations, church groups, and medical societies. Provided anonymity was maintained on these platforms, and reporters present were cautioned against the use of names or pictures, the result was fine. p. 186 ************************************************** ********* Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens." --Carl Jung No matter how long a room is dark, turn on a light and the room brightens. Today marks a new beginning. You can claim a clean slate with God. --Mary Manin Morrissey The principle we are working with today is STILLNESS. It is accomplished through the act of meditation, which is stilling of the physical/conscious mind to all external stimuli. Continuous, contemplative thought given to truth. A steady effort of the mind to know and hear the voice of God from within the being. The act of not doing in an attempt to expand the awareness of being. When we quiet the conscious mind to hear the Divine presence. --Iyalna Vanzant Is my way of handling anger pleasing to God? --Marilyn Watson I Am Responsible . . . When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of A.A. always to be there. And for that: I am responsible. --Declaration of 30th Anniversary International Convention, 1965 As Bill Sees It, p. 332 ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation RISK "A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular." -- Adlai Stevenson Tough love requires that at times I must say or do things that make me "unpopular". That is part of the spiritual risk of loving: to be popular is not always to be right! As an alcoholic I was a people-pleaser; concerned with saying what people wanted to hear, do what people expected, remain silent rather than cause upsets. I was afraid that if I said what I really thought, I might be rejected. My self-esteem was secondary to what other people thought of me. Today in my sobriety I love myself enough to say what I believe and do what I consider right. I refuse to remain silent when confronted with injustice or the addictions of others. My spiritual program risks the possibility of being unpopular. Teach me to always say and do what I believe to be true. ************************************************** ********* "For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does." Psalm 33:4 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. 1 Chronicles 29:11 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger. Ephesians 4:26 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Prayer turns the attention from ourselves to God and helps us see His hand working in our lives. Lord, You give me reasons for a daily commitment to achieving a full and energetic life. Allow the power of God to work within you because He is able to accomplish far more than we can dream. Lord, Your spirit empowers me. May I do Your Will and always give glory to You. |
March 17, 2014
Daily Reflections MYSTERIOUS WAYS . . . out of every season of grief or suffering, when the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered, and that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God does "move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform." TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105 After losing my career, family and health, I remained unconvinced that my way of life needed a second look. My drinking and other drug use were killing me, but I had never met a recovering person or an A.A. member. I thought I was destined to die alone and that I deserved it. At the peak of my despair, my infant son became critically ill with a rare disease. Doctors' efforts to help him proved useless. I redoubled my efforts to block my feelings, but now the alcohol had stopped working. I was left staring into God's eyes, begging for help. My introduction to A.A. came within days, through an odd series of coincidences, and I have remained sober ever since. My son lived and his disease is in remission. The entire episode convinced me of my powerlessness and the unmanageability of my life. Today my son and I thank God for his intervention. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day A. A. also helps us to hang onto sobriety. By having regular meetings so that we can associate with other alcoholics who have come through that same door in the wall, by encouraging us to tell the story of our own sad experiences with alcohol, and by showing us how to help other alcoholics. A.A. keeps us sober. Our attitude toward life changes from one of pride and selfishness to one of humility and gratitude. Am I going to step back through that door in the wall to my old helpless, hopeless, drunken life? Meditation For The Day Withdraw into the calm of communion with God. Rest in that calm and peace. When the soul finds its home of rest in God, then it is that real life begins. Only when you are calm and serene can you do good work. Emotional upsets make you useless. The eternal life is calmness and when a man enters into that, then he lives as an eternal being. Calmness is based on complete trust in God. Nothing in this world can separate you from the love of God. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may wear the world like a loose garment. I pray that I may keep serene at the center of my being. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Only God Is Unchanging, p. 76 "Change is the characteristic of all growth. From drinking to society, from dishonesty to honesty, from conflict to serenity, from hate to love, from childish independence to adult responsibility--all this and infinitely more represent change for the better. "Such changes are accomplished by a belief in and a practice of sound principles. Here we must needs discard bad or ineffective principles in favor of good ones that work. Even good principles can sometimes be displaced by the discovery of still better ones. "Only God is unchanging; only He has all the truth there is." Letter, 1966 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Is it Easy? Practicing principles There's no "softer, easier way," we're told. If so, why are we also urged to embrace the slogan "Easy Does it?" Which is right? Both are right, because they express two different ideas. The softer, easier way doesn't work because it grows out of self-deception and falls short of a thorough working of the program. "Easy Does it" works because it describes an approach to action that is relaxed, confident, and careful. The person seeking an easier, softer way usually avoids taking some of the steps that are considered necessary in maintaining sobriety. It's a way of trying to win without doing sufficient work. The person following the "Easy Does it" principle pays attention to every detail, but carries on without reasonable haste or excessive loafing. In a spiritual sense, "Easy Does it" also means letting the Higher Power carry the load. At all times, however, we must continue to make choices and bear responsibility for our actions. I'll be relaxed and confident while carrying on a full day's activity. There is always time to do things the right way. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Skill to do comes of doing.---Ralph Waldo Emerson Often, we just want to sit and do nothing. And why not. We go to meetings, work the Twelve Steps, read, make new friends. All this takes energy and means taking risk. Haven't we earned the right to just sit and take it a break from it all? No! In the past, we avoided life. Now we're becoming people of action. We take risk. We're becoming people who get involved in life. We practice caring about people and caring about ourselves. At times, we may complain, but we do what is needed to stay sober. We gain skills by doing. why? We do it to save our lives. How? By trusting. We now trust that our Higher Power and friends will be there for us. They will help us push past our fears. As we practice daily how to stay sober, our skills grow. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, Yours is a spirit of action. Allow me to become skilled at being active. Action for the Day: Today, I'll work at being active and alive. Maybe I'll start a new friendship or try a new meeting. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning. A woman who is loved always has success. --Vicki Baum Being loved, and knowing that we are loved, assures us of our connection to the world outside of ourselves. It affirms us as participants in the bigger picture. And all of us need to know that we count--that what we say and do matters to others--that we are contributing in an important way. Often we feel unloved, however. And we search for love. We may have begged for love and still didn't feel it. We have probably become very self-centered in our search. Fortunately, the program helps us to give love to others; the paradox is that love is returned, tenfold. The wonders of love are many. Love is a healing balm for wounds. And it nurtures, both the one loving and the one loved. Love is an energizer. It spurs us on to successes in work and in play. Love multiplies. If we aren't feeling loved, we can love someone else--and love will visit us, too. We can help the women in our lives find the successes they deserve. The confidence to tackle new situations is packaged in the gift of love. We need to help one another count. My love of another is a contributing factor in her success. Her loving gratitude will enhance my own endeavors. I will take a moment, today, with a friend who needs my love. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES There are exceptions. Some men have been so impaired by alcohol that they cannot stop. Sometimes there are cases where alcoholism is complicated by other disorders. A good doctor or psychiatrist can tell you whether these complications are serious. In any event, try to have your husband read this book. His reaction may be one of enthusiasm. If he is already committed to an institution, but can convince you and your doctor that he means business, give him a chance to try our method, unless the doctor thinks his mental condition too abnormal or dangerous. We make this recommendation with some confidence. For years we have been working with alcoholics committed to institutions. Since this book was first published, A.A. has released thousands of alcoholics from asylums and hospitals of every kind. The majority have never returned. The power of God goes deep! p. 114 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." Then came our first few excursions into major publicity, which were breathtaking. Cleveland's Plain Dealer articles about us ran that town's membership from a few into hundreds overnight. The news stories of Mr. Rockefeller's dinner for Alcoholics Anonymous helped double our total membership in a year's time. Jack Alexander's famous Saturday Evening Post piece made A.A. a national institution. Such tributes as these brought opportunities for still more recognition. Other newspapers and magazines wanted A.A. stories. Film companies wanted to photograph us. Radio, and finally television, besieged us with requests for appearances. What should we do? pp. 186-187 ************************************************** ********* He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe. --Marcus Aurelius I have learned what a heart full of gratitude feels like. If you make yourself a doormat, you will be stepped on. --American Proverb The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. --Marcel Proust The Way isn't something that can be put into words. You have to practice before you can understand. You can't force things, including practice. Understanding is something that happens naturally. It's different for everyone. The main thing is to reduce your desires and quiet your mind. --Master Hsueh Within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty; to which every part and every particle is equally related; the eternal One. --Ralph Waldo Emerson ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation SAINTS "The saints are the sinners who keep on going." -- Robert Louis Stevenson At times I do not want to carry on; I do not want to fight anymore for truth and freedom; it seems so much easier to "give up " and agree with everybody --- but I know, deep inside myself, this is not true. At times the disease speaks to me and tells me to "give up" and everything will be okay --- perhaps have one drink, don't rush off to so many meetings, get what you can when you can! It all sounds so tempting, but I know that it does not work. Sobriety works! The struggle and pain to act responsibly in my life is paying off and it does get better. I am not going to give up. My life is worth more than a quick fix! Lord, let me know that true courage is working through the pain. ************************************************** ********* "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." Psalms 55:22 "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You." Psalms 56:3 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10 Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." John 15:12-13 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration We have been given a treasure of talents which should be accepted with responsibility and gratitude. Lord, may my gifts flourish in great faith and charity so that they may also benefit others. Love who you are, for who you are, God loves. Lord, help me to never abuse myself with self pity or excess, emotionally or physically, so that I may live my life to the fullest according to Your Will. |
March 18, 2014
Daily Reflections REAL INDEPENDENCE The more we become willing to depend upon a Higher Power, the more independent we actually are. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 36 I start with a little willingness to trust God and He causes that willingness to grow. The more willingness I have, the more trust I gain, and the more trust I gain, the more willingness I have. My dependence on God grows as my trust in Him grows. Before I became willing, I depended on myself for all my needs and I was restricted by my incompleteness. Through my willingness to depend upon my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God, all my needs are provided for by Someone Who knows me better than I know myself - even the needs I may not realize, as well as the ones yet to come, bring me to be myself and to help me fill the need in someone else that only I am meant to fill. There never will be another exactly like me. And that is real independence. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day When alcoholics first come into A.A. and we face the fact that we must spend the rest of our life without liquor, it often seems like an impossibility for us. So A.A. tells us to forget about the future and take it one day at a time. All we really have is now. We have no past time and no future time. As the saying goes: "Yesterday is gone, forget it; tomorrow never comes, don't worry; today is here, get busy." All we have is the present. The past is gone forever and the future never comes. When tomorrow gets here, it will be today. Am I living one day at a time? Meditation For The Day Persistence is necessary if you are to advance in spiritual things. By persistent prayer, persistent firm and simple trust, you achieve the treasures of the spirit. By persistent practice, you can eventually obtain joy, peace, assurance, security, health, happiness and serenity. Nothing is too great, in the spiritual realm, for you to obtain, if you persistently prepare yourself for it. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may persistently carry out my spiritual exercises every day. I pray that I may strive for peace and serenity. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It R.S.V.P.--Yes or No?, p. 77 Usually, we do not avoid a place where there is drinking--if we have a legitimate reason for being there. That includes bars, night clubs, dances, receptions, weddings, even plain ordinary parties. You will note that we made an important qualification. Therefore, ask yourself, "Have I any good social, business, or personal reason for going to this place? Or am I expecting to steal a little vicarious pleasure from the atmosphere?" Then go or stay away, whichever seems better. But be sure you are on solid spiritual ground before you start and that your motive in going is thoroughly good. Do not think of what you will get out of the occasion. Think of what you can bring to it. If you are shaky, you had better work with another alcoholic instead! Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 101-102 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Should everybody like me? Personal Relations. In AA discussions, the term "people pleasers" doesn't fare very well. When people say they are people-pleasers, they're acknowledging that it's also a problem It's a problem because it reflects a desire to have everybody's acceptance and approval…… to be universally liked. But from what we know about human relationships, this is not possible. No matter how hard we work to be pleasant and likable, some people may still detest us for reasons we cannot understand. When that happens, we should not blame ourselves or step up our efforts to them and to avoid giving offense in any way, while accepting the fact that they do not like us. If our own behavior is mature and reasonable, even the people who don't like us will at least respect us. That may be the best we can hope for , and it is certainly far better than shameless people pleasing. In the end, people-pleasers don't please anybody and, as a famous comedian notes about himself, they "get no respect." I'll try hard to be pleasant and cordial to everyone I meet today. If some people do not respond in the same way. I'll accept this without feeling hurt or betrayed. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Money cost to much.---Ross MacDonald Many people are poor and really need money to live better. But we're in trouble if we think money will solve all our problems. If money solved all problems, all rich people would be happy. Consider this: A man talks about his shortcomings in a Twelve Step meeting. He says his main shortcoming is to think being happy means having enough money. But then he says that he has over a million dollars! This man is lucky---not because he has money, but because he knows greed is a shortcoming. He knows he has a spiritual problem. He doesn't need money; he needs faith in a Higher Power. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to really believe I'll be given what I need. This will free me to get on with life. Action for the Day: Today, I'll read over the promises of the program. They are found at the bottom of page 83 at the top of the page of page 84 in the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, Third Edition. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression. --Dodie Smith Depression feeds on itself. With attention it worsens, but there are places for our attention. We can move our focus to a woman who is close by, a woman who is struggling to determine her direction in life. We can offer our ears. Or we can observe attentively, today, all the women, children, and men we see on the streets. When we notice their expressions, we realize they, too, may be suffering. Doing something for someone else will lessen our own problems, no matter what the cause. In fact, just doing something will lift our spirits. Depression becomes habitual, and habits, even those that are detrimental, are easy to hang onto. When we take an action, even a small one, we can note the change: Action that benefits another is guaranteed to benefit us as well. Depression does get worse with self-pitying attention; however, attention to ourselves that is nurturing has its place. We can pamper ourselves, but not pity ourselves. Pampering reflects approval, caring, self-respect; three attitudes inconsistent with depression. Even more than inconsistent, pampering and depression are incongruent. Depression must be coddled to maintain it. It's my choice to move beyond it at any moment. I can put something besides my problem at my center today and enjoy the results. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES You may have the reverse situation on your hands. Perhaps you have a husband who is at large, but who should be committed. Some men cannot or will not get over alcoholism. When they become too dangerous, we think the kind thing to do is to lock them up, but of course a good doctor should always be consulted. The wives and children of such men suffer horrible, but not more than the men themselves. But sometimes you must start life anew. We know women who have done it. If such women adopt a spiritual way of life their road will be smoother. p. 114 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." As this tide offering top public approval swept in, we realized that it could do us incalculable good or great harm. Everything would depend upon how it was channeled. We simply couldn't afford to take the chance of letting self-appointed members present themselves as messiahs representing A.A. before the whole public. The promoter instinct in us might be our undoing. If even one publicly got drunk, or was lured into using A.A.'s name for his own purposes, the damage might be irreparable. At this altitude (press, radio, films, and television), anonymity--100 percent anonymity--was the only possible answer. Here, principles would have to come before personalities, without exception. p. 187 ************************************************** ********* Today, God, help me know I am being guided into what's good about life, especially when I feel confused and without direction. Help me trust enough to wait until my mind and vision are clear and consistent. Help me know that clarity will come. --Melody Beattie "The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own." -- Disraeli I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. -- Louisa May Alcott We can be whole persons, even if we are not physically healthy. --Bonnie Marie Tincher I am always willing to learn, however I do not always like to be taught. --Winston Churchill Faith and Love mixed with Works is so important for a person to not lose Hope. --Sprintin ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation HUMOR "Humor may be defined as the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life and the artistic impression thereof . . . The essence of humor is human kindliness." -- Stephen Leacock Humor for me is a key to balance. In the joke I am able to release some tension or frustration and cope with my disease of alcoholism. When I drank, I did not have a genuine sense of humor --- rather it was sarcasm, cruel "put-downs" or insane expressions of my manic personality. My fun was created at the expense of others. It was a form of violence. It kept people away from me and created a loneliness in my life. Today I seek to use humor as an expression of acceptance, tolerance, understanding and forgiveness. Humor is an aspect of my spiritual program. In humor I experience God. Give me the gift of humor that reflects the dignity and hope for us all. ************************************************** ********* In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? Psalms 56:4 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. Psalms 57:1 Paul wrote, "I can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration When God answers prayer, He gives us the right answer. Lord, my greatest strength comes when I trust in You. Have the strength to do what is right regardless of the consequences. Lord, show me Your way so that I may walk in Your truth. |
March 19, 2014
Daily Reflections PRAYER: IT WORKS It has been well said that "almost the only scoffers at prayer are those who never tried it enough." TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 97 Having grown up in an agnostic household, I felt somewhat foolish when I first tried praying. I knew there was a Higher Power working in my life -- how else was I staying sober? -- but I certainly wasn't convinced he/she/it wanted to hear my prayers. People who had what I wanted said prayer was an important part of practicing the program, so I persevered. With a commitment to daily prayer, I was amazed to find myself becoming more serene and comfortable with my place in the world. In other words, life became easier and less of a struggle. I'm still not sure who, or what, listens to my prayers, but I'd never stop saying them for the simple reason that they work. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day When we were drinking, we used to be ashamed of the past. Remorse is terrible mental punishment: ashamed of ourselves for the things we've said and done, afraid to face people because of what they might think of us, afraid of the consequences of what we did when we were drunk. In A.A. we forget about the past. Do I believe that God has forgiven me for everything I've done in the past, no matter how black it was, provided I'm honestly trying to do the right thing today? Meditation For The Day God's spirit is all about you all day long. You have no thoughts, no plans, no impulses, no emotions, that He does not know about. You can hide nothing from Him. Do not make your conduct conform only to that of the world and do not depend on the approval or disapproval of others. God sees in secret, but He rewards openly. If you are in harmony with the Divine Spirit, doing your best to live the way you believe God wants you to live, you will be at peace. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may always feel God's presence. I pray that I may realize this Presence constantly all through the day. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Clearing A Channel, p. 78 During the day, we can pause where situations must be met and decisions made, and renew the simple request "Thy will, not mine, be done." If at these points our emotional disturbances happens to be great, we will more surely keep our balance provided we remember, and repeat to ourselves, a particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to us in our reading or meditation. Just saying it over and over will often enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of all--our search for God's will, not our own, in the moment of stress. 12 & 12, pp. 102-103 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Where is God? Guidance. AA members have always had a difficult time explaining the "God business". We didn't want to be considered religious, but at the same time we've always believed some contact with a Higher Power is necessary for real personal growth. There's nothing wrong… for our purposes… in simply visualizing God as a Higher Power that has always been within us and around us. "Before they call, I will answer," goes an old saying, and that was true even in our darkest days. Many of us also believe that a higher power helped bring AA into being and move it along to become a worldwide force for good. But God works in ways that can seem to come from change or coincidence. Quite often, we'll find that little events had far-reaching results in our lives. When we review how such things happened, we should not conclude that this happens only to certain "special" people. All human beings are part of God's creation and can avail themselves of guidance and direction. The more serious problem is that guidance and direction are sometimes ignored or rejected. I'll go about my affairs today with the knowledge that my Higher Power is making the important decisions in my life. I'll come out about where God wants me to be. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Speak when you're angry and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret. Lawrence J. Peter When we used alcohol or other drugs, most of us were hotheads. We thought we were right. If we were proven wrong, we may have made life hell for everyone. People knew enough to stay away from us. In recovery, things will still go badly at times. We'll get hurt. And we'll get angry. But now, we turn our anger to our Higher Power. In our groups, we talk about what makes us angry. Then we leave the anger behind when the meeting is over. We find that being at peace is now more important than getting even. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, when I'm angry, help me slow down, Help me remember it's okay to be angry, but its not okay to abuse people. Action for the Day: I will remember a time when I turned anger, into rage and hurt someone. I will also remember a time I was angry in a respectful way. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning I realized a long time ago that a belief which does not spring from a conviction in the emotions is no belief at all. --Evelyn Scott >From pillar to post we bounced, most of us not knowing what we actually believed about nearly any situation before getting to this program. Perhaps we believed what was most convenient at the time because of the people we were with. And maybe we jumped the fence quickly when in a new setting. Values were sometimes talked about but not defined, and certainly not adhered to. It's difficult to develop a strong sense of self, to have a very secure self-image when the parameters offered by a value system are lacking. Our values define who we are. They offer us direction when making choices. They quietly demand that we behave responsibly. Living in concert with our values brings peace to our souls. Gone are the days when we rode first one fence and then another, never knowing what side of any issue we honestly believed in. The program has offered us a plan for living, a plan that erases the many uncertainties, the inner turmoil of past years. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES If your husband is a drinker, you probably worry over what other people are thinking and you hate to meet your friends. You draw more and more into yourself and you think everyone is talking about conditions at your home. You avoid the subject of drinking, even with your own parents. You do not know what to tell your children. When your husband is bad, you become a trembling recluse, wishing the telephone had never been invented. pp. 114-115 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Twelve - "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." These experiences taught us that anonymity is real humility at work. It is an all-pervading spiritual quality which today keynotes A.A. life everywhere. Moved by the spirit of anonymity, we try to give up our natural desires for personal distinction as A.A. members both among fellow alcoholics and before the general public. As we lay aside these very human aspirations, we believe that each of us takes part in the weaving of a protective mantle which covers our whole Society and under which we may grow and work in unity. We are sure that humility, expressed by anonymity, is the greatest safeguard that Alcoholics Anonymous can ever have. p. 187 ************************************************** ********* "All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to receive help from other people." -Alexis Carrel, Reflections on Life Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. --Helen Keller "If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect yourself." --Fyodor Dostoyevsky "A closed mouth gathers no feet." --Anon. We cannot think our way into sober living. We live our way into sober thinking. We in AA don't carry the alcoholic; we carry the message. Listening feeds the spirit. When I am too busy to pray - I am just too busy. ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation MADNESS "Sanity is madness put to good use." -- George Santayana I heard the phrase "make the disease work for you". It made a great deal of sense to me and still does. I am a recovering alcoholic. My alcoholism is still within me and every day I take the necessary steps to stay sober. My disease is that "mad" part of me that wants to destroy my life, relationships and understanding of God. What I need to do is accept my "madness" and turn it around so that it works for me. My suffering is the key to my spiritual growth. My anger and manipulation helps me to understand the imperfections of others. My powerlessness over alcohol give me an understanding of humility that is based on reality. The acceptance of my "madness" keeps me sane! O God, give me the sanity to accept my imperfections so that I can grow into the "best" that I can be. ************************************************** ********* "From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." Psalms 61:2 Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalms 141:3 Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:1 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration When you meet God in prayer, everything becomes new. Lord, may I be humbly joyful in my faith. Take less for granted and you will become very busy enjoying all that you have. Lord, thank you for my blessings and for all those that I am able to share them with. |
March 20, 2014
Daily Reflections LOVE AND TOLERANCE Love and tolerance of others in our code. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84 I have found that I have to forgive others in all situations to maintain any real spiritual progress. The vital importance of forgiving may not be obvious to me at first sight, but my studies tell me that every great spiritual teacher has insisted strongly upon it. I must forgive injuries, not just in words, or as a matter of form, but in my heart. I do this not for the other persons' sake, but for my own sake. Resentment, anger, or a desire to see someone punished, are things that rot my soul. Such things fasten my troubles to me with chains. They tie me to other problems that have nothing to do with my original problem. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day When we were drinking, we used to worry about the future. Worry is terrible mental punishment. What's going to become of me? Where will I end up? In the gutter or the sanitarium? We can see ourselves slipping, getting worse and worse, and we wonder what the finish will be. Sometimes we get so discouraged in thinking about the future that we toy with the idea of suicide. In A.A. have I stopped worrying about the future? Meditation For The Day Functioning on a material plane alone takes me away from God. I must also try to function on a spiritual plane. Functioning on a spiritual plane as well as on a material plane will make life what it should be. All material activities are valueless in themselves alone. But all activities, seemingly trivial or of seemingly great moment, are all alike if directed by God's guidance. I must try to obey God as I would expect a faithful, willing servant to carry out directions. Prayer For The Day I pray that the flow of God's spirit may come to me through many channels. I pray that I may function on a spiritual plane as well as on a material plane. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Whose Responsibility?, p. 79 "An A.A. group, as such, cannot take on all the personal problems of its members, let alone those of nonalcoholics in the world around us. The A.A. group is not, for example, a mediator of domestic relations, nor does it furnish personal financial aid to anyone. "Though a member may sometimes be helped in such matters by his friends in A.A., the primary responsibility for the solutions of all his problems of living and growing rests squarely upon the individual himself. Should an A.A. group attempt this sort of help, its effectiveness and energies would be hopelessly dissipated. "This is why sobriety--freedom from alcohol--through the teaching and practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, is the sole purpose of the group. If we don't stick to this cardinal principle, we shall almost certainly collapse. And if we collapse we cannot help anyone." Letter, 1966 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Think, Think, Think Prudence. It's hard to believe, but some AA members insist that newcomers shouldn't think. "Whoever said you should think?" some members are told. The newcomer is apparently supposed to suspend all thinking for several months until reaching a certain level of recovery. This is nonsense, and it also contradicts AA teaching. If we don't want people to use their heads, why do we have printed cards on meeting room walls that say, "Think, Think, Think"? We are always capable of thinking, even in moments of deep despair. Indeed, we could not keep from thinking. A constructive approach to thinking is to form complete sentences from the slogan on the wall: THINK what might happen if I take one drink. THINK of the wonderful new life that awaits me in sobriety. THINK about ways of improving myself and following a more satisfactory lifestyle. It's also important to remember that good thinking will drive out bad thinking…. But good thinking has to be cultivated. I'll keep my thinking centered today on the good things that can be done in life. I'll focus my attention only on matters that are under my control, and I know that better thinking will bring better conditions. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years of trying to get other people interested in you. ---Dale Carnegie We wanted friends, but our addiction wanted all our attention. We had no time to be close to others. Well, stand aside, addiction! The program has taught us that others are important. Our purpose is to help others. People have become what’s important to us. Now we listen to others. We help them do what they want to do, not what we want them to do. We help people instead of use them. Friendship is now a way of life. And another promise of the program becomes a part of us. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to know that I’m here to help others, not just myself. Through others, I find myself. Today’s’ Action: Today I’ll help someone the way he or she wants to be helped. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning There's a period of life where we swallow a knowledge of ourselves and it becomes either good or sour inside. --Pearl Bailey For too many of us, feelings of shame, even self-hatred, are paramount. No one of us has a fully untarnished past. Every man, every woman, even every child experiences regret over some action. We are not perfect. Perfection is not expected in the Divine plan. But we are expected to take our experiences and grow from them, to move beyond the shame of them, to celebrate what they have taught us. Each day offers us a fresh start at assimilating all that we have been. What has gone before enriches who we are now, and through the many experiences we've survived, we have been prepared to help others, to smooth the way for another woman, perhaps, who is searching for a new direction. We can let go of our shame and know instead that it sweetens the nuggets of the wisdom we can offer to others. We are alike. We are not without faults. Our trials help another to smoother sailing. I will relish the joy at hand. I can share my wisdom. All painful pasts brighten someone's future, when openly shared. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES We find that most of this embarrassment is unnecessary. While you need not discuss your husband at length, you can quietly let your friends know the nature of his illness. But you must be on guard not to embarrass or harm your husband. p. 115 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Foreword Alcoholics Anonymous is a worldwide fellowship of more than one hundred thousand* alcoholic men and women who are banded together to solve their common problems and to help fellow sufferers in recovery from that age-old, baffling malady, alcoholism. *In 1998, it is estimated that nearly two million have recovered through A.A. p. 15 ************************************************** ********* "There is only one small letter between the words CAN and CAN'T...and that one letter will TOTALLY change your destiny." -–Doug Firebaugh Happiness is intrinsic, it's an internal thing. When you build it into yourself, no external circumstances can take it away. That kind of happiness is a twenty-four-hour thing. --Leo F. Buscaglia God, if I can't see the joy in life, help me look again. --Melody Beattie Now and then I like to lift my eyes up from the details of daily life and remember the bigger picture, and take a breath of God, and feel and remember that ultimately, it's all okay. --Dan Millman God wants us to give from the heart when we see a need. --Nancy Shelton ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation APATHY "Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all --- the apathy of human beings." -- Helen Keller I read today of a woman who ate herself to death. Friends and family when interviewed said, "She simply didn't seem to care." She had stuffed her feelings for so long that she had forgotten what they were; she had lost her spirituality. Apathy kills people. So long as people do nothing, the disease of addiction gets worse and more victims are claimed. Apathy feeds ignorance because it stops activity; apathy stops life. The antidote for apathy is spirituality. The spiritual person is alive with positive attitudes and creative hope --- he is infectious. People are challenged to discover a meaning to life in their own lives. Hope produces recovery; recovery produces a message that must be shared; in the message is the miracle of life. I pray that in the face of apathy I can discover hope. ************************************************** ********* "He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved." Psalms 62:2 "For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7 When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets. Matthew 6:2 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration To run the life's race successfully we must run toward life, not away from it. Lord, bless me with the courage to meet my challenges as they happen and never allow fear to set up roadblocks. No one can live for himself alone for then he will have no purpose in life. To give of self is one of life's greatest joys and blesses us with a full and rich life. Lord, help me to be selfless and loving to those around me. |
March 21, 2014
Daily Reflections MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING Fear... of economic insecurity will leave us. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84 Having fear reduced or eliminated and having economic circumstances improve, are two different things. When I was new in A.A., I had those two ideas confused. I thought fear would leave me only when I started making money. However, another line from the Big Book jumped off the page one day when I was chewing on my financial difficulties: "For us, material well-being always followed spiritual progress; it never preceded."(p. 127). I suddenly understood that this promise was a guarantee. I saw that it put priorities in the correct order, that spiritual progress would diminish that terrible fear of being destitute, just as it diminished many other fears. Today I try to use the talents God gave me to benefit others. I've found that is what others valued all along. I try to remember that I no longer work for myself. I only get the use of the wealth God created, I never have "owned" it. My life's purpose is much clearer when I just work to help, not to possess. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day In A.A. we forget about the future. We know from experience that as time goes on, the future takes care of itself. Everything works out well, as long as we stay sober. All we need to think about is today. When we get up in the morning and see the sun shining in the window, we thank God that He has given us another day to enjoy because we're sober. A day in which we may have a chance to help somebody. Do I know that this day is all I have and that with God's help I can stay sober today? Meditation For The Day All is fundamentally well. That does not mean that all is well on the surface of things. But it does mean that God's in His heaven and that He has a purpose for the world, which will eventually work out when enough human beings are willing to follow His way. "Wearing the world as a loose garment" means not to be upset by the surface wrongness of things, but to feel deeply secure in the fundamental goodness and purpose in the universe. Prayer For The Day I pray that God may be with me in my journey through the world. I pray that I may know that God is planning that journey. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Debits and Credits, p. 80 Following a gossip binge, we can well ask ourselves these questions: "Why did we say what we did? Were we only trying to be helpful and informative? Or were we not trying to feel superior by confessing the other fellow's sins? Or, because of fear and dislike, were we not really aiming to damage him?" This would be an honest attempt to examine ourselves, rather than the other fellow. << << << >> >> >> Inventory-taking is not always done in red ink. It's a poor day indeed when we haven't done something right. As a matter of fact, the waking hours are usually well filled with things that are constructive. Good intentions, good thoughts, and good acts are there for us to see. Even when we tried hard and failed, we may chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all. 1. Grapevine, August 1961 2. 12 & 12, p. 93 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Living One Day at a Time Time management It's surprising that some alcoholics learn how to "live one day at a time" while drinking. It had to work that way, or their drinking life would have been even more intolerable. It was convenient to shut off thoughts of tomorrow if one had enough money to drink today. It was also convenient to blot out thoughts of yesterday, which only meant remorse. In sobriety, living one day at a time is an excellent way to focus our minds so we can pour our energies into the work at hand. In reviewing the wasted yesterdays, we can always find ways that we could have been more productive and effective. But we missed opportunities because we were still struggling with regrets or fearing what might happen in the future. It's never too late to change all that. We need neither regret the past nor fear the future. The AA secret is to make the best of today's challenges. It may mean just chipping away at a massive problem that seems insurmountable. Living just for today, we can do today's job well. I'll live comfortably and happily in the here and now. This means releasing the past and accepting the future as something I'll deal with at the proper time. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple With each sunrise, we start anew. ----Anonymous Like a tree, our life depends on new growth. There are many ways to bring new ideas and growth into our lives. We can attend Twelve Step retreats. We can study books and tapes on spirituality. We can attend different Twelve Step meetings. But our spiritual newness may not just come from the Twelve Steps. We can do volunteer work or be active in other types of groups. We need to invite new ideas into our lives. We need to stay open to change. It doesn’t matter what renews our spiritual growth. What matters is that we keep our spiritual lives fresh and growing. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, spring is one of the four seasons. Help me feel like spring. Help me to be strong but not stuck Help me be firm yet open to spiritual growth. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll try to do something new. When I get stuck or stubborn, I’ll see that it’s due to my fear of trying new ideas. ************************************************** ********* Each Day A New Beginning Children are surely one of God's greatest gifts and truest challenges. To share your life with a child is to humble yourself so that you may learn from them and discover with them the beautiful secrets that are only uncovered in searching. --Kathleen Tierney Crilly Humility accompanies every experience wherein we let ourselves fully listen to others, to learn from them, to be changed by their words, their presence. Each opportunity we take to be fully present to another person, totally with them in mind and spirit, will bless us while it blesses them. Offering and receiving the gift of genuine attention is basic to the emotional growth of every human being. Before recovering, many of us so suffered from obsessive self-centered pity that we seldom noted the real needs or pain of the people close to us. We closed ourselves off, wallowing in our own selfish worries, and our growth was stunted. Some days we still wallow. But a new day has dawned. The Steps offer us new understanding. They are helping us look beyond ourselves to all the "children of God" in our daily lives. From each of them we have many secrets to learn. I will be joyous today. Many secrets about life are mine to learn if I will stay close to all the people who cross my path. I will be mindful they are there because they have something to give me. I will be ready to receive it. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES When you have carefully explained to such people that he is a sick person, you will have created a new atmosphere. Barriers which have sprung up between you and your friends will disappear with the growth of sympathetic understanding. You will no longer be self-conscious or feel that you must apologize as though your husband were a weak character. He may be anything but that. Your new courage, good nature and lack of self-consciousness will do wonders for you socially. p. 115 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Foreword This book deals with the "Twelve Steps" and the "Twelve Traditions" of Alcoholics Anonymous. It presents an explicit view of principles by which A.A. members recover and by which their Society functions. p. 15 ************************************************** ********* Don't go through life, grow through life. --Eric Butterworth "You see what you choose to see, because all perception is a choice. And when you cease to impose your meanings on what you see, your spiritual eyes will open, and you will see a world free of judgment and shining in its endless beauty." --Paul Ferrini To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else. --Bernadette Devlin God is the architect. I am the builder. "Stop talking about the problem and start thinking about the solution." -–Brian Tracy The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it. --John Ruskin ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation BROTHERHOOD "I love my country better than my family; but I love humanity better than my country." -- Francois Fenelon We need to think "big". We need to escape from those little concepts that keep us small. Life is more than we can ever perceive. We need to see it in its totality. The nuclear family can be restrictive if taken as the center of our loyalty. Even our national citizenship needs to be placed in the context of the world. Our freedom rests in our universal humanity. Spirituality is about thinking "big". It is finding God in the richness of His creation. Our insistence on our shared humanity is the path to world peace and serenity. Divisions should not exist for the humanitarian who seeks acceptance for all men simply because they are men. May I seek to find the One in the many --- and the many in the One. ************************************************** ********* "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalms 84:11 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration God not only answers prayer, but He has all the answers to the prayers that we haven't bothered to ask. Lord, when you said "ask and you shall receive", may I keep in mind that no request is too small. It is far wiser to ask God for what He thinks is good for us, than for what we think is good for us. Lord, Your Will not mine be done. |
March 22, 2014
Daily Reflections NO MORE STRUGGLE And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone -- even alcohol. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84 When A.A. found me, I thought I was in for a struggle, and that A.A. might provide the strength I needed to beat alcohol. Victorious in that fight, who knows what other battles I could win. I would need to be strong, though. All my previous experience with life provided that. Today I do not have to struggle or exert my will. If I take those Twelve Steps and let my Higher Power do the real work, my alcohol problem disappears all by itself. My living problems also cease to be struggles. I just have to ask whether acceptance -- or change -- is required. It is not my will, but His, that needs doing. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day We're all looking for the power to overcome drinking. A fellow comes into A.A. and his first question is: How do I get the strength to quit? At first, it seems to him that he will never get the necessary strength. He sees older members who have found the power he is looking for, but he doesn't know the process by which they got it. This necessary strength comes in many ways. Have I found all the strength I need? Meditation For The Day You cannot have a spiritual need which God cannot supply. Your fundamental need is a spiritual need, the need of power to lead the good life. The best spiritual supply is received by you when you want it to pass on to other people. You get it largely by giving it away. God gives you strength as you pass it on to another person. That strength means increased health; increased health means more good work, and more good work means more people helped. And so it goes on, a constant supply to meet all spiritual needs. Prayer For The Day I pray that my every spiritual need will be supplied by God. I pray that I may use the power I receive to help others. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It "Selfish"?, p.81 "I can see why you are disturbed to hear some A.A. speakers say, 'A.A. is a selfish program.' The word 'selfish' ordinarily implies that one is acquisitive, demanding, and thoughtless of the welfare of others. Of course, the A.A. way of life does not at all imply such undesirable traits. "What do these speakers mean? Well, any theologian will tell you that the salvation of his own soul is the highest vocation that a man can have. Without salvation--however we may define this--he will have little or nothing. For us of A.A., there is even more urgency. "If we cannot or will not achieve sobriety, then we become truly lost, right in the here and now. We are of no value to anyone, including ourselves, until we find salvation from alcohol. Therefore, our own recovery and spiritual growth have to come first--a right and necessary kind of self-concern." Letter, 1966 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Let Go and Let God Guidance. Though it came from outside AA, the idea of "letting go and letting God" has taken root in the fellowship. The trouble comes when we try to decide what it really means. We obviously need to continue working and we still have to make important decisions. SO how d o we let God take charge? Surrendering to God's will is a shift that takes place in our attitude. We take whatever actions seem reasonable and proper according to our view of things. We remember, however, that a better plan may be unfolding in every situation. In many cases, it can even be a case of wanting too little rather than too much. One member, for example, sought guidance in a business decision. He was disappointed when the deal feel through, but discovered, only a few weeks later, an even better opportunity that worked out perfectly. "Letting God" is really a form of working Step Eleven.. Seeking "Knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." As we do that, our lives must become enriched and improved in every way. I'll approach the day with the idea that God is working it out for the highest good of everybody. Temporary setbacks won't bother me if I know that God's plan is unfolding in my life. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple If anything, we have tended to be people who wanted it all now. To hope is not Not to demand. --- On Hope Maybe we were a bit demanding. Maybe we were a bit impatient. Maybe that’s why we had such little hope. Hope is believing good will come even in bad time. Hope is knowing that “this, too, shall pass.” Hope is knowing that no matter how afraid we are, God will be with us. Hope is knowing we never have to be alone again. It is knowing that time that time is on our side. Hope is giving up control. Hope is knowing we never had control in the first place. Hope is believing in ourselves. Hope is what our program is all about. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, in our program we share our experiences, our strengths, and our hopes. Thank you for giving all three of these to me to share. Action for the Day: I will share my hope for the future with myself, my Higher Power, and my friends. I also will share this with someone who has lost hope. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Reared as we were in a youth and beauty oriented society, we measured ourselves by our ornamental value. --Janet Harris Rare is the woman who doesn't long for a svelte body, firm breasts, pretty teeth, a smooth complexion. Rare is the woman who feels content, truly satisfied with her total person. We are often torn between wanting to be noticed and yet not wanting eyes to gaze upon us. We are all that we need to be today, at this moment. And we have an inner beauty, each of us, that is our real blessing in the lives of others. Our inner beauty will shine forth if we invite it to do so. Whatever our outer appearance, it doesn't gently touch or bring relief where suffering is--like our words which come from the heart, the home of our inner beauty. Perhaps a better mirror for reflecting our true beauty is the presence or absence of friends in our lives. We each have known stunning women who seemed to cast only cold glances our way and handsome men who arrogantly belittled others. It's our inner beauty that is valued by others. The surprise in store for each of us is discovering that the glow of our inner beauty transforms our outer appearance too. My beauty today will be enhanced by my gentle attention to the other people sharing my experiences. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES The same principle applies in dealing with the children. Unless they actually need protection from their father, it is best not to take sides in any argument he has with them while drinking. Use your energies to promote a better understanding all around. Then that terrible tension which grips the home of every problem drinker will be lessened. p. 115 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Foreword A.A.'s Twelve Traditions apply to the life of the Fellowship itself. They outline the means by which A.A. maintains its unity and relates itself to the world about it, the way it lives and grows. p. 15 ************************************************** ********* God, please show me how to put ideas like fun and joy back into my life. Show me how to have more fun in work, in love, and in play. --Melody Beattie "There are lessons to be learned in every place. The mark of spiritual mastery is the ability to remember God wherever we go, and through whatever we experience." --Alan Cohen "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 Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality. --Les Brown However I pray, God hears my prayers. --Katrina Cassel ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation FORGIVENESS "God will forgive me; that's his business." -- Heinrich Heine It took me a long time to accept that God had forgiven the deeds done in my addiction. It took me a long time to comprehend that God is forgiveness, "forgiving love". Forgiveness unites us with God because it is His nature to forgive. When I am living the spiritual life, I can unite myself with Him by my acts of forgiveness. And when I forgive others, I am doing a kindness, an act of forgiveness, to myself. Hate used to drain me of energy and it still can if I get caught up in resentments. Forgiveness restores energy and peace. When I forgive, I am at one with God. In the forgiveness of others I discover me. ************************************************** ********* "But You, O GOD the Lord, Deal with me for Your name's sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me" Psalm 109:21 He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honor. Proverbs 21:21 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Think often of your friends and seldom of your enemies and you will surround yourself with good thoughts, leaving little or no room for darkness. Lord, help me search for goodness so that it is goodness that I find. We take for granted so much of what God has planned for us. Lord, may I have sufficient preparation to meet the challenges of today and rejoice in the person that I am. |
March 23
Daily Reflections . . . AND NO MORE RESERVATIONS We have seen the truth again and again: "Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.". . . If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol. . . . To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have. This is particularly true of women. Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33 These words are underlined in my book. They are true for men and women alcoholics. On many occasions I've turned to this page and reflected on this passage. I need never fool myself by recalling my sometimes differing drinking patterns, or by believing I am "cured." I like to think that, if sobriety is God's gift to me, then my sober life is my gift to God. I hope that God is as happy with His gift as I am with mine. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Strength comes from the fellowship you find when you come into A.A. Just being with men and women who have found the way out gives you a feeling of security. You listen to the speakers, you talk with other members, and you absorb the atmosphere of confidence and hope that you find in the place. Am I receiving strength from the fellowship with other A.A. members? Meditation For The Day God is with you, to bless and help you. His spirit is all around you. Waver not in your faith or in your prayers. All power is the Lord's. Say that to yourself often and steadily. Say it until your heart sings with joy for the safety and personal power that it means to you. Say it until the very force of the utterance drives back and puts to naught all the evils against you. Use it as a battle cry. All power is the Lord's. Then you will pass on to victory over all your sins and temptations and you will begin to live a victorious life. Prayer For The Day I pray that with strength from God I may lead an abundant life. I pray that I may lead a life of victory. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Trouble Becomes an Asset, p. 82 "I think that this particular General Service Conference holds promise and has been filled with progress--because it has had trouble. And it has converted that trouble into an asset, into some growth, and into a great promise. "A.A. was born out of trouble, one of the most serious kinds of trouble that can befall an individual, the trouble attendant upon this dark and fatal malady of alcoholism. Every single one of us approached A.A. in trouble, in impossible trouble, in hopeless trouble. And that is why we came. "If this Conference was ruffled, if individuals were deeply disturbed--I say, 'This is fine." What parliament, what republic, what democracy has not been disturbed? Friction of opposing viewpoints is the very modus operandi on which they proceed. Then what should we be afraid of?" Talk, 1958 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Act As If Finding Direction Though it sounds like a game or a trick, there's great power in "acting as if." This means acting as if we've already succeeded, acting as if we expect everybody to cooperate with us, acting as if we've already reached whatever goal we're seeking. The principle behind this approach is that such acting helps focus our minds and energies on goals. It's also important to believe that our success is inevitable if we are truly on the right path. We should not employ this principle superstitously or assume it's a substitute for intelligent work and good judgment. It will be a substantial aid, however, in helping us eliminate the self-doubt and pessimism that dog so many alcoholics during their quest for sobriety. Too often, low self-esteem and a faulty belief that nothing will turn out right have led us to sabotage our own efforts. We should go into any venture with the idea that we've already succeeded.... that much good is going to come out of it, even if the exact outcome is somewhat different from what we had in mind. "Acting as if" is just what we might need to summon our powers for the duties ahead. An old saying affirms that "if God be for me, who can be against me?" I'll carry on today with the confidence that my Higher Power is guidnig all my efforts in the right direction. ************************************************* Keep It Simple If anything, we have tended to be people who have wanted it all now. To hope is not to demand. ---On hope Maybe we were a bit demanding. Maybe we were a bit impatient. Maybe that’s why we such little hope. Hope is believing good will, even in bad times. Hope is knowing that “this too, shall pass.” Hope is knowing that no mater how afraid we are, God will be with us. Hope is knowing we never have to be alone again. It is knowing that time is o our side. Hope is giving up control. Hope is knowing we never had control in the first place. Hope is believing in ourselves. Hope is what our program is all about. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, in our program we share our experiences, our strengths, and our hopes. Thank you for giving all three of these to me to share. Action for the Day: I will share my hope for the future with myself, my Higher Power, and my friends. I also will share this with someone who has lost hope. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning On occasion I realize it's easier to say the serenity prayer and take that leap of faith than it is to continue doing what I'm doing. --S.H. The pain of change is a reality. But so is the pain of no change--when change is called for. In spite of our desires, changing others will never be an option, whereas changing ourselves takes only a decision and is a choice always available. We can take an inventory for a moment. What are we presently doing that makes us ashamed or angry or fearful? We can let go of that behavior and responsibly choose a new tack. If strength is needed, or confidence to try a new behavior, we can simply ask that it be ours. The Third Step promises that our lives are in God's care and our needs are always being attended to--not always our wants, but in every instance our needs. Most of our struggles, today as in the past, are attached to persons and situations we are trying to forcibly control. How righteous our attitudes generally are! And so imposing is our behavior that we are met with resistance, painful resistance. Our recourse is now and always to "accept those things we cannot change, and willingly change that which we can." Our personal struggles will end when we are fully committed to the Serenity Prayer. The wisdom "to know the difference" is mine today. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES Frequently, you have felt obliged to tell your husband’s employer and his friends that he was sick, when as a matter of fact he was tight. Avoid answering these inquiries as much as you can. Whenever possible, let your husband explain. Your desire to protect him should not cause you to lie to people when they have a right to know where he is and what he is doing. Discuss this with him when he is sober and in good spirits. Ask him what you should do if he places you in such a position again. But be careful not to be resentful about the last time he did so. pp. 115-116 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Foreword Though the essays which follow were written mainly for members, it is thought by many of A.A.'s friends that these pieces might arouse interest and find application outside A.A. itself. p. 15 ************************************************** ********* Don't point a finger - lend a hand. --Cited in Even More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES Inventory taking is not all in red ink. A recovering alcoholic without a sponsor is like a ship without a rudder. "Every great move forward in your life begins with a leap of faith, a step into the unknown." --Brian Tracy "The healthy and strong individual is the one who asks for help when he needs it." --Rona Barrett ". . . just to be alive is a grand thing." --Agatha Christie We cannot sink so low that God cannot lift us to freedom. --John Harrold ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation SELF-LOVE "No matter how old you get, if you keep the desire to be creative, you're keeping the man-child alive." -- John Cassavetes When I was a child, I used to play in the sand and make castles. I would build a strong and firm fortress around the castle so that it could withstand the force of the sea. Today I also like to play in my life and I need to build strong and firm behavioral structures that will withstand pressure and stress. Today I need to build my life on a sure foundation --- and that foundation must be me! I need to take care of me so that I can enjoy my life. How do I take care of me? I watch what I drink. I am a recovering alcoholic, and so I choose not to drink alcohol. I drink soda, orange juice and milk --- but no alcohol. This is an important part of my self-love program. I exercise regularly. I watch what I eat and I avoid sugar and needless carbohydrates. I rest in the evenings and take walks in the fresh air. The child that is in me still lives, but today he is healthy. Help me to treat life responsibly, but not too seriously. ************************************************** ********* "We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near." Psalms 75:1 "In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be put to shame." Psalms 71:1 Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17 Yes, you are very special in the eyes of God. But you are what you are by the grace of God. 1 Corinthians 15:10 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration How foolish it is to focus on our weaknesses and troubles, thereby giving them more power than they deserve. Lord, I ask for your wisdom and guidance in what I put into my mind. You are good and beautiful and intelligent and loved. Lord, may I accept me for all that I am and focus on my goodness. |
March 24
Daily Reflections ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE, p. 92 Man is supposed to think, and act. He wasn't made to God's image to be an automation. As Bill Sees It, p. 55 Before I joined A.A., I often did not think, and reacted to people and situations. When not reacting I acted in a mechanical fashion. After joining A.A., I started seeking daily guidance from a Power greater than myself, and learning to listen for that guidance. Then I began to make decisions and act on them, rather than react to them. The results have been constructive; I no longer allow others to make decisions for me and then criticize me for it. Today--and every day--with a heart full of gratitude, and a desire for God's will to be done through me, my life is worth sharing, especially with my fellow alcoholics! Above all, if I do not make a religion out of anything, even A.A., then I can be an open channel for God's expression. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Strength comes from honestly telling your own experiences with drinking. In religion, they call it confession. We call it witnessing or sharing. You give a personal witness, you share your past experiences, the troubles you got into, the hospitals, the jails, the break-up of your home, the money wasted, the debts, and all the foolish things you did when you were drinking. This personal witness lets out the things you had kept hidden, brings them out into the open, and you find release and strength. Am I receiving strength from my personal witnessing? Meditation For The Day We cannot fully understand the universe. The simple fact is that we cannot even define space or time, which we have manufactured by our own minds and on that depends all our so-called knowledge of the universe. The simple fact is that we can never know all things, nor are we made to know them. Much of our lives must be taken on faith. Prayer For The Day I pray that my faith may be based on my own experience of the power of God in my life. I pray that I may know this one thing above all else in the universe. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It We Cannot Live Alone, p. 83 All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires; they all deflate our egos. When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than the Fifth. Scarcely any Step is more necessary to long-time sobriety and peace of mind. A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing problems and the character defects which cause or aggravate them. If Step Four has revealed in stark relief those experiences we'd rather not remember, then the need to quit living by ourselves with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent than ever. We have to talk to somebody about them. << << << >> >> >> We cannot wholly rely on friends to solve all our difficulties. A good adviser will never do all our thinking for us. He knows that each final choice must be ours. He will therefore help to eliminate fear, expediency, and self-deception, so enabling us to make choices which are loving, wise, and honest. 1. 12 & 12, p. 55 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places This Too Shall Pass____ Fortitude Growing older in sobriety, w soon become aware of the fact that both good and bad experiences eventually pass on. No matter how beautiful or ugly a situation becomes, it must change in time. In discussions, we catch this idea by reminding ourselves that "This too shall pass." We are very fortunate that this is true. Were it otherwise, intolerable conditions would last forever. Our business is to make sure that our own thoughts and actions lead to betterment, for ourselves and others. While we should be willing to accept unpleasantness if the re is no way of avoiding it, we should always hope…. And work….. for improvement. When unpleasant experiences do pass on. We must also be careful not to resurrect them by brooding about how badly we were treated or trying to get even with others. This only prolongs the trouble. The good news in AA is that we can survive any experience and put it behind us. Whatever I'm facing today, I'll know that it is temporary and has no power to keep me from the deeper happiness and gratitude I have in the 12 step program. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Love your enemy it will drive him nuts.Eleanor Doan Love you enemy. It’s a lot easier on you! Hating someone takes so much time and energy. Loving your enemy means, instead of trying to get even, you let your Higher Power handle that person. Of course, loving your enemy is also hard. It means giving up control. It means giving up self-will. We addicts naturally want to control things and people. This is where we turn to our program for help. We learn to love our enemies, not for some grand reason. We simply do it because hate can cause us to use alcohol or other drugs again. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, watch over my family, friends, and my enemies. Take from me my desire to control. Take from me all reasons to get high. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list all my enemies. I’ll say each of their names, and then I’ll read the Third Step out loud. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Love has a hundred gentle ends. --Leonora Speyer Letting go is a process that is seldom easy. For many, its meaning is elusive. How do we "let go"? Letting go means removing our attention from a particular experience or person and putting our focus on the here and now. We hang on to the past, to past hurts, but also to past joys. We have to let the past pass. The struggle to hang on to it, any part of it, clouds the present. You can't see the possibilities today is offering if your mind is still drawn to what was. Letting go can be a gentle process. Our trust in our higher power and our faith that good will prevail, in spite of appearances, eases the process. And we must let each experience end, as its moment passes, whether it is good or bad, love or sorrow. It helps to remember that all experiences contribute to our growth and wholeness. No experience will be ignored by the inner self who is charting our course. All are parts of the journey. And every moment has a gentle end, but no moment is forgotten. My journey today is akin to yesterday's journey and tomorrow's too. I will savor each moment and be ready for the next. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES There is another paralyzing fear. You may be afraid your husband will lose his position; you are thinking of the disgrace and hard times which will befall you and the children. This experience may come to you. Or you may already have had it several times. Should it happen again, regard it in a different light. Maybe it will prove a blessing! It may convince your husband he wants to stop drinking forever. And now you know that he can stop if he will! Time after time, this apparent calamity has been a boon to us, for it opened up a path which led to the discovery of God. p. 116 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Foreword Many people, nonalcoholics, report that as a result of the practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, they have been able to meet other difficulties of life. They think that the Twelve Steps can mean more than sobriety for problem drinkers. They see in them a way to happy and effective living for many, alcoholic or not. pp. 15-16 ************************************************** ********* I keep my sobriety by giving it away. Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less. --Ken Blanchard "Recovery is a path, not a sudden landing." --Sandra B "The two major sources of value today are time and knowledge. Find new ways every day to use them better." --Brian Tracy Action is the antidote to despair. --Joan Baez Even though our love may waiver, God's love for us never fails. --Howard Coop ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation LANGUAGE "Language is the light of the mind." John Stuart Mill When I was drinking, I never really thought about how I behaved, how I dressed or the language I used. Today I believe I should be responsible for the whole of me. Language is important because it is my bridge to others; it is also the vehicle for understanding the ideas of others. Spirituality involves the concept of language because it is the means of growth, communication and relationship. My words help me to be known. My ability to understand the ideas and aspirations of others helps me to feel that I belong. God is perceived in this world and the gift of language is one of the ways God is revealed. My words are spiritual. May the light of God's eternal truth be manifested in the way I talk and relate to others. ************************************************** ********* Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 "Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands, and moves toward the goal of true maturity." Romans 12:2 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration A house becomes a home when it is filled with love and friendship. Lord, bless my life with laughter and many shared moments that I may in turn be a source of sunshine to others. Live as a responsible adult, but approach God as a child, full of faith and trust. You cannot help but perfect one by the other. Lord, You are my Father. Who else will so lovingly listen to me and care for my desires. |
March 25
Daily Reflections A FULL AND THANKFUL HEART I try hard to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain certain conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one's heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 37 I believe that we in Alcoholics Anonymous are fortunate in that we are constantly reminded of the need to be grateful and of how important gratitude is in our sobriety. I am truly grateful for the sobriety God has given me through the A.A. program and am glad I can give back what was given to me freely. I am grateful not only for sobriety, but for the quality of life my sobriety has brought. God has been gracious enough to give me sober days and a life blessed with peace and contentment, as well as the ability to give and receive love, and the opportunity to serve others -- in our Fellowship, my family and community. For all of this, I have "a full and thankful heart." ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Strength comes from coming to believe in a Higher Power that can help you. You can't define this Higher Power, but you can see how it helps other alcoholics. You hear them talk about it and you begin to get the idea yourself. You try praying in a quiet time each morning and you begin to feel stronger, as though your prayers were heard. So you gradually come to believe there must be a Power in the world outside of yourself, which is stronger than you and which you can turn to for help. Am I receiving strength from my faith in a Higher Power? Meditation For The Day Spiritual development is achieved by daily persistence in living the way you believe God wants you to live. Like the wearing away of a stone by steady drops of water, so will your daily persistence wear away all the difficulties and gain spiritual success for you. Never falter in this daily, steady persistence. Go forward boldly and unafraid. God will help and strengthen you, as long as you are trying to do His will. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may persist day by day in gaining spiritual experience. I pray that I may make this a lifetime work. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Benefits of Responsibility, p. 84 "Happily, A.A.'s per capita expenses are very low. For us to fail to meet them would be to evade a responsibility beneficial for us. "Most alcoholics have said they had no troubles that money would not cure. We are a group that, when drinking, always held out a hand for funds. So when we commence to pay our own service bills, this is a healthy change." << << << >> >> >> "Because of drinking, my friend Henry had lost a high-salaried job. There remained a fine house--with a budget three times his reduced earnings. "He could have rented the house for enough to carry it. But no! Henry said he knew that God wanted him to live there, and He would see that the costs were paid. So Henry went on running up bills and glowing with faith. Not surprisingly, his creditors finally took over the place. "Henry can laugh about it now, having learned that God more often helps those who are willing to help themselves." 1. Letter, 1960 2. Letter, 1966 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Expect Miracles____Belief Some have claimed that there have been no miracles since the fourteenth century. This is a smug way of saying that miracles do not happen. Emmet Fox conceded that miracles don't happen in the sense of violating the perfect, universal system of law and order. But there is such a thing as appealing to a higher law, and this too is part of the constitution of the universe. Prayer is a means of doing this, and enough prayer will get you out of any difficulty, Fox insisted. People who have found sobriety in AA are actually modern miracles. They expect more miracles to continue happening" otherwise, there would be no point in continuing to work with newcomers. And while we're expecting miracles, let's remember that countless other human problems will yield to a spiritual approach. Life itself is miraculous when we study it: why shouldn't there be more miracles ahead? I'll keep an open mind on the subject of miracles. Since we still can glipmse only a fragment of the universe, it should follow that there's also much more to learn about the spiritual processes that rescued us from alcoholism. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple The artist who aims at perfection in everything achieves it in nothing.---Eugene Delacroix Trying to be prefect puts distance between us and our Higher Power. Trying to be perfect shows we're ashamed of being human. In recovery, we accept that we're human. We try to be the best human we can be. We used to get high to feel powerful and god-like. But God is not just power. God is also gentleness. Gentleness and love are the power we look for on recovery. We work to be human. We work to know the loving, gentle side of ourselves and our Higher Power. Remember, if we try to be god, we'll fail. If we try to be human, we'll win. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me give up trying to be perfect. Help me always keep in mind that I'm human---which means, I'm not perfect. Action for the Day: Part of being human is making mistakes. Today, I'll see my mistakes as chances to learn. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning When I slow down long enough to smell the roses, I usually see the beauty and all else that is ours to share. --Morgan Jennings We overlook so many joys, so many hidden treasures, when we hurry from place to place, person to person, experience to experience, with little attention anywhere. All that matters passes before us now, at this moment. And assuredly, we will not pass this way again. It has been said the greatest gift we can give one another is rapt attention; additionally, living life fully attentive to the breezes, the colors, the sorrows and the thrills as well, is the most prayerful response any of us can make in this life. Nothing more is asked of us. Nothing less is expected. We have just this one life to live, and each day is a blessing. Even the trials we shall understand as blessings in the months, the years ahead, as we can see now how the painful moments of the past played their part. Our attitude toward the lessons life has offered makes all the difference in the world. I will look closely at everything in my path today. The women and children, the trees and squirrels, the silent neighbors. I will never see them again as I see them today. I will be at attention. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES We have elsewhere remarked how much better life is when lived on a spiritual plane. If God can solve the age-old riddle of alcoholism, He can solve your problems too. We wives found that, like everybody else, we were afflicted with pride, self-pity, vanity and all the things which go to make up the self-centered person; and we were not above selfishness or dishonesty. As our husbands began to apply spiritual principles in their lives, we began to see the desirability of doing so too. p. 116 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Foreword There is, too, a rising interest in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. Students of human relations are beginning to wonder how and why A.A. functions as a society. Why is it, they ask, that in A.A. no member can be set in personal authority over another, that nothing like a central government can anywhere be seen? How can a set of traditional principles, having no legal force at all, hold the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous in unity and effectiveness? The second section of this volume, though designed for A.A.'s membership, will give such inquirers an inside view of A.A. never before possible. p. 16 ************************************************** ********* Nine requisites for contented living: Health enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth enough to support your needs. Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them. Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished. Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor. Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others. Faith enough to make real the things of God. Hope enough to remove all the anxious fears concerning the future. --Johann von Goethe "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." --Chinese proverb "All fortune belongs to him who has a contented mind." --The Panchatantra "If we lead good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times." --St. Augustine Wise sayings often fall on barren ground; but a kind word is never thrown away." --Sir Arthur Helps ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation PERSEVERANCE "I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." -- Henry David Thoreau Life is exciting to me when I am creating, when I am pursuing a dream, when I am making miracles in my life. I suppose "perseverance" stems from a belief that things get better when we roll-up our sleeves and do something. Sobriety is about comprehending that in our lives we reflect the message. God has created man with the ability to make the dream come true; this is not to say it is easy . . . but it is harder not to dream! Teach us to wonder at the stars with a spade in our hands. ************************************************** ********* Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore. Psalm 105:1-4 My peace I give you ... Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Things are not always what they seem, so take time to think before you react. Lord, grant me patience and resolve when I have the urge to assume the worst or jump to false conclusions. Knowing about God and knowing God are very different things. Lord, may I recognize Your workings in my life so that I may really know You. |
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. ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* 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. |
March 27
Daily Reflections A.A.'s FREEDOMS We trust that we already know what our several freedoms truly are; that no future generation of AAs will ever feel compelled to limit them. Our AA freedoms create the soil in which genuine love can grow. . . . LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 303 I craved freedom. First, freedom to drink; later, freedom from drink. The A.A. program of recovery rests on a foundation of free choice. There are no mandates, laws or commandments. A.A.'s spiritual program, as outlined in the Twelve Steps, and by which I am offered even greater freedoms, is only suggested. I can take it or leave it. Sponsorship is offered, not forced, and I come and go as I will. It is these and other freedoms that allow me to recapture the dignity that was crushed by the burden of drink, and which is so dearly needed to support an enduring sobriety. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day You get the power to overcome drinking through the fellowship of other alcoholics who have found the way out. You get power by honestly sharing your past experience by a personal witness. You get power by coming to believe in a Higher Power, the Divine Principle in the universe which can help you. You get power by working with other alcoholics. In these four ways, thousands of alcoholics have found all the power they needed to overcome drinking. Am I ready and willing to accept this power and work for it? Meditation For The Day The power of God's spirit is the greatest power in the universe. Our conquest of each other, the great kings and conquerors, the conquest of wealth, the leaders of the money society, all amount to very little in the end. But one that conquers oneself is greater than one who conquers a city. Material things have no permanence. But God's spirit is eternal. Everything really worth while in the world is the result of the power of God's spirit. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may open myself to the power of God's spirit. I pray that my relationships with others may be improved by this spirit. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Room For Improvement, p. 86 We have come to believe that A.A.'s recovery Steps and Traditions represent the approximate truths which we need for our particular purpose. The more we practice them, the more we like them. So there is little doubt that A.A. principles will continue to be advocated in the form they stand now. If our basics are so firmly fixed as all this, then what is there left to change or to improve? The answer will immediately occur to us. While we need not alter our truths, we can surely improve their applications to ourselves, to A.A. as a whole, and to our relation with the world around us. We can constantly step up the practice of "these principles in all our affairs." Grapevine, February 1961 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places If it works, don't fix it. Accepting life. A lot of things in life are all right just as they are. This is hard to understand in a world that puts high value on improvement and progress, but since there are so many things that do need fixing, it's best not to tamper with things that are working. Sometimes we think something should be changed in another person's life. Two AA members decided, for example, that a mutual AA friend deserved higher status employment than what he was doing. They seized upon an unusual profession that seemed to fit his talents and interests, and were disappointed and even a bit offended when he decided he wasn't interested. He continued to follow his regular trade until his retirement thirty years later. In truth, there had really been nothing that needed "fixing" in his choice of a vocation. He had been earning a living doing very honest but difficult work. It was somewhat presumptuous of his friends to outline a new career for him, and it could have led to considerable harm. Let's leave people and things alone unless our help is requested and something really does need fixing. I'll look around today and notice the things in my life that are working well and really don't need changing. Then I'll focus my attention on the things that really should be fixed. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple The secret success is constancy of purpose. --- Benjamin Disraeli In Twelve Step meetings, we don't talk about counseling, treatment centers, or non-program reading. Many of us have been helped in these ways, but we shouldn't confuse them with Twelve Step programs. We must keep our Twelve Step programs pure, no matter what is in style among counselors or at treatment centers, or what the latest books say. Certainly, we should use these sources if they help us, but not in our program meetings. There, we must stick to the basics that have helped addicts recover all over the world for many years. Steps, traditions, meetings, sponsorship---these things work, no matter what is in style. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, let me be there to help an addict in need, by sharing my Twelve Step program. Action for the Day: I will help out today be being a sponsor or by calling a new member, just to say hello. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning It takes time, love, and support to find peace with the restless one. --Deidra Sarault Restlessness is born of frustration. Perhaps we want to move ahead with our lives more quickly. Does a job have us trapped? Do past troubles haunt us still? Maybe perfectionism tarnishes every attempt to achieve. We can learn from our restlessness, if we let it guide us to our inner reservoir of peace and spiritual support. The search for serenity often takes us farther from it. We mistakenly think a different job or home or relationship will answer all our needs. But we find that our restlessness has accompanied us to our new surroundings. Peace has its home within. And prayer opens the door to it. In the stillness of our patience, we are privy to its blessing. Restlessness indicates our distance from our higher power. It may be time for a change in our lives. Change is good; however, our relationship with God will vouchsafe any needed changes. Restlessness is self-centered and will only hamper the steps we may need to take. Restlessness is a barometer that reveals my spiritual health. Perhaps prayer is called for today. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES If you and your husband find a solution for the pressing problem of drink you are, of course, going to very happy. But all problems will not be solved at once. Seed has started to sprout in a new soil, but growth has only begun. In spite of your new-found happiness, there will be ups and downs. Many of the old problems will still be with you. This is as it should be. p. 117 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Foreword The basic principles of A.A., as they are known today, were borrowed mainly from the fields of religion and medicine, though some ideas upon which success finally depended were the result of noting the behavior and needs of the Fellowship itself. p. 16 ************************************************** ********* God, help me let go of my need to create drama to have a life. --Melody Beattie Be quicker with a compliment than words that criticize. Kindness builds you up. Meanness cuts you down in size. --Terri He will take it all, if you just learn to give... Put it in God's Hands... and you will start to live! --Lori W. You dwell always in the heart of God. --John-Roger "We don't ask God for too much; in fact, we ask for too little. Turn to Him for everything. Give everything to God." --Marianne Williamson Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation GUILT "It is all one to me if a man comes from Sing Sing or Harvard. We hire a man not his history." -- Henry Ford So often we can get so locked into our history --- what we did, what we said, the events of which we were ashamed --- that we miss the gift of the new day. Those of us who suffer from the disease of addiction need to deal with past problems but not live in them. Our attitude towards today need not be based on what happened yesterday. Today is the beginning of the rest of our lives. Today I know that I create most of the pain and tragedy in my life, but I also know that I create the joys and successes. I am confident that my sobriety makes me a winner. Lord, I forgive myself for yesterday and look forward to the healing that comes with today. ************************************************** ********* "Agree with God, and be at peace; in this way good will come to you." Job 22:21 "I am he who comforts you." Isaiah 51:12 "God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8 "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Be wise enough to thank God for not giving you some of the things you've asked for and gracious enough to gratefully enjoy what He gave you in its place. Lord, You know better than I what is right and best for me. If you are not happy with what you have, how will you be happy with what you want to have? Lord, may I appreciate the good things in my life and refuse to feel sorry for myself or compare myself to others. |
March 28
Daily Reflections EQUALITY Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 565 Prior to A.A., I often felt that I didn't "fit in" with the people around me. Usually "they" had more/less money than I did, and my points of view didn't jibe with "theirs." The amount of prejudice I had experienced in society only proved to me just how phony some self -righteous people were. After joining A.A., I found the way of life I had been searching for. In A.A. no member is any better than any other member; we're just alcoholics trying to recover from alcoholism. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day When you come into an A.A. meeting, you're not just coming into a meeting, you're coming into a new life. I'm always impressed by the change I see in people after they've been in A.A. for a while. I sometimes take an inventory of myself, to see whether I have changed and if so, in what way. Before I met A.A., I was very selfish. I wanted my own way in everything. I don't believe I ever grew up. When things went wrong, I sulked like a spoiled child and often went out and got drunk. Am I still all get and no give? Meditation For The Day There are two things we must have if we are going to change our way of life. One is faith, the confidence in things unseen, that fundamental goodness and purpose in the universe. The other is obedience, that is living according to our faith, living each day as we believe God wants us to live, with gratitude, humility, honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. Faith and obedience, these two, will give us all the strength we need to overcome sin and temptation and to live a new and more abundant life. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may have more faith and obedience. I pray that I may live a more abundant life as a result of these things. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Keystone of the Arch, p. 87 Faced with alcoholic destruction, we became open-minded on spiritual matters. In this respect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. << << << >> >> >> We had to quit playing God. It didn't work. We decided that hereafter, in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. He would be the Principal; we, His agents. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new triumphal arch through which we passed to freedom. Alcoholics Anonymous 1. p. 48 2. p. 62 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Keep coming back.. it works if you work it. Fortitude A popular self-help book noted that there is tremendous power in repetition.... like the tap-tap-tap of a hammer that finally drives the nail through a board. AA works in much the same way; attendance at meetings is the steady tap-tap-tap that helps bring about lasting sobriety and personal improvement. Attending meetings is also much like attending school. Nobody learns everything in one classroom session, and it's also true that the student must put forth an effort to learn. We should accept AA as something that will gradually grow on us if we become part of it and apply ourselves to its principles. The willingness to continue attending meetings is some evidence of sincerity and commitment. We discover that there are few meetings that bring us world-shaking revelations and experiences, but as we keep coming back and working the program, our own lives will improve steadily. This is the result of many meetings, not just a few. I'll do everything possible today to strengthen my sobriety and my understanding of the program. Rather than seeking shortcuts, I'll be grateful for steady progress. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple God is not a cosmic bellboy.---Harry Emerson Fosdick We have to laugh when we look back at the times we treated God like our servant. Who did we think we were, ordering God to do something for us? But we got away with it. God even did some of the things we asked. Now we know that our Higher Power is not a servant. As we work the Steps, we know we don't give orders to our Higher Power. We don't expect God to work miracles every time we'd like one. we're asking our Higher Power to lead us. After all, who knows what is best for us---our Higher Power or us? Our Higher Power has many wonderful gifts for us. Our Higher Power will show us goals, help us live in love and joy, and give us strength. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, show me ways to help others as You've helped me. I'm grateful that You love me and help me. Action for the Day: Today ,I'll make a list of times my Higher Power has helped me out of trouble. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Is there ever any particular spot where one can put one's finger and say, "It all began that day, at such a time and such a place, with such an incident"? --Agatha Christie No experience of our lives is pure, unadulterated, set apart from all other experiences. There is an eternal flow in our lives. It carries us from one moment, one experience, into the next. Where we are today, the growth we have attained as recovering women and the plans we have for further changes are prompted by the same driving desires that contributed to our many actions in years gone by. We can reflect on a particular experience and tag it a turning point. However, neither a lone prescription nor a single martini opened the door we passed through when we chose recovery. But they each may have played a part, and it's the many parts of our lives, past and present, that guarantee us the turning points that nudge us further up the mountain. We will see the summit. And we will understand how, each time we stumbled, new strength was gained. Every day is a training ground. And every experience trains me to recognize the value of succeeding experiences. With richness, I am developing, one moment at a time. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES The faith and sincerity of both you and your husband will be put to the test. These work-outs should be regarded as part of your education, for thus you will be learning to live. You will make mistakes, but if you are in earnest they will not drag you down. Instead, you will capitalize them. A better way of life will emerge when they are overcome. p. 117 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Foreword After three years of trial and error in selecting the most workable tenets upon which the Society could be based, and after a large amount of failure in getting alcoholics to recover, three successful groups emerged--the first at Akron, the second at New York, and the third at Cleveland. Even then it was hard to find twoscore of sure recoveries in all three groups. pp. 16-17 ************************************************** ********* God, help me be so clear on who I am that I can generously afford to let other people be who they are, too. Help me to set aside my defensive behavior, and teach me to blend with other people and see their point of view while not relinquishing my own. --Melody Beattie If you learn from your suffering, and really come to understand the lesson you were taught, you might be able to help someone else who's now in the phase you may have just completed. Maybe that's what it's all about after all . . . --Anonymous God, help me search myself to see if I'm holding on to blame for myself or someone else. If I am, help me get it out in the open, then help me let it go. --Melody Beattie "Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it's holy ground. There's no greater investment." --Stephen Covey Those who are at war with others are not at peace with themselves. --William Hazlitt Memories are made when you spend quality time with someone you love. Make a memory today! ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation FUTURE "The future is hidden even from the men who made it." -- Anatole France Life is a glorious mystery. We can never fully understand it and it will always confuse and amaze us. After we have understood one thing, we are presented with a fresh problem. We are not perfect. We are not God. We will never understand completely. Some years ago this used to anger and irritate me. I wanted to know everything. I wanted to have the answer to all life's problems. I wanted the "power" that comes with perfection. I hated being vulnerable, weak and confused! I hated being human. Yes, that was my problem. I hated being a human being. Today I am enjoying the adventure of life, and I kneel in awe at its mingled complexity. Today life is a paradox that I can live with. Help me to accept the mystery of life. ************************************************** ********* The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: And he delighteth in his way. Psalm 37:23 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world, ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Faith is complete surrender to the will of God and acceptance of His plan for us. Lord, You carry me through each moment of my day. Learn to be peaceful in all situations and trust that through all stages of our lives, God has a plan. Lord, may I have the wisdom to be able to turn my stumbling blocks into building blocks. |
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. ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* 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. |
March 30
Daily Reflections OUR GROUP CONSCIENCE ". . . sometimes the good is the enemy of the best." ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE, p. 101 I think these words apply to every area of A.A.'s Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity and Service! I want them etched in my mind and life as I "trudge the Road of Happy Destiny" (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 164). These words, often spoken by co-founder Bill W., were appropriately said to him as the result of the group's conscience. It brought home to Bill W. the essence of our Second Tradition: "Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern." Just as Bill W. was originally urged to remember, I think that in our group discussions we should never settle for the "good," but always strive to attain the "best." These common strivings are yet another example of a loving God, as we understand Him, expressing Himself through the group conscience. Experiences such as these help me to stay on the proper path of recovery. I learn to combine initiative with humility, responsibility with thankfulness, and thus relish the joys of living my twenty-four hour program. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Before I met A.A., I was very unloving. From the time I went away to school, I paid very little attention to my mother and father, I was on my own and didn't even bother to keep in touch with them. After I got married, I was very unappreciative of my spouse. Many a time I would go out all by myself to have a good time. I paid too little attention to our children and didn't try to understand them or show them affection. My few friends were only drinking companions, not real friends. Have I gotten over loving nobody but my self? Meditation For The Day Be calm, be true, and be quiet. Do not get emotionally upset by anything that happens around you. Feel a deep, inner security in the goodness and purpose in the universe. Be true to your highest ideals. Do not let yourself slip back into the old ways of reacting. Stick to your spiritual guns. Be calm always. Do not talk back or defend yourself too much against accusation, whether false or true. Accept criticism as well as you accept praise. Only God can judge the real you. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may not be upset by the judgment of others. I pray that I may let God be the judge of the real me. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Review The Day, p. 89 When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest, or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? We must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse, or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to ourselves and to others. After we making our review, we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 86 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places Identify, don't compare Good Judgment. There's always danger in comparing ourselves with others. If we use behavior and drinking as yardsticks, such comparisons can lead us to believe that we might not really be alcoholics. This mistaken conclusion has been the undoing of some alcoholics. The better course is to identify with the problems others have in common with us. Thought drinking patterns and habits may vary between two people, individuals may at least share the fears and delusions that drinking brought. Other common factors that bind alcoholics together are emotional immaturity, a misplaced faith that alcohol solves problems, loneliness, and a tendency toward resentments. These also make good discussion topics for meetings. At the very beginning of AA, the founders had trouble coming up with a real definition of alcoholism. Since then, we've done very well be letting members "Diagnose" themselves. It's best to leave it this way: "If your drinking is a problem in your life, AA has an answer for you. Today I will not waste time comparing myself with others. Having accepted my alcoholism, I'll devote my attention to the things that enhance sobriety. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Spirituality is...the awareness that survival is a savage fight between you and yourself.---Lisa S. As recovering people, we're getting stronger each day. We go to meetings to learn how to be better people. But we also go to remind ourselves of the beast inside us---our addiction. This beast is waiting for us to slip---to go back to our addiction---so it can regain control. Thus ,it's wise to learn all we can about our disease. That's why it's important to do a good job on our Fourth Step. When we work Step Four, we learn how our addiction acts, thinks, and feels. With the help of our program, we can quiet the beast. One Day at a Time., Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I'm fighting for my life. Thanks to You, I'm winning today and my life is free. Action for the Day: I'll talk to a friend about my addiction, the beast inside me. I'll do this so it will have less power over me. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning The pure relationship, how beautiful it is! How easily it is damaged, or weighted down with irrelevancies--not even irrelevancies, just life itself, the accumulations of life and of time. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh Many of us are presently rebuilding old relationships and searching for new ones, ones that we hope we can protect. We can't survive without relationships, some intimate, some close, some casual. And we discover ourselves through our relationships with others. The purity of a relationship is directly proportional to the undivided attention we both give to those shared moments, hours, experiences, to being there with one another. This communion with another is the celebration of life and God that quickens hearts and ushers in serenity. Each day I can look for those chances to give myself wholly. And gifts will abound. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES You and your husband will find that you can dispose of serious problems easier than you can the trivial ones. Next time you and he have a heated discussion, no matter what the subject, it should be the privilege of either to smile and say, “This is getting serious. I’m sorry I got disturbed. Let’s talk about it later.” If your husband is trying to live on a spiritual basis, he will also be doing everything in his power to avoid disagreement or contention. p. 118 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Foreword With the publication of the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" in 1939, the pioneering period ended and a prodigious chain reaction set in as the recovered alcoholics carried their message to still others. In the next years alcoholics flocked to A.A. by tens of thousands, largely as the result of excellent and continuous publicity freely given by magazines and newspapers throughout the world. Clergymen and doctors alike rallied to the new movement, giving it unstinted support and endorsement. p. 17 ************************************************** ********* For happiness brings happiness And loving ways bring love; And Giving is the treasure That contentment is made of. --Amanda Bradley Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps a-ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still. --Lou Erickson No matter what we have done, God always offers us the chance to begin anew. Knowing that God grants us a new beginning, we, too, can look at our parents, our children, our partner or our friends, anyone with whom we've had some distance, and say, "Let's have a new beginning." Love is greater than any of our mistakes. --Mary Manin Morrissey God, help me be open to all the ways you speak to me to help guide me along my path. -Melody Beattie Words are potent weapons for all causes, good or bad. --Manly Hall A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword. --Robert Burton In our lowest moments God is with us to say, "Do not fear." --Bob Frankenburg ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation REASON "For here we are not afraid to follow wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate error so long as reason is free to combat it." -- Thomas Jefferson As an alcoholic I was so often afraid to challenge the thinking and ideas of other people. My "people pleasing" demanded peace at any price. And yet so much of what I heard, read and practiced I did not agree with. Now I see that my behavior, my attitude --- along with the alcohol consumption --- kept me sick. In my spiritual program today I am free to reject, consider and have my own opinions in life. I do not simply have to agree with everything that is said, in this way I am discovering my value and self-esteem. Lord, I am grateful for the freedom to cooperate. ************************************************** ********* "Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." John 13:34 'In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.' Psalm 71 "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7 'I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord.' Jeremiah, 30:17 "The apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!' The Lord replied, 'If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the seas," and it would obey you.'" Luke 17:5-6 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Some can find fault in everything, but it takes a good and loving heart to find goodness, especially when it is less than obvious. Lord, bless me with gentleness and patience and the determination not to complain. There is much wisdom in knowing what to overlook. Lord, may I take every opportunity to praise and choose carefully when I feel the need to criticize. |
March 31
Daily Reflections NO ONE DENIED ME LOVE On the A.A. calendar it was Year Two . . . . A newcomer appeared at one of these groups . . . . He soon proved that his was a desperate case, and that above all he wanted to get well. . . . [He said], "Since I am the victim of another addiction even worse stigmatized than alcoholism, you may not want me among you." TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 141-42 I came to you -- a wife, mother, woman who had walked out on her husband, children, family. I was a drunk, a pill-head, a nothing. Yet no one denied me love, caring, a sense of belonging. Today, by God's grace and the love of a good sponsor and a home group, I can say that -- through you in Alcoholics Anonymous -- I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a woman. Sober. Free of pills. Responsible. Without a Higher Power I found in the Fellowship, my life would be meaningless. I am full of gratitude to be a member of good standing in Alcoholics Anonymous. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Since I've been in A.A., have I made a start toward being more unselfish? Do I no longer want my own way in everything? When things go wrong and I can't have what I want, do I no longer sulk? Am I trying not to waste money on myself? And does it make me happy to see my family and my home have enough attention from me? Am I trying not to be all "get" and no "give"? Meditation For The Day Each day is a day of progress, steady progress forward, if you make it so. You may not see it, but God does. God does not judge by outward appearance. He judges by the heart. Let Him see in your heart a simple desire always to do His will. Though you may feel that your work has been spoiled or tarnished, God sees it as an offering for Him. When climbing a steep hill, people are often more conscious of the weakness of their stumbling feet than of the view, the grandeur, or even of the upward progress. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may persevere in all good things. I pray that I may advance each day in spite of my stumbling feet. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It To Watch Loneliness Vanish, p. 90 Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn't quite belong. Either we were shy, and dared not draw near others, or we were noisy good fellows constantly craving attention and companionship, but rarely getting it. There was always that mysterious barrier we could neither surmount nor understand. That's one reason we loved alcohol too well. But even Bacchus betrayed us, we were finally struck down and left in terrified isolation. << << << >> >> >> Life takes on new meaning in A.A. 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 not to be missed. 1. 12 & 12, p. 57 2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 89 ************************************************** ********* Walk in Dry Places A Journey, Not a Destination. How it Works "Now that you're sober, why do you stay in AA?" AA members frequently hear this from others not familiar with the fellowship, but it's understandable. They see AA as a place where one goes to be " cured," whereas we learn to see it as an ongoing recovery process that is never really completed. Sobriety is not an object that one can acquire and then put on a shelf somewhere or on the wall like a diploma. It is more of a JOURNEY IN LIVING, with each day's march being a goal in itself. You could also say that sobriety is like the "MANNA FROM HEAVEN" described in the Old Testament. Fresh manna arrived each day, but could not be saved for the future. It is the same with us. Today's experience in sobriety is what sustains us, and we're in trouble if we're trying to depend on what was accomplished in the past. Though we do use the term "permanent sobriety", we never truly possess it. Our quest for sobriety is a lifetime journey. I'll be on guard against any feeling of "having it made." Sure, past success should be helpful in maintaining today's sobriety. But the quality of today's sobriety will depend only on today's thinking and behavior. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.---Ethel Barrymore There was a time when we wouldn't let anyone laugh at us---even ourselves. We had to much shame. We had to much pain. We took the world too seriously. If we laughed it was at others---not at ourselves. Over time , real honest laughter returns to us. Laughter is a way of accepting ourselves as human. To be human means we can make mistakes. It means we can lighten up. It also means growing up. And growing up means being happy with all of who we are---even parts of us that may seem odd or funny. If we can't laugh at ourselves, we shut ourselves off from the world. We shut ourselves off from the parts of us we need to accept. Am I willing to accept the fact that I'm human. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You made laughter. Help me us it to make my life easier. Help me accept all of me a funny mistake I've made. Action for the Day: Today, I'll share with someone close to me a funny mistake I've made. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Anger repressed can poison a relationship as surely as the cruelest words. --Joyce Brothers Anger is familiar to us all. We feel it toward others and from others. The expression and acceptance of anger is where we often falter. Most of us were told when we were small girls that we shouldn't be angry, but we were. And we are, even yet. However, we often still feel like a little girl when it comes to angry feelings. We need to accept our anger and learn to express it, honestly, openly and assertively, not aggressively. We can't afford to hang onto anger. It grows and then festers and then boils. Soon it is interfering in all our relationships, and it provides a ready excuse for an old, self-destructive pattern we don't want to entertain for even a moment. Nothing we set out to do today will have the right outcome, if we carry anger within us. How we interpret life, how we treat our friends, what we do with our opportunities and our challenges--all these are determined by our attitudes. Repressed anger always blocks the way to a positive attitude. Every experience can uplift me if anger doesn't weigh me down. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Chapter 8 - TO WIVES Your husband knows he owes you more than sobriety. He wants to make good. Yet you must not expect too much. His ways of thinking and doing are the habits of years. Patience, tolerance, understanding and love are the watchwords. Show him these things in yourself and they will be reflected back to you from him. Live and let live is the rule. If you both show a willingness to remedy your own defects, there will be little need to criticize each other. p. 118 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Foreword This starting expansion brought with it very severe growing pains. Proof that alcoholics could recover had been made. But it was by no means sure that such great numbers of yet erratic people could live and work together with harmony and good effect. pp. 17-18 ************************************************** ********* "Don't hurry, don't worry. You're only here for a short visit. So be sure to stop and smell the flowers." --Walter Hagen Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too. 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. "It is no disgrace to start all over. It is usually an opportunity." --George Matthew Adams, author Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't. --Richard Bach ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation WORLD "All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers . . . Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born." -- Francois Fenelon My disease of addiction kept me separate, isolated and alone. I was so busy seeing how I was different from other people that I missed the similarities. I missed the "oneness" of this creation by always placing myself above it, below it, outside it: and I was the loser. Even my religion kept me separate. I was a Christian and not a Jew, Muslim or Hindu --- but I failed to see the similarities of these major philosophies; I failed to see what all religious people have in common; I failed to see the inclusiveness of Love, Truth and Forgiveness. God is to be found in the "difference" and "sameness" of His people. O Lord, I am discovering that even the differences, when understood, become the same. ************************************************** ********* "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" Hebrews 11:6 "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him." Psalm 62:5 "Thus says the Lord: 'Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this." Isaiah 56:1-2a ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration We have never before had today and we will never have it again. Lord, as I have the opportunity, let me use this day to do good. Worse than being a quitter is the one who is afraid to begin. Lord, grant me the courage to believe in myself and the ability to focus on what I can do, not what I can't do. |
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