AA Thoughts For Today - November

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AA Thought for the Day

November 9

Forgiveness

Often it was while working on this Step with our sponsors or spiritual
advisers that we first felt truly able to forgive others, no matter how
deeply we felt they had wronged us. Our moral inventory had
persuaded us that all-round forgiveness was desirable, but it was
only when we resolutely tackled Step Five that we inwardly knew
we'd be able to receive forgiveness and give it, too.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, (Step Five) p. 58

Thought to Ponder . . .
Forgiveness entered my life through my heart, not my head.

AA-related 'Alconym'
F R E E = Fortunately, Recovery Enhances Everything.

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

Growth
"It seems to me that the primary object
of any human being is to grow, as God intended,
that being the nature of all growing things.
Our search must be for what reality we can find,
which includes the best definition and feeling
of love that we can acquire.
If the capability of loving is in the human being,
then it must surely be in his Creator.
Theology helps me in that many of its concepts
cause me to believe that I live in a rational universe
under a loving God,
and that my own irrationality can be chipped away,
little by little.
This is, I suppose, the process of growth
for which we are intended."
Bill W., Letter, 1958
c. 1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 295

Thought to Consider . . .
All you have to do to change your life is change your mind.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
C H A N G E = Choosing Honesty Allows New Growth Every day

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

Response
From "A Small White Card":
"Yet I had a spiritual experience the night I called A.A., though I didn't realize it until later. Two angels came, carrying a real message of hope, and told me about A.A. My sponsor laughed when I denied that I had prayed for help. I told him that the only time I had mentioned God was when, in my despair at being unable to get either drunk or sober, I had cried out, 'God! What am I going to do?'
"He replied, 'I believe that prayer was a pretty good one for a first one from an atheist. It got an answer, too.. "Brighton, Colorado, USA"
1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pg. 25

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

"Full consciousness ... implies not only the willingness to receive the love and benefits AA has to offer, but also to surrender to the equally painful experience of exposure to ourselves, and others, of ourselves."
Spiritual Awakenings Vol. 1
Pleasantville, N.Y., August 1959
"The Sense of Sobriety,"

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

"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."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, A Vision For You, pg. 164

Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider
anothers conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate,
was sufficient to make the approach and to effect a contact with
Him. As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative
Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of
things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and
direction, provided we took other simple steps.
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 46~

A kindly act once in a while isn't enough.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p.97

Looking at Step Five, we decided that an inventory, taken alone, wouldn't be enough.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p.108

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

When the thought was expressed that there might be a God personal to me, I didn't like the idea. So my friend Ebby made what then seemed a novel suggestion. He said, '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 may be possible to find explanations of spiritual experiences such as ours, but I have often tried to explain my own and have succeeded only in giving the story of it. I know the feeling it gave me and the results it has brought, but I realize I may never fully understand its deeper why and how.

Prayer for the Day: Prayer for Healing - Higher Power, You have told us to ask and we will receive, to seek and we will find, to knock and You will open the door to us. I trust in Your love for me and in the healing power of Your compassion. I praise You and thank You for the mercy You have shown to me. Higher Power, I am sorry for all my mistakes. I ask for Your help in removing the negative patterns of my life. I accept with all my heart Your forgiving love. And I ask for the grace to be aware of the character defects that exist within myself. Let me not offend You by my weak human nature, or by my impatience, resentment, or neglect of people who are a part of my life. Rather, teach me the gift of understanding and the ability to forgive, just as You continue to forgive me. I seek Your strength and Your peace so that I may become Your instrument in sharing those gifts with others. Guide me in my prayer that I might know what needs to be healed and how to ask You for that healing. It is You, Higher Power, whom I seek. Please enter the door of my heart and fill me with the presence of Your Spirit now and forever. I thank You, God, for doing this.