Daily Recovery Readings - December

[willbe275]

Father, I'm praying for myself and all those in my immediate and extended A.A family.
Help us love each other as we love ourselves. May the Holy Spirit, who has poured Your love into our hearts, give us Your selfless love, for our love falls far short of the mark. (Matthew 22:39; Romans 5:5)

W.O.W101

[bluidkiti]

December 23

Daily Reflections

RECOVERY, UNITY, SERVICE
Our Twelfth Step - carrying the message - is the basic
service that AA's Fellowship gives; this is our
principal aim and the main reason for our existence.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 160

I thank God for those who came before me, those who told
me not to forget the Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity and
Service. In my home group, the Three Legacies were
described on a sign which said: "You take a three-legged
stool, try to balance it on only one leg, or two. Our
Three Legacies must be kept intact. In Recovery, we get
sober together; in Unity, we work together for the good
of our Steps and Traditions; and through Service - we
give away freely what has been given to us." One of the
chief gifts of my life has been to know that I will have
no message to give, unless I recover in unity with A.A.
principles.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

We have definitely left that dream world behind. It was
only a sham. It was a world of our own making and it was
not the real world. We are sorry for the past, yes, but we
learned a lot from it. We can put it down to experience, as
we see it now, because it has given us the knowledge necessary
to face the world as it really is. We had to become alcoholics
in order to find the A.A. program. We would not have got
it any other way. In a way, it was worth it. Do I look at my
past as valuable experience?

Meditation For The Day

Shed peace, not discord, wherever you go. Try to be part
of the cure of every situation, not part of the problem.
Try to ignore evil, rather than to actively combat it.
Always try to build up, never to tear down. Show others
by your example that happiness comes from living the
right way. The power of your example is greater than the
power of what you say.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may try to bring something good into every
situation today. I pray that I may be constructive in the
way I think and speak and act today.

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As Bill Sees It

Fear And Faith, p.263

The achievement of freedom from fear is a lifetime undertaking, one
that can never be wholly completed.

When under heavy attack, acute illness, or in other conditions of
serious insecurity, we shall all react to this emotion--well or badly, as
the case may be. Only the self-deceived will claim perfect freedom
from fear.

********************************

We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our
make-up. Sometimes we had to search persistently, but He was
there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great
Reality deep down within us.

1. Grapevine, January 1962
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p.55

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Walk In Dry Places

AA goes the Distance
Fortitude
Few societies or organizations have better ways of measuring success than AA. Since we are friends as well as recovering people, some of us get to know others fairly well over long periods of time. Even in a large city, we meet people again and again, year after year.
We've come to think it very commonplace that some individuals have been sober ten years or more, and that some members have been in the fellowship more than forty years.
The AA program does have staying power; it goes the distance for those who continue to follow it.
We should remind ourselves of this when we hear of new, faddish theories about alcoholism and recovery. Most of the time, the results reported are very short-term. What we really need is recovery with staying power, which we can find in the AA program.
Today's sobriety can be another link in an endless chain of sobriety. AA will go the distance for me if I take care of each day as it comes.

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Keep It Simple

We not only need to be willing to give, but also to be open to receiving from others.---from On Hope
Many of us took so much from others during our addiction that now we may not want to ask for anything.
We may be afraid to ask for help, so our needs go unmet. In fact, many of us would rather give than receive. In recovery, we need to understand the difference between taking and receiving. Giving to others is important. So is receiving from others. As we grow spiritually, we learn to accept gifts. The gift of sobriety teaches us this. We need to accept the gifts the world gives us without shame. We are entitled.
God loves us and will give us much if we're willing to receive it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be receptive to Your gifts. Help me see and believe that I'm entitled to all the happiness of the world.
Action for the Day: I'll think of what a friend has given me. I'll thank this friend.

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Each Day a New Beginning

. . . The present enshrines the past. --Simone de Beauvoir
Each of our lives is a multitude of interconnecting pieces, not unlike a mosaic. What has gone before, what will come today, are at once and always entwined. The past has done its part, never to be erased. The present is always a composite.
In months and years gone by, perhaps we anticipated the days with dread. Fearing the worst, often we found it; we generally find that which we fear. But we can influence the mosaic our experiences create. The contribution today makes to our mosaic can lighten its shade, can heighten its contrast, and can make bold its design.
What faces us today? A job we enjoy or one we fear? Growing pains of our children? Loneliness? How we move through the minutes, the hours, influences our perception of future minutes and hours.
No moment is inviolate. Every moment is part of the whole that we are creating. We are artists. We create our present from influences of our past.
I will go forth today; I will anticipate goodness. I will create the kind of moments that will add beauty to my mosaic.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION

On awakening let us think about 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. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.

p. 86

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Four - "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole."

There were, though, a few conservative dissenters among the alcoholics. the wrote the Foundation*, A.A.'s headquarters in New York, wanting to know about this sort of streamlining. They understood that the elders, just to nail things down good, were about to apply to the Foundation for a charter. These few were disturbed and skeptical.

*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.

p. 148

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"The tree in which the sap is stagnant remains fruitless."
--Hosea Ballou

Speaking without thinking is shooting without aiming.
--French Proverb

Don't let your tongue cut your throat.
--Irish Proverb

As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

When you find you are upset over a situation, stop and ask yourself one very important
question. "Is this something I can change?" Whether it is or not, turn your negative
energy in to productive energy. You can either change the situation, or change your
perspective of the situation.
--unknown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

LANGUAGE

"If thought corrupts language,
language can also corrupt
thought."
-- George Orwell

Sobriety for me means much more than "not drinking" or "not using" --- it means the
daily decision to be a positive and creative human being in all areas of my life: How I
treat people. What I eat. The books I read and how I speak! Not even my worst
enemy would call me a "prude" but I think that bad language used on a regular basis
is unacceptable in sobriety. Why? Because it hurts the listener and does not show
respect for self or the God-given gift of communication.

If you have no respect for language, you will ultimately not grow as a spiritual person.

May Your "words of love" be reflected in my speech and writings.

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To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to
shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
Psalms 25:1-2

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach
me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Psalms 25:4-5

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Daily Inspiration

Each time you have a kind thought, say a kind word or do a kind deed you are living your love. Lord, as I see the world through loving eyes, I experience heaven on earth.

Get and keep a good humored attitude toward life. This will bring you support rather than opposition. Lord, may I always be a peacemaker.

[Antifan]

I had to read this right after shooting my mouth off...

Speaking without thinking is shooting without aiming.
--French Proverb

Don't let your tongue cut your throat.
--Irish Proverb

As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

When you find you are upset over a situation, stop and ask yourself one very important
question. "Is this something I can change?" Whether it is or not, turn your negative
energy in to productive energy. You can either change the situation, or change your
perspective of the situation.
--unknown

[MajestyJo]

Welcome Antifan, so glad you made the decision to join our family.

Thank you for sharing. Something I can identify, I call it taking my foot out and putting in the other one.

[willbe275]

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may
appear. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

W.O.W101

[bluidkiti]

December 24

Daily Reflections

A "SANE AND HAPPY USEFULNESS"
We have come to believe He would like us to keep our
heads in the clouds with Him, but that our feet ought
to be firmly planted on earth. That is where our
fellow travelers are, and that is where our work must
be done. These are the realities for us. We have found
nothing incompatible between a powerful spiritual
experience and a life of sane and happy usefulness.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 130

All the prayer and meditation in the world will not
help me unless they are accompanied by action.
Practicing the principles in all my affairs shows me
the care that God takes in all parts of my life. God
appears in my world when I move aside, and allow Him
to step into it.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

We have been given a new life, just because we happened to become alcoholics. We
certainly don't deserve the new life that has been given us. There is little in our past to
warrant the life we have now. Many people live good lives from their youth on, not getting
into serious trouble, being well adjusted to life, and yet they have not found all that
we drunks have found. We had the good fortune to find Alcoholics Anonymous and with it
a new life. We are among the lucky few in the world who have learned a new way of life.
Am I deeply grateful for the new life that I have learned in A.A.?

Meditation For The Day

A deep gratitude to the Higher Power for all the blessings which we have and which we
don't deserve has come to us. We thank God and mean it. Then comes service to our
fellow men, out of gratitude for what we have received. This entails some sacrifice of
ourselves and our own affairs. But we are glad to do it. Gratitude, service, and then
sacrifice are the steps that lead to good A.A. work. They open the door to a new life for
us.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may gladly serve others, out of deep gratitude for what I have received. I
pray that I may keep a deep sense of obligation.

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As Bill Sees It

Individual Responsibilities, p.262

Let us emphasize that our reluctance to fight one another, or
anybody else, is not counted as some special virtue which entitles us
A.A.'s to feel superior to other people. Nor does this reluctance
mean that the members of A.A. are going to back away from their
individual responsibilities as citizens. Here they should feel free to
act as they see the right upon the public issues of our times.

But when it comes to A.A. as a whole, that's quite a different matter.
As a group we do not enter into public controversy, because we are
sure that our Society will perish if we do.

12 & 12, p.177

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Walk In Dry Places

Jealousy toward loved ones
Feeling
Though resentment gets more attention in AA than jealousy, both of these ugly emotions can plague us in sobriety. Some of us can be very distressed and ashamed when the green demon of jealousy suddenly assaults us. Does this mean we're not working our program?
No, because the purpose of our program is to bring honesty and healing into our lives, not denial of basic human emotions. It's very understandable that we have pangs of jealousy even in sobriety. Quite often, this jealousy will be felt toward loved ones and close friends.
One young AA father disclosed he was jealous of his wife when their infant son seemed more responsive to her than to him. We can also experience jealousy when others close to us receive things we'd like to have. It's even possible to be jealous of another's standing in AA.
When such feelings arise, we always have the answer: We must discuss our feelings with certain AA friends and turn these problems over to our Higher Power. This, not denial, is always the solution.
If the green demon of envy and jealousy arises today, I'll let the healing power of the Twelve Steps go to work on it.

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Keep It Simple

We must all hang together or we will hang separately.---Ben Franklin
We didn't get ourselves sober. And we don't keep ourselves sober. Our program does this. That is why the Twelfth Step is important. We must be willing to give service to our program whenever it's needed. When a friend calls and say he or she feels like using, we don't say we're sorry. We get our friend and take him or her to a meeting. Our survival depends on this kind of action. We are to carry the message. We carry the message by deeds, not words. We are part of a fellowship based on action. A fellowship guided by love. It is not words that keep us sober--it is action.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be ready whenever there's a need. Help me be ready to put my self-will aside. Give me strength.
Action for the Day: I will think of my group members. Who could use a supportive call or visit? I will call or visit those who need my help.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Follow your dream . .
if you stumble, don't stop
and lose sight of your goal,
press on to the top.
For only on top
Can we see the whole view . . .
--Amanda Bradley
Today, we can, each of us, look back on our lives and get a glimmering of why something happened and how it fit into the larger mosaic of our lives. And this will continue to be true for us. We have stumbled. We will stumble. And we learn about ourselves, about what makes us stumble and about the methods of picking ourselves up.
Life is a process, a learning process that needs those stumbles to increase our awareness of the steps we need to take to find our dream at the top. None of us could realize the part our stumbling played in the past. But now we see. When we fall, we need to trust that, as before, our falls are "up," not down.
I will see the whole view in time. I see part of it daily. My mosaic is right and good and needs my stumbles.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION

In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. we relax and take it easy. We don’t struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while. What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it.

pp. 86-87

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Four - "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole."

Of course, there was a promoter in the deal - a super-promoter. By his eloquence he allayed all fears, despite advice from the Foundation that it could issue no charter, and that ventures which mixed an A.A. group with medication and education had come to sticky ends elsewhere. To make things safer, the promoter organized three corporations and became president of them all. Freshly painted, the new center shone. The warmth of it all spread through the town. Soon things began to hum. to insure foolproof, continuous operation, sixty-one rules and regulations were adopted.

p. 148

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Sharing our experiences with other people gives them hope.
--unknown

What I am is God's gift to me.
What I make of myself is my gift to Him.
--unknown

"An apology is the superglue of life: it can repair just about anything."
--Unknown

A man's true wealth is the good he does in the world. Beauty is eternity gazing at
itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror.
--Kahlil Gibran

"Joy is not in things; It is in us"
--Richard Wagner

"Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To
a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good
example. To yourself, respect."
--Oren Arnold

"At this time of the year, we need to remind ourselves that what we give from deep within
has a much greater worth than what we give from our wallets. Some attempt to impress
others with their contributions, but the real acts of kindness are when we give our time,
our talents, and gifts that are a reflection of our hearts.
-*Neil Eskelinn

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

BROTHERHOOD

"I am a citizen, not of Athens or
Greece, but of the world."
-- Socrates

My recovery has enabled me to see that I belong; I belong not simply to a race or
nation but to the world. The freedom experienced in my recovery enables me to
embrace different cultures, races and religions. Spirituality has brought harmony into
my life.

Today I can go where I please. I can learn languages and communicate with people in
foreign lands. I can listen to ideas and philosophies that enrich God "as I understand
Him". The healing that I have experienced in my recovery is more than discovering
my choice around alcohol, it is discovering my choice around life. Today I am not
content to exist in my life, I choose to live it. Welcome to my world!

May I always choose to see and appreciate the richness of my life.

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He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the
LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
Psalm 25 9-10

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level
ground."
Psalm 143:10

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Daily Inspiration

As you draw closer and closer to God, you won't have to tell anyone because it will show in your face. Lord, teach me Your ways as I am ready and let Your love and peace flow through me even in my difficult moments.

When you live in the spirit of God you will always feel the love within you. Lord, may I seek peace in You and not from the outside world.

[willbe275]

The light of God surround us;
The love of God enfold us;
The power of God protect us;
The present of God watches over us;
Where ever we are, God is
And all is Well

W.O.W

[bluidkiti]

December 25

Daily Reflections

AT PEACE WITH LIFE

Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of
God's will into all of our activities. "How can I
best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done."
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85

I read this passage each morning, to start off my
day, because it is a continual reminder to "practice
these principles in all my affairs." When I keep
God's will at the forefront of my mind, I am able to
do what I should be doing, and that puts me at peace
with life, with myself and with God.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Many alcoholics will be saying today: "This is a good
Christmas for me." They will be looking back over the
past Christmases which were not like this one. They
will be thanking God for their sobriety and their new
found life. They will be thinking about how their
lives have changed when they came into A.A. They will
be thinking that perhaps God let them live through all
the hazards of their drinking careers, when they were
perhaps often close to death, in order that they may
be used by Him in the great work of A.A. Is this a happy
Christmas for me?

Meditation For The Day

The kingdom of heaven is also for the lowly, the
sinners, the repentant. "And they presented unto him
gifts--gold, frankincense, and myrrh." Bring your gifts
of gold--your money and material possessions. Bring
your frankincense--the consecration of your life to a
worthy cause. Bring your myrrh--your sympathy and
understanding and help. Lay them all at the feet of
God and let Him have full use of them.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be truly thankful on this Christmas day.
I pray that I may bring my gifts and lay them on the altar.

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As Bill Sees It

"Fearless and Searching", p.261

My self-analysis has frequently been faulty. Sometimes I've failed
to share my defects with the right people; at other times, I've
confessed their defects, rather than my own; and still other times,
my confession of defects has been more in the nature of loud
complaints about my circumstances and my problems.

********************************

When A.A. suggests a fearless moral inventory, it must seem to
every newcomer that more is being asked of him than he can do.
Every time he tries to look within himself, Pride says, "You need not
pass this way," and Fear says, "You dare not look!"

But pride and fear of this sort turn out to be bogymen, nothing
else. Once we have a complete willingness to take inventory, and
exert ourselves to do the job thoroughly, a wonderful light falls
upon this foggy scene. As we persist, a brand-new kind of
confidence is born, and the sense of relief at finally facing
ourselves is indescribable.

1. Grapevine, June 1958
2. 12 & 12, pp.49-50

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Walk In Dry Places

Liking Ourselves
Self-esteem.
It's maybe unsettling to learn that we need to like ourselves more, especially when we've often been accused of being conceited.
Being conceited does not mean liking oneself; it's really a matter of being smug and contemptuous in our dealing with others. This attitude is easily recognized by others, and it causes them to dislike us.
However, if we like ourselves in the right way, others sense this too, and they will be drawn to us. We will truly like ourselves more as we learn to practice the principles of AA. We will like the kind of life we are trying to live. We will like ourselves for practicing fairness and honesty. We will also like ourselves for letting people see us as we are and feel comfortable doing so. In liking ourselves, we feel no need to impress or dazzle others.
I'll remember today that I have a right to be in the world. I will do my best to be fair toward others, but I will like myself regardless of their reactions.

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Keep It Simple

To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another.--Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz.
Not that we're getting well. We feel the need for love more than ever. We tried to avoid love by using chemicals to feel good. But it didn't work. Addiction cut us off even more from people. How do we fill our needs for love? We can think about this fact: People give us love all the time. Only we just haven't seen it. Every time someone comes to a meeting to get well with us, that is love. Love isn't all-or-nothing.
Little gems of love are all over. Watch them. Enjoy them. Give them to others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, love comes from You. Help me see it, and give it.
Action for the Day: I'll look three persons in the eye today and send them love in my smile.

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Each Day a New Beginning

What we suffer, what we endure . . is done by us, as individuals, in private.
--Louise Bogan
Empathy we can give. Empathy we can find, and it comforts. But our pain, the depth of it, can never be wholly shared, fully understood, actually realized by anyone other than ourselves. Alone, each of us comes to terms with our grief, our despair, even our guilt.
Knowing that we are not alone in what we suffer, makes the difficulties each of us must face easier. We haven't been singled out, of that we're certain. Remembering that our challenges offer us the lessons we need in the school of life makes them more acceptable. In time, as our recovery progresses, we'll even look eagerly to our challenges as the real exciting opportunities for which we've been created.
Suffering prompts the changes necessary for spiritual growth. It pushes us like no other experience to God--for understanding, for relief, for unwavering security. It's not easy to look upon suffering as a gift. And we need not fully understand it; however, in time, its value in our lives will become clear.
I will not be wary of the challenges today. I will celebrate their part of my growth.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION

We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems. We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends. Many of us have wasted a lot of time doing that and it doesn’t work. You can easily see why.

p. 87

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Four - "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole."

But alas, this bright scene was not long in darkening. Confusion replaced serenity. It was found that some drunks yearned for education, but doubted if they were alcoholics. The personality defects of others could be cured maybe with a loan. Some were club-minded, but it was just a question of taking care of the lonely heart. Sometimes the swarming applicants would go for all three floors. Some would start at the top and come through to the bottom, becoming club members; others started in the club, pitched a binge, were hospitalized, then graduated to education on the third floor. It was a beehive of activity, all right, but unlike a beehive, it was confusion compounded. An A.A. group, as such, simply couldn't handle this sort of project. All too late that was discovered. Then came the inevitable explosion - something like that day the boiler burst in Wombley's Clapboard Factory. A chill chokedamp of fear and frustration fell over the group.

pp. 148-149

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Every day is a gift.
That is why we call it the present.
--unknown

"Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others."
--Brian Tracy

"The duty of helping one's self in the highest sense involves the helping of one's neighbors."
--Samuel Smiles

"Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it's in your power to help them. If you can help your neighbor now,
don't say, 'Come back tomorrow, and then I'll help you.'"
--unknown

Life's lessons are not taught in classrooms.
--unknown

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost, that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them."
--Henry David Thoreau

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

GENEROSITY

"And the Word was made flesh
and dwelt amongst us."
-- John (1:14)

There is a beautiful fairy tale about a land where everybody had an abundance of "warm fuzzies" that they exchanged with
each other and shared with each other. Everything in this land was wonderful because all the people were generously giving
and receiving "warm fuzzies".

Then a rumor began that there was to be a shortage of "warm fuzzies," and people began to hoard and selfishly protect their
supply of "warm fuzzies." At this point, "cold pricklies" were introduced into the land. Sadness, pain, tension and persecution
developed in the land, and the growth of the "cold pricklies" kept people separated, fearful and alone.

The tragedy of this tale is that the rumor was not true! As long as people generously share their "warm fuzzies", they will
never disappear. The "warm fuzzies" only disappear when they are not shared. The more we give, the more we receive.
Abundance rests in giving, never hoarding!

Master, may I always be generous with all that You have given me.

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"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11

"Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed.'" John 20:29

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Daily Inspiration

Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing. Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day.

No detail is too insignificant for God's attention. Lord, You encourage me daily as You guide my humblest moments.

[bluidkiti]

December 26

Daily Reflections

ACCEPTING SUCCESS OR FAILURE

Furthermore, how shall we come to terms with seeming
failure or success? Can we now accept and adjust to
either without despair or pride? Can we accept poverty,
sickness, loneliness, and bereavement with courage and
serenity? Can we steadfastly content ourselves with the
humbler, yet sometimes more durable, satisfactions when
the brighter, more glittering achievements are denied
us?
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 112

After I found A.A. and stopped drinking, it took a
while before I understood why the First Step contained
two parts: my powerlessness over alcohol and my life's
unmanageability. In the same way, I believed for a
long time that, in order to be in tune with the Twelve
Steps, it was enough for me "to carry this message to
alcoholics." That was rushing things. I was forgetting
that there were a total of Twelve Steps and that the
Twelfth Step also had more than one part. Eventually
I learned that it was necessary for me to "practice
these principles" in all areas of my life. In working
all the Steps thoroughly, I not only stay sober and
help someone else to achieve sobriety, but also I
transform my difficulty with living into a joy of
living.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I am glad to be a part of A.A., of that great fellowship
that is spreading over the United States and all over the
world. I am only one of the many A.A.'s, but I am one. I
am grateful to be living at this time, when I can help
A.A. to grow, when it needs me to put my shoulder to the
wheel and help keep the movement going. I am glad to be
able to be useful, to have a reason for living, a purpose
in life. I want to lose my life in this great cause and
so find it again. Am I grateful to be an A.A.?

Meditation For The Day

These meditations can teach us how to relax. We can be of
service to other people in a small way at least. And we
can be happy while doing it. We should not worry too much
about people we cannot help. We can make it a habit to
leave the outcome of the things we do to the Higher Power.
We can go along through life doing the best we can, but
without a feeling of urgency or strain. We can enjoy all
the good things and the beauty of life, but at the same
time depend deeply on God.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may give my life to this worthwhile cause.
I pray that I may enjoy the satisfaction that comes from
good work well done.

************************************************** *********

As Bill Sees It

Accepting God's Gifts, p. 168

"Though many theologians hold that sudden spiritual experiences amount to a special
distinction, if not a divine appointment of some sort, I question this view. Every
human being, no matter what his attributes for good or evil, is a part of the divine
spiritual economy. Therefore, each of us has his place, and I cannot see that God
intends to exalt one another.

"So it is necessary for all of us to accept whatever positive gifts we receive with a
deep humility, always bearing in mind that our negative attitudes were first necessary
as a means of reducing us to such a state of that we would be ready for a gift of the
positive ones via the conversion experience. Your own alcoholism and the
immense deflation that finally resulted are indeed the foundation upon which your
spiritual experience rests."

Letter, 1964

************************************************** *********

Walk In Dry Places

Humility: Teachable and Honest
Open to growth.
Humility& is often used in the context of being honest enough to admit one's faults, but it also means being teachable. The truly humble person realizes there's always more to learn and is open to such learning.
If we think we have humility, we usually don't. However, we can look back and recognize times when we made wonderful progress while being deeply humble. This was particularly true when we recognized our alcoholism and achieved sobriety. In this one action, we changed our lives.
If we continue to practice the honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness that helped get us sober, these traits will be apparent in other areas of our lives. Though humility isn't generally sought as a way of life, it's the right way for recovering people.
I'll be open today to ideas from any direction. I can learn something from every person.

************************************************** *********

Keep It Simple

To be emotionally committed to somebody is very difficult, but to be alone is impossible. --Stephen Sondheim.
Let's face it, relationships are hard to work! But we are lucky! Recovery is about relationships. We learn how to set limits. We learn how to listen to and talk to others. In Step One, we begin a new relationship with ourselves. In Step Two and Three, we begin a relationship with our Higher Power. In later Steps, we mend our relationships with family and friends. In our relationship with our sponsor, we learn about being friends. And our past relationships with alcohol and other drugs is being replaced by people and our Higher Power.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for all the new relationships. Thank-you for teaching me how to feel human again.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll make a list of all the new relationships I have now, due to my sobriety.

************************************************** *********

Each Day a New Beginning

It is only framed in space that beauty blooms; only in space are events, and objects and people unique and significant and therefore beautiful.
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh
We must look closely; focus intently on the subjects of our attention. Within these subjects is the explanation of life's mysteries. To observe anything closely means we must pull it aside with our minds and fondle it, perhaps. We must let the richness of the object, the person, the event, wash over us and savor its memory.
Many of us only now are able to look around ourselves slowly, with care, noting the detail, the brilliant color of life. Each day is an opportunity to observe and absorb the beauty while it blooms.
I will look for beauty today, in myself, and in a friend, and I will find it.

************************************************** *********

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION

If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in morning meditation. If we belong to a religious denomination which requires a definite morning devotion, we attend to that also. If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing. There are many helpful books also. Suggestions about these may be obtained from one’s priest, minister, or rabbi. Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer.

p. 87

************************************************** *********

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Four - "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole."

When that lifted, a wonderful thing had happened. The head promoter wrote the Foundation office. He said he wished he'd paid some attention to A.A. experience. Then he did something else that was to become an A.A. classic. It all went on a little card about golf-score size. The cover read: "Middleton Group #1. Rule #62." Once the card was unfolded, a single pungent sentence leaped to the eye: "Don't take yourself too dam* seriously."

p. 149

************************************************** *********

The paradox of control is simple. The more we try to control life, the less control we
have.
--Joan Borysenko, Ph.D.

A person who possesses true peace is not one whose life is without problems and
turmoil but is rather a person who has peace in spite of it.
--unknown

If you always do what you've always done, you will always be where you've always been.
--unknown

A B C = Acceptance, Belief, Change.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
--unknown

************************************************** *********

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

APATHY

"The only thing necessary for
the triumph of evil is for good
men to do nothing."
-- Edmund Burke

I read about the Holocaust and I am ashamed. I am ashamed to belong to the human
race that allowed, by an overwhelming silence, the slaughter of millions. The ultimate
in people-pleasing is to do nothing. The fear of being an outcast or traitor allows the
addiction to Power to develop. Power is an addiction that is rarely discussed in
society. And yet evil needs people and politics to function alone it is but a word.

With this new day I seek to be involved in the good life. Today I am not afraid to
stand alone for what I believe to be the principles of a God-given spirituality. I know
evil because I know myself. I know tyranny and injustice because for years I
perpetrated negativity in my life. Now I choose to say "no". Today I seek to make
amends for past wrongs by being rigorously honest in all my affairs. Because I
know what it is to hate, I seek to love. I wish to be responsible in God's world.

Teach me not only to learn from past mistakes but translate this knowledge into
action.

************************************************** *********

"Nothing will be impossible with God."
Luke 1:37

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom.
Psalm 145:3

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength."
Deuteronomy 6:5

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the
present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

If you think success and really believe it will happen, you will perform in a manner that leads to success. Lord, may I always avoid negative thoughts and visualize myself in the manner that You intended for me.

We are powerless to change our past, but we can change how we look at it. Lord, help me to realize that my past has made me a stronger person and show me that these experiences have taught me valuable life lessons.

[willbe275]

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children
and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us
and gave himself up for us as a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God.

W.O.W101

[bluidkiti]

December 27

Daily Reflections

PROBLEM SOLVING

"Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual
principles would solve all my problems."
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 42

Through the recovery process described in the Big Book,
I have come to realize that the same instructions that
work on my alcoholism, work on much more. Whenever I
am angry or frustrated, I consider the matter a
manifestation of the main problem within me,
alcoholism. As I "walk" through the Steps, my
difficulty is usually dealt with long before I reach
the Twelfth "suggestion," and those difficulties that
persist are remedied when I make an effort to carry
the message to someone else. These principles do
solve my problems! I have not encountered an exception,
and I have been brought to a way of living which is
satisfying and useful.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I need the A.A. principles for the development of the
buried life within me, that good life, which I had
misplaced, but which I found again in this fellowship.
This life within me is developing slowly but surely,
with many set-backs, many mistakes, many failures, but
still developing. As long as I stick close to A.A., my
life will go on developing, and I cannot yet know what
it will be, but I know that it will be good. That's
all I want to know. It will be good. Am I thanking God for A.A.?

Meditation For The Day

Build your life on the firm foundation of true gratitude
to God for all His blessings and true humility because of
your unworthiness of these blessings. Build the frame of
your life out of self-discipline, never let yourself get
selfish or lazy or contented with yourself. Build the
walls of your life out of service to others,
helping others find the way to live. Build the roof of
your life out of prayer and quiet times, waiting for
God's guidance from above. Build a garden around your
life out of peace of mind and serenity and a sure faith.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may build my life on A.A. principles. I
pray that it may be a good building when my work is finished.

************************************************** *********

As Bill Sees It

Servant, Not Master, p.259

In A.A., we found that it did not matter too much what our
material condition was, but it mattered greatly what our spiritual
condition was. As we improved our spiritual outlook, money
gradually became our servant and not our master. It became a
means of exchanging love and services with those about us.

********************************

One of A.A.'s Loners is an Austrian sheepman who lives two thousand
miles from the nearest town, where yearly he sells his wool. In order
to be paid the best prices he has to get to town during a certain
month. But when he heard that a big regional A.A. meeting was to be
held at a later date when wool prices would have fallen, he gladly
took heavy financial loss in order to make his journey then. That's
how much an A.A. meeting means to him.

1. 12 & 12, p.122
2. A.A. Comes Of Age, p.31

************************************************** *********

Walk In Dry Places

Limiting Gossip
No harm to others.
"When you've told me their names, do not tell me their faults," a person said at an AA meeting. She was explaining how careful we must be to keep gossip within tight limits. However, it is possible to identify people in gossip without actually speaking their names. We can give so many facts that the listener can identify whom we're discussing. This is no less malicious and thoughtless than actually naming the person.
We can avoid these dangers by giving up both the desire to gossip and the wish to listen to gossip. We will always have matters to gossip about; we can always find weaknesses in those we envy, faults in people we want to see taken down a notch or two. But if we persist in the program, we should find ourselves moving out of this limited way of thinking. We'll put severe limits on gossip at the same time.
I'll sidestep gossip if it starts to find a way into my life today. Under God's guidance, I have better things to do.

************************************************** *********

Keep It Simple

Reading is to the Mind, what exercise is to the body.
Good ideas are the seeds that start our growth. We hear things at meetings. We listen to our sponsor.
Maybe we listen to program tapes. And we read. Reading is special because we do it when we're alone.
We read in quiet times, when we can think. We can read as fast or as slow as we want. We can mark special words and come back to them again and again. We'll figure things out in our way, but we need help to get started. That's why we read. It gives us good ideas to think about.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, speak to me through helpful readings and help me learn at my best pace.
Action for the Day: Reading is easier the more I do it. Today I'll feel proud that I've read program ideas to get my mind thinking in a healthy way.

************************************************** *********

Each Day a New Beginning

One needs something to believe in, something for which one can have wholehearted enthusiasm. --Hannah Senesh
Life offers little, if we sit passively in the midst of activity. Involvement is a prerequisite if we are to grow. For our lives' purposes we need enthusiasm; we need enthusiasm in order to greet the day expectantly. When we look toward the day with anticipation, we are open to all the possibilities for action.
We must respond to our possibilities if we are to mature emotionally and recover spiritually. Idly observing life from the sidelines guarantees no development beyond our present level. We begin to change once we start living up to our commitment to the program, its possibilities and our purpose, and it's that change, many days over, that moves us beyond the negative, passive outlook of days gone by.
The program has offered us something to believe in. We are no longer the women we were. So much more have we become! Each day's worth of recovery carries us closer to fulfilling our purpose in life.
I believe in recovery, my own; when I believe in success, I'll find it. There is magic in believing.

************************************************** *********

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION

As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer
running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day “Thy will be done.” We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.
It works--it really does.
We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined.
But this is not all. There is action and more action. “Faith without works is dead.” The next chapter is entirely devoted to Step Twelve.

pp. 87-88

************************************************** *********

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Four - "Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole."

Thus it was that under Tradition Four an A.A. group had exercised its right to be wrong. Moreover, it had performed a great service for Alcoholics Anonymous, because it had been humbly willing to apply the lessons it learned. It had picked itself up with a laugh and gone on to better things. Even the chief architect, standing in the ruins of his dream, could laugh at himself - and that is the very acme of humility.

p. 149

************************************************** *********

A person who possesses true peace is not one whose life is without problems and
turmoil but is rather a person who has peace in spite of it.
--unknown

"You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns
have roses."
--Tom Wilson

Everyone has a gift for something, even if it is the gift of being a good friend.
--Marian Anderson

Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don't keep it a secret.
--Mary Kay Ash

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and
beginning the work of becoming yourself.
--Anna Quindlen

It's never too late — in fiction or in life — to revise.
--Nancy Thayer

************************************************** *********

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

LIES

"Sin has many tools, but a lie is
the handle that fits them all."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

To lie is to rob life of meaning. In my addiction I was a liar, not just by what I said but
by what I did, what I left unsaid and by my manipulation with half-truths. All lies shut
out truth making us prisoners of fantasy and illusion. The world becomes what we
want it to be rather than what it is and reality is lost. The liar is forced into the
prison of loneliness, despair and isolation because nobody can know him, nobody can
understand him. His language and communication are ego-centered. The liar is not living
in the real world. He is living in his own world, with his own rules and definitions. The lies
are the killing wounds, and they are self-inflicted.

Today I prefer the pain of truth to the passing satisfaction of the lie and the habit of
telling the truth is growing in me!

God of Truth, may You ever be reflected in the life I seek to live.

************************************************** *********

Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:2

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in
Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:14

But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this
kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict
with the law.
Galatians 5:22-23

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

When we become aware that we possess all the spiritual treasures necessary for a productive and happy life, we will never want for anything. Lord, You are a limitless source of abundance and love.

There is not one moment that we are separated from God's care unless we choose to be. Lord, You provide for my daily needs and deliver me from evil. You are my refuge.

[willbe275]

God is all you need to get by.
When times become
hard and they sometimes will.
Look up, look up! and be still.
God is on the throne with Jesus at His right
side, watching us and guiding us if we only abide.
Seek God and you will find relief,
Know God and you will KNOW PEACE.

W.O.W101

[bluidkiti]

December 28

Daily Reflections

SUIT UP AND SHOW UP

In A.A. we aim not only for sobriety - we try again
to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and
of the world that once rejected us. This is the
ultimate demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work
is the first but not the final step.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 21

The old line says, "Suit up and show up." That action
is so important that I like to think of it as my motto.
I can choose each day to suit up and show up, or not.
Showing up at meetings starts me toward feeling a part
of that meeting, I can talk with newcomers, and I can
share my experience; that's what credibility, honesty,
and courtesy really are. Suiting up and showing up are
the concrete actions I take in my ongoing return to
normal living.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

A.A. may be human in its organization, but it is divine
in its purpose. The purpose is to point me toward God and
the good life. My feet have been set upon the right path.
I feel it in the depths of my being. I am going in the
right direction. The future can be safely left to God.
Whatever the future holds, it cannot be too much for me
to bear. I have the Divine Power with me, to carry me
through everything that may happen. Am I pointed toward
God and the good life?

Meditation For The Day

Although unseen, the Lord is always near to those who
believe in Him and trust Him and depend on Him for the
strength to meet the challenges of life. Although veiled
from mortal sight, the Higher Power is always available to
us whenever we humbly ask for it. The feeling that God is
with us should not depend on any passing mood of ours, but
we should try to be always conscious of His power and love
in the background of our lives.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that today I may feel that God is not too far away
to depend on for help. I pray that I may feel confident of
His readiness to give me the power that I need.

************************************************** *********

As Bill Sees It

Alone No More, p.252

Alcoholism was a lonely business, even though we were surrounded
by people who loved us. But when our self-will had driven
everybody away and our isolation became complete, we commenced
to play the big shot in cheap barrooms. Failing even in this, we
had to fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of
passers-by.

We were trying to find emotional security either by dominating or by
being dependent upon others. Even when our fortunes had not totally
ebbed, we nevertheless found ourselves alone in the world. We still
vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy sort of domination or
dependence.

For those of us who were like that, A.A. has a very special meaning. In
this Fellowship we begin to learn right relations with people who
understand us; we don't have to be alone any more.

12 & 12, pp. 116-117

************************************************** *********

Walk In Dry Places

Rehearing Rejection
Fortitude
The possibility of rejection exists with almost everything we do, if we are free to choose. We might not like rejection, but we want the same freedom to reject others. As freely choosing people, we need to turn down ideas or proposals we don't like.
One thing we should never do, however, is rehearse rejections before they occur. If we do this, we may give up even before we have attempted what we hope to accomplish. In effect, we will be killing our hopes even before others have a chance to review them. This is always a ticket to failure.
Rejection is really a feedback mechanism that reports information we ought to have. It tells us either to change our approach or to seek acceptance elsewhere. It is not evidence that we're completely unacceptable.
Our problem with any single rejection may be that it causes us to recall all the rejections we ever had. We can learn to see any rejection as a normal event that can be beneficial if we accept it properly.
I'll not let any fear or visualization of rejection keep me from actions I ought to take today. I am an acceptable person, and there is a place for what I have to offer.

************************************************** *********

Each Day a New Beginning

The human heart dares not stay away too long from that which hurt it most. There is a return journey to anguish that few of us are released from making. --Lillian Smith
As the sore tooth draws our tongue, so do rejections, affronts, painful criticisms, both past and present draw our minds. We court self-pity, both loving and hating it. But we can change this pattern. First we must decide we are ready to do so. The program tells us we must become "entirely ready." And then we must ask to have this shortcoming removed.
The desire to dwell on the injustices of our lives becomes habitual. It takes hours of our time. It influences our perceptions of all other experiences. We have to be willing to replace that time-consuming activity with one that's good and healthy.
We must be prepared for all of life to change. Our overriding self-pity has so tarnished our perceptions that we may never have sensed all the good that life daily offers. How often we see the glass as half-empty rather than half-full!
A new set of experiences awaits me today. And I can perceive them unfettered by the memories of the painful past. Self-pity need not cage me, today.

************************************************** *********

Keep It Simple

If You Walk With Lame Men You'll soon Limp Yourself. Seaman McManus
Before recovery, we kept company with people who were as sick as us, or worse. We got angry and made fun of people who were trying to improve their lives. They scared us. They were like mirrors that reflected how spiritually lost we were becoming. Now we walk in the crowd we avoided. Now we have values. We have spiritual beliefs. Living up to these values and beliefs can be hard. We need to be around people who live by their values. In recovery, we learn that we need others. Remember, the first word in Step One is we. We need good people in our lives. We need friends who will not tell us what we want to hear, but what we are doing wrong.
Prayer for the Day: Sometimes I act like I need no one. Help me pick my friends wisely, for my life is at stake.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll pick one friend, and we'll talk about how we can better help each other.

************************************************** *********

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion: Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Remember they are very ill.

p. 89

************************************************** *********

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Five - "Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry it's message to the alcoholic who still suffers."

"Shoemaker, stick to thy last!" ... better do one thing supremely well than many badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition. Around it our Society gathers in unity. The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle.

p. 150

************************************************** *********

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
--Charles A. Beard

"Learn from the negative as well as the positive, from the failures as well as the
successes."
--Jim Rohn

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If you want to be listened to, you should put in time listening."
--Marge Piercy

"In every crisis there is a message. Crises are nature's way of forcing change--breaking
down old structures, shaking loose negative habits so that something new and better can take
their place."
--Susan Taylor

************************************************** *********

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

HUMOR

"Humor is an affirmation of
dignity, a declaration of man's
superiority to all that befalls
him."
-- Romain Gary

Today I laugh at myself. Today I need to laugh at myself in order to stay sane. Today
I choose not to take myself too seriously.

When I tell jokes about the alcoholic, I am not belittling the person. I am making fun of
the disease that nearly killed me. For me to live with the disease, I need to be able to
laugh at the disease in this way I stop it from having power in my life.

Also I catch something of the symptoms of the disease in the jokes: the grandiosity,
arrogance, manipulation, insanity, ego, selfishness and exaggeration. The joke allows
me to face reality with a smile.

O God, thank You for the healing gift of humor.

************************************************** *********

"For you are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness."
II Samuel 22:29

"Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore!"
1 Chronicles 16:11

See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called
children of God.
1 John 3:1

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you
may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13

"Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be
disappointed."
Isaiah 49:23

"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is
born of God and knows God."
1 John 4:7

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

Do not run ahead of the Lord, but walk with Him, pray for His guidance and listen to His answers. Lord, let me put Your will first in my life.

Do what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord and receive the fullness of His blessings. Lord, I thank You for the gifts that I have received and ask forgiveness for all that I have done wrong.

[willbe275]

Our disease (satan) wants you to believe you are alone.
He wants you to believe that no
one understands how you feel, but his claims are false.
In addition to God being with you,
many believers understand what you are
experiencing mentally and emotionally.

You are not alone now nor will you ever be,
no matter what confronts you.

W.O.W

[bluidkiti]

December 29

Daily Reflections

THE JOY OF LIVING

. . . . therefore the joy of good living is the theme
of A.A.'s Twelfth Step.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 125

A.A. is a joyful program! Even so, I occasionally balk
at taking the necessary steps to move ahead, and find
myself resisting the very actions that could bring about
the joy I want. I would not resist if those actions did
not touch some vulnerable area of my life, an area that
needs hope and fulfillment. Repeated exposure to
joyfulness has a way of softening the hard, outer edges
of my ego. Therein lies the power of joyfulness to help
all members of A.A.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Participating in the privileges of the movement, I shall
share in the responsibilities, taking it upon myself to
carry my fair share of the load, not grudgingly but
joyfully. I am deeply grateful for the privileges I
enjoy because of my membership in this great movement.
They put an obligation upon me which I will not shirk.
I will gladly carry my fair share of the burdens.
Because of the joy of doing them, they will no longer be
burdens, but opportunities. Will I accept every opportunity
gladly?

Meditation For The Day

Work and prayer are the two forces which are gradually
making a better world. We must work for the betterment of
ourselves and our fellow men. Faith without works is dead.
But all work with people should be based on prayer. If we
say a little prayer before we speak or try to help, it
will make us more effective. Prayer is the force behind
the work. Prayer is based on faith that God is working
with us and through us. We can believe that nothing is
impossible in human relationships, if we depend on the
help of God.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that my life may be balanced between prayer and
work. I pray that I may not work without prayer or pray
without work.

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As Bill Sees It

Unlimited Choice, p. 201

Any number of alcoholics are bedeviled by the dire conviction that if
they ever go near A.A. they will be pressured to conform to some
particular brand of faith or theology.

They just don't realize that faith is never an imperative for A.A.
membership. That sobriety can be achieved with an easily acceptable
minimum of it, and that our concepts of a Higher Power and God--as
we understand Him--afford everyone a nearly unlimited choice of
spiritual belief and action.

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In talking to a prospect, stress the spiritual feature freely. If the man
be agnostic or atheist, make it emphatic that he does not have to
agree with your conception of God. He can choose any conception he
likes, provided it makes sense to him.

The main thing is that he is willing to believe in a Power greater than
himself and that he live by spiritual principles.

1. Grapevine, April 1961
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 93

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Walk In Dry Places

Mending the past
No Regrets of the Past
"The past is best mended by living so fully today that its errors have no place in our lives." These words by an AA member suggest an approach for healing from the past.
All of us would benefit to use today's knowledge to deal with situations we mishandled in the past. But we must remember that whatever mistakes we made, we had available only the knowledge and resources we possessed the, and we may have done about as well as we possibly could at this time.
We should also remember that active alcoholism is a crippling and ugly disease with many terrible consequences. It's not surprising that bad things happened to others and us when we were drinking. We can only be grateful that we are now recovering and that matters are better, not worse, than they once were.
I'll live fully today, allowing no thoughts of regret from my past to intrude.

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Keep It Simple

Many people are living in an emotional jail without recognizing it. Virginia Satir.
Our disease was our jail. We felt so bad that we were sure we must have done something awful. But we didn't cause our disease. We have done nothing to deserve our disease. We aren't responsible for the fact that we have a disease. But we ARE responsible for our recovery. We have been granted probation. The terms of our probation are simple: don't drink or use other drugs, and work the Steps. If we follow these simple rules, we'll be free. And it will be clear to us that only a Power greater than ourselves could give us this freedom.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to stay free. For this next twenty-four - hour period, take from me any urge to drink or use other drugs. With Your help, I'll be free.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll think about my disease. I am not morally weak. I have a dangerous illness. What can keep me free from my disease?

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Each Day a New Beginning

Kindness and intelligence don't always deliver us from the pitfalls and traps. There is no way to take the danger out of human relationships. --Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
Relationships with other people are necessary to escape loneliness; however, relationships do not guarantee freedom from pain. Nurturing a meaningful relationship with another human being takes patience, even when we don't have any. It takes tolerance, even if we don't feel it. It takes selflessness, at those very moments our own ego is crying for attention.
Yet, we need relationships with others; they inspire us. We learn who we are and who we can become through relationships. They precipitate our accomplishments. Our creativity is encouraged by them, and so is our emotional and spiritual development.
We can look around us, attentively. We can feel blessed, even when it's a negative situation. Every situation is capable of inspiring a positive step forward. Every situation is meant for our good.
There's risk in human relationships, and it's often accompanied by pain. But I am guaranteed growth, and I will find the happiness I seek. I will reach out to someone today.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS

Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends—this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.

p. 89

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Five - "Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry it's message to the alcoholic who still suffers."

Alcoholics Anonymous can be likened to a group of physicians who might find a cure for cancer, and upon whose concerted work would depend the answer for sufferers of this disease. True, each physician in such a group might have his own specialty. Every doctor concerned would at times wish he could devote himself to his chosen field rather than work only with the group. But once these men had hit upon c cure, once it became apparent that only by their united effort could this be accomplished, then all of them would feel bound to devote themselves solely to the relief of cancer. In the radiance of such a miraculous discovery, any doctor would set his other ambitions aside, at whatever personal cost.

p. 150

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Keep your sobriety first to make it last.
--unknown

Having the world's best idea will do you no good unless you act on it. People who want
milk shouldn't sit on a stool in the middle of a field in hopes that a cow will back up to
them.
--Curtis Grant

When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while
it's still warm.
--Sherrie R.

"When nobody around you measures up, it's time to check your yardstick."
--Bill Lemly

Without God's inner source of enlightenment and refreshment, I would soon stagnate
and feel despair.
--Shelley

The heart of AA is the act of one person giving to another.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

MADNESS

"The madman who knows that he
is mad is close to sanity."
-- Juan Ruiz de Alarcon

An alcoholic who continues to drink is committing suicide. An addict who continues to
use is committing suicide. An overeater who continues to eat compulsively and
destructively is committing suicide. Madness.

It is like a man standing in the town square stabbing himself with a knife and asking
the passer-by, "Why am I bleeding?"

Today I accept my past destructive behavior and try to change it on a daily basis.
Spirituality is loving yourself enough to "see" the writing on the wall and do something
about it. Change is sanity for the madman!

God, You seem to have given me a dose of insanity. Let me use it to Your glory.

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"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the
door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
Revelation 3:20

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you
regard one another as more important than himself.
Philippians 2:3

"Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls;
and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand."
Romans 14:4

"The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in
you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
Zephaniah 3:17

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Daily Inspiration

Today picture yourself as the happiest person that you know and watch how contagious this enthusiasm for life is. Lord, may I bring out the best in those with whom I share today so they can in turn bring out more of my best.

Choose God instead of choosing to worry. Lord, in Your justice, rescue and deliver me.