June 26
Daily Reflections
A GIFT THAT GROWS WITH TIME
For most normal folks, drinking means conviviality, companionship and colorful imagination. It means release from care, boredom and worry. It is joyous intimacy with friends and a feeling that life is good. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 151
The longer I chased these elusive feelings with alcohol, the more out of reach they were. However, by applying this passage to my sobriety, I found that it described the magnificent new life made available to me by the A.A. program. It "truly does get better" one day at a time. The warmth, the love and the joy so simply expressed in these words grow in breadth and depth each time I read it. Sobriety is a gift that grows with time.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We must know the nature of our weakness before we can determine how to deal with it. When we are honest about its presence, we may discover that it is imaginary and can be overcome by a change of thinking. We admit that we are alcoholics and we would be foolish if we refused to accept our handicap and do something about it. So by honestly facing our weakness and keeping ever present the knowledge that for us alcoholism is a disease with which we are afflicted, we can take the necessary steps to arrest it. Have I fully accepted my handicap?
Meditation For The Day
There is a proper time for everything. I must learn not to do things at the wrong time, that is, before I am ready or before conditions are right. It is always a temptation to do something at once, instead of waiting until the proper time. Timing is important. I must learn, in the little daily situations of life, to delay action until I am sure that I am doing the right thing at the right time. So many lives lack balance and timing. In the momentous decisions and crises of life, they may ask God's guidance, but into the small situations of life, they rush alone.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may delay action until I feel that I am doing the right thing. I pray that I may not rush in alone. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Money--Before and After, p. 177
In our drinking time, we acted as if the money supply were inexhaustible, though between binges we'd sometimes go to the other extreme and become miserly. Without realizing it, we were just accumulating funds for the next spree. Money was the symbol of pleasure and self-importance. As our drinking became worse, money was only an urgent requirement which could supply us with the next drink and the temporary comfort of oblivion it brought.
<< << << >> >> >>
Although financial recovery is on the way for many of us, we find we cannot place money first. For us, material well-being always follows spiritual progress; it never precedes.
1. 12 & 12, p. 120 2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 127
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Walk In Dry Places
Let it Happen Easy Does it. Student pilots learn a simple method for getting an airplane out of a stall; Release the stick forward, and the airplane rights itself. Continue to hold the stick back, and you cause a fatal spin. Many times, we cling too tightly to conditions that could simply right themselves ifwewould only letgo.Situations often work themselves out when we stop pushing and pulling too hard. If we're living on a spiritual basis and following our 12 Step program, lots of unpleasant conditions will clear up without any strainor struggle on our part. The secret, then, is to do our part and act prudently, but also to be willing to let things happen. I'll remember today not to push or pull too hard to get my way. Things might work themselves outifI simplyletnaturalforces work properly in every situation.
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Keep It Simple
But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads.---Albert Camus Sometimes we sat we're getting out lives together. Together with what? With our selves. The TwelveSteps help us clean up the mess we've made. We're fixing our mistakes. We're looking at ourselves closely---at what we believe, what we feel, what we like to do, who we are. We're asking our High Power to help us to be our best. No wonder over lives are coming together! No wonder we feel more peace, harmony, and happiness! Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remember the best harmony comes when I sing from Your songbook. Action for the Day: Today, I'll make choices that are in line with who I am.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
In the spring of 1917, in order to beat being fired from school, I became "patriotic" and joinedtheArmy. I am one of the lads who came out of the service with a lower rank than when I went in. I had been to OTC the previous summer, so I went into the Army as a sergeant but I came out a private, and you really have to be unusual to do that. In the next two years, I washed morepans and peeled more potatoes than any other doughboy. In the Army, I became a periodic alcoholic--the periods always coming whenever I could makethe opportunity. However, I did manage to keep out of the guardhouse. My last bout in the Army lasted from November 5 to 11, 1918. We heard by wireless in the fifth that the Armistice would be signed the next day (this was a premature report), so I had a couple of cognacs to celebrate; then I hopped a truck and went AWOL. My next conscious memory was in BarleDuc, many miles from base. Itwas November 11, and bells were ringing and whistles blowing for the real Armistice. ThereI was, unshaven, clothes torn and dirty,with no recollection of wandering all over France but, of course, a hero to the local French. Back at camp,all was forgiven because it was the End, but in the light of what I have since learned, I know I was a confirmed alcoholic at nineteen.
pp. 222-223
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
When evening comes, perhaps just before going to sleep, many of us draw up a balance sheet for the day. This is a good place to remember that 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,goodthoughts,and goodacts arethere for us to see. Even when we have tried hard and failed, we may chalk that up as one of the greatest credits of all. Under these conditions, the pains of failure are converted into assets. Out of them we receive the stimulation weneed to go forward.Someonewho knew what he was talking about once remarked that pain was the touchstone of all spiritual progress. How heartily we A.A.'s can agree with him, for we know that the pains of drinking had to come before sobriety, and emotional turmoil before serenity.
pp. 93-94
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However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you, If you do not act upon them? --Buddha
If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were. --Kahlil Gibran
The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do. --John Holt
Be gentle with yourself, learn to love yourself, to forgive yourself, for only as we have the right attitude toward ourselves can we have the right attitude toward others. --Wilfred Peterson
"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content." --Helen Keller
"Seven days without a meeting makes one weak." --unknown
"There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps." --Peter A. Cohen
Words are powerful tools. Use them to help and not hurt. --Cited in BITS & PIECES
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
GENIUS
"In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous." --Robert G. Ingersoll
Spirituality is a creative and positive energy that forever seeks new ways to improve and heal itself. Spirituality is never satisfied with mediocrity. God is alive in musicians, writers, singers and prophets --and always the standard of "excellence" is searched for; best can be made better!
As a drunk I often settled for convenience, "no sweat", mediocrity. My motto was "Why bother? It can be done tomorrow." I had low energy. Addiction robs the human being of God's productive energy.
In recovery I seek the best because I believe I am the best; God made me -- and I respect His choice!
Lord, save me from the "comfortable way" that makes no demands on my genius.
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As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor -- this is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 5:19
"The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with Him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 'Return home and tell how much God has done for you.' So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him." Luke 8:38-39
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7
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Daily Inspiration
Enjoy life while you've got the chance. Lord, may I view each day as a gift and a privilege.
Knowing about God and knowing God are very different things. Lord, may I recognizeYourworkings in my lifeso thatI may reallyknow You.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
today's readings
June 25
Daily Reflections
A TWO-WAY STREET
If we ask, God will certainly forgive our derelictions. But in no case does He render us white as snow and keep us that way without our cooperation. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 65
When I prayed, I used to omit a lot of things for which I needed to be forgiven. I thought that if I didn't mention those things to God, He would never know about them. I did not know that if I had just forgiven myself for some of my past deeds, God would forgive me also. I was always taught to prepare for the journey through life, never realizing until I came to A.A. when I honestly became willing to be taught forgiveness and forgiving that life itself is the journey. The journey of life is a very happy one, as long as I am willing to accept change and responsibility.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
One of the most encouraging facts of life is that your weakness can become your greatest asset. Kites and airplanes rise against the wind. In climbing up a high mountain, we need the stony crags and rough places to aid us in our climb. So your weakness can become an asset if you will face it, examine it, and trace it to its origin. Set it in the very center of your mind. No weakness, such as drinking, ever turned into an asset until it was first fairly faced. Am I making my weakness my greatest asset?
Meditation For The Day
Whenever we seek to worship God, we think of the great universe that God rules over, of creation, of mighty law and order throughout the universe. Then we feel the awe that precedes worship. I too must feel awe, feel the desire to worship God in wondering amazement. My mind is in a box of space and time and it is so made that I cannot conceive of what is beyond space or time, the limitless and the eternal. But I know that there must be something beyond space and time, and that something must be the limitless and eternal Power behind the universe. I also know that I can experience that Power in my life.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may accept the limitless and eternal Spirit. I pray that It may express Itself in my life. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Domination and Demand, p. 176
The primary fact that we fail to recognize is our total inability to form a true partnership with another human being. Our egomania digs two disastrous pitfalls. Either we insist upon dominating people we know, or we depend upon them far too much.
If we lean too heavily on people, they will sooner or later fail us, for they are human, too, and cannot possibly meet our incessant demands. In this way our insecurity grows and festers.
When we habitually try to manipulate others to our own willful desires, they revolt, and resist us heavily. Then we develop hurt feelings, a sense of persecution, and a desire to retaliate.
<< << << >> >> >>
My dependency meant demand -- a demand for the possession and control of other people and the conditions surrounding me.
1. 12 & 12, p. 53 2. Grapevine, January 1958
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Walk In Dry Places
Transforming garbage. Handling the past Left to itself, nature takes ordinary garbage and transforms it into useful nutrients that help sustain life. It's usually poor human action that makes garbage a problem. Our mental and emotional garbage takes the forms of bad memories, festering resentments, and useless regrets. We waste time berating ourselves and others about bad decisions and experiences that are behind us. The magic of the 12 Step program is that we can use it to transform this mentalgarbageinto useful experience.A past mistakecan become as asset when we share it with others. Pain and suffering can teach a lesson that helps all of us to grow. By forgiving others, a resentment can be turned into a friendship. I'll resolve today not to worry about garbage any longer than it takes to identify it and release it to my Higher Power for transformation.
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Keep It Simple
When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that three of his fingers are pointing at himself.---Louis Nizer It's so easy to blame others. Others are always making mistakes we can hide behind. That's what blame is---hiding. When we blame others for our mistakes, we're trying to hide our character defects. It's nobody else’s fault that we act the way we do. It's our fault. We're responsible for our actions. And with the help of our Higher Power, we can change. We can turn over our character defects. Over time, we're not afraidto learn about ourselves---even the parts we don't like---because we want to know ourselves better. Prayer for the Day: I pray for help in facing my character defects. Action for the Day: I'll think about the past week. I'll list times I've used blame to hide from reality.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
At seventeen I entered the university, really to satisfy my father, who wanted me to study medicine there as he had. That is where I had. That is where I had my first drink and I still remember it, for every "first" drink afterwards did exactly the sametrick--I could feel it go right through every bit of my body and down to my very toes. But each drink after the "first" drink seemed to become less and less effective and after three or four they all seemed like water. I was never a hilarious drunk; the moreI drank thequieterI got, and the drunker I got the harder I fought to stay sober. So it is clear that I never had any fun out of drinking--I would be the soberest-seeming one in the crowd and all of a sudden I would be the drunkest. Even that first night I blacked out, which leads me to believe that I was an alcoholic from my very first drink. The first year in college I just got by in my studies, and that year I majored in poker and drinking. I refused to join any fraternity, as i wanted to be a free lance, and that year my drinking was confined to one-night stands, once or twice a week. The second year my drinking was more or less restricted to week-ends, but I was nearly kicked out for scholastic failure.
p. 222
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
We can try to stop making unreasonable demands upon those we love. We can show kindness where we had shown none. With those we dislike we can begin to practice justice and courtesy, perhaps going out of our way to understand and help them. Whenever we fail any of these people, we can promptly admit it--to ourselves always, and to them also, when the admission would be helpful. Courtesy, kindness, justice, and love are the keynotes by which we may comeinto harmonywith practically anybody. When in doubt we can always pause, saying, "Not my will, but Thine, be done." And we can often ask ourselves, "Am I doing to others as I would have them do to me--today?"
p. 93
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. --John Wooden
"Never answer an angry word with an angry word. It's the second one that makes the quarrel." --W.A. Nance
Don't argue for other people's weaknesses. Don't argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it--immediately. --Stephen Covey
"Making prompt amends is the fresh air of each new day." --Sandra Little
A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake. --Confucius
"He who angers you conquers you." --Elizabeth Kenny
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
INTEGRITY
"Integrity has no need of rules." --Albert Camus
The benefit of a spiritual program is the development of integrity in my life. Integrity is having an honest respect for myself; it is respecting who I am and how I live in the world. Integrity also becomes a bridge by which I can reach my fellow man. My respect for my life develops a respect for others. My determination to have integrity affects the way I treat you. Integrity gives me freedom to be -- and this allows for an acceptance of you.
Of course I must follow some rules and guidelines in my life but today they are not written in cement. Today I can be flexible with me and this means that I can be flexible with you. My past need to control has developed into an accepting serenity that brings peace. My spiritual program forever teaches me to be free; now I can live.
I pray that I can see beyond the rules into the beauty of Integrity.
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Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100:4-5
For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me, says the LORD. Jeremiah 39:18
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
"...in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18
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Daily Inspiration
Those that least deserve your love are the ones that need it the most. Lord, may I havethehumbleness of spirit to reach out even when my feelings may be hurt.
If you feel the need to get even, try getting even with those that have helped you. Lord, free me from any thoughts of revenge because this only shuts the door to my own happiness.
Daily Reflections
A TWO-WAY STREET
If we ask, God will certainly forgive our derelictions. But in no case does He render us white as snow and keep us that way without our cooperation. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 65
When I prayed, I used to omit a lot of things for which I needed to be forgiven. I thought that if I didn't mention those things to God, He would never know about them. I did not know that if I had just forgiven myself for some of my past deeds, God would forgive me also. I was always taught to prepare for the journey through life, never realizing until I came to A.A. when I honestly became willing to be taught forgiveness and forgiving that life itself is the journey. The journey of life is a very happy one, as long as I am willing to accept change and responsibility.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
One of the most encouraging facts of life is that your weakness can become your greatest asset. Kites and airplanes rise against the wind. In climbing up a high mountain, we need the stony crags and rough places to aid us in our climb. So your weakness can become an asset if you will face it, examine it, and trace it to its origin. Set it in the very center of your mind. No weakness, such as drinking, ever turned into an asset until it was first fairly faced. Am I making my weakness my greatest asset?
Meditation For The Day
Whenever we seek to worship God, we think of the great universe that God rules over, of creation, of mighty law and order throughout the universe. Then we feel the awe that precedes worship. I too must feel awe, feel the desire to worship God in wondering amazement. My mind is in a box of space and time and it is so made that I cannot conceive of what is beyond space or time, the limitless and the eternal. But I know that there must be something beyond space and time, and that something must be the limitless and eternal Power behind the universe. I also know that I can experience that Power in my life.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may accept the limitless and eternal Spirit. I pray that It may express Itself in my life. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Domination and Demand, p. 176
The primary fact that we fail to recognize is our total inability to form a true partnership with another human being. Our egomania digs two disastrous pitfalls. Either we insist upon dominating people we know, or we depend upon them far too much.
If we lean too heavily on people, they will sooner or later fail us, for they are human, too, and cannot possibly meet our incessant demands. In this way our insecurity grows and festers.
When we habitually try to manipulate others to our own willful desires, they revolt, and resist us heavily. Then we develop hurt feelings, a sense of persecution, and a desire to retaliate.
<< << << >> >> >>
My dependency meant demand -- a demand for the possession and control of other people and the conditions surrounding me.
1. 12 & 12, p. 53 2. Grapevine, January 1958
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Transforming garbage. Handling the past Left to itself, nature takes ordinary garbage and transforms it into useful nutrients that help sustain life. It's usually poor human action that makes garbage a problem. Our mental and emotional garbage takes the forms of bad memories, festering resentments, and useless regrets. We waste time berating ourselves and others about bad decisions and experiences that are behind us. The magic of the 12 Step program is that we can use it to transform this mentalgarbageinto useful experience.A past mistakecan become as asset when we share it with others. Pain and suffering can teach a lesson that helps all of us to grow. By forgiving others, a resentment can be turned into a friendship. I'll resolve today not to worry about garbage any longer than it takes to identify it and release it to my Higher Power for transformation.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that three of his fingers are pointing at himself.---Louis Nizer It's so easy to blame others. Others are always making mistakes we can hide behind. That's what blame is---hiding. When we blame others for our mistakes, we're trying to hide our character defects. It's nobody else’s fault that we act the way we do. It's our fault. We're responsible for our actions. And with the help of our Higher Power, we can change. We can turn over our character defects. Over time, we're not afraidto learn about ourselves---even the parts we don't like---because we want to know ourselves better. Prayer for the Day: I pray for help in facing my character defects. Action for the Day: I'll think about the past week. I'll list times I've used blame to hide from reality.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
At seventeen I entered the university, really to satisfy my father, who wanted me to study medicine there as he had. That is where I had. That is where I had my first drink and I still remember it, for every "first" drink afterwards did exactly the sametrick--I could feel it go right through every bit of my body and down to my very toes. But each drink after the "first" drink seemed to become less and less effective and after three or four they all seemed like water. I was never a hilarious drunk; the moreI drank thequieterI got, and the drunker I got the harder I fought to stay sober. So it is clear that I never had any fun out of drinking--I would be the soberest-seeming one in the crowd and all of a sudden I would be the drunkest. Even that first night I blacked out, which leads me to believe that I was an alcoholic from my very first drink. The first year in college I just got by in my studies, and that year I majored in poker and drinking. I refused to join any fraternity, as i wanted to be a free lance, and that year my drinking was confined to one-night stands, once or twice a week. The second year my drinking was more or less restricted to week-ends, but I was nearly kicked out for scholastic failure.
p. 222
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
We can try to stop making unreasonable demands upon those we love. We can show kindness where we had shown none. With those we dislike we can begin to practice justice and courtesy, perhaps going out of our way to understand and help them. Whenever we fail any of these people, we can promptly admit it--to ourselves always, and to them also, when the admission would be helpful. Courtesy, kindness, justice, and love are the keynotes by which we may comeinto harmonywith practically anybody. When in doubt we can always pause, saying, "Not my will, but Thine, be done." And we can often ask ourselves, "Am I doing to others as I would have them do to me--today?"
p. 93
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. --John Wooden
"Never answer an angry word with an angry word. It's the second one that makes the quarrel." --W.A. Nance
Don't argue for other people's weaknesses. Don't argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it--immediately. --Stephen Covey
"Making prompt amends is the fresh air of each new day." --Sandra Little
A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake. --Confucius
"He who angers you conquers you." --Elizabeth Kenny
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
INTEGRITY
"Integrity has no need of rules." --Albert Camus
The benefit of a spiritual program is the development of integrity in my life. Integrity is having an honest respect for myself; it is respecting who I am and how I live in the world. Integrity also becomes a bridge by which I can reach my fellow man. My respect for my life develops a respect for others. My determination to have integrity affects the way I treat you. Integrity gives me freedom to be -- and this allows for an acceptance of you.
Of course I must follow some rules and guidelines in my life but today they are not written in cement. Today I can be flexible with me and this means that I can be flexible with you. My past need to control has developed into an accepting serenity that brings peace. My spiritual program forever teaches me to be free; now I can live.
I pray that I can see beyond the rules into the beauty of Integrity.
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Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100:4-5
For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me, says the LORD. Jeremiah 39:18
"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
"...in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18
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Daily Inspiration
Those that least deserve your love are the ones that need it the most. Lord, may I havethehumbleness of spirit to reach out even when my feelings may be hurt.
If you feel the need to get even, try getting even with those that have helped you. Lord, free me from any thoughts of revenge because this only shuts the door to my own happiness.
Friday, June 24, 2011
today's readings
June 24
Daily Reflections
A SPIRITUAL KINDERGARTEN
We are only operating a spiritual kindergarten in which people are enabled to get over drinking and find the grace to go on living to better effect. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 95
When I came to A. A., I was run down by the bottle and wanted to lose the obsession to drink, but I didn't really know how to do that. I decided to stick around long enough to find out from the ones who went before me. All of a sudden I was thinking about God! I was told to get a Higher Power and I had no idea what one looked like. I found out there are many Higher Powers. I was told to find God, as I understand Him, that there was no doctrine of the Godhead in A.A. I found what worked for me and then asked that Power to restore me to sanity. The obsession to drink was removed and--one day at a time--my life went on, and I learned how to live sober.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Alcohol is our weakness. We suffer from mental conflicts from which we look for escape by drowning our problems in drink. We try through drink to push away from the realities of life. But alcohol does not feed, alcohol does not build, it only borrows from the future and it ultimately destroys. We try to drown our feelings in order to escape life's realities, little realizing or caring that in continued drinking we are only multiplying our problems. Have I got control over my unstable emotions?
Meditation For The Day
When I let personal piques and resentments interfere with what I know to be my proper conduct, I am on the wrong track and I am undoing all I have built up by doing the right thing. I must never let personal piques interfere with living the way I know God wants me to live. When I have no clear guidance from God, I must go forward quietly along the path of duty. The attitude of quiet faith will receive its reward as surely as acting upon God's direct guidance. I must not weaken my spiritual power by letting personal piques upset me.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may not let myself become too upset. I pray that I may go quietly along the path I have chosen. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Aspects of Tolerance, p. 175
All kinds of people have found their way into A.A. Not too long ago, I sat talking in my office with a member who bears the title of Countess. That same night, I went to an A.A. meeting. It was winter, and there was a mild-looking little gent taking the coats. I said, "Who's that?"
And somebody answered, "Oh, he's been around for a long time. Everybody likes him. He used to be one of Al Capone's mob." That's how universal A.A. is today.
<< << << >> >> >>
We have no desire to convince anyone that there is only one way by which faith can be acquired. All of us, whatever our race, creed, or color, are the children of a living Creator, with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try.
1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 102 2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 28
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Walk In Dry Places
Expressing gratitude
Self Improvement How can we express gratitude when we feel it? We can begin by simply using the proper forms of courtesy at all times; this reminds us that we can't live without other people. The best way to express gratitude, however, is to "ass on" the good that has come to us. This is more effective when we-share ideas and experiences that have helped us on the way to self-improvement. It's also a good idea to dismiss thoughts and statements that are forms of prideful boasting. Even telling people how hard we've worked for the 12 Step program can detract from our gratitude. And never, under any circumstances, should we put others under obligation to us. I'll discover ways to express my gratitude today. I'll know that my best way of doing it is to pass on good ideas to others.
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Keep It Simple
Beauty is gift of God.---Aristotle In our addiction, we often went after what was ugly in life. Maybe we hung out in bad places. Maybe we saw people's defects instead of their beauty. Addiction is ugly, painful disease. The worst part of addiction is how it doesn't let us see beauty in the world. There is much beauty in each of us. Recovery is beautiful. Our stories are beautiful. The way we help each other is beautiful. The way we become loving family members is beautiful. But sometimes, we may still see the world as ugly.At These Times, we need to turn to our program. Maybe we need to help someone by working Step Twelve. Maybe we need ask to give the Step at our meeting.Maybe We Just Need to read the Big Book. Whatever we do, one thing is sure--- if we turn to our program, we'll see how beautiful the world is. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see beautiful today. Help me be beautiful today. Action for the Day: Today I'll let myself feel beautiful. I'll see recovery as beautiful.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
However, here I probably took my first step toward my coming alcoholism by developing a terrific aversion to all churches and established religions. At this school we had Bible readings before each meal,and church services four times on Sunday, and I became so rebellious at this time that I swore i would never join or go to any church, except for weddings or for funerals.
pp. 221-222
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Such a radical change in our outlook will take time, maybe a lot of time. Not many people can truthfully assert that they love everybody. Most of us must admit that we have loved but a few; that we have been quite indifferent to the many so long as none of them gave us trouble; and as for the remainder--well, we have really disliked or hated them. Although these attitudes are common enough, we A.A.'s find we need something much better in order to keep our balance. We can't stand it if we hate deeply. The idea that we can be possessively loving of a few, can ignore the many, and can continue to fear or hate anybody, has to be abandoned,if-only a little at a time.
pp. 92-93
************************************************** *********
God, today I give you all of the guilt from my past. Take it from me, and allow me to begin fresh right now. Help me make the amends I need to make, then let my guilt go. --Melody Beattie
"Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury." -- E. H. Chapin
The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs. --Vance Havner
Trust, faith, love of God, makes light all my burdens. --SweetyZee
"It's not the load that breaks you down...it's the way you carry it." --unknown
Worry about tomorrow saps today of its strength. --unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PERFECTION
"I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have." --Leonardo da Vinci
How I used to beat myself up! I was not good enough. I was not attractive enough. I could not speak properly. I was too small. My family was not prestigious enough. I was boring. My breath smelled, etc., etc. I never saw my value in life. I could never see beyond my failings into my God-given virtues. Sin was all too evident in my life!
Today I catch an egotism in my past criticism of self and others! Who was I to think I should be perfect? I could find fault with the Archangel Gabriel if he came to be my neighbor. My compulsive disease extended beyond drugs to negative attitudes about life.
Today I see my value. Sobriety has restored my dignity. Today I am in touch with that part of me that is noble. Today in my sobriety I am a spiritual somebody, not a nobody.
Let my desire for "perfection" be tempered by reality.
************************************************** *********
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, `I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them,for I am with you and will rescue-you," declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." Jeremiah 1:5-10
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful. Jeremiah 31:3-4
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
You will have an easier time keeping your thoughts positive if you look for good in every situation. Lord, help me change my focus and develop an awareness that situations often have more good in them than bad.
If you live in the light of God, He will bless the work of your hands and you will see your efforts flourish. Lord, I am your servant. I do my daily work for You and I am filled with peace.
Daily Reflections
A SPIRITUAL KINDERGARTEN
We are only operating a spiritual kindergarten in which people are enabled to get over drinking and find the grace to go on living to better effect. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 95
When I came to A. A., I was run down by the bottle and wanted to lose the obsession to drink, but I didn't really know how to do that. I decided to stick around long enough to find out from the ones who went before me. All of a sudden I was thinking about God! I was told to get a Higher Power and I had no idea what one looked like. I found out there are many Higher Powers. I was told to find God, as I understand Him, that there was no doctrine of the Godhead in A.A. I found what worked for me and then asked that Power to restore me to sanity. The obsession to drink was removed and--one day at a time--my life went on, and I learned how to live sober.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Alcohol is our weakness. We suffer from mental conflicts from which we look for escape by drowning our problems in drink. We try through drink to push away from the realities of life. But alcohol does not feed, alcohol does not build, it only borrows from the future and it ultimately destroys. We try to drown our feelings in order to escape life's realities, little realizing or caring that in continued drinking we are only multiplying our problems. Have I got control over my unstable emotions?
Meditation For The Day
When I let personal piques and resentments interfere with what I know to be my proper conduct, I am on the wrong track and I am undoing all I have built up by doing the right thing. I must never let personal piques interfere with living the way I know God wants me to live. When I have no clear guidance from God, I must go forward quietly along the path of duty. The attitude of quiet faith will receive its reward as surely as acting upon God's direct guidance. I must not weaken my spiritual power by letting personal piques upset me.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may not let myself become too upset. I pray that I may go quietly along the path I have chosen. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Aspects of Tolerance, p. 175
All kinds of people have found their way into A.A. Not too long ago, I sat talking in my office with a member who bears the title of Countess. That same night, I went to an A.A. meeting. It was winter, and there was a mild-looking little gent taking the coats. I said, "Who's that?"
And somebody answered, "Oh, he's been around for a long time. Everybody likes him. He used to be one of Al Capone's mob." That's how universal A.A. is today.
<< << << >> >> >>
We have no desire to convince anyone that there is only one way by which faith can be acquired. All of us, whatever our race, creed, or color, are the children of a living Creator, with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try.
1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 102 2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 28
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Expressing gratitude
Self Improvement How can we express gratitude when we feel it? We can begin by simply using the proper forms of courtesy at all times; this reminds us that we can't live without other people. The best way to express gratitude, however, is to "ass on" the good that has come to us. This is more effective when we-share ideas and experiences that have helped us on the way to self-improvement. It's also a good idea to dismiss thoughts and statements that are forms of prideful boasting. Even telling people how hard we've worked for the 12 Step program can detract from our gratitude. And never, under any circumstances, should we put others under obligation to us. I'll discover ways to express my gratitude today. I'll know that my best way of doing it is to pass on good ideas to others.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Beauty is gift of God.---Aristotle In our addiction, we often went after what was ugly in life. Maybe we hung out in bad places. Maybe we saw people's defects instead of their beauty. Addiction is ugly, painful disease. The worst part of addiction is how it doesn't let us see beauty in the world. There is much beauty in each of us. Recovery is beautiful. Our stories are beautiful. The way we help each other is beautiful. The way we become loving family members is beautiful. But sometimes, we may still see the world as ugly.At These Times, we need to turn to our program. Maybe we need to help someone by working Step Twelve. Maybe we need ask to give the Step at our meeting.Maybe We Just Need to read the Big Book. Whatever we do, one thing is sure--- if we turn to our program, we'll see how beautiful the world is. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see beautiful today. Help me be beautiful today. Action for the Day: Today I'll let myself feel beautiful. I'll see recovery as beautiful.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
However, here I probably took my first step toward my coming alcoholism by developing a terrific aversion to all churches and established religions. At this school we had Bible readings before each meal,and church services four times on Sunday, and I became so rebellious at this time that I swore i would never join or go to any church, except for weddings or for funerals.
pp. 221-222
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Such a radical change in our outlook will take time, maybe a lot of time. Not many people can truthfully assert that they love everybody. Most of us must admit that we have loved but a few; that we have been quite indifferent to the many so long as none of them gave us trouble; and as for the remainder--well, we have really disliked or hated them. Although these attitudes are common enough, we A.A.'s find we need something much better in order to keep our balance. We can't stand it if we hate deeply. The idea that we can be possessively loving of a few, can ignore the many, and can continue to fear or hate anybody, has to be abandoned,if-only a little at a time.
pp. 92-93
************************************************** *********
God, today I give you all of the guilt from my past. Take it from me, and allow me to begin fresh right now. Help me make the amends I need to make, then let my guilt go. --Melody Beattie
"Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury." -- E. H. Chapin
The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs. --Vance Havner
Trust, faith, love of God, makes light all my burdens. --SweetyZee
"It's not the load that breaks you down...it's the way you carry it." --unknown
Worry about tomorrow saps today of its strength. --unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PERFECTION
"I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have." --Leonardo da Vinci
How I used to beat myself up! I was not good enough. I was not attractive enough. I could not speak properly. I was too small. My family was not prestigious enough. I was boring. My breath smelled, etc., etc. I never saw my value in life. I could never see beyond my failings into my God-given virtues. Sin was all too evident in my life!
Today I catch an egotism in my past criticism of self and others! Who was I to think I should be perfect? I could find fault with the Archangel Gabriel if he came to be my neighbor. My compulsive disease extended beyond drugs to negative attitudes about life.
Today I see my value. Sobriety has restored my dignity. Today I am in touch with that part of me that is noble. Today in my sobriety I am a spiritual somebody, not a nobody.
Let my desire for "perfection" be tempered by reality.
************************************************** *********
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, `I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them,for I am with you and will rescue-you," declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." Jeremiah 1:5-10
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful. Jeremiah 31:3-4
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
You will have an easier time keeping your thoughts positive if you look for good in every situation. Lord, help me change my focus and develop an awareness that situations often have more good in them than bad.
If you live in the light of God, He will bless the work of your hands and you will see your efforts flourish. Lord, I am your servant. I do my daily work for You and I am filled with peace.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
today's readings
June 23
Daily Reflections
TRUSTING OTHERS
But does trust require that we be blind to other people's motives or, indeed, to our own? Not at all; this would be folly. Most certainly, we should assess the capacity for harm as well as the capability for good in every person that we would trust. Such a private inventory can reveal the degree of confidence we should extend in any given situation. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 144
I am not a victim of others, but rather a victim of my expectations, choices and dishonesty. When I expect others to be what I want them to be and not who they are, when they fail to meet my expectations, I am hurt. When my choices are based on self-centeredness, I find I am lonely and distrustful. I gain confidence in myself, however, when I practice honesty in all my affairs. When I search my motives and am honest and trusting, I am aware of the capacity for harm in situations and can avoid those that are harmful.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
No chain is stronger than its weakest link. Likewise, if you fail in the day-by-day program, in all probability it will be your weakest point. Great faith and constant contact with God's power can help you discover, guard, and undergird your weakest point with a strength not your own. Intelligent faith in God's power can be counted on to help you master your emotions, help you to think kindly of others, and help you with any task that you undertake, no matter how difficult. Am I master of my emotions?
Meditation For The Day
You need to be constantly recharged by the power of the spirit of God. Continue with God in quiet times until the life from God, the Divine life, by that very contact, flows into your being and revises your fainting spirit. When weary, take time out and rest. Rest and gain power and strength from God, and then you will be ready to meet whatever opportunities come your way. Rest until every care and worry and fear have gone and then the tide of peace and serenity, love and joy, will flow into your consciousness.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may rest and become recharged. I pray that I may pause and wait for the renewing of my strength. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Constructive Forces, p. 174
Mine was exactly the kind of deep-seated block we so often see today in new people who say they are atheistic or agnostic. Their will to disbelieve is so powerful that apparently they prefer a date with the undertaker to an open-minded and experimental quest for God.
Happily for me, and for most of my kind who have since come along in A.A., the constructive forces brought to bear in our Fellowship have nearly always overcome this colossal obstinacy. Beaten into complete defeat by alcohol, confronted by the living proof of release, and surrounded by those who can speak to us from the heart, we have finally surrendered.
And then, paradoxically, we have found ourselves in a new dimension, the real world of spirit and faith. Enough willingness, enough open-mindedness--and there it is!
A.A. Today, p. 9
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Words are sacred, we must use them wisely. . . . They are a gift from God. Burton Pretty-On-Top We use words to bring peace to others. We can use words to tell God and others how much we care. Or we can use words to hurt others. We can curse them and scare them away. We often did when we used alcohol and other drugs. In recovery, we learn to use words in a kind, wise way. We treat words as a gift from God. We use words to build our relationships. Do I always use words in a kind way? Do I treat words as a powerful gift from God? Do my words make the world better or worse for those who hear me speak? Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, when I speak words, help me think about their power. Help me speak to others in a kind way. Action for the Day: Today, I'll speak to others with respect. My words will add a little kindness, honesty, and love to the world today.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
Until I was thirteen I attended public schools, with regular promotions and average grades. I have never shown any particular talents, nor have I had any really frustrating ambitions. At thirteen I was packed off to a very fine Protestant boarding school in Virginia, where I stayed four years, graduating without any special achievements. In sports I madethetrack and tennis teams; I got along well with the other boys and had a fairly large circle of acquaintances but no intimate friends. I was never homesick and was always pretty self-sufficient.
p. 221
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means. It Will becomemoreand more evident as we-go forward that it is pointless to become angry, or to get hurt by people who, like us, are suffering from the pains of growing up.
p. 92
************************************************** *********
Remember how we'd talk every night at bedtime? I miss that. --God
If you think clothes make no difference, try walking down the street without any. --unknown
"The greatest treasures of your life are associated with the people you love and who love you in return." --Brian Tracy
Half the failures of this world arise from pulling in one's horse as he is leaping. --Augustus Hare
The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth and delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that your world is transformed. -- Krishnamurti
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. --Buddha
"Tis grace that brought me safe thus far. Tis grace will lead me home." --John Newton ("Amazing Grace")
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
REALITY
"Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive." --Elbert Hubbard
When I used to take life too seriously, I was always miserable. I missed so much. I placed a disproportionate amount of energy on my own importance. I am not saying that I am not important, but I must learn to live within the structures of this imperfect world.
For so long I made myself the "victim" of this world. Every airplane I missed was seen as a personal abuse. I could not wait in a line without getting angry and developing a resentment to everybody around. Everybody was expected to revolve around my world and I felt the world owed me a living! The result: unhappiness.
I needed to change or remain unhappy. Today I am learning to change and I am working on patience.
Thank You for the spiritual gift of balance in my life.
************************************************** *********
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalms 23:1-6
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:28-31
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Integrity is one of our most valuable assets. Lord, may I live responsibly and never have the need to make excuses for my behavior.
Kindness can accomplish that which force won't. Lord, may I pause when I am about to react to irritations and respond as though it is You to whom I speak.
Daily Reflections
TRUSTING OTHERS
But does trust require that we be blind to other people's motives or, indeed, to our own? Not at all; this would be folly. Most certainly, we should assess the capacity for harm as well as the capability for good in every person that we would trust. Such a private inventory can reveal the degree of confidence we should extend in any given situation. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 144
I am not a victim of others, but rather a victim of my expectations, choices and dishonesty. When I expect others to be what I want them to be and not who they are, when they fail to meet my expectations, I am hurt. When my choices are based on self-centeredness, I find I am lonely and distrustful. I gain confidence in myself, however, when I practice honesty in all my affairs. When I search my motives and am honest and trusting, I am aware of the capacity for harm in situations and can avoid those that are harmful.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
No chain is stronger than its weakest link. Likewise, if you fail in the day-by-day program, in all probability it will be your weakest point. Great faith and constant contact with God's power can help you discover, guard, and undergird your weakest point with a strength not your own. Intelligent faith in God's power can be counted on to help you master your emotions, help you to think kindly of others, and help you with any task that you undertake, no matter how difficult. Am I master of my emotions?
Meditation For The Day
You need to be constantly recharged by the power of the spirit of God. Continue with God in quiet times until the life from God, the Divine life, by that very contact, flows into your being and revises your fainting spirit. When weary, take time out and rest. Rest and gain power and strength from God, and then you will be ready to meet whatever opportunities come your way. Rest until every care and worry and fear have gone and then the tide of peace and serenity, love and joy, will flow into your consciousness.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may rest and become recharged. I pray that I may pause and wait for the renewing of my strength. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Constructive Forces, p. 174
Mine was exactly the kind of deep-seated block we so often see today in new people who say they are atheistic or agnostic. Their will to disbelieve is so powerful that apparently they prefer a date with the undertaker to an open-minded and experimental quest for God.
Happily for me, and for most of my kind who have since come along in A.A., the constructive forces brought to bear in our Fellowship have nearly always overcome this colossal obstinacy. Beaten into complete defeat by alcohol, confronted by the living proof of release, and surrounded by those who can speak to us from the heart, we have finally surrendered.
And then, paradoxically, we have found ourselves in a new dimension, the real world of spirit and faith. Enough willingness, enough open-mindedness--and there it is!
A.A. Today, p. 9
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Words are sacred, we must use them wisely. . . . They are a gift from God. Burton Pretty-On-Top We use words to bring peace to others. We can use words to tell God and others how much we care. Or we can use words to hurt others. We can curse them and scare them away. We often did when we used alcohol and other drugs. In recovery, we learn to use words in a kind, wise way. We treat words as a gift from God. We use words to build our relationships. Do I always use words in a kind way? Do I treat words as a powerful gift from God? Do my words make the world better or worse for those who hear me speak? Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, when I speak words, help me think about their power. Help me speak to others in a kind way. Action for the Day: Today, I'll speak to others with respect. My words will add a little kindness, honesty, and love to the world today.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
Until I was thirteen I attended public schools, with regular promotions and average grades. I have never shown any particular talents, nor have I had any really frustrating ambitions. At thirteen I was packed off to a very fine Protestant boarding school in Virginia, where I stayed four years, graduating without any special achievements. In sports I madethetrack and tennis teams; I got along well with the other boys and had a fairly large circle of acquaintances but no intimate friends. I was never homesick and was always pretty self-sufficient.
p. 221
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means. It Will becomemoreand more evident as we-go forward that it is pointless to become angry, or to get hurt by people who, like us, are suffering from the pains of growing up.
p. 92
************************************************** *********
Remember how we'd talk every night at bedtime? I miss that. --God
If you think clothes make no difference, try walking down the street without any. --unknown
"The greatest treasures of your life are associated with the people you love and who love you in return." --Brian Tracy
Half the failures of this world arise from pulling in one's horse as he is leaping. --Augustus Hare
The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth and delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that your world is transformed. -- Krishnamurti
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. --Buddha
"Tis grace that brought me safe thus far. Tis grace will lead me home." --John Newton ("Amazing Grace")
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
REALITY
"Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive." --Elbert Hubbard
When I used to take life too seriously, I was always miserable. I missed so much. I placed a disproportionate amount of energy on my own importance. I am not saying that I am not important, but I must learn to live within the structures of this imperfect world.
For so long I made myself the "victim" of this world. Every airplane I missed was seen as a personal abuse. I could not wait in a line without getting angry and developing a resentment to everybody around. Everybody was expected to revolve around my world and I felt the world owed me a living! The result: unhappiness.
I needed to change or remain unhappy. Today I am learning to change and I am working on patience.
Thank You for the spiritual gift of balance in my life.
************************************************** *********
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalms 23:1-6
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:28-31
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Integrity is one of our most valuable assets. Lord, may I live responsibly and never have the need to make excuses for my behavior.
Kindness can accomplish that which force won't. Lord, may I pause when I am about to react to irritations and respond as though it is You to whom I speak.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
today's readings
June 22
Daily Reflections
TODAY, I'M FREE
This brought me to the good healthy realization that there were plenty of situations left in the world over which I had no personal power--that if I was so ready to admit that to be the case with alcohol, so I must make the same admission with respect to much else. I would have to be still and know that He, not I, was God. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 114
I am learning to practice acceptance in all circumstances of my life, so that I may enjoy peace of mind. At one time life was a constant battle because I felt I had to go through each day fighting myself, and everyone else. Eventually, this became a losing battle. I ended up getting drunk and crying over my misery. When I began to let go and let God take over my life I began to have peace of mind. Today, I am free. I do not have to fight anybody or anything anymore.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
If you have any doubt, just ask any of the older members of the A.A. group, and they will readily tell you that since they turned their lives over to the care of God as they understand Him, many of their problems have been banished into the forgotten yesterdays. When you allow yourself to be upset over one thing, you succeed only in opening the door to the coming of hundreds of other upsetting things. Am I allowing myself to be upset over little things?
Meditation For The Day
I would do well not to think of the Red Sea of difficulties that lies ahead. I am sure that when I come to that Red Sea, the waters will part and I will be given all the power I need to face and overcome many difficulties and meet what is in store for me with courage. I believe that I will pass through that Red Sea to the promised land, the land of the spirit where many souls meet in perfect comradeship. I believe that when that time comes, I will be freed of all the dross of material things and find peace.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may face the future with courage. I pray that I may be given strength to face both life and death fearlessly. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Roots of Reality, p. 173
We started upon a personal inventory, Step Four. A business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke. Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and a fact-facing process. It is an effort to discover the truth about the stock in trade. One object is to disclose damaged or unsalable goods, to get rid of them promptly and without regret. If the owner of the business is to be successful, he cannot fool himself about values.
We had to do exactly the same thing with our lives. We had to take stock honestly.
<< << << >> >> >>
"Moments of perception can build into a lifetime of spiritual serenity, as I have excellent reason to know. Roots of reality, supplanting the neurotic underbrush, will hold fast despite the high winds of the forces which would destroy us, or which we would use to destroy ourselves."
1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 64 2. Letter, 1949
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.---St. Augustine. We started recovering the minute we admitted we were powerless over our illness. We crossed over from dishonesty to honesty. Often, we don't see what power honestly has. Maybe we still aren't sure that being honest is best for us. It is! This is why the authors of the Big Book ask us to be totally honest from the start. Just as denial is what makes addiction work, honesty is what makes recovery work. Honesty means self-respect. Honesty heals. Honesty let us look people in the eyes. What comfort we'll feel as we deeper into our program. Prayer for the Day: I pray that I'll let go totally. I pray that I'll keep no secrets that could put my sobriety at risk. Action for the Day: Today, I'll read the first three pages of "How It Works" in the Big Book.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
The age-old question in A.A. which came first, the neurosis or the alcoholism.I liketo thinkI was fairly normal before alcohol took over. My early life was spent in Baltimore where my father was a physician and a grain merchant. My family lived in very prosperous circumstances, and while both my parents drank, sometimes too much, neither was an alcoholic. Father was a very well-integrated person, and while mother was high strung and a bit selfish and demanding, our home life was reasonably harmonious. There Were Four Of us children, and although both of my brothers later became alcoholic--one died of alcoholism--my sister has never taken a drink in her life.
p. 221
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Now that we're in A.A. and sober, and winning back the esteem of our friends and business associates,wefind that we still need to exercise special vigilance. As an insurance against "big-shot-ism" we can often check ourselves by remembering that we are today sober only by the grace of God and that any success we may be having is far moreHis success than ours.
p. 92
************************************************** *********
As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round. --Ben Hogan
"Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you." --Oscar Wilde
When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. --Harriet Beecher Stowe
My partnership with God is steady, strong and certain. --SweetyZee
I let go of everything that is unkind and seek to enter the spirit of kindness, and compassion. --SweetyZee
"The measure of our life is not whether others know our name, but whether we have touched the lives of others." --author unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
INDIVIDUALITY
"You'll never really know what I mean and I'll never really know exactly what you mean." --Mike Nichols
There is a certain loneliness in life with which we must all live; perhaps this is the price of individuality. I am not always sure that I know what I am feeling or thinking and so I know I cannot be absolutely sure of what you are feeling or thinking. Today when I say "I know how you feel", it is with this reservation.
Another problem I face daily is finding words to express what I feel --language seems so inadequate. Words, although bridges to meaning, are often barriers to understanding. What I mean by what I say is often misunderstood.
This awareness provides me with the stimulus to be more precise, explicit and creative in my methods of communication and understanding. Today I consider more seriously what the other person is trying to say, rather than just listening to the words. Because I am sensitive to my difficulties in being understood, I am becoming patient with my neighbor.
Teach us never to become victims of our language.
************************************************** *********
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and ONLY Son, so that whoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. Psalms 36:5-10
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
We will live life fully only when we become aware of our own inner power which is our connection with God. Lord, the more I rely on You, the more I am able to accomplish.
When you need to calm your emotions, stop and turn to God. Lord, I know that You are my help right now and will show me simple answers to what seems complicated and impossible.
Daily Reflections
TODAY, I'M FREE
This brought me to the good healthy realization that there were plenty of situations left in the world over which I had no personal power--that if I was so ready to admit that to be the case with alcohol, so I must make the same admission with respect to much else. I would have to be still and know that He, not I, was God. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 114
I am learning to practice acceptance in all circumstances of my life, so that I may enjoy peace of mind. At one time life was a constant battle because I felt I had to go through each day fighting myself, and everyone else. Eventually, this became a losing battle. I ended up getting drunk and crying over my misery. When I began to let go and let God take over my life I began to have peace of mind. Today, I am free. I do not have to fight anybody or anything anymore.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
If you have any doubt, just ask any of the older members of the A.A. group, and they will readily tell you that since they turned their lives over to the care of God as they understand Him, many of their problems have been banished into the forgotten yesterdays. When you allow yourself to be upset over one thing, you succeed only in opening the door to the coming of hundreds of other upsetting things. Am I allowing myself to be upset over little things?
Meditation For The Day
I would do well not to think of the Red Sea of difficulties that lies ahead. I am sure that when I come to that Red Sea, the waters will part and I will be given all the power I need to face and overcome many difficulties and meet what is in store for me with courage. I believe that I will pass through that Red Sea to the promised land, the land of the spirit where many souls meet in perfect comradeship. I believe that when that time comes, I will be freed of all the dross of material things and find peace.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may face the future with courage. I pray that I may be given strength to face both life and death fearlessly. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Roots of Reality, p. 173
We started upon a personal inventory, Step Four. A business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke. Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and a fact-facing process. It is an effort to discover the truth about the stock in trade. One object is to disclose damaged or unsalable goods, to get rid of them promptly and without regret. If the owner of the business is to be successful, he cannot fool himself about values.
We had to do exactly the same thing with our lives. We had to take stock honestly.
<< << << >> >> >>
"Moments of perception can build into a lifetime of spiritual serenity, as I have excellent reason to know. Roots of reality, supplanting the neurotic underbrush, will hold fast despite the high winds of the forces which would destroy us, or which we would use to destroy ourselves."
1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 64 2. Letter, 1949
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.---St. Augustine. We started recovering the minute we admitted we were powerless over our illness. We crossed over from dishonesty to honesty. Often, we don't see what power honestly has. Maybe we still aren't sure that being honest is best for us. It is! This is why the authors of the Big Book ask us to be totally honest from the start. Just as denial is what makes addiction work, honesty is what makes recovery work. Honesty means self-respect. Honesty heals. Honesty let us look people in the eyes. What comfort we'll feel as we deeper into our program. Prayer for the Day: I pray that I'll let go totally. I pray that I'll keep no secrets that could put my sobriety at risk. Action for the Day: Today, I'll read the first three pages of "How It Works" in the Big Book.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
The age-old question in A.A. which came first, the neurosis or the alcoholism.I liketo thinkI was fairly normal before alcohol took over. My early life was spent in Baltimore where my father was a physician and a grain merchant. My family lived in very prosperous circumstances, and while both my parents drank, sometimes too much, neither was an alcoholic. Father was a very well-integrated person, and while mother was high strung and a bit selfish and demanding, our home life was reasonably harmonious. There Were Four Of us children, and although both of my brothers later became alcoholic--one died of alcoholism--my sister has never taken a drink in her life.
p. 221
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Now that we're in A.A. and sober, and winning back the esteem of our friends and business associates,wefind that we still need to exercise special vigilance. As an insurance against "big-shot-ism" we can often check ourselves by remembering that we are today sober only by the grace of God and that any success we may be having is far moreHis success than ours.
p. 92
************************************************** *********
As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round. --Ben Hogan
"Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you." --Oscar Wilde
When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. --Harriet Beecher Stowe
My partnership with God is steady, strong and certain. --SweetyZee
I let go of everything that is unkind and seek to enter the spirit of kindness, and compassion. --SweetyZee
"The measure of our life is not whether others know our name, but whether we have touched the lives of others." --author unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
INDIVIDUALITY
"You'll never really know what I mean and I'll never really know exactly what you mean." --Mike Nichols
There is a certain loneliness in life with which we must all live; perhaps this is the price of individuality. I am not always sure that I know what I am feeling or thinking and so I know I cannot be absolutely sure of what you are feeling or thinking. Today when I say "I know how you feel", it is with this reservation.
Another problem I face daily is finding words to express what I feel --language seems so inadequate. Words, although bridges to meaning, are often barriers to understanding. What I mean by what I say is often misunderstood.
This awareness provides me with the stimulus to be more precise, explicit and creative in my methods of communication and understanding. Today I consider more seriously what the other person is trying to say, rather than just listening to the words. Because I am sensitive to my difficulties in being understood, I am becoming patient with my neighbor.
Teach us never to become victims of our language.
************************************************** *********
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and ONLY Son, so that whoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. Psalms 36:5-10
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
We will live life fully only when we become aware of our own inner power which is our connection with God. Lord, the more I rely on You, the more I am able to accomplish.
When you need to calm your emotions, stop and turn to God. Lord, I know that You are my help right now and will show me simple answers to what seems complicated and impossible.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
today's readings
June 18
Daily Reflections
A FELLOWSHIP OF FREEDOM
. . . if only men were granted absolute liberty, and were compelled to obey no one, they would then voluntarily associate themselves in the common interest. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 50
When I no longer live under the dictates of another or of alcohol, I live in a new freedom. When I release the past and all the excess baggage I have carried for so very long, I come to know freedom. I have been introduced into a life and a fellowship of freedom. The Steps are a "recommended" way of finding a new life, there are no commands or dictates in A.A. I am free to serve from desire rather than decree. There is the understanding that I will benefit from the growth of other members and I take what I learn and bring it back to the group. The "common welfare" finds room to grow in the society of personal freedom.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The A.A. way of living is not an easy one. But it's an adventure in living that is really worthwhile. And it's so much better than our old drunken way of living that there's no comparison. Our lives without A.A. would be worth nothing. With A.A., we have a chance to live reasonably good lives. It's worth the battle, no matter how tough the going is from day to day. Isn't it worth the battle?
Meditation For The Day
The spiritual life has two parts. One is the life apart, the life of prayer and quiet communion with God. You spend this part of your life apart with God. Every day your mind can be set in the right direction so that your thoughts will be of the right kind. The other is the life impart--imparting from others what you have learned from your own meditative experience. The victories you have won over yourself through the help of God can be shared with others. You can help them by imparting to them some of the victory and security that you have gained in your life apart.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may grow strong from my times apart with God. I pray that I may pass on some of this strength to others. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Learning Never Ends, p. 169
"My experience as an oldtimer has to some degree paralleled your own and that of many others. We all find that the time comes when we are not allowed to manage and conduct the functional affairs of the groups, areas, or, in my case, A.A. as a whole. In the end we can only be worth as much as our spiritual example has justified. To that extent, we become useful symbols--and that's just about it."
<< << << >> >> >>
"I have become a pupil of the A.A. movement rather than the teacher I once thought I was."
1. Letter, 1964 2. Letter, 1949
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places AA is an Automatic sprinkler system Emotional emergencies Wise managers install automatic sprinkler systems to protect their businesses. The system's great value is that it goes into action during the first few minutes of a fire, before it gets out of control. This gives the fire department precious time to arrive and put the fire out. Our AA program gives us something like an automatic sprinkler system. We never know when the flames of resentment mighty leap up, seemingly our of nowhere. If we've been working our program, something takes over automatically to being dealing with resentment. This gives us time to bring more of our valuable spiritual tools into use. Knowing that resentment is burning away, we can try one thing and then another until it is brought to rest. Perhaps we will try prayer. We might also discuss our problem with a close friend or sponsor. Maybe we'll attend a meeting and lay the matter out for the group attention. We may help somebody, even in a small way.An amazing healing of resentment can come from any helpful action. Even a simple action like helping a person in a stalled automobile can work wonders in deflecting the pain of ongoing resentment. I need not fear the sudden appearance of resentment if I have been following my program. I already have within myself the methods for holding resentment at bay while I deal with it.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. Rodin When we first start our recovery, it hurts a lot to look at our past. We feel sad. It feels like our life was a waste. But it wasn't a waste. The program promises that if we practice the Steps, we'll not reget the past nor wish to shut the door on it. Hard to believe? Just look at all the happy old-timers in AA. Their lives were just as messed up as ours. Because of our addiction, we're learning a new way to live. We are getting to know ourselves, our Higher Power, and other people. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks for helping me into recovery. Help me learn from my addiction. Action for the Day: I'll list three important things I've learned about life because of my addiction. I'll talk to my sponsor about them.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
January 8, 1938--that was my D-Day; the place, Washington, D.C. This last real merry-go-round had started the day before Christmas, and I had really accomplished a lot in those fourteen days. First, my new wife had walked out, bag, baggage, and furniture; then the apartment landlord had thrown me out of the empty apartment; and the finish was the loss of another job. After a couple of days in dollar hotels and one night in the pokey, I finally landed on my mother's doorstep--shaking apart, with several days' beard, and of course, broke as usual. Many of these same things had happened to me many times before, but this time they had all descended together. For me, this was it.
p. 219
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
A spot-check inventory taken in the midst of such disturbances can be of very great help in quieting stormy emotions. Today's spot check finds its chief application to situations which arise in each day's march. The consideration of long-standing difficulties had better be postponed, when possible, to times deliberately set aside for that purpose. The quick inventory is aimed at our daily ups and downs, especially those where people or new events throw us off balance and tempt us to make-mistakes.
pp. 90-91
************************************************** *********
"If we've been fighting something or someone, we can try gratitude & acceptance." --Melody Beattie
"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." --Oprah Winfrey
"Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions." --Earl Gray Stevens
"Whatever your problem, no matter how difficult, you can release spiritual power sufficient to solve your problem. The secret is--pray and believe." --Norman Vincent Peale
"When you focus on what might have been, it gets in the way of what can be." --Patricia Fripp
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ACCEPTANCE
"Less is more." --Mies van der Rohe
As a gambler, I always wanted more. I wanted to win more, get more, have more, spend more - always my energy was in getting "the more". But this constant and demanding lifestyle only gave me less. I could never stop to smell the roses. Activity robbed me of satisfaction. I was running through my life and missing it.
Then somebody told me to stop and rest awhile. Don't chase life; enjoy it. The gambling had become a compulsive and obsessive disease that was ruining my life. I was losing. I was not only losing money - but family, intimacy, life. I was so busy trying to win that I missed the pain and loneliness of my daily losses.
Today I choose not to do this. I accept that the "less" in my life is giving me more. I take responsibility for me, and I share freely with other recovering gamblers.
God, teach me to see Your power and beauty in what I can give up.
************************************************** *********
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:8-10
Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare. Psalm 20:13
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Live with gratitude for all that you are and all that you have because often what looks good on the outside is not really what it seems. Lord, remind me to spend a few moments each day appreciating my life and becoming aware of how good it really is.
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.
Daily Reflections
A FELLOWSHIP OF FREEDOM
. . . if only men were granted absolute liberty, and were compelled to obey no one, they would then voluntarily associate themselves in the common interest. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 50
When I no longer live under the dictates of another or of alcohol, I live in a new freedom. When I release the past and all the excess baggage I have carried for so very long, I come to know freedom. I have been introduced into a life and a fellowship of freedom. The Steps are a "recommended" way of finding a new life, there are no commands or dictates in A.A. I am free to serve from desire rather than decree. There is the understanding that I will benefit from the growth of other members and I take what I learn and bring it back to the group. The "common welfare" finds room to grow in the society of personal freedom.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The A.A. way of living is not an easy one. But it's an adventure in living that is really worthwhile. And it's so much better than our old drunken way of living that there's no comparison. Our lives without A.A. would be worth nothing. With A.A., we have a chance to live reasonably good lives. It's worth the battle, no matter how tough the going is from day to day. Isn't it worth the battle?
Meditation For The Day
The spiritual life has two parts. One is the life apart, the life of prayer and quiet communion with God. You spend this part of your life apart with God. Every day your mind can be set in the right direction so that your thoughts will be of the right kind. The other is the life impart--imparting from others what you have learned from your own meditative experience. The victories you have won over yourself through the help of God can be shared with others. You can help them by imparting to them some of the victory and security that you have gained in your life apart.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may grow strong from my times apart with God. I pray that I may pass on some of this strength to others. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Learning Never Ends, p. 169
"My experience as an oldtimer has to some degree paralleled your own and that of many others. We all find that the time comes when we are not allowed to manage and conduct the functional affairs of the groups, areas, or, in my case, A.A. as a whole. In the end we can only be worth as much as our spiritual example has justified. To that extent, we become useful symbols--and that's just about it."
<< << << >> >> >>
"I have become a pupil of the A.A. movement rather than the teacher I once thought I was."
1. Letter, 1964 2. Letter, 1949
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places AA is an Automatic sprinkler system Emotional emergencies Wise managers install automatic sprinkler systems to protect their businesses. The system's great value is that it goes into action during the first few minutes of a fire, before it gets out of control. This gives the fire department precious time to arrive and put the fire out. Our AA program gives us something like an automatic sprinkler system. We never know when the flames of resentment mighty leap up, seemingly our of nowhere. If we've been working our program, something takes over automatically to being dealing with resentment. This gives us time to bring more of our valuable spiritual tools into use. Knowing that resentment is burning away, we can try one thing and then another until it is brought to rest. Perhaps we will try prayer. We might also discuss our problem with a close friend or sponsor. Maybe we'll attend a meeting and lay the matter out for the group attention. We may help somebody, even in a small way.An amazing healing of resentment can come from any helpful action. Even a simple action like helping a person in a stalled automobile can work wonders in deflecting the pain of ongoing resentment. I need not fear the sudden appearance of resentment if I have been following my program. I already have within myself the methods for holding resentment at bay while I deal with it.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely. Rodin When we first start our recovery, it hurts a lot to look at our past. We feel sad. It feels like our life was a waste. But it wasn't a waste. The program promises that if we practice the Steps, we'll not reget the past nor wish to shut the door on it. Hard to believe? Just look at all the happy old-timers in AA. Their lives were just as messed up as ours. Because of our addiction, we're learning a new way to live. We are getting to know ourselves, our Higher Power, and other people. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks for helping me into recovery. Help me learn from my addiction. Action for the Day: I'll list three important things I've learned about life because of my addiction. I'll talk to my sponsor about them.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.
January 8, 1938--that was my D-Day; the place, Washington, D.C. This last real merry-go-round had started the day before Christmas, and I had really accomplished a lot in those fourteen days. First, my new wife had walked out, bag, baggage, and furniture; then the apartment landlord had thrown me out of the empty apartment; and the finish was the loss of another job. After a couple of days in dollar hotels and one night in the pokey, I finally landed on my mother's doorstep--shaking apart, with several days' beard, and of course, broke as usual. Many of these same things had happened to me many times before, but this time they had all descended together. For me, this was it.
p. 219
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
A spot-check inventory taken in the midst of such disturbances can be of very great help in quieting stormy emotions. Today's spot check finds its chief application to situations which arise in each day's march. The consideration of long-standing difficulties had better be postponed, when possible, to times deliberately set aside for that purpose. The quick inventory is aimed at our daily ups and downs, especially those where people or new events throw us off balance and tempt us to make-mistakes.
pp. 90-91
************************************************** *********
"If we've been fighting something or someone, we can try gratitude & acceptance." --Melody Beattie
"My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." --Oprah Winfrey
"Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions." --Earl Gray Stevens
"Whatever your problem, no matter how difficult, you can release spiritual power sufficient to solve your problem. The secret is--pray and believe." --Norman Vincent Peale
"When you focus on what might have been, it gets in the way of what can be." --Patricia Fripp
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ACCEPTANCE
"Less is more." --Mies van der Rohe
As a gambler, I always wanted more. I wanted to win more, get more, have more, spend more - always my energy was in getting "the more". But this constant and demanding lifestyle only gave me less. I could never stop to smell the roses. Activity robbed me of satisfaction. I was running through my life and missing it.
Then somebody told me to stop and rest awhile. Don't chase life; enjoy it. The gambling had become a compulsive and obsessive disease that was ruining my life. I was losing. I was not only losing money - but family, intimacy, life. I was so busy trying to win that I missed the pain and loneliness of my daily losses.
Today I choose not to do this. I accept that the "less" in my life is giving me more. I take responsibility for me, and I share freely with other recovering gamblers.
God, teach me to see Your power and beauty in what I can give up.
************************************************** *********
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:8-10
Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare. Psalm 20:13
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Live with gratitude for all that you are and all that you have because often what looks good on the outside is not really what it seems. Lord, remind me to spend a few moments each day appreciating my life and becoming aware of how good it really is.
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.
Friday, June 17, 2011
today's readings
June 17
Daily Reflections
"DEEP DOWN WITHIN US"
We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. . . . search diligently within yourself . . . With this attitude you cannot fail. The consciousness of your belief is sure to come to you. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 55
It was out of the depths of loneliness, depression and despair that I sought the help of A.A. As I recovered and began to face the emptiness and ruin of my life, I began to open myself to the possibility of the healing that recovery offers through the A.A. program. By coming to meetings, staying sober, and taking the Steps, I had the opportunity to listen with increasing attentiveness to the depths of my soul. Daily I waited, in hope and gratitude, for that sure belief and steadfast love I had longed for in my life. In this process, I met my God, as I understand Him.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We in A.A. have the privilege of living two lives in one lifetime. One life of drunkenness, failure, and defeat. Then, through A.A., another life of sobriety, peace of mind, and usefulness. We who have recovered our sobriety are modern miracles. And we're living on borrowed time. Some of us might have been dead long ago. But we have been given another chance to live. Do I owe a debt of gratitude to A.A. that I can never repay as long as I live?
Meditation For The Day
Thinking about God in love and worship drives away evil. It is the thought before that the hosts of evil flee. The thought of a Power greater than yourself is the call for a life-line to rescue you from temptation. The thought of God banishes loneliness and dispels gloom. It summons help to conquer your faults. Think of God as often as possible. Use the thought prayerfully and purposefully. It will carry your thoughts away from material things and toward the spiritual things that make life worthwhile.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may think of God often. I pray that I may rest in peace at the thought of His love and care.
************************************************** *********
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
Is the Golden Rule Applicable? Inventory Some people say the Golden Rule is impractical or believe it can work only if everybody begins following it at the same time. We learn in 12 Step programs that the Golden Rule does work. We start by taking our own inventory, whether nor not others do. We make amends for our own wrongs, even when amends are not made to us. We think rightly about others, no matter how they think about us. >From time to time, we also receive a cosmic hint that the Golden Rule is far more than a mere human ideals expressed in an ancient time. It really appears to be one way of stating a law of life. We should treat others as we want to be treated because, in time, this is how we will be treated. Nothing will help me more with my program today than to practice the Golden Rule, even in the face of trying situations. This will show me, more than word ever can, that God is really in charge of my life.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Each day provides its own gifts. ---Ruth D. Freedman Life is full of wonderful gifts. Recovery is life's greatest gift to us. If we're not excited about being sober, we need to check ourselves. Are we keeping something secret? Is there a sadness we need to talk about? Are we stuffing anger? These things eat away at our excitement for life. Many addicts never get the gift of recovery. Those of us in recovery are special. We've been given a new life. There will bedtimes. But the joy of getting a second chance will be stronger. Am I grateful that I've been given recovery? Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see recovery as a gift. I deserve this gift because I'm human.Help me to always accept this gift. Action for the Day: At the end of the day, I'll list three gifts that this day has given me.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Our Southern Friend
Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"
I'll get drunk! It is a cold-blooded idea. It is premeditated. I fix up a little apartment over the garage with books and drinking water. I am going to town to get some liquor and food. I shall not drink until I get back to the apartment. Then I shall lock myself in and read. And as I read, I shall take little drinks at long intervals. I shall get myself "mellow" and stay that way. I get in the car and drive off. Halfway down the driveway a thought strikes me. I'll be honest anyway. I'll tell my wife what I am going to do. I back up to the door and go into the house. I call my wife into a room where we can talk privately. I tell her quietly what I intend to do. She says nothing. She does not get excited. She maintains a perfect calm. When I am through speaking, the whole idea has become absurd. Not a traceoffearis in me. I laugh-at the insanity ofit. We talk of other things. Strength has come from weakness. I cannot see the cause of this temptation now. But I am to learn later that it began with the desire for my own material success becoming greater than the interest in the welfare of my fellow man. I learn more of that foundation stone of character, which is honesty. I learn that when we act upon the highest conception of honesty which is given us, our sense of honesty becomes more acute. I learn that honesty is truth, and the truth shall make us free!
pp. 217-218
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Few people have been more victimized by resentments than have we alcoholics. It mattered little whether our resentments were justified or not. A burst of temper could spoil a day, and a well-nursed grudge could make us miserably ineffective.Norwereweever Skillful in separating justified from unjustified anger. As we saw it, our wrath was always justified. Anger, that occasional luxury of more balanced people, could keep us on an emotional jag indefinitely. These emotional "dry benders" often led straight to the-bottle. Other Kinds of disturbances--jealousy, envy, self-pity, or hurt pride--did the same thing.
p. 90
************************************************** *********
When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly. --Edward Teller
Take time each day to seek out stillness, to find that sacred spot. Let your mind and soul be at ease. Don't grasp and grab for the magic and miracles. When you reside in that place of stillness, the joy, miracles, and magic you're seeking will find you. --Melody Beattie
"Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think." --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I only have to be what I am, no more, no less. --Robbie Rocheford
Higher Power, help me to be open, flexible, and accepting in my recovery.
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SELF-LOVE
"Only a person who can live with himself can enjoy the gift of leisure." --Henry Greber
As an addict I could not tolerate my own company for long. I was forever telephoning somebody, going over to a friend's house, inviting people in, creating an "occasion" so I did not have to think or, at least, think about myself. Being alone terrified me. I was terrified because I would begin to think about what was happening in my life and I did not want to face it.
Spirituality is reality. Some years ago I decided to encounter the "real" me, painful but necessary. I began to develop an awareness of who I am. Acceptance followed: I am an alcoholic.
Today I know me; today I like me; today I can love me - and this awareness brings with it a knowledge of God, self and my neighbor.
Today I can be alone without feeling lonely.
************************************************** *********
Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. "Honor your father and mother." This is the first of the Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. And this is the promise: If you honor your father and mother, "you will live a long life, full of blessing." And now a word to you fathers. Don't make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord. Ephesians 6:1-4
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22, 23
"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." Colossians 3:15
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
The best thing to let go of is your past. Lord, the goodness of my past is part of whom I am now, but the rest only serves to pull me away from You. Help me to keep my thoughts only on this moment.
Imagine that you were paid for every kindness and charged for every unkindness. Would you be rich or poor? Lord, I often pray for material wealth. Let me not neglect my soul by now praying for the ability to build my spiritual wealth also.
Daily Reflections
"DEEP DOWN WITHIN US"
We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. . . . search diligently within yourself . . . With this attitude you cannot fail. The consciousness of your belief is sure to come to you. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 55
It was out of the depths of loneliness, depression and despair that I sought the help of A.A. As I recovered and began to face the emptiness and ruin of my life, I began to open myself to the possibility of the healing that recovery offers through the A.A. program. By coming to meetings, staying sober, and taking the Steps, I had the opportunity to listen with increasing attentiveness to the depths of my soul. Daily I waited, in hope and gratitude, for that sure belief and steadfast love I had longed for in my life. In this process, I met my God, as I understand Him.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We in A.A. have the privilege of living two lives in one lifetime. One life of drunkenness, failure, and defeat. Then, through A.A., another life of sobriety, peace of mind, and usefulness. We who have recovered our sobriety are modern miracles. And we're living on borrowed time. Some of us might have been dead long ago. But we have been given another chance to live. Do I owe a debt of gratitude to A.A. that I can never repay as long as I live?
Meditation For The Day
Thinking about God in love and worship drives away evil. It is the thought before that the hosts of evil flee. The thought of a Power greater than yourself is the call for a life-line to rescue you from temptation. The thought of God banishes loneliness and dispels gloom. It summons help to conquer your faults. Think of God as often as possible. Use the thought prayerfully and purposefully. It will carry your thoughts away from material things and toward the spiritual things that make life worthwhile.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may think of God often. I pray that I may rest in peace at the thought of His love and care.
************************************************** *********
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
Is the Golden Rule Applicable? Inventory Some people say the Golden Rule is impractical or believe it can work only if everybody begins following it at the same time. We learn in 12 Step programs that the Golden Rule does work. We start by taking our own inventory, whether nor not others do. We make amends for our own wrongs, even when amends are not made to us. We think rightly about others, no matter how they think about us. >From time to time, we also receive a cosmic hint that the Golden Rule is far more than a mere human ideals expressed in an ancient time. It really appears to be one way of stating a law of life. We should treat others as we want to be treated because, in time, this is how we will be treated. Nothing will help me more with my program today than to practice the Golden Rule, even in the face of trying situations. This will show me, more than word ever can, that God is really in charge of my life.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Each day provides its own gifts. ---Ruth D. Freedman Life is full of wonderful gifts. Recovery is life's greatest gift to us. If we're not excited about being sober, we need to check ourselves. Are we keeping something secret? Is there a sadness we need to talk about? Are we stuffing anger? These things eat away at our excitement for life. Many addicts never get the gift of recovery. Those of us in recovery are special. We've been given a new life. There will bedtimes. But the joy of getting a second chance will be stronger. Am I grateful that I've been given recovery? Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see recovery as a gift. I deserve this gift because I'm human.Help me to always accept this gift. Action for the Day: At the end of the day, I'll list three gifts that this day has given me.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Our Southern Friend
Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"
I'll get drunk! It is a cold-blooded idea. It is premeditated. I fix up a little apartment over the garage with books and drinking water. I am going to town to get some liquor and food. I shall not drink until I get back to the apartment. Then I shall lock myself in and read. And as I read, I shall take little drinks at long intervals. I shall get myself "mellow" and stay that way. I get in the car and drive off. Halfway down the driveway a thought strikes me. I'll be honest anyway. I'll tell my wife what I am going to do. I back up to the door and go into the house. I call my wife into a room where we can talk privately. I tell her quietly what I intend to do. She says nothing. She does not get excited. She maintains a perfect calm. When I am through speaking, the whole idea has become absurd. Not a traceoffearis in me. I laugh-at the insanity ofit. We talk of other things. Strength has come from weakness. I cannot see the cause of this temptation now. But I am to learn later that it began with the desire for my own material success becoming greater than the interest in the welfare of my fellow man. I learn more of that foundation stone of character, which is honesty. I learn that when we act upon the highest conception of honesty which is given us, our sense of honesty becomes more acute. I learn that honesty is truth, and the truth shall make us free!
pp. 217-218
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Few people have been more victimized by resentments than have we alcoholics. It mattered little whether our resentments were justified or not. A burst of temper could spoil a day, and a well-nursed grudge could make us miserably ineffective.Norwereweever Skillful in separating justified from unjustified anger. As we saw it, our wrath was always justified. Anger, that occasional luxury of more balanced people, could keep us on an emotional jag indefinitely. These emotional "dry benders" often led straight to the-bottle. Other Kinds of disturbances--jealousy, envy, self-pity, or hurt pride--did the same thing.
p. 90
************************************************** *********
When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly. --Edward Teller
Take time each day to seek out stillness, to find that sacred spot. Let your mind and soul be at ease. Don't grasp and grab for the magic and miracles. When you reside in that place of stillness, the joy, miracles, and magic you're seeking will find you. --Melody Beattie
"Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think." --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I only have to be what I am, no more, no less. --Robbie Rocheford
Higher Power, help me to be open, flexible, and accepting in my recovery.
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SELF-LOVE
"Only a person who can live with himself can enjoy the gift of leisure." --Henry Greber
As an addict I could not tolerate my own company for long. I was forever telephoning somebody, going over to a friend's house, inviting people in, creating an "occasion" so I did not have to think or, at least, think about myself. Being alone terrified me. I was terrified because I would begin to think about what was happening in my life and I did not want to face it.
Spirituality is reality. Some years ago I decided to encounter the "real" me, painful but necessary. I began to develop an awareness of who I am. Acceptance followed: I am an alcoholic.
Today I know me; today I like me; today I can love me - and this awareness brings with it a knowledge of God, self and my neighbor.
Today I can be alone without feeling lonely.
************************************************** *********
Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. "Honor your father and mother." This is the first of the Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. And this is the promise: If you honor your father and mother, "you will live a long life, full of blessing." And now a word to you fathers. Don't make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord. Ephesians 6:1-4
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22, 23
"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." Colossians 3:15
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
The best thing to let go of is your past. Lord, the goodness of my past is part of whom I am now, but the rest only serves to pull me away from You. Help me to keep my thoughts only on this moment.
Imagine that you were paid for every kindness and charged for every unkindness. Would you be rich or poor? Lord, I often pray for material wealth. Let me not neglect my soul by now praying for the ability to build my spiritual wealth also.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Today's readings
June 16
Daily Reflections
OPEN-MINDEDNESS
We have found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the realm of spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive, never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 7
Open-mindedness to concepts of a Higher Power can open doors to the spirit. Often I find the human spirit in various dogmas and faiths. I can be spiritual in the sharing of myself. The sharing of self joins me to the human race and brings me closer to God, as I understand Him.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
But even faith is not the whole story. There must be service. We must give this thing away if we want to keep it. The Dead Sea has no outlet and it is stagnant and full of salt. The Sea of Galilee is clear and clean and blue, as the Jordan River carries it out to irrigate the desert. To be of service to other people makes our lives worth living. Does service to others give me a real purpose in life?
Meditation For The Day
Seek God early in the day, before He gets crowded out by life's problems, difficulties, or pleasures. In that early quiet time gain a calm, strong confidence in the goodness and purpose in the universe. Do not seek God only when the world's struggles prove too much and too many for you to bear or face alone. Seek God early, when you can have a consciousness of God's spirit in the world. People often only seek God when their difficulties are too great to be surmounted in any other way, forgetting that if they sought God's companionship before they need it, many of their difficulties would never arise.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may not let God be crowded out by the hurly-burly of life. I pray that I may seek God early and often. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Progress Rather than Perfection, p. 167
On studying the Twelve Steps, many of us exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints.
The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.
<< << << >> >> >>
"We recovered alcoholics are not so much brothers in virtue as we are brothers in our defects, and in our common strivings to overcome them."
1. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 60 2. Letter, 1946
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
AA states that resentments is the "number one offender" among our members, that it puts morealcoholics in the graves than any other thing.---Stools and Bottles
We can get high on anger. That's why it's dangerous. We get a false sense of power from being angry. Our angerturns into resentments. Resentments turn into hate. Hate eats at our spiritual core. We can get rid of resentments and hate through prayer and helping others. That's why we we're to pray for those who have wronged us, so our hearts don't fill with hate. This why, we use our energy in a healthy way. And our serenity will grow as we see that anger no longer has so much power over our actions.
Prayer for the Day Higher Power, help me stop using anger, resentments and hate for control over other people and advents I don't like.
Action for the Day I'll list all the people I'm angry at. I'll say a simple prayer for each of them.
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Solving our common problem Recovery Twelve Step programs bring together people who admit certain behaviors that society often views with pity or contempt. Some of these behaviors, such as alcoholism and gambling, are heavily stigmatized. Though we often talk about "our common problem", the thing we have most in common with each other is that we're human beings who share the human condition. No one is really immune from the similar problems that beset us. That's why somebody once remarked, only in half-jest, that "alcoholics are like normal people, only moreso." We have to remember that the people around us are no different from us in that they are subject to such feelings as pride, resentment, self-pity, and discouragement. Our common problem is really that we're human beings who need a spiritual life in order to become our true selves. This can turn a problem into a new life if we accept the program. Today I'll look upon all people with understanding and acceptance. Everyone shares the same feelings that drive me, and everyone deserves my warmth and understanding.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Our Southern Friend
Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"
I am blue again. I want to sell the place and move away. I want to get where I can find some alcoholics to to help and where I can have some fellowship. Will I take a young fellow who has been drinking for two weeks to live with me? Soon I have others who are alcoholics and some who have other problems. I begin to play God. I feel that I can fix them all. I do not fix anyone, but I am getting part of a tremendous educationand I havemade some new friends. Nothing is right. Finances are in bad shape. I must find a way to make some money. The family seems to think of nothing but spending. People annoy me. I try to read. I try to pray. Gloom surrounds me. Why has God left me? I mope around the house. I will not go out and I will not enter into anything. What is the matter? I cannot understand. I will not be that way.
p. 217
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Before we ask what a spot-check inventory is, let's look at the kind of setting in which such an inventory can do its work. It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us. If somebody hurts us and we are sore, we are in the wrong also. But are there no exceptions to this rule? What about "justifiable"anger? If somebody cheats us, aren't we entitled to be mad? Can't we be properly angry with self-righteous folk? For us of A.A. these are dangerous exceptions. We have found that justified anger ought to be left to those better qualified to handle it.
p. 90
************************************************** *********
"The secret of self-confidence and courage hinges on the kind of thoughts you think. In the long run, your subconscious will send up to you what you send down to it. Take charge of your mind and begin to fill it with healthy thoughts." --Norman Vincent Peale
Act on God's will, and you will be led to better things. --SweetyZee
Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school. --Albert Einstein
"Don't talk about what you have done or what you are going to do --do it and let it speak for itself." --Martin Vanbee
Thank God For What You Have, TRUST GOD For What You Need.
If every man would sweep before his own doors, the city would soon be clean. -- Italian Proverb
Those who dance are thought to be quite insane by those who cannot hear music. -- Maggie Erotokritou
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LEARNING
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." --Henry Ford
My life is exciting today because I am learning and creating so much in recovery. Even things that I thought I understood have a new "ring". Words, ideas, relationships and the awareness of God are forever changing - usually for the better.
Sobriety is not boring. It is not stuffy, rigid or restrictive - and discussions (not arguments) within the fellowship of recovering people produces fresh insights. Today I am involved in the life of God. I am creating, healing and forever learning more about the mystery of love.
O Teacher of the Universe, let me seek beyond that which I understand.
************************************************** *********
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Nothing is more important than your own peace of mind and ability to be happy. Lord, help me to remember that I must take care of myself because only then can I care for others.
Confront your problems so they don't gather like weights upon your back. Lord, help me to handle my concerns of today and lay them to rest.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Today's readings
June 15
Daily Reflections
MAKING A. A. YOUR HIGHER POWER
". . . . . You can . . . make A. A. itself your 'higher power.' Here's a very large group of people who have solved their alcohol problem. . . . .many members . . . . have crossed the threshold just this way. . . . .their faith broadened and deepened. . . . transformed, they came to believe in a Higher Power. . . . ." TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 27-28
No one was greater than I, at least in my eyes, when I was drinking. Nevertheless, I couldn't smile at myself in the mirror, so I came to A.A. where, with others, I heard talk of a Higher Power. I couldn't accept the concept of a Higher Power because I believed God was cruel and unloving. In desperation I chose a table, a tree, then my A.A. group, as my Higher Power. Time passed, my life improved, and I began to wonder about this Higher Power. Gradually, with patience, humility and a lot of questions, I came to believe in God. Now my relationship with my Higher Power gives me the strength to live a happy, sober life.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
In A.A. we have three things: fellowship, faith, and service. Fellowship is wonderful, but its wonder lasts just so long. Then some gossip, disillusionment, and boredom may come in. Worry and fear come back at times and we find that fellowship is not the whole story. Then we need faith. When we're alone, with nobody to pat us on the back, we must turn to God for help. Can I say "Thy will be done" - and mean it?
Meditation For The Day
There is beauty in a God-guided life. There is wonder in the feeling of being led by God. Try to realize God's bounty and goodness more and more. God is planning for you. Wonderful are His ways - they are beyond your knowledge. But God's leading will enter your consciousness more and more and bring you ever more peace and joy. Your life is being planned and blessed by God. You may count all material things as losses if they prevent your winning your way to the consciousness of God's guidance.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may earn the rewards of God's power and peace. I pray that I may develop the feeling of being led by God. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Fear No Evil, p. 166
Though we of A.A. find ourselves living in a world characterized by destructivefears as never before in history, we see great areas of faith, and tremendous aspirations toward justice and brotherhood. Yet no prophet can presume to say whether the world outcome will be blazing destruction or the beginning, under God's intention, of the brightest era yet known to mankind.
I am sure we A.A.'s will comprehend this scene. In microcosm, we have experienced this identical state of terrifying uncertainty, each in his own life. In no sense pridefully, we can say that we do not fear the world outcome, whichever course it may take. This is because we have been established to deeply feel and say, "We shall fear no evil--Thy will, not ours, be done."
Grapevine, January 1962
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
He who laughs, last.---Mary Pettibone Poole It feels good to laugh again! Our disease took away our sense of humor. Recovery gives it back. That's why there's so much laughter at our meetings. By seeing the funny side of things, we ease up. A person in treatment was talking about the Higher Power he had come to believe in. The counselor asked, “Does God have a sense of humor?" The group had fun talking about this idea for a while. The next day, the counselor cameto work and found a note on her door. It read: “Of course God has a sense of humor. He made you, didn't He? Laughter helps us heal. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me ease up today. Let me see the funny side of things. Action for the Day: I'll let myself laugh today.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Our Southern Friend
Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"
Get into the lives of other people, is one thing the fellows in New York had said. I go to see a man I had been asked to visitand tell him my story. I feel much better! I have forgotten about a drink. I am on a train, headed for a city. I have left my wife at home, sick, and I have been unkind to her in leaving. I am very unhappy. Maybe a few drinks when I get to the city will help. A great fear seizes me. I talk to the strangerin theseatwith me. Thefearand theinsaneidea is taken away. Things are not going so well at home. I am learning that I cannot have my own way as I used to. I blame my wife and children. Anger possesses me, anger such as I have never felt before. I will not stand for it. I pack my bag and leave. I stay with understanding friends. I see where I have been wrong in some respects. I do not feel angry any more. I return home and say I am sorry for my wrong. I am quiet again. But I have not seen yet that I should do some constructive acts of love without expecting any return. I shall learn this after some more explosions.
pp. 216-217
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
Aren't these practices joy-killers as well as time-consumers? Must A.A.'s spend most of their waking hours drearily rehashing their sins of omission or commission? Well, hardly. The emphasis on inventory is heavy only because a great many of us have never really acquired the habit of accurate self-appraisal. Once this healthy practice has become grooved, it will be so interesting and profitable that the time it takes won't be missed. For these minutes and sometimes hours spent in self-examinationarebound to makealltheother hours ofour day better and happier. And at length our inventories become a regular part of everyday living, rather than something unusual or set apart.
pp. 89-90
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Adventure is not outside a man. It is within. --David Grayson
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." --William Arthur Ward
"When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade." --Dale Carnegie
Very little is needed to make a happy life. It is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. --Marcus Aurelius
Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." --Groucho Marx
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
FEAR
"Nothing is so much to be feared as fear. " --Henry David Thoreau
Fear is a killer. It stops the God-given spirituality in our lives from taking shape and making life enjoyable. Fear is connected with doubt -doubt of self. Low self-esteem develops along with fear and in order for confidence to develop, the fear must be faced, confronted and talked about.
Fear is not going to go away because we wish it away or hope it sway or even pray it away. Fear needs to be identified, located and seen for what it is - or, as in most cases, what it isn't. Fear of people, things, tomorrow or life itself grows so long as we forge that we are creatures of God. There is nothing that cannot be faced or overcome - as long as we remain drug-free. God is on our side - but we need also to be on our side. Fear is never stronger than our spirituality. We need to bring our fear into the light; then it can be overcome.
I ask to stay in the light of sobriety, not the darkness of alcoholism.
************************************************** *********
"The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy." Psalms 145:8
"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." I Peter 2:24
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Ask yourself if what you are spending your thoughts and energy on will matter in a week,a month, or a year. Lord, help me select my priorities wisely and use my time in ways that will make my life and those around me better and happier.
The more cheer you give, the more that remains. Lord, may I show my love for You through a happy face and may my presence be a joyful experience to all that I encounter.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Today's readings
June 13
Daily Reflections
LIVING OUR AMENDS
"Years of living with an alcoholic is almost sure to make any wife or child neurotic. The entire family is to some extent, ill." ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 122
It is important for me to realize that, as an alcoholic, I not only hurt myself, but also those around me. Making amends to my family, and to the families of alcoholics still suffering, will always be important. Understanding the havoc I created and trying to repair the destruction, will be a lifelong endeavor. The example of my sobriety may give others hope, and faith to help themselves.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
In A.A. we have to reeducate our minds. We have to learn to think differently. We have to take a long view of drinking instead of a short view. We have to look through the glass to what lies beyond it. We have to look through the night before to the morning after. No matter how good liquor looks from the short view, we must realize that in the long run it is poison to us. Have I learned to look through the bottle to the better life that lies ahead?
Meditation For The Day
If you are honestly trying to live the way you believe God wants you to live, you can get guidance from God in times of quiet communion with Him, provided your thoughts are directed toward God's will and all good things. The attitude of "Thy will, not mine, be done' leads to clear guidance. Act on this guidance and you will be led to better things. Your impulses seem to become less your own and more the leading of God's spirit acting through your thoughts. Obeyed, they will bring you the answers to your prayers.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to think God's thoughts after Him. I pray that my thoughts may be guided by His thoughts. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
A Saving Principle, p. 164
The practice of admitting one's defects to another person is, of course, very ancient. It has been validated in every century, and it characterizes the lives of all spiritually centered and truly religious people.
But today religion is by no means the sole advocate of this saving principle. Psychiatrists and psychologists point out the deep need every human being has for practical insight and knowledge of his own personal flaws and a discussion of them with an understanding and trustworthy person.
So far as alcoholics are concerned, A.A. would go even further. Most of us would declare that without a fearless admission of our defects to another human being, we could not stay sober. It seems plain that the grace of God will not enter to expel our destructive obsessions until we are willing to try this.
12 & 12, pp. 56-57
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work. ---Robert Frost Worry---it's a lonely activity. It puts distance between us and others. Our program is full of ideas about what to do with worry. On Step Three, we turn our will and our lives over to God. This includes worry. Our slogans also suggest what to do with worry. One Day at a Time. Live and Let Live. Easy Does It. Let Go and Let God. Their main message is stop worrying. Trust the program. Trust your Higher Power. Everything will be okay. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I give You my worries. Teach me how to trust again. I want to trust in You, my program, and myself. Action for the Day: I'll write the program slogans listed above on a piece of paper, and I'll read them over today. I'll let myself live them today.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Our Southern Friend
Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"
My wife hears my voice and knows I have found the answer to life. She comes to New York.I get outofthehospital and wevisitsomeof these new-found friends. What a glorious time we have!
p. 216
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
When a drunk has a terrific hangover because he drank heavily yesterday, he cannot live well today. But there is another kind of hangover which we all experience whether we are drinking or not. That is the emotional hangover, the direct result of yesterday's and sometimes today's excesses of negative emotion--anger, fear, jealousy, and the like. If we would live serenely today and tomorrow, we certainly need to eliminate these hangovers. This doesn't mean we need to wander morbidly around in the past. It requires an admission and correction of errors now. Our inventory enables us to settle with the past. When this is done, we are really able to leave it behind us. When our inventory is carefully taken, and we have made peace with ourselves, the conviction follows that tomorrow's challenges can be met as they come.
pp. 88-89
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A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. --unknown
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. --Martin Luther King, Jr.
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. --Helen Keller
Laughter is God's sunshine. --Anonymous
"A fear faced is a fear erased." --unknown
When we step off the path it is up to us to step back on it. --SweetyZee
Faith can take us to a place beyond time and space where God dwells. --SweetyZee
Faith relieves worry and cares, brings peace and harmony, gives us all the strength we need. --SweetyZee
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WORLD
"We are citizens of the world; and the tragedy of our time is that we do not know this." --Woodrow Wilson
In recovery I have learned to "go home" to who I am - and part of this involves my understanding my place in this vast universe. I am a child of God and my "family" is not just my immediate blood relatives, but also the millions of other people that inhabit this planet.
God did not just make me. God does not just love me. God is concerned for all His children. As an alcoholic I did not have this attitude and I was always feeling lost and different. I became selfish and narrow in my lifestyle. Other people were tolerated.
Today I have a "big" God and He has enabled me to grow not only in my acceptance of self but also in my acceptance of others. Today I am a citizen of the world and it feels good.
Lord, today I know what it is to belong to the human family. And with this awareness comes responsibility.
************************************************** *********
"Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a lamp to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe thy righteous ordinances." Psalm 119:105-106
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18
If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." Romans 8:11
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
The phrase "Never Again" is too large a commitment and too easily discarded when we stumble. Lord, help me to work on being a better person today, so that in time, my good habits will require little or no effort.
Tragedy and suffering often opens the soul to the heights of spiritual growth. Lord, let the hardships of my life be my prayer and work to draw You closer and closer.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
today's readings
June 11
Daily Reflections
FAMILY OBLIGATIONS
. . . a spiritual life which does not include . . . family obligations may not be so perfect after all. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 129
I can be doing great in the program--applying it at meetings, at work, and in service activities--and find that things have gone to pieces at home. I expect my loved ones to understand, but they cannot. I expect them to see and value my progress, but they don't--unless I show them. Do I neglect their needs and desire for my attention and concern? When I'm around them, am I irritable or boring? Are my "amends" a mumbled "Sorry," or do they take the form of patience and tolerance? Do I preach to them, trying to reform or "fix" them? Have I ever really cleaned house with them? "The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it." (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 83).
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We alcoholics have to believe in some Power greater than ourselves. Yes, we have to believe in God. Not to believe in a Higher Power drives us to atheism. Atheism, it has been said before, is blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. That's practically impossible to believe. So we turn to that Divine Principle in the universe that we call God. Have I stopped trying to run my own life?
Meditation For The Day
"Lord, we thank Thee for the great gift of peace, that peace which passeth all understanding, that peace which the world can neither give nor take away." That is the peace that only God can give in the midst of a restless world and surrounded by trouble and difficulty. To know that peace is to have received the stamp of the kingdom of God. When you have earned that peace, you are fit to judge between true and false values, between the values of the kingdom of God and the values of all that the world has to offer.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that today I may have inner peace. I pray that today I may be at peace with myself. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
"Let's Keep It Simple", p. 162
"We need to distinguish sharply between spiritual simplicity and functional simplicity."
"When we say that A.A. advocates no theological proposition except God as we understand Him, we greatly simplify A.A. life by avoiding conflict and exclusiveness.
"But when we get into questions of action by groups, by areas, and by A.A. as a whole, we find that we must to some extent organize to carry the message--or else face chaos. And chaos is not simplicity."
<< << << >> >> >>
I learned that the temporary or seeming good can often be the deadly enemy of the permanent best. When it comes to survival for A.A., nothing short of our best will be good enough.
1. Letter, 1966 2. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 294
************************************************** *********
Walk in Dry Places
What can we change ? Handling limitations. There's always danger that resignation will masquerade as acceptance. In 12 Step programs, we must learn the difference between the two. Resignation refers to putting up with conditions that we should actually change; it regards self-imposed limitation. Acceptance meansx recognizing reality and becoming comfortable with it. We might resign ourselves to bad treatment that is unacceptable, or we might putup with personalshortcomings thatwecould change. When someone points this out, we defend ourselves by asserting points this out., we defend ourselves by asserting that we're practicing acceptance. As human beings and children of God, we are entitled to live with dignity and to receive fair treatment. We should never resign ourselves to anything that robs us of this basic humanity. Our Higher Power will show us how to eliminateresignation ifwehavebeen practicing it. The message of the program is that we never have to accept the things we can and should change. Today if I am uncomfortable with something, I'll ask myself if I've been practicing resignation instead of acceptance. Theremay bemany things in my life that can and should be changed.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Who is the bravest hero? He who turns his enemy into a friend. --- Hebrew Proverb In recovery we take our worst enemy, addiction, and turn it around. We were ashamed of our addiction. Over time we become proud of our recovery. We were our own worst enemy. Now we're our own best friend. We are brave people. Being brave is about facing our fears. Often we think brave people don't get afraid, butthis isn'ttrue. Bravepeoplelearn to stayput, even when their knees are shaking. Many times in recovery, we will want to run when we should stay put. We may even thinkaboutusing chemicals again. We need to remember our bravery and how we turned our worst enemy into a friend. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me when to run and when to stay put. Help me be brave. Action for the Day: I will claim bravery today. I'll hold my head up high and be proud of how far I've come. I now have nothing to be ashamed of.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Our Southern Friend
Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"
Then comes a thought that is like A Voice. "Who are you to say there is no God?" It rings in my head, I can't get rid of it. I get out of bed and go to the man's room. He is reading. "I must ask you a question," I say to the man. "How does prayer fit into this thing?" "Well," he answers, "you've probably tried praying like I have. When you've been in a jam you've said, 'God, please do this or that' and if it turned out your way that was the last of it and if it didn't you've said 'There isn't any God' or 'He doesn't do anything for me'. Is that right?" "Yes" I reply. "That isn't the way" he continued. "The thing I do is to say '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.' Does that answer your question?" "Yes, it does" I answer. I return to bed. It doesn't make sense. Suddenly I feel a wave of utter hopelessness sweep over me. I am in the bottom of hell. And there a tremendous hope is born. It might be true. I tumble out of bed onto my knees. I know not what I say. But slowly a great peace comes to me. I feel lifted up. I believe in God. I crawl back into bed and sleep like a child.
p. 215
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
As we work the first nine Steps, we prepare ourselves for the adventure of a new life. But when we approach Step Ten we commence to put our A.A. way of living to practical use, day by day, in fair weather or foul. Then comes the acid test: can we stay sober, keep in emotional balance, and live to good purpose under all conditions?
p. 88
************************************************** *********
"No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens." --Abraham Lincoln
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
The right time for the journey is when you begin it. Why not today? God, motivate me to live a fuller, richer life. --An excerpt from Melody Beattie - (More Language of Letting Go)
"There is a very little difference between people; it is called attitude; and it makes a really big difference. The big difference is whether it's positive or negative." --W. Clement Stone
"Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind." --Eric Hoffer
Look past the body, past the personality, past the behavior, into the window of one another's souls. There we make a connection. The God in me recognizes and honors the God in you. --Mary Manin Morrissey
God, grant me the serenity to not try to force outcomes and solutions too soon. --Melody Beattie
Wish not so much to live long, as to live well. -- Benjamin Franklin
It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows. --Epictetus
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SOLITUDE
"Everyone should try to find a spot to be alone." --Queen Juliana (Netherlands)
Greta Garbo was reported to have said, "I want to be alone." Life brings its pressures, but we all need to find a place where we can be "alone".
Alone - not to "think" or "do" - simply to be. We need time to simply rest in our lives. A time in the day which we can call our own, to have a visit with the most important person we have got in our lives -ourselves.
To rest in self is to experience "spiritual selfishness" - the joy of self-love.
And how much we look forward to setting aside a time just for heart and mind to center on the pathway to listening to God.
************************************************** *********
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4
Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. Good will cometo himwho is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. Hehas scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor. Psalm 112:4-9
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
It is laughter that helps us cope with the upsets and chaos of everyday living. Lord, lighten my spirit so that I will not take myself so seriously and be able to find more moments to laugh.
Take care of yourself so that you may give care to others. Lord, may I never totally ignore myself and my feelings for the sake of others and fit in time daily to refresh my spirit.
Daily Reflections
FAMILY OBLIGATIONS
. . . a spiritual life which does not include . . . family obligations may not be so perfect after all. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 129
I can be doing great in the program--applying it at meetings, at work, and in service activities--and find that things have gone to pieces at home. I expect my loved ones to understand, but they cannot. I expect them to see and value my progress, but they don't--unless I show them. Do I neglect their needs and desire for my attention and concern? When I'm around them, am I irritable or boring? Are my "amends" a mumbled "Sorry," or do they take the form of patience and tolerance? Do I preach to them, trying to reform or "fix" them? Have I ever really cleaned house with them? "The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it." (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 83).
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We alcoholics have to believe in some Power greater than ourselves. Yes, we have to believe in God. Not to believe in a Higher Power drives us to atheism. Atheism, it has been said before, is blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. That's practically impossible to believe. So we turn to that Divine Principle in the universe that we call God. Have I stopped trying to run my own life?
Meditation For The Day
"Lord, we thank Thee for the great gift of peace, that peace which passeth all understanding, that peace which the world can neither give nor take away." That is the peace that only God can give in the midst of a restless world and surrounded by trouble and difficulty. To know that peace is to have received the stamp of the kingdom of God. When you have earned that peace, you are fit to judge between true and false values, between the values of the kingdom of God and the values of all that the world has to offer.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that today I may have inner peace. I pray that today I may be at peace with myself. ************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
"Let's Keep It Simple", p. 162
"We need to distinguish sharply between spiritual simplicity and functional simplicity."
"When we say that A.A. advocates no theological proposition except God as we understand Him, we greatly simplify A.A. life by avoiding conflict and exclusiveness.
"But when we get into questions of action by groups, by areas, and by A.A. as a whole, we find that we must to some extent organize to carry the message--or else face chaos. And chaos is not simplicity."
<< << << >> >> >>
I learned that the temporary or seeming good can often be the deadly enemy of the permanent best. When it comes to survival for A.A., nothing short of our best will be good enough.
1. Letter, 1966 2. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 294
************************************************** *********
Walk in Dry Places
What can we change ? Handling limitations. There's always danger that resignation will masquerade as acceptance. In 12 Step programs, we must learn the difference between the two. Resignation refers to putting up with conditions that we should actually change; it regards self-imposed limitation. Acceptance meansx recognizing reality and becoming comfortable with it. We might resign ourselves to bad treatment that is unacceptable, or we might putup with personalshortcomings thatwecould change. When someone points this out, we defend ourselves by asserting points this out., we defend ourselves by asserting that we're practicing acceptance. As human beings and children of God, we are entitled to live with dignity and to receive fair treatment. We should never resign ourselves to anything that robs us of this basic humanity. Our Higher Power will show us how to eliminateresignation ifwehavebeen practicing it. The message of the program is that we never have to accept the things we can and should change. Today if I am uncomfortable with something, I'll ask myself if I've been practicing resignation instead of acceptance. Theremay bemany things in my life that can and should be changed.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Who is the bravest hero? He who turns his enemy into a friend. --- Hebrew Proverb In recovery we take our worst enemy, addiction, and turn it around. We were ashamed of our addiction. Over time we become proud of our recovery. We were our own worst enemy. Now we're our own best friend. We are brave people. Being brave is about facing our fears. Often we think brave people don't get afraid, butthis isn'ttrue. Bravepeoplelearn to stayput, even when their knees are shaking. Many times in recovery, we will want to run when we should stay put. We may even thinkaboutusing chemicals again. We need to remember our bravery and how we turned our worst enemy into a friend. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me when to run and when to stay put. Help me be brave. Action for the Day: I will claim bravery today. I'll hold my head up high and be proud of how far I've come. I now have nothing to be ashamed of.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Our Southern Friend
Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"
Then comes a thought that is like A Voice. "Who are you to say there is no God?" It rings in my head, I can't get rid of it. I get out of bed and go to the man's room. He is reading. "I must ask you a question," I say to the man. "How does prayer fit into this thing?" "Well," he answers, "you've probably tried praying like I have. When you've been in a jam you've said, 'God, please do this or that' and if it turned out your way that was the last of it and if it didn't you've said 'There isn't any God' or 'He doesn't do anything for me'. Is that right?" "Yes" I reply. "That isn't the way" he continued. "The thing I do is to say '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.' Does that answer your question?" "Yes, it does" I answer. I return to bed. It doesn't make sense. Suddenly I feel a wave of utter hopelessness sweep over me. I am in the bottom of hell. And there a tremendous hope is born. It might be true. I tumble out of bed onto my knees. I know not what I say. But slowly a great peace comes to me. I feel lifted up. I believe in God. I crawl back into bed and sleep like a child.
p. 215
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
As we work the first nine Steps, we prepare ourselves for the adventure of a new life. But when we approach Step Ten we commence to put our A.A. way of living to practical use, day by day, in fair weather or foul. Then comes the acid test: can we stay sober, keep in emotional balance, and live to good purpose under all conditions?
p. 88
************************************************** *********
"No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens." --Abraham Lincoln
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
The right time for the journey is when you begin it. Why not today? God, motivate me to live a fuller, richer life. --An excerpt from Melody Beattie - (More Language of Letting Go)
"There is a very little difference between people; it is called attitude; and it makes a really big difference. The big difference is whether it's positive or negative." --W. Clement Stone
"Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind." --Eric Hoffer
Look past the body, past the personality, past the behavior, into the window of one another's souls. There we make a connection. The God in me recognizes and honors the God in you. --Mary Manin Morrissey
God, grant me the serenity to not try to force outcomes and solutions too soon. --Melody Beattie
Wish not so much to live long, as to live well. -- Benjamin Franklin
It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows. --Epictetus
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SOLITUDE
"Everyone should try to find a spot to be alone." --Queen Juliana (Netherlands)
Greta Garbo was reported to have said, "I want to be alone." Life brings its pressures, but we all need to find a place where we can be "alone".
Alone - not to "think" or "do" - simply to be. We need time to simply rest in our lives. A time in the day which we can call our own, to have a visit with the most important person we have got in our lives -ourselves.
To rest in self is to experience "spiritual selfishness" - the joy of self-love.
And how much we look forward to setting aside a time just for heart and mind to center on the pathway to listening to God.
************************************************** *********
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4
Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. Good will cometo himwho is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. Hehas scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor. Psalm 112:4-9
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Daily Inspiration
It is laughter that helps us cope with the upsets and chaos of everyday living. Lord, lighten my spirit so that I will not take myself so seriously and be able to find more moments to laugh.
Take care of yourself so that you may give care to others. Lord, may I never totally ignore myself and my feelings for the sake of others and fit in time daily to refresh my spirit.
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