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

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

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

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

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.