today's readings

June 9

Daily Reflections

LIVING IN THE NOW

First, we try living in the now just in order to stay sober -- and it works. Once the idea has become a part of our thinking, we find that living life in 24 hour segments is an effective and satisfying way to handle many other matters as well. LIVING SOBER, p. 7

"One Day At A Time." To a newcomer this and other one-liners of A.A. may seem ridiculous. The passwords of the A.A. Fellowship can become lifelines in moments of stress. Each day can be like a rose unfurling according to the plan of a Power greater than myself. My program should be planted in the right location, just as it will need to be groomed, nourished, and protected from disease. My planting will require patience, and my realizing that some flowers will be more perfect than others. Each stage of the petals' unfolding can bring wonder and delight if I do not interfere or let my expectations override my acceptance -- and this brings serenity.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

We finally came to the bottom. We did not have to be financially broke, although many of us were. But we were spiritually bankrupt. We had a soul-sickness, a revulsion against ourselves and against our way of living. Life had become impossible for us. We had to end it all or do something about it. Am I glad I did something about it?

Meditation For The Day

Faith is not seeing, but believing. I am in a box of space and time and cannot see spacelessness or eternity. But God is not within the shell of time and space. He is timeless and spaceless. He cannot be fully comprehended by our finite minds. But we must try to make a union between our purposes and the purposes of God. By trying to merge our minds with the mind of God, a oneness of purpose results. This oneness of purpose puts us in harmony with God and others. Evil comes from being in disharmony with God and good comes from being in harmony with Him.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be in harmony with God. I pray that I may get into the stream of goodness in the universe. ************************************************** *********

As Bill Sees It

The Rationalizers and the Self-Effacing, p. 160

We alcoholics are the biggest rationalizers in the world. Fortified with the excuse that we are doing great things for A.A., we can, through broken anonymity, resume our old and disastrous pursuit of personal power and prestige, public honors, and money--the same implacable urges that, when frustrated, once caused us to drink.

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Dr. Bob was essentially a far more humble person than I, and anonymity came rather easily to him. When it was sure that he was mortally afflicted, some of his friends suggested that there should be a monument erected in honor of him and his wife, Anne--befitting a founder and his lady. Telling me about this, Dr. Bob grinned broadly and said, "God bless 'em. They mean well. But let's you and me get buried just like other folks."

In the Akron cemetery where Dr. Bob and Anne lie, the simple stone says not a word about A.A. This final example of self-effacement is of more permanent worth to A.A. than any amount of public attention or any great monument.

A.A. Comes Of Age 1. pp. 292-293 2. pp. 136-137

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Walk in Dry Places

Do I feel uneasy?

Serenity When facing difficult situations, we can expect to feel a certain amount of discomfort. What's more often a problem for compulsive people is being tense and apprehensive even when things seem to be going well. Although many explanations are offered for this unpleasant feeling, the solution is to be found in the 12 Steps. The more secure we feel in our program, the less apprehension we'll have in facing the problems of living. With the program as our foundation, we will continue to develop more self-assurance as we go along. We may not immediately find this self-assurance, yet we should not hold back from normal duties and responsibilities. Most of the world's work and accomplishments are undertaken by people who do not necessarily feel confident and self-assured all the time. Why should it be any different for us? Whether I feel confident or not,

I'll do my best today. I know that my fellowship, my program, and my Higher Power are fully supporting me.

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Keep It Simple

Anyone can blame; it takes a specialist to praise.---Konstantin Stanislawski

Are we blamers?

We sure were blamers when we were using alcohol and other drugs. Then everything was someone's fault. Some of us did our blaming out loud. And some of us blamed others silently. It's harder to praise than to blame people. Faults stand out like street signs, but the good things about people may be harder to see. We can see the good in people when we slow down, watch, and listen.

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me pay attention to people around me. Help me praise them.

Action for the Day: Today, I'll list three people who mean a lot to me. I'll write what I like about each of them. I'll talk to them and tell them what I wrote.

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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?"

Four alcoholics play bridge in a smoke-filled room. Anything to get my mind from myself. The game is over and the other three leave. I start to clean up the debris. One man comes back, closing the door behind him. He looks at me. "You think you are hopeless, don't you?" he asks. "I know it," I reply. "Well, you're not," says the man. "There are men on the streets of New York today who were worse than you, and they don't drink anymore." "What are you doing here then?" I ask. "I went out of here nine days ago saying that I was going to be honest, and I wasn't," he answers. A fanatic, I thought to myself, but I was polite. "What is it?" I enquire.

pp. 213-214

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Nine - "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others."

Many a razor-edged question can arise in other departments of life where this same principle is involved. Suppose, for instance, that we have drunk up a good chunk of our firm's money, whether by "borrowing" or on a heavily padded expense account. Suppose that this may continue to go undetected, if we say nothing. Do we instantly confess our irregularities to the firm, in the practical certainty that we will be fired and become unemployable? Are we going to be so rigidly righteous about making amends that we don't care what happens to the family and home? Or do we first consult those who are to be gravely affected? Do we lay the matter before our sponsors spiritual adviser, earnestly asking God's help and guidance--meanwhile resolving to do the right thing when it becomes clear, cost what it may? Of course, there is no pat answer which can fit all such dilemmas. But all of them do require a complete willingness to make-amends as fast and as far as may be possible in a given set of conditions.

pp. 86-87

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Love should never be a conditional emotion. It should be a gift where you expect nothing in return. --unknown

Take the program seriously, not yourself. --unknown

We all have within us the capacity to be happy and to suffer. It all depends on which one our mind chooses to feed. --unknown

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." --James Baldwin

"There is no greater treasure than the respect and love of a true friend." --Anonymous

"Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have." --unknown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

IDEALS

"Every dogma has its day, but ideals are eternal." --Israel Zangwill

For too long I lived in a box of rules and dogma. Life had to have definable answers and everything needed to be structured. Then the answers didn't seem to work. Nobody seemed interested in the answers I was giving. The world had moved on!

I realized that life had to be lived, not simply talked about. Having the answers to questions that nobody was asking (including myself) seemed a waste of time. I was uncomfortable. I was living in the past.

Spirituality is reality. It is okay to benefit from a tradition and then move on. I was not disloyal or a traitor because I had changed my mind. God and truth live in a changing world and if we are to grow, our perception of ourselves and life must change. Today I can accept this.

Give me the willingness to change in my life.

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I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

"I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD." Jeremiah 39:18

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39

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Daily Inspiration

Seek God's guidance, but know that the responsibility to act on it is yours. Lord, may I not be lazy because I have prayed and expect You to do everything for me.

It is a bigger mistake to fear making a mistake than to actually make one. Lord, give me the confidence to live a full life and the ability to try again if I stumble.