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.

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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.

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"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

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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.

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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.

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

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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

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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

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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.

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"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

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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.