Tuesday's Readings

November 22

Daily Reflections

ONLY TWO SINS

. . . . there are only two sins; the first is to
interfere with the growth of another human being,
and the second is to interfere with one's own growth.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 542

Happiness is such an elusive state. How often do my
"prayers" for others involve "hidden" prayers for my
own agenda? How often is my search for happiness a
boulder in the path of growth for another, or even
myself? Seeking growth through humility and acceptance
brings things that appear to be anything but good,
wholesome and vital. Yet in looking back, I can see
that pain, struggles and setbacks have all contributed
eventually to serenity through growth in the program.
I ask my Higher Power to help me not cause another's
lack of growth today - or my own.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I have got rid of most of my boredom. One of the
hardest things that a new member of A.A. has to
understand is how he can stay sober and not be bored.
Drinking was always the answer to all kinds of boring
people and boring situations. But once you have taken
up the interest of A.A., once you have given it your
time and enthusiasm, boredom should not be a problem
to you. A new life opens up before you that can be
always interesting. Sobriety should give you so many
new interests in life that you shouldn't have time
to be bored. Have I got rid of the fear of being bored?

Meditation For The Day

"If I have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or
a tinkling cymbal." Charity means to care enough about
your fellow man to really want to do something for
him. A smile, a word of encouragement, a word of love,
goes winged on its way, simple enough it may seem,
while the mighty words of an orator fall on deaf ears.
Use up the odd moments of your day in trying to do
some little thing to cheer up your fellow man.
Boredom comes from thinking too much about yourself.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that my day may be brightened by some little
act of charity. I pray that I may try today to overcome
the self-centeredness that makes me bored.

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As Bill Sees It

Spirituality and Money, p. 324

Some of us still ask, "Just what is this Third Legacy business anyhow?
And just how much territory does "service" take in?"

Let's begin with my own sponsor, Ebby. When Ebby heard how serious
my drinking was, he resolved to visit me. He was in New York; I was in
Brooklyn. His resolve was not enough; he had to take action and he had
to spend money.

He called me on the phone and then got into the subway; total cost, ten
cents. At the level of the telephone booth and subway turnstile,
spirituality and money began to mix. One without the other would have
amounted to nothing at all.

Right then and there, Ebby established the principle that A.A. in action
calls for the sacrifice of much time and a little money.

A.A. Comes Of Age, pp. 140-141

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Walk In Dry Places

Too smart to stay sober
Humility
"I've never seen anybody who's too dumb to stay sober. But I've met a few people who were too smart." These wise words by an older member sum up what we sometimes see.... people who feel turned off by the program because it seems to simple and involves so many people of ordinary education and backgrounds.
Alcoholism is much like other diseases in the way it strikes all people. Diabetes, for example, victimizes people of all intelligence and education levels. We could never believe that being smart would give us an advantage in dealing with such an illness.
In the same way, the very smart person, has no edge over others in gaining sobriety. In fact, pride in such gifts can be a stumbling block. It can be a barrier to the simple acceptance and surrender needed for success in the 12 Step Program.
We do have many very smart people in AA. They are also wise enough to know that nobody can outsmart John Barleycorn.
We can feel grateful for mental abilities and education that halp us get along in the world. Our sobriety, however, is a separate type of gift that we did not create.

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Keep It Simple

We are healed of a suffering only be experiencing it in full. ---Marcel Proust
We must never forget our past. We need to remember the power that our illness has over us. Why? So we can remember how our recovery began. So we can remember we’re not cured. So we can tell our stories.
We must remember how we acted. Why? So we don’t act and think like addicts. Most of us had a poor relationships with friends, family, and ourselves. We need to remember how lonely we felt. That way, we’ll make recovery grow stronger One Day at a Time.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me always remember how my illness almost destroyed me. Help me face the pain of these memories.
Action for the Day: I will talk about my past life with those who support my recovery. I will tell them what it is that I must remember about my past.

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Each Day a New Beginning

. . . as awareness increases, the need for personal secrecy almost proportionately decreases. --Charlotte Painter
We hang onto secrets when we're unsure of ourselves and the role we're asked to play--secrets about our inner thoughts, our dreams and aspirations, our feared inadequacies.
Because we strive for perfection, assume it's achievable, and settle for no less in all our activities, we are haunted by our secret fears of not measuring up. The more committed we become to this program, the greater is our understanding of the fallacy of this way of thinking. And as our awareness increases, the more accepting we become of our human frailty, and the less need we have to cover it up. Our mental health is measurable by the openness we offer to the world. Secrets belie good health and heighten the barriers to it.
The program's Fourth and Fifth Steps are the antidotes to being stuck in an unhealthy state of mind. They push us to let go of our secrets, freeing us from the power they wield. Practicing the principles of the program offers the remedy we need for the happiness we deserve.
I will share a secret today and be free of its power over my life.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

A DRUNK, LIKE YOU - The more he listened at meetings, the more he came to know about his own drinking history.

One night they were talking about how much they drank, and one guy said he had so many beers, the next guy talked about shots, one about mixed drinks I never heard of, another about so many pints, and on it went around the table. When my turn came, I said I didn't know. "Wow, that much," they said. "No," I said. I meant I didn't no the amount. I drank mostly at home and poured some in a tall glass and drank that and did it several times. "Well, how many times did you refill?" "I don't know."
Somebody asked it another way. He wanted to know, how many did I buy? "Well," I said, "I stopped in the package store every day and bought one." "Oh," he said. "How many did you have left at the end of the week?" Well, he had me there. "None," I said. He said, "a bottle-a-day man." I never got to say another word--it was settled over my objections.

p. 402-403
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

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

"Thank heaven I came up with the right answer for that one. It was based foursquare on the single purpose of A.A. `You have faith,' I said. `Perhaps far deeper faith than mine. No doubt you're better taught in religious matters than I. So I can't tell you anything about religion. I don't even want to try. I'll bet, too, that you could give me a letter-perfect definition of humility. But from what you've told me about yourself and your problems and how you propose to lick them, I think I know what's wrong.'
"`Okay,' he said. `Give me the business.'
"`Well,' I said, `I think you're just a conceited Irishman who thinks he can run the whole show.'
"This really rocked him. But as he calmed down, he began to listen while I tried to show him that humility was the main key to sobriety. Finally, he saw that I wasn't attempting to change his religious views, that I wanted him to find the grace in his own religion that would aid his recovery. From there on we got along fine.
"Now," concludes the oldtimer, "suppose I'd been obliged to talk to this man on religious grounds? Suppose my answer had to be that A.A. needed a lot of money; that A.A. went in for education, hospital, and rehabilitation? Suppose I'd suggested that I'd take a hand in his domestic and business affairs? Where would we have wound up? No place, of course."
Years later, this tough Irish customer liked to say, "my sponsor sold me one idea, and that was sobriety. At the time, I couldn't have bought anything else."

pp. 153-154

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A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work.
--Cited in The Best of BITS & PIECES

We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.
--Stevie Wonder

Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on.
--Les Brown

It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks.
--Mother Teresa

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who
make our souls blossom.
--Marcel Proust

Gratitude is the heart's memory.
--French proverb

Real thanksgiving is thanks-living.
--unknown

We don't need more to be thankful for, we need to be more thankful.
--unknown

Life's little duties should never come before love. Make time for those you care about.
--unknown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

OBESITY

"Obesity is really widespread."
-- Joseph O. Kern II

To be fat is to be lost. It is a self-imposed isolation that keeps people sad. The fat is
the result of an addiction to a series of chemicals in food that society finds
acceptable; the disease of bulimia is widespread.

But it can be changed. People can and do get well from a compulsion around food by
surrendering to the reality of their compulsion. The people-pleasing must be seen.
The mask must be removed. The pain in the family must be talked about. Feelings
that have been buried behind the food for years should be expressed. Feelings are to
be felt!

We need not remain fat, and recovery begins when we begin to have hope; we begin to
love ourselves; we begin to believe in ourselves.

O Lord, You hear the prayer of all Your children help me to hear my prayers, too!

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"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart."
Psalm 9:1

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to
him and bless his name."
Psalm 100:4

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Daily Inspiration

Make it your goal to be someone that you would like to spend the rest of your life with. Lord, help me approach my day interested in everything that happens so that my life will truly be an adventure.

Through the power of God within me, I am stronger than any of my circumstances. Lord, I seek, I knock and I ask and You are always there and ready to give me the miracles that I need.