September 13
Daily Reflections
REPAIRING THE DAMAGE
Good judgment, careful sense of timing, courage and prudence -these are the qualities we shall need when we take Step Nine. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 83
To make amends can be viewed two ways: first, that of repairing damage, for if I have damaged my neighbor's fence, I "make a mend," and that is a direct amend; the second way is by modifying my behavior, for if my actions have harmed someone. I make a daily effort to cause no further harm. I "mend my ways," and that is an indirect amend. Which is the best approach? The only right approach, provided that I am causing no further harm in so doing, is to do both. If harm is done, then I simply "mend my ways." To take action in this manner assures me of making honest amends.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
"No one is too discredited, nor has sunk too low, to be welcomed cordially into A.A., if he or she means business. Social distinctions, petty rivalries and jealousies are laughed out of countenance. Being wrecked in the same vessel, being restored and united under one God, with hearts and minds attuned to the welfare of others, the things which matter so much to some people no longer signify much to us. In A.A., we have true democracy and true brotherhood."
Meditation For The Day
When you call on God in prayer to help you overcome weakness, sorrow, pain, discord, and conflict, God never fails in some way to answer the appeal. When you are in need of strength for yourself or for the help of some other person, call on God in prayer. The power you need will come simply, naturally, and forcefully. Pray to God not only when you need help, but also just to commune with Him. The spirit of prayer can alter an atmosphere from one of discord to one of reconciliation. It will raise the quality of thought and word and bring order out of chaos.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may bring peace where these is discord. I pray that I may bring conciliation where these is conflict.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Wider Understanding, p.255
To reach more alcoholics, understanding of A.A. and public good will towards A.A. must go on growing everywhere. We need to be on still better terms with medicine, courts, prisons, mental hospitals, and all enterprises in the alcoholism field. We need the increasing good will of editors, writers, television and radio channels. These publicity outlets need to be opened ever wider.
********************************
Nothing matters more to A.A.'s future welfare than the manner in which we use the colossus of modern communication. Used unselfishly and well, it can produce results surpassing our present imagination. Should we handle this great instrument badly, we shall be shattered by the ego manifestations of our own people. Against this peril, A.A. members' anonymity before the general public is our shield and our buckler.
1. Twelve Concepts, p.51 2. Grapevine, November 1960
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Learning to Cut my Losses Honesty Business people speak of “cutting their losses” when it becomes clear that a venture is going sour. As recovering alcoholics, we need to practice the same principle when we’re obviously on the wrong track. If a resentment is developing, for example, the sooner we spot it and clear it out, the less damage we suffer. In the same way, we may be engaging in selfish but destructive behavior, or perhaps something that borders on being illicit or dishonest. We minimize our losses by admitting the wrong and getting back to our basic principles of living. In cutting our losses, the usual barriers are pride and self-deception. While these shortcomings will probably always dog us, we at least have experience in dealing with them, or we wouldn't have made any progress in sobriety. If a course of thought or action isn't working out well, perhaps it’s time today to cut my loses in order to get back on the right track.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
People seldom improve when they have no model but themselves to copy.---Oliver Goldsmith If we had to get well by ourselves, we’d be in trouble. We’ve already tried this route. We need to learn a new way to live, not the old way we already know. That’s why we have sponsors in Twelve Step programs. Sponsors are one of the best things about our recovery. We pick people who are happy and doing well in recovery. Then we copy them. We copy them because sponsors are special people who have what we want. They have sobriety. They have happiness. They have common sense. They have peace and serenity. And they will help us get those things too. We learn a new way to live from them. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me pick good models. Help me copy what works for them. Action for the Day: If I don’t have a sponsor now, I’ll work today on getting one.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
Nobody told me how hard and lonely change is. --Joan Gilbertson Pain, repeatedly experienced, indicates a need for self-assessment, an inventory of our behavior. Honest self-appraisal may well call for change, a change in attitude perhaps, a change in specific behavior in some instances, or maybe a change in direction. We get off the right path occasionally, but go merrily on our way until barriers surface, doors close, and experiences become painful. Most of us willingly wallow in our pain a while, not because we like it, but because its familiarity offers security. We find some comfort in our pain because at least it holds no surprises. When our trust in God is high, we are more willing to change. And we open ourselves to the indications for movement in a new direction. Each of us must find our own willingness. Each of us must develop attentiveness to the signs that repeatedly invite changes in our behavior. But most of all, each of us has to travel the road to change, singly. Changes we must find the courage to make will never be exactly like someone else's changes. Courage to change accompanies faith. My fears are telling me to look within to the spiritual source of strength, ever present but often forgotten.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to stay sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
God only knows how we got on the subject, but she was a member of A.A. and later would become my new sponsor. She picked me up and took me to meetings. At one of the meetings, I met a guy who for the next year picked me up and drove me to work. I paid him a dollar each morning. I am sure that did not cover his gas, but it helped me to feel I was paying my way. For the first time in my life, I was now supporting myself.
p. 380 ************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
And what can be said of many A.A. members who, for a variety of reasons, cannot have a family life? At first many of these feel lonely, hurt, and left out as they witness so much domestic happiness about them. If they cannot have this kind of happiness, can A.A. offer them satisfactions of similar worth and durability? Yes--whenever they try hard to seek them out. Surrounded by so many A.A. friends, these so-called loners tell us they no longer feel alone. In partnership with others--women and men--they can devote themselves to any number of ideas, people, and constructive projects. Free of marital responsibilities, they can participate in enterprises which would be denied to family men and women. We daily see such members render prodigies of service, and receive great joys in return.
p. 120
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None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up from our own bootstraps. We got here because somebody bent down and helped us. --Thurgood Marshall
Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. --Henry James
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." --Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"Listen or Thy tongue will keep Thee deaf." --American Indian Proverb
Rather than regretting that I wasted half of my life drinking, I am just grateful that God has given me the rare opportunity to live two lives in one lifetime.
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
MINORITY
"The greatest good of a minority of our generation may be the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the long run." -- Oliver Wendell Homes, Jr.
I belong to a minority. I am a recovering alcoholic. I use a spiritual program that keeps me sober a day at a time. I have a God that I can understand today. I do a daily inventory and make amends when appropriate, and I feel good about myself.
This spiritual program is reaching out to the world: gamblers, overeaters, cocaine addicts, the families of addicts, the children of compulsive people; obsessive people can all be helped by this daily program of acceptance.
Perhaps the recovering drunk has stumbled upon a miracle that can bring the world back to God!
Lord, the more I talk about my "difference" with people, the more they and I feel the same.
************************************************** *********
"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path." Psalm 143:10
"You have let me sink down deep in desperate problems. But you will bring me back to life again, up from the depths of the earth!" Psalms 71:20
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Talent is the ability to do easily that which others find difficult. Lord, help me to recognize and value the abilities that I have been given and use them gratefully.
Simple trust in God is all that is required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Lord, I love You. I trust in You. I am Your child.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Today's readings
September 12
Daily Reflections
I AM RESPONSIBLE
For the readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to
take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the
very spirit of Step Nine.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 87
In recovery, and through the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, I learn
that the very thing I fear is my freedom. It comes from my tendency
to recoil from taking responsibility for anything: I deny, I ignore, I
blame, I avoid. Then one day, I look, I admit, I accept. The freedom,
the healing and the recovery I experience is in the looking, admitting and
accepting. I learn to say, "Yes, I am responsible." When I can speak
those words with honesty and sincerity, then I am free.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
"What draws newcomers to A.A. and gives them hope? They hear the
stories of men and women whose experiences tally with their own. The
expressions on the faces of the women, that undefinable something in
the eyes of the men, the stimulating atmosphere of the A.A.
clubroom, conspire to let them know that there is haven at last. The
very practical approach to their problems, the absence of intolerance
of any kind, the informality, the genuine democracy, the uncanny
understanding that these people in A.A. have is irresistible." Have I
found a real haven in A.A.?
Meditation For The Day
"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." The eye
of the soul is the will. if your will is to do the will of God, to serve Him
with your life, to serve Him by helping others, then truly shall your
whole body be full of light. The important thing is to strive to attune
your will to the will of God, a single eye to God's purpose, desiring
nothing less than that His purposes be fulfilled. Try to seek in all
things the advance of His kingdom, seek the spiritual values of honesty
and purity, unselfishness and love, and earnestly desire spiritual
growth. Then your life will emerge from the darkness of futility into
the light of victory.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that my eye may be single. I pray that my life may be lived in
the light of the best that I know.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Satisfactions of Right Living, p.254
How wonderful is the feeling that we do not have to be specially
distinguished among our fellows in order to be useful and
profoundly happy. Not many of us can be leaders of prominence,
nor do we wish to be.
Service gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well
accepted or solved with God's help, the knowledge that at home or
in the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the fact
that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that
love freely given brings a full return, the certainty that we are no
longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that
we can fit and belong in God's scheme of things--these are the
satisfactions of right living for which no pomp and circumstance, no
heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
12 & 12, p.124
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Handle the Old tapes with care.
Releasing the Past.
A large number of recovering people have a tough time coming to terms
with the abuse and abandonment of childhood days. Sometimes we play
those "old tapes" while reliving the past in a mood of self-pity and resentment.
This is destructive.
We cannot completely erase the past, but we can turn it over to our friends and
our Higher power. Our goal should be to transform past experiences into constructive examples.
We can start by reminding ourselves that all unhappy experience is a product
of the world's sickness and ignorance. Far from being unusual, our misery
was a common thing that we're only now beginning to overcome.
We can also practice God's forgiveness, remembering that real forgiveness
is humanly impossible. We should resist the temptation to tell others about
our past sufferings in order to gain sympathy. At all times, the old tapes must
be handled with care.
Whatever happened in the past cannot affect me today unless I let it.
I'll play the old tapes only when it can be done constructively.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
When angry, count to ten before you speak: if very angry, a hundred.
---Thomas Jefferson
Sometimes we just want to yell. Maybe a family member or a friend messed
up, and we want to “set them straight.” Start counting. Maybe we got chewed
out at work and we want “to get even.”
Start counting.
We get drunk on anger. We may feel powerful when we “set someone straight.”
But like an alcohol high, an anger high last only a short time and can hurt others.
We must control our anger. This is why we count.
Cool down. Think out what you need or want to say. Use words that you’ll not be
ashamed of later. Learning how to respect others when we’re angry is a sign of recovery.
Prayer for the Day : Higher Power, teach me to respect others when I’m angry.
Action for the Day: Today, when I feel angry I’ll count. I’ll work at not controlling other with my anger.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
No person is your enemy, no person is your friend, and every person is
your teacher. --Florence Scovel Shinn
We can open ourselves to opportunities today. They abound in our lives.
No circumstance we find ourselves in is detrimental to our progress. No
relationship with someone at work or at home is superfluous to our development.
Teachers are everywhere. And as we become ready for a new lesson, one will appear.
We can marvel at the wonder of our lives today. We can reflect on our yesterdays
and be grateful for the lessons they taught. We can look with hopeful anticipation
at the days ahead--gifts, all of them. We are on a special journey, serving a special
purpose, uniquely our own. No barrier, no difficult person, no tumultuous time is
designed to interrupt our progress. All experiences are simply to teach us
what we have yet to learn.
Trusting in the goodness of all people, all situations, all paths to progress will
release whatever our fears, freeing us to go forth with a quicker step and an
assurance that eases all moments.
The Twelve Steps help us to recognize the teachers in our lives. They help us
clear away the baggage of the past and free us to accept and trust the will of God,
made known to us by the teachers as they appear.
I am a student of life. I can learn only if I open my mind to my teachers.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to
stay sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
Through the commission for the blind, I got involved in a program that helps blind
people become self-employed. After three months of training, I moved to a city a
couple of hundred miles away where I knew no one. I lived in an apartment that
was about a mile from a coffee shop that I operated. I would walk to work at 6:30am,
carrying $200 in opening cash on a dark road, and I was afraid. I had two people
working for me, and on my second day one of them did not show up. I had never
run a business before, and my three months of training just didn't seem enough.
It was a hard time for me. A lady from a major food company came by to take
my grocery order, and I didn't have a clue how much coffee, bacon, or hamburger
meat I needed. She shared with me what the previous manager had ordered and
helped me place an order.
pp. 379-380
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to
carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
A.A. has many single alcoholics who wish to marry and are in a position to do so. Some
marry fellow A.A.'s. How do they come out? On the whole these marriages are very good
ones. Their common suffering as drinkers, their common interest in A.A. and spiritual things,
often enhance such unions. It is only where "boy meets girl on A.A. campus," and love
follows at first sight, that difficulties may develop. The prospective partners need to be
solid A.A.'s and long enough acquainted to know that their compatibility at spiritual,
mental, and emotional levels is a fact and not wishful thinking. They need to be as sure
as possible that no deep-lying emotional handicap in either will be likely to rise up under
later pressures to cripple them. The considerations are equally true and important for the
A.A.'s who marry "outside" A.A. With clear understanding and right, grown-up attitudes,
very happy results do follow.
pp. 119-120
************************************************** *********
"Pray to God, but keep rowing to the shore."
--Russian Proverb
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.
--Flora Whittemore
One never knows what each day is going to bring. The important thing
is to be open and ready for it.
--Henry Moore
"Lord, make me a channel of thy peace--that where there is hatred, I
may bring love--that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of
forgiveness--that where there is discord, I may bring harmony--that
where there is error, I may bring truth--that where there is doubt, I
may bring faith--that where there is despair, I may bring hope--that
where there are shadows, I may bring light--that where there is
sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to
comfort than to be comforted--to understand, than to be
understood--to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that
one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one
awakens to Eternal Life. Amen."
--12 & 12, p. 99
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SELF-LOVE
"To love oneself is the
beginning of a life-long
romance."
-- Oscar Wilde
Today I am able to say that I love myself. To love myself is to love
God and the world in which I live. I cannot befriend, hug, help or
create without first having a relationship with myself. Without me,
there is no meaning to my life. I am the most important thing in my
life. This is not said to be conceited but is an aspect of self-love. It
reveals a healthy pride and respect for my life. And it feels good.
For years I thought that to love "self" was wrong and sinful, a
misuse of energy and time. What people thought about me was so
important; what people said about me was a constant worry. And the
more I looked out of myself for meaning, the more lost, isolated
and confused I became. Then I heard that God loved me and he
wanted me to love me. Today I live and love through me.
O God who created me to love, let me begin with me.
************************************************** *********
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.
Psalm 23
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
No one has the power to take your happiness or keep you from being happy and at peace unless you allow it.
Lord, help me remember that I am sustained and supported by Your love for me who wants only for my safety
and goodness.
Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing.
Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day.
Daily Reflections
I AM RESPONSIBLE
For the readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to
take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the
very spirit of Step Nine.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 87
In recovery, and through the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, I learn
that the very thing I fear is my freedom. It comes from my tendency
to recoil from taking responsibility for anything: I deny, I ignore, I
blame, I avoid. Then one day, I look, I admit, I accept. The freedom,
the healing and the recovery I experience is in the looking, admitting and
accepting. I learn to say, "Yes, I am responsible." When I can speak
those words with honesty and sincerity, then I am free.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
"What draws newcomers to A.A. and gives them hope? They hear the
stories of men and women whose experiences tally with their own. The
expressions on the faces of the women, that undefinable something in
the eyes of the men, the stimulating atmosphere of the A.A.
clubroom, conspire to let them know that there is haven at last. The
very practical approach to their problems, the absence of intolerance
of any kind, the informality, the genuine democracy, the uncanny
understanding that these people in A.A. have is irresistible." Have I
found a real haven in A.A.?
Meditation For The Day
"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." The eye
of the soul is the will. if your will is to do the will of God, to serve Him
with your life, to serve Him by helping others, then truly shall your
whole body be full of light. The important thing is to strive to attune
your will to the will of God, a single eye to God's purpose, desiring
nothing less than that His purposes be fulfilled. Try to seek in all
things the advance of His kingdom, seek the spiritual values of honesty
and purity, unselfishness and love, and earnestly desire spiritual
growth. Then your life will emerge from the darkness of futility into
the light of victory.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that my eye may be single. I pray that my life may be lived in
the light of the best that I know.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Satisfactions of Right Living, p.254
How wonderful is the feeling that we do not have to be specially
distinguished among our fellows in order to be useful and
profoundly happy. Not many of us can be leaders of prominence,
nor do we wish to be.
Service gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well
accepted or solved with God's help, the knowledge that at home or
in the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the fact
that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that
love freely given brings a full return, the certainty that we are no
longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that
we can fit and belong in God's scheme of things--these are the
satisfactions of right living for which no pomp and circumstance, no
heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
12 & 12, p.124
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Handle the Old tapes with care.
Releasing the Past.
A large number of recovering people have a tough time coming to terms
with the abuse and abandonment of childhood days. Sometimes we play
those "old tapes" while reliving the past in a mood of self-pity and resentment.
This is destructive.
We cannot completely erase the past, but we can turn it over to our friends and
our Higher power. Our goal should be to transform past experiences into constructive examples.
We can start by reminding ourselves that all unhappy experience is a product
of the world's sickness and ignorance. Far from being unusual, our misery
was a common thing that we're only now beginning to overcome.
We can also practice God's forgiveness, remembering that real forgiveness
is humanly impossible. We should resist the temptation to tell others about
our past sufferings in order to gain sympathy. At all times, the old tapes must
be handled with care.
Whatever happened in the past cannot affect me today unless I let it.
I'll play the old tapes only when it can be done constructively.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
When angry, count to ten before you speak: if very angry, a hundred.
---Thomas Jefferson
Sometimes we just want to yell. Maybe a family member or a friend messed
up, and we want to “set them straight.” Start counting. Maybe we got chewed
out at work and we want “to get even.”
Start counting.
We get drunk on anger. We may feel powerful when we “set someone straight.”
But like an alcohol high, an anger high last only a short time and can hurt others.
We must control our anger. This is why we count.
Cool down. Think out what you need or want to say. Use words that you’ll not be
ashamed of later. Learning how to respect others when we’re angry is a sign of recovery.
Prayer for the Day : Higher Power, teach me to respect others when I’m angry.
Action for the Day: Today, when I feel angry I’ll count. I’ll work at not controlling other with my anger.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
No person is your enemy, no person is your friend, and every person is
your teacher. --Florence Scovel Shinn
We can open ourselves to opportunities today. They abound in our lives.
No circumstance we find ourselves in is detrimental to our progress. No
relationship with someone at work or at home is superfluous to our development.
Teachers are everywhere. And as we become ready for a new lesson, one will appear.
We can marvel at the wonder of our lives today. We can reflect on our yesterdays
and be grateful for the lessons they taught. We can look with hopeful anticipation
at the days ahead--gifts, all of them. We are on a special journey, serving a special
purpose, uniquely our own. No barrier, no difficult person, no tumultuous time is
designed to interrupt our progress. All experiences are simply to teach us
what we have yet to learn.
Trusting in the goodness of all people, all situations, all paths to progress will
release whatever our fears, freeing us to go forth with a quicker step and an
assurance that eases all moments.
The Twelve Steps help us to recognize the teachers in our lives. They help us
clear away the baggage of the past and free us to accept and trust the will of God,
made known to us by the teachers as they appear.
I am a student of life. I can learn only if I open my mind to my teachers.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to
stay sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
Through the commission for the blind, I got involved in a program that helps blind
people become self-employed. After three months of training, I moved to a city a
couple of hundred miles away where I knew no one. I lived in an apartment that
was about a mile from a coffee shop that I operated. I would walk to work at 6:30am,
carrying $200 in opening cash on a dark road, and I was afraid. I had two people
working for me, and on my second day one of them did not show up. I had never
run a business before, and my three months of training just didn't seem enough.
It was a hard time for me. A lady from a major food company came by to take
my grocery order, and I didn't have a clue how much coffee, bacon, or hamburger
meat I needed. She shared with me what the previous manager had ordered and
helped me place an order.
pp. 379-380
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to
carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
A.A. has many single alcoholics who wish to marry and are in a position to do so. Some
marry fellow A.A.'s. How do they come out? On the whole these marriages are very good
ones. Their common suffering as drinkers, their common interest in A.A. and spiritual things,
often enhance such unions. It is only where "boy meets girl on A.A. campus," and love
follows at first sight, that difficulties may develop. The prospective partners need to be
solid A.A.'s and long enough acquainted to know that their compatibility at spiritual,
mental, and emotional levels is a fact and not wishful thinking. They need to be as sure
as possible that no deep-lying emotional handicap in either will be likely to rise up under
later pressures to cripple them. The considerations are equally true and important for the
A.A.'s who marry "outside" A.A. With clear understanding and right, grown-up attitudes,
very happy results do follow.
pp. 119-120
************************************************** *********
"Pray to God, but keep rowing to the shore."
--Russian Proverb
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.
--Flora Whittemore
One never knows what each day is going to bring. The important thing
is to be open and ready for it.
--Henry Moore
"Lord, make me a channel of thy peace--that where there is hatred, I
may bring love--that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of
forgiveness--that where there is discord, I may bring harmony--that
where there is error, I may bring truth--that where there is doubt, I
may bring faith--that where there is despair, I may bring hope--that
where there are shadows, I may bring light--that where there is
sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to
comfort than to be comforted--to understand, than to be
understood--to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that
one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one
awakens to Eternal Life. Amen."
--12 & 12, p. 99
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
SELF-LOVE
"To love oneself is the
beginning of a life-long
romance."
-- Oscar Wilde
Today I am able to say that I love myself. To love myself is to love
God and the world in which I live. I cannot befriend, hug, help or
create without first having a relationship with myself. Without me,
there is no meaning to my life. I am the most important thing in my
life. This is not said to be conceited but is an aspect of self-love. It
reveals a healthy pride and respect for my life. And it feels good.
For years I thought that to love "self" was wrong and sinful, a
misuse of energy and time. What people thought about me was so
important; what people said about me was a constant worry. And the
more I looked out of myself for meaning, the more lost, isolated
and confused I became. Then I heard that God loved me and he
wanted me to love me. Today I live and love through me.
O God who created me to love, let me begin with me.
************************************************** *********
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.
Psalm 23
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
No one has the power to take your happiness or keep you from being happy and at peace unless you allow it.
Lord, help me remember that I am sustained and supported by Your love for me who wants only for my safety
and goodness.
Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing.
Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Today's readings
September 11
Daily Reflections
MAKING AMENDS
Above all, we should try to be absolutely sure that we are not
delaying because we are afraid.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 87
To have courage, to be unafraid, are gifts of my recovery. They
empower me to ask for help and to go forth in making my amends with
a sense of dignity and humility. Making amends may require a certain
amount of honesty that I feel I lack, yet with the help of God and
the wisdom of others, I can reach within and find the strength to
act. My amends may be accepted, or they may not, but after they are
completed I can walk with a sense of freedom and know that, for
today, I am responsible.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Continuing the answers to the question of how a person can live
without liquor and be happy, we say: "You will be bound to the other
A.A.s with new and wonderful ties, for you and they will escape
disaster together and all will commence shoulder to shoulder the
common journey to a better and more satisfactory life. You will know
what it means to give of yourself that others may survive and
rediscover life. You will become happy, respected, and useful once
more. Since these things have happened to us, they can happen to
you." Have these things happened to me?
Meditation For The Day
God manifests Himself in human lives as strength to overcome evil
and power to resist temptation. The grace of God is that power which
enables a human being to change from a useless, hopeless individual
to a useful, normal person. God also manifests Himself as love--love
for other people, compassion for their problems, and a real
willingness to help them. The grace of God also manifests itself as
peace of mind and serenity of character. We can have plenty of power,
love, and serenity in our lives if we are willing to ask God for
these things each day.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may see God's grace in the strength I receive, the love
I know, and the peace I have. I pray that I may be grateful for the
things I have received through the grace of God.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
"Look Before You Leap"?, p.253
"Wise men and women rightly give a top rating to the virtue of
prudence. They know that without this all important attribute
little wisdom is to be had.
"Mere 'looking before we leap' is not enough. If our looking is
charged with fear, suspicion, or anger, we had better not have looked
or acted at all."
********************************
"We lose the fear of making decisions, great and small, as we realize
that should our choice prove wrong we can, if we will, learn from the
experience. Should our decision be the right one, we can thank God
for giving us the courage and the grace that caused us so to act."
Letters, 1966
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
With Whom are we Honest?
Honesty
"When you're up before a judge, you can't be honest with the court,"
an AA member said, with some regret. "If you are, the judge will throw
the book at you."
This member was right in the sense that court-room disclosures must
always be made with prudence. What's more important is that we are
always completely honest with ourselves and the close friends who serve
as our sponsors. As for what is disclosed in a court situation, for example,
we follow sound professional advice. Under no circumstances, of course,
should we tell an outright lie, however.
Our practice of honesty also does not require us to tell every person we
know about our alcoholism. We are entitled to our privacy as well as anonymity.
Others, in turn, need not be burdened with complete knowledge about our lives.
Our Higher Power will guide us along honest paths once we're committed to the
program. We will know when and how to make the right disclosures about ourselves.
I'll practice rigorous honest today. At the same time, I will be prudent in the way
I disclose personal information.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
This above all: To thine own self be true.
---William Shakespeare
What does this saying mean: “To thine own self be true”? Hadn’t we thought
only of ourselves before recovery? The answer is no. That wasn’t the real us.
Each of us lost touch with our real self because of our addiction. We lost our
goals, our feelings, our values. We chased the high. In this way, we lost our
spirit. We became addicts.
With sobriety, we find ourselves again---and it feels great! We stop playing a
role and become ourselves---and it’s wonderful. We follow our dreams and
beliefs, not some addictive wild goose chase. We are again free to be ourselves.
Thank you. Higher Power.
Prayer for the Day: Today, I pray to be myself, to know all of me. I can trust
myself because my spirit is good.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll pray: “thine own self be true.”
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
I used to think I'd never know the difference between serenity and depression
because depression subdued me. --S.H.
Depression is familiar to us all, and less incapacitating than it used to be. We
have made progress, we can be assured. "This too shall pass" is not an empty slogan.
Each of us can recall, with ease probably, a period we thought we'd never survive.
Maybe our problem was family-related, or a tough on-the-job situation. Or maybe
we felt inadequate and lacking in strength to cope with all situations. But we managed.
Here we are today, taking charge of our lives and moving forward in search of serenity.
Serenity no doubt eludes us, again and again, throughout the day. But we can let our
minds rest. We can give our thoughts to the wind, and serenity will find us. Serenity's
peace nurtures us, strengthens us to withstand the turmoil ahead. There is always
turmoil ahead. Life's lessons are found there. The irony is that a life with no problems
doesn't offer the opportunities we must have if we are to grow.
I will let the serene moments wash over me. I will cherish them. They soften me.
And the blows of today's tumultuous storm will be lessened.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to stay
sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
When I was three years sober, I made one of the most difficult decisions I had ever
made. I left the marriage. I did not leave because I didn't love him. I still love him,
but the marriage was not a healthy place for me to be. I found myself with two children
to support. I was legally blind and had no job skills. When I moved out, I first moved
into public housing for blind people. This was a shocking experience for me, but it was
full of growth. For the first time in my life, I was learning to accept my handicap.
Before this I would plan out my day as if I could see and then plan it out again based
on the fact that my vision was limited.
p. 379
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to
carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Compatibility, of course, can be so impossibly damaged that a separation may be necessary.
But those cases are the unusual ones. The alcoholic, realizing what his wife has endured,
and now fully understanding how much he himself did to damage her and his children,
nearly always takes up his marriage responsibilities with a willingness to repair what
he can and to accept what he can't. He persistently tries all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps in his
home, often with fine results. At this point he firmly but lovingly commences to behave
like a partner instead of like a bad boy. And above all he is finally convinced that reckless
romancing is not a way of life for him.
p. 119
************************************************** *********
Few is the number of those who think with their own mind and feel
with their own heart.
--Albert Einstein
"I think everybody has to experience a certain amount of pain on the
way to maturity."
--Ruth Casey
"The great mind knows the power of gentleness."
--Robert Browning
God is guiding me in all my thoughts and plans and actions. I have
given up all my struggling and self-defeating messages and have
turned over all my thoughts to the power and energy of goodness and
love.
--Ruth Fishel
Today, I will not run from myself, my circumstances, or feelings. I will
be open to myself, others, my Higher Power, and life. I will trust that
by facing today to the best of my ability, I will acquire the skills I need
to face tomorrow.
--Melody Beattie
We do not possess our home, our children, or even our own body. They
are only given to us for a short while to treat with care and respect.
--Jack Kornfield
"Two things are hard on the heart - running upstairs and running down
people."
--Unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
THOUGHT
"To be able to be caught up in a
world of thought -- that is being
educated."
-- Edith Hamilton
For years I didn't think I reacted. Things happened and I felt I had to
respond -- but rarely was it a considered response. I had no
program for my life. I was like a boat without a sail.
Today I think before I speak. I talk things over with a sponsor or
friends before I make an important decision. I listen to the opinions
of others before I make a choice. Today I am caught up in a world
of thought and it isn't simply my own. God knows my best thinking
nearly killed me!
The world only makes sense because people share. It is the giving
and receiving that makes life worthwhile. To be an island unto
myself is isolation. I know what it was to be lonely. Today I desire a
relationship of mind, body and feelings.
Let me find You in my neighbor and be sustained by the stranger.
************************************************** *********
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends."
John 15:13
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that
which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto
the hearers."
Ephesians 4:29
"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and
dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many
seeds."
John 12:24
If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full
measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and
running over. Whatever measure you use in giving "large or small" it
will be used to measure what is given back to you.
Luke 6:38
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
The little moments of the day are as important in building our foundation as the impact of great events.
Lord, thank You for my blessings and my crosses. Graciously bless me with the courage to grow closer
to You with all that fills my day.
Never doubt the power, the wisdom and the love that God has for you.
Lord, thank You for Your constant care and the certainty of Your love for me.
Daily Reflections
MAKING AMENDS
Above all, we should try to be absolutely sure that we are not
delaying because we are afraid.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 87
To have courage, to be unafraid, are gifts of my recovery. They
empower me to ask for help and to go forth in making my amends with
a sense of dignity and humility. Making amends may require a certain
amount of honesty that I feel I lack, yet with the help of God and
the wisdom of others, I can reach within and find the strength to
act. My amends may be accepted, or they may not, but after they are
completed I can walk with a sense of freedom and know that, for
today, I am responsible.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Continuing the answers to the question of how a person can live
without liquor and be happy, we say: "You will be bound to the other
A.A.s with new and wonderful ties, for you and they will escape
disaster together and all will commence shoulder to shoulder the
common journey to a better and more satisfactory life. You will know
what it means to give of yourself that others may survive and
rediscover life. You will become happy, respected, and useful once
more. Since these things have happened to us, they can happen to
you." Have these things happened to me?
Meditation For The Day
God manifests Himself in human lives as strength to overcome evil
and power to resist temptation. The grace of God is that power which
enables a human being to change from a useless, hopeless individual
to a useful, normal person. God also manifests Himself as love--love
for other people, compassion for their problems, and a real
willingness to help them. The grace of God also manifests itself as
peace of mind and serenity of character. We can have plenty of power,
love, and serenity in our lives if we are willing to ask God for
these things each day.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may see God's grace in the strength I receive, the love
I know, and the peace I have. I pray that I may be grateful for the
things I have received through the grace of God.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
"Look Before You Leap"?, p.253
"Wise men and women rightly give a top rating to the virtue of
prudence. They know that without this all important attribute
little wisdom is to be had.
"Mere 'looking before we leap' is not enough. If our looking is
charged with fear, suspicion, or anger, we had better not have looked
or acted at all."
********************************
"We lose the fear of making decisions, great and small, as we realize
that should our choice prove wrong we can, if we will, learn from the
experience. Should our decision be the right one, we can thank God
for giving us the courage and the grace that caused us so to act."
Letters, 1966
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
With Whom are we Honest?
Honesty
"When you're up before a judge, you can't be honest with the court,"
an AA member said, with some regret. "If you are, the judge will throw
the book at you."
This member was right in the sense that court-room disclosures must
always be made with prudence. What's more important is that we are
always completely honest with ourselves and the close friends who serve
as our sponsors. As for what is disclosed in a court situation, for example,
we follow sound professional advice. Under no circumstances, of course,
should we tell an outright lie, however.
Our practice of honesty also does not require us to tell every person we
know about our alcoholism. We are entitled to our privacy as well as anonymity.
Others, in turn, need not be burdened with complete knowledge about our lives.
Our Higher Power will guide us along honest paths once we're committed to the
program. We will know when and how to make the right disclosures about ourselves.
I'll practice rigorous honest today. At the same time, I will be prudent in the way
I disclose personal information.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
This above all: To thine own self be true.
---William Shakespeare
What does this saying mean: “To thine own self be true”? Hadn’t we thought
only of ourselves before recovery? The answer is no. That wasn’t the real us.
Each of us lost touch with our real self because of our addiction. We lost our
goals, our feelings, our values. We chased the high. In this way, we lost our
spirit. We became addicts.
With sobriety, we find ourselves again---and it feels great! We stop playing a
role and become ourselves---and it’s wonderful. We follow our dreams and
beliefs, not some addictive wild goose chase. We are again free to be ourselves.
Thank you. Higher Power.
Prayer for the Day: Today, I pray to be myself, to know all of me. I can trust
myself because my spirit is good.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll pray: “thine own self be true.”
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
I used to think I'd never know the difference between serenity and depression
because depression subdued me. --S.H.
Depression is familiar to us all, and less incapacitating than it used to be. We
have made progress, we can be assured. "This too shall pass" is not an empty slogan.
Each of us can recall, with ease probably, a period we thought we'd never survive.
Maybe our problem was family-related, or a tough on-the-job situation. Or maybe
we felt inadequate and lacking in strength to cope with all situations. But we managed.
Here we are today, taking charge of our lives and moving forward in search of serenity.
Serenity no doubt eludes us, again and again, throughout the day. But we can let our
minds rest. We can give our thoughts to the wind, and serenity will find us. Serenity's
peace nurtures us, strengthens us to withstand the turmoil ahead. There is always
turmoil ahead. Life's lessons are found there. The irony is that a life with no problems
doesn't offer the opportunities we must have if we are to grow.
I will let the serene moments wash over me. I will cherish them. They soften me.
And the blows of today's tumultuous storm will be lessened.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to stay
sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
When I was three years sober, I made one of the most difficult decisions I had ever
made. I left the marriage. I did not leave because I didn't love him. I still love him,
but the marriage was not a healthy place for me to be. I found myself with two children
to support. I was legally blind and had no job skills. When I moved out, I first moved
into public housing for blind people. This was a shocking experience for me, but it was
full of growth. For the first time in my life, I was learning to accept my handicap.
Before this I would plan out my day as if I could see and then plan it out again based
on the fact that my vision was limited.
p. 379
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to
carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Compatibility, of course, can be so impossibly damaged that a separation may be necessary.
But those cases are the unusual ones. The alcoholic, realizing what his wife has endured,
and now fully understanding how much he himself did to damage her and his children,
nearly always takes up his marriage responsibilities with a willingness to repair what
he can and to accept what he can't. He persistently tries all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps in his
home, often with fine results. At this point he firmly but lovingly commences to behave
like a partner instead of like a bad boy. And above all he is finally convinced that reckless
romancing is not a way of life for him.
p. 119
************************************************** *********
Few is the number of those who think with their own mind and feel
with their own heart.
--Albert Einstein
"I think everybody has to experience a certain amount of pain on the
way to maturity."
--Ruth Casey
"The great mind knows the power of gentleness."
--Robert Browning
God is guiding me in all my thoughts and plans and actions. I have
given up all my struggling and self-defeating messages and have
turned over all my thoughts to the power and energy of goodness and
love.
--Ruth Fishel
Today, I will not run from myself, my circumstances, or feelings. I will
be open to myself, others, my Higher Power, and life. I will trust that
by facing today to the best of my ability, I will acquire the skills I need
to face tomorrow.
--Melody Beattie
We do not possess our home, our children, or even our own body. They
are only given to us for a short while to treat with care and respect.
--Jack Kornfield
"Two things are hard on the heart - running upstairs and running down
people."
--Unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
THOUGHT
"To be able to be caught up in a
world of thought -- that is being
educated."
-- Edith Hamilton
For years I didn't think I reacted. Things happened and I felt I had to
respond -- but rarely was it a considered response. I had no
program for my life. I was like a boat without a sail.
Today I think before I speak. I talk things over with a sponsor or
friends before I make an important decision. I listen to the opinions
of others before I make a choice. Today I am caught up in a world
of thought and it isn't simply my own. God knows my best thinking
nearly killed me!
The world only makes sense because people share. It is the giving
and receiving that makes life worthwhile. To be an island unto
myself is isolation. I know what it was to be lonely. Today I desire a
relationship of mind, body and feelings.
Let me find You in my neighbor and be sustained by the stranger.
************************************************** *********
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his
friends."
John 15:13
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that
which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto
the hearers."
Ephesians 4:29
"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and
dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many
seeds."
John 12:24
If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full
measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and
running over. Whatever measure you use in giving "large or small" it
will be used to measure what is given back to you.
Luke 6:38
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
The little moments of the day are as important in building our foundation as the impact of great events.
Lord, thank You for my blessings and my crosses. Graciously bless me with the courage to grow closer
to You with all that fills my day.
Never doubt the power, the wisdom and the love that God has for you.
Lord, thank You for Your constant care and the certainty of Your love for me.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Today's readings
September 10
Daily Reflections
RECOVERY BY PROXY?
They [the Promises] will always materialize if we work for them.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS p. 84
Sometimes I think: "Making these amends is going too far! No one
should have to humble himself like that!" However, it is this very
humbling of myself that brings me that much closer to the sunlight of
the spirit. A.A. is the only hope I have if I am to continue healing and
gain a life of happiness, friendship and harmony.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Here are answers to the question of how a person can live without
liquor and be happy: "The things we put in place of drinking are more
than substitutes for it. One is the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.
In this company, you find release from care, boredom, and worry. Your
imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The
most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead. Among other
A.A.s you will make lifelong friends. You will be bound to them with
new and wonderful ties." Does life mean something to me now?
Meditation For The Day
Do you want the full and complete satisfaction that you find in serving
God and all the satisfactions of the world also? It is not easy to serve
both God and the world. It is difficult to claim the rewards of both. If
you work for God, you will still have great rewards in the world. But
you must be prepared to sometimes stand apart from the world. You
cannot always turn to the world and expect all the rewards that life
has to offer. If you are trying sincerely to serve God, you will have
other and greater rewards than the world has to offer.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may not expect too much from the world. I pray that I
may also be content with the rewards that come from serving God.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Alone No More, p.252
Alcoholism was a lonely business, even though we were surrounded
by people who loved us. But when our self-will had driven
everybody away and our isolation became complete, we commenced
to play the big shot in cheap barrooms. Failing even in this, we
had to fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of
passers-by.
We were trying to find emotional security either by dominating or by
being dependent upon others. Even when our fortunes had not totally
ebbed, we nevertheless found ourselves alone in the world. We still
vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy sort of domination or
dependence.
For those of us who were like that, A.A. has a very special meaning. In
this Fellowship we begin to learn right relations with people who
understand us; we don't have to be alone any more.
12 & 12, pp. 116-117
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Watch those feelings
Feelings.
In AA's early years, there was very little talk about "feelings' or "emotions."
The phrase "getting in touch with your feelings" had not been popularized, yet
the AA pioneers knew that bitter and resentful feelings were destructive, while
warm and optimistic feelings enhanced sobriety.
Now we know that feelings are extremely are extremely important for groups as
well as individuals. We know that some AA groups can give off feelings that make
them more attractive than others. Some groups are considered "cold," while
others are "warm." Such differences are rooted in the feelings of each member
of the group.
How can we be sure that our feelings will make our groups warm and inviting to
others? We can "tune" our feelings by looking at our attitudes. If we are truly
dedicated to our principles and want to share them with others, the feelings we
project will be welcoming. Whatever we really feel will be expressed in our daily
affairs and in our group activities.
I'll check my attitude today for good feelings as I go about my work and activities.
These feelings will, in turn, send out signals that everyone can understand and appreciate.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
If you want a thing done “right,” you have to do it yourself.---Anonymous
We addicts can be very picky. We think there’s only one way to do things. It’s our way,
But we call it the right way. When we think like this, three things happen. First, we put
down other people. Second, we end up doing all the work. Third, everyone feels bad.
The other person feels hurt that we don’t respect him or her. And we feel angry
because we “had” to do all the work.
We need to know that there are many ways to do things. It’s okay when others don’t
do things our way. Their way probably works just fine for them. If they want your
advice they’ll ask for it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me accept other people and their ways.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll watch how other people do things. Maybe I’ll
learn a better way to do some things.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
It isn't for the moment you are struck that you need courage, but for the long uphill
climb back to sanity and faith and security. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Most of us are on a long uphill climb at this moment. It is a climb we are making
together, and yet a climb we can't do for each other. I can reach out my hand to you,
and you can grasp my hand in return. But my steps are my own, just as you, too, can
only take one-step at a time.
For brief periods we skip, even run, along the uphill path. The rocks and the occasional
boulder momentarily trip us up. We need patience and trust that the summit is still
achievable. We can help one another have patience. We can remind one another to trust.
We look back at the periods that devastated us so long ago. And now we are here.
We have climbed this far. We are stronger, saner, and more secure. Each step makes
easier the next step--each step puts us on more solid ground.
I may run into some rocks or even a boulder today. I have stepped around them
in the past. I will do so again.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to stay
sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
I met a lady who had a handicapped child, and we learned so much from each other.
One important thing was that handicapped is not a four-letter word. Handicapped
is not a dirty word. I learned that I was not bad--that I was one of God's special
children, that God had a plan for my life. The people of A.A. showed me how my
past could and would become an asset. I got a sponsor and started working the steps.
The promises of the Big Book started coming true for me. The feeling of uselessness
and self-pity went away, and I could see how my experiences could help others.
pp. 378-379
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we
tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
When the distortion has been great, however, a long period of patient striving may
be necessary. After the husband joins A.A., the wife may become discontented,
even highly resentful that Alcoholics Anonymous has done the very thing that all
her years of devotion had failed to do. Her husband may become so wrapped up in
A.A. and his new friends that he is inconsiderately away from home more than
when he drank. Seeing her unhappiness, he recommends A.A.'s Twelve Steps and
tries to teach her how to live. She naturally feels that for years she has made a far
better job of living than he has. Both of them blame each other and ask when their
marriage is ever going to be happy again. They may even begin to suspect it had
never been any good in the first place.
pp. 118-119
************************************************** *********
Today, I will be open to growing in my understanding of my Higher
Power. I will be open to letting go of old, limiting, negative beliefs
about God. No matter how I understand God, I will be grateful that
God understands me.
--Melody Beattie
We are enrolled in a full time, informal school called, "Life." Each day
of this school, we have the opportunity to learn lessons. We may like
the lessons or hate them, but they are part of the curriculum. The
greatest lessons we learn are about love and fear, that every action is
either an expression of love, or a call for love. And the great blessing
is that every lesson repeats itself until we learn it.
--Mary Manin Morrissey
I have all the time in the world to do God's Will for me today. I trust
that my Higher Power is filling me with all the energy that I need for
these 24 hours.
--Ruth Fishel
Those who withhold forgiveness only withhold it from themselves."
--Paul Ferrini
Happiness is an inside job.
--Unknown
Do you want to be happy or do you want to be right?
--Gerald Jampolsky
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
NEIGHBORS
"The good neighbor looks beyond
the external accidents and
discerns those inner qualities that
make all men human and,
therefore, brothers."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
As a drunk I said cruel things about other people. My prejudices hid
my fears and insecurities. I condemned in others what I saw in myself.
I deflected attention from me by the name-calling others: sick
manipulations. "Neighbor" was only a word that I could spell and
interpret, useful for religious homilies or pretentious innuendoes but
not something I really experienced.
Today I am able to be the "good neighbor" to many people, known and
unknown. My recovery has brought people into my life. Relationships
mean something; friends are important; the world is one. Black, Asian,
Hispanic -- all add a variety to my life that enable me to get in touch
with buried feelings of my "difference". In the stranger I discover
something of myself; the foreigner has become both friend and
neighbor.
God, I never cease to be amazed at the mystery and variety that is
"me".
************************************************** *********
But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already
has?"
Romans 8:24
"One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to
be poor, yet has great wealth."
Proverbs 13:7
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
If a person or a situation causes you to feel insecure, you have forgotten who you really are.
Lord, You are my Father. I am Your child. How can I ever feel like less.
God gives abundantly to those who pass His gifts on to others.
Lord, let Your blessings flow in to me and then out from me. I will neither be selfish nor let my gifts stagnate.
Daily Reflections
RECOVERY BY PROXY?
They [the Promises] will always materialize if we work for them.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS p. 84
Sometimes I think: "Making these amends is going too far! No one
should have to humble himself like that!" However, it is this very
humbling of myself that brings me that much closer to the sunlight of
the spirit. A.A. is the only hope I have if I am to continue healing and
gain a life of happiness, friendship and harmony.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Here are answers to the question of how a person can live without
liquor and be happy: "The things we put in place of drinking are more
than substitutes for it. One is the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.
In this company, you find release from care, boredom, and worry. Your
imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The
most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead. Among other
A.A.s you will make lifelong friends. You will be bound to them with
new and wonderful ties." Does life mean something to me now?
Meditation For The Day
Do you want the full and complete satisfaction that you find in serving
God and all the satisfactions of the world also? It is not easy to serve
both God and the world. It is difficult to claim the rewards of both. If
you work for God, you will still have great rewards in the world. But
you must be prepared to sometimes stand apart from the world. You
cannot always turn to the world and expect all the rewards that life
has to offer. If you are trying sincerely to serve God, you will have
other and greater rewards than the world has to offer.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may not expect too much from the world. I pray that I
may also be content with the rewards that come from serving God.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Alone No More, p.252
Alcoholism was a lonely business, even though we were surrounded
by people who loved us. But when our self-will had driven
everybody away and our isolation became complete, we commenced
to play the big shot in cheap barrooms. Failing even in this, we
had to fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of
passers-by.
We were trying to find emotional security either by dominating or by
being dependent upon others. Even when our fortunes had not totally
ebbed, we nevertheless found ourselves alone in the world. We still
vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy sort of domination or
dependence.
For those of us who were like that, A.A. has a very special meaning. In
this Fellowship we begin to learn right relations with people who
understand us; we don't have to be alone any more.
12 & 12, pp. 116-117
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Watch those feelings
Feelings.
In AA's early years, there was very little talk about "feelings' or "emotions."
The phrase "getting in touch with your feelings" had not been popularized, yet
the AA pioneers knew that bitter and resentful feelings were destructive, while
warm and optimistic feelings enhanced sobriety.
Now we know that feelings are extremely are extremely important for groups as
well as individuals. We know that some AA groups can give off feelings that make
them more attractive than others. Some groups are considered "cold," while
others are "warm." Such differences are rooted in the feelings of each member
of the group.
How can we be sure that our feelings will make our groups warm and inviting to
others? We can "tune" our feelings by looking at our attitudes. If we are truly
dedicated to our principles and want to share them with others, the feelings we
project will be welcoming. Whatever we really feel will be expressed in our daily
affairs and in our group activities.
I'll check my attitude today for good feelings as I go about my work and activities.
These feelings will, in turn, send out signals that everyone can understand and appreciate.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
If you want a thing done “right,” you have to do it yourself.---Anonymous
We addicts can be very picky. We think there’s only one way to do things. It’s our way,
But we call it the right way. When we think like this, three things happen. First, we put
down other people. Second, we end up doing all the work. Third, everyone feels bad.
The other person feels hurt that we don’t respect him or her. And we feel angry
because we “had” to do all the work.
We need to know that there are many ways to do things. It’s okay when others don’t
do things our way. Their way probably works just fine for them. If they want your
advice they’ll ask for it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me accept other people and their ways.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll watch how other people do things. Maybe I’ll
learn a better way to do some things.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
It isn't for the moment you are struck that you need courage, but for the long uphill
climb back to sanity and faith and security. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Most of us are on a long uphill climb at this moment. It is a climb we are making
together, and yet a climb we can't do for each other. I can reach out my hand to you,
and you can grasp my hand in return. But my steps are my own, just as you, too, can
only take one-step at a time.
For brief periods we skip, even run, along the uphill path. The rocks and the occasional
boulder momentarily trip us up. We need patience and trust that the summit is still
achievable. We can help one another have patience. We can remind one another to trust.
We look back at the periods that devastated us so long ago. And now we are here.
We have climbed this far. We are stronger, saner, and more secure. Each step makes
easier the next step--each step puts us on more solid ground.
I may run into some rocks or even a boulder today. I have stepped around them
in the past. I will do so again.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to stay
sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
I met a lady who had a handicapped child, and we learned so much from each other.
One important thing was that handicapped is not a four-letter word. Handicapped
is not a dirty word. I learned that I was not bad--that I was one of God's special
children, that God had a plan for my life. The people of A.A. showed me how my
past could and would become an asset. I got a sponsor and started working the steps.
The promises of the Big Book started coming true for me. The feeling of uselessness
and self-pity went away, and I could see how my experiences could help others.
pp. 378-379
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we
tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
When the distortion has been great, however, a long period of patient striving may
be necessary. After the husband joins A.A., the wife may become discontented,
even highly resentful that Alcoholics Anonymous has done the very thing that all
her years of devotion had failed to do. Her husband may become so wrapped up in
A.A. and his new friends that he is inconsiderately away from home more than
when he drank. Seeing her unhappiness, he recommends A.A.'s Twelve Steps and
tries to teach her how to live. She naturally feels that for years she has made a far
better job of living than he has. Both of them blame each other and ask when their
marriage is ever going to be happy again. They may even begin to suspect it had
never been any good in the first place.
pp. 118-119
************************************************** *********
Today, I will be open to growing in my understanding of my Higher
Power. I will be open to letting go of old, limiting, negative beliefs
about God. No matter how I understand God, I will be grateful that
God understands me.
--Melody Beattie
We are enrolled in a full time, informal school called, "Life." Each day
of this school, we have the opportunity to learn lessons. We may like
the lessons or hate them, but they are part of the curriculum. The
greatest lessons we learn are about love and fear, that every action is
either an expression of love, or a call for love. And the great blessing
is that every lesson repeats itself until we learn it.
--Mary Manin Morrissey
I have all the time in the world to do God's Will for me today. I trust
that my Higher Power is filling me with all the energy that I need for
these 24 hours.
--Ruth Fishel
Those who withhold forgiveness only withhold it from themselves."
--Paul Ferrini
Happiness is an inside job.
--Unknown
Do you want to be happy or do you want to be right?
--Gerald Jampolsky
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
NEIGHBORS
"The good neighbor looks beyond
the external accidents and
discerns those inner qualities that
make all men human and,
therefore, brothers."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
As a drunk I said cruel things about other people. My prejudices hid
my fears and insecurities. I condemned in others what I saw in myself.
I deflected attention from me by the name-calling others: sick
manipulations. "Neighbor" was only a word that I could spell and
interpret, useful for religious homilies or pretentious innuendoes but
not something I really experienced.
Today I am able to be the "good neighbor" to many people, known and
unknown. My recovery has brought people into my life. Relationships
mean something; friends are important; the world is one. Black, Asian,
Hispanic -- all add a variety to my life that enable me to get in touch
with buried feelings of my "difference". In the stranger I discover
something of myself; the foreigner has become both friend and
neighbor.
God, I never cease to be amazed at the mystery and variety that is
"me".
************************************************** *********
But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already
has?"
Romans 8:24
"One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to
be poor, yet has great wealth."
Proverbs 13:7
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
If a person or a situation causes you to feel insecure, you have forgotten who you really are.
Lord, You are my Father. I am Your child. How can I ever feel like less.
God gives abundantly to those who pass His gifts on to others.
Lord, let Your blessings flow in to me and then out from me. I will neither be selfish nor let my gifts stagnate.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Today's readings
September 9
Daily Reflections
OPENING NEW DOORS
They [the Promises] are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly,
sometimes slowly.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84
The Promises talked about in this passage are slowly coming to life for
me. What has given me hope is putting Step Nine into action. The Step
has allowed me to see and set goals for myself in recovery. Old habits
and behaviors die hard. Working Step Nine enables me to close the
door on the drunk I was, and to open new avenues for myself as a
sober alcoholic. Making direct amends is crucial for me. As I repair
relationships and behavior of the past, I am better able to live a sober
life! Although I have some years of sobriety, there are times
when the "old stuff" from the past needs to be taken care of, and
Step Nine always works, when I work it.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When an alcoholic is offered a life of sobriety by following the A.A.
program, he will look at the prospect of living without alcohol and he
will ask: "Am I to be consigned to a life where I shall be stupid, boring
and glum, like some of the righteous people I see? I know I must get
along without liquor, but how can I? Have you a sufficient
substitute?" Have I found a more than sufficient substitute for
drinking?
Meditation For The Day
In God's strength you conquer life. Your conquering power is the
grace of God. There can be no complete failure with God. Do you
want to make the best of life? Then live as near as possible to God,
the Master and Giver of all life. Your regard for depending on God's
strength will be sure. Sometimes the reward will be renewed power to
face life, sometimes wrong thinking overcome, sometimes people
brought to a new way of living. Whatever success comes will not be all
your own doing, but largely the working out of the grace of God.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to rely more fully on the grace of God. I pray
that I may live a victorious life.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Face the Music, p.251
"Don't be too discouraged about that slip. Practically always, we
drunks learn the hard way.
"Your idea of moving on to somewhere else may be good, or it may
not. Perhaps you have got into an emotional or economic jam that
can't be well handled where you are. But maybe you are doing just
what all of us have done, at one time or another: Maybe you are
running away. Why don't you try to think that through again
carefully?
"Are you really placing recovery first, or are you making it
contingent upon other people, places, or circumstances? You may
find it ever so much better to face the music right where you are
now, and, with the help of the A.A. program, win through. Before
you make a decision, weigh it in these terms."
Letter, 1949
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears---by listening to them. ---Dean Rusk
We hate being told what to think. We like to make up our own minds.
It helps to talk things out with another person who, listens to us.
Someone who care what we think.
We can give this respect to others. We can listen their point of view.
We can try to understand them and care about what they think.
When we do this, others start to care what we think too. We share ideas.
The ideas get a little more clear. They change a little. We get a little
closer to agreement. We both feel good.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know when to listen and
when to talk today. Work for me and though me. Thanks.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll look for chances to listen to others
when I really want to talk. I’ll say, “Tell me more about that.” And I’ll listen.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
I do not want to die . . . until I have faithfully made the most of
my talent and cultivated the seed that was placed in me until the
last small twig has grown. --Kathe Kollwitz
There's so much to do before we rest . . . so much to do. We each
are gifted with talents, similar in some respects to others' talents,
but unique in how we'll be able to use them. Do we realize our talents?
We need only to dare to dream, and there they'll be.
It's so easy to fall into the trap of self-pity, thinking we have no
purpose, fearing we'll take life nowhere, dreading others' expectations
of us. But we can turn our thinking around at any moment. The choice
is ours. We can simply decide to discover our talents, and nurture them
and enrich the lives of others. The benefits will be many. So will the joys.
We have a very important part to play, today, in the lives we touch. We
can expect adventure, and we'll find it. We can look for our purpose;
it's at hand. We can remember, we aren't alone. We are in partnership
every moment. Our talents are God-given, and guidance for their full
use is part of the gift.
I will have a dream today. In my dream is my direction.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way
to stay sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
Then one night at an A.A. meeting a friend said that even though he had been
in jail and done lots and lots of stuff, he was no different from me. He felt the
same things I felt. It was then that I knew I was not unique, that the people
did understand the pain inside me.
p. 378
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps,
we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Most married folks in A.A. have very happy homes. To a surprising extent,
A.A. has offset the damage to family life brought about by years of alcoholism.
But just like all other societies, we do have sex and marital problems, and
sometimes they are distressingly acute. Permanent marriage breakups and
separations, however, are unusual in A.A. Our main problem is not how we
are to stay married; it is how to be more happily married by eliminating the
severe emotional twists that have so often stemmed from alcoholism.
p. 117
************************************************** *********
Today, help me, God, to let go of my resistance to change. Help me to
be open to the process. Help me believe that the place I'll be dropped
off will be better than the place where I was picked up. Help me
surrender, trust, and accept, even if I don't understand.
--Melody Beattie
We must be the change we wish to see in the world.
--Mahatma Gandhi
Today I will spend some time putting my own needs aside to help
someone else. It is so good to know that I can be filled with such good
feelings and I get so much when I give of myself.
--Ruth Fishel
God loves all of us, whether we walk away pain-free or not. Keep
taking care of yourself, no matter what. God, transform my pain into
compassion for others and myself.
--Melody Beattie
Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.
--Jesse Jackson
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
"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 Prophet"
Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to meet it...
--unknown
The task before you is never greater than the power behind you...
--unknown
Always, He will watch over us and comfort us.
--Ernest Holmes
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
RELIGION
"Science without religion is
lame, religion without science is
blind."
-- Albert Einstein
In the field of addiction we need to work together and listen to the
professionalism we all bring: the answer will be in "the many".
So often we divide ourselves up into "ghettos" of learning and miss
what "the others" are saying -- and the disease wins! This is
reminiscent of the old days in the church when science was seen as
the enemy, the world was flat and the earth was the center of the
universe. Pride and ego kept people sick, isolated and afraid -- and
thousands suffered and died. However, people began to listen to each
other and the world benefited from the shared wisdom.
As addictionologists and recovering people we need to listen to each
other.
Help me to see You in the honest experience of every man.
************************************************** *********
Help me, O LORD my God; save me in accordance with your love.
Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O LORD, have done it.
Psalm 109:26-27
With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I
will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to
save his life from those who condemn him.
Psalm 109:30-31
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
James 1:2-3
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
If a part of your past continues to haunt you and rob you of your joy, forgive.
Lord, I can not undo the past, but with Your help, I can let go by forgiving myself
and everyone else that has hurt me.
Do not let yourself be judged by others or ruled by approval or disapproval.
Lord, may I always trust in myself and You and live each day accordingly.
Daily Reflections
OPENING NEW DOORS
They [the Promises] are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly,
sometimes slowly.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84
The Promises talked about in this passage are slowly coming to life for
me. What has given me hope is putting Step Nine into action. The Step
has allowed me to see and set goals for myself in recovery. Old habits
and behaviors die hard. Working Step Nine enables me to close the
door on the drunk I was, and to open new avenues for myself as a
sober alcoholic. Making direct amends is crucial for me. As I repair
relationships and behavior of the past, I am better able to live a sober
life! Although I have some years of sobriety, there are times
when the "old stuff" from the past needs to be taken care of, and
Step Nine always works, when I work it.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
When an alcoholic is offered a life of sobriety by following the A.A.
program, he will look at the prospect of living without alcohol and he
will ask: "Am I to be consigned to a life where I shall be stupid, boring
and glum, like some of the righteous people I see? I know I must get
along without liquor, but how can I? Have you a sufficient
substitute?" Have I found a more than sufficient substitute for
drinking?
Meditation For The Day
In God's strength you conquer life. Your conquering power is the
grace of God. There can be no complete failure with God. Do you
want to make the best of life? Then live as near as possible to God,
the Master and Giver of all life. Your regard for depending on God's
strength will be sure. Sometimes the reward will be renewed power to
face life, sometimes wrong thinking overcome, sometimes people
brought to a new way of living. Whatever success comes will not be all
your own doing, but largely the working out of the grace of God.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to rely more fully on the grace of God. I pray
that I may live a victorious life.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Face the Music, p.251
"Don't be too discouraged about that slip. Practically always, we
drunks learn the hard way.
"Your idea of moving on to somewhere else may be good, or it may
not. Perhaps you have got into an emotional or economic jam that
can't be well handled where you are. But maybe you are doing just
what all of us have done, at one time or another: Maybe you are
running away. Why don't you try to think that through again
carefully?
"Are you really placing recovery first, or are you making it
contingent upon other people, places, or circumstances? You may
find it ever so much better to face the music right where you are
now, and, with the help of the A.A. program, win through. Before
you make a decision, weigh it in these terms."
Letter, 1949
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears---by listening to them. ---Dean Rusk
We hate being told what to think. We like to make up our own minds.
It helps to talk things out with another person who, listens to us.
Someone who care what we think.
We can give this respect to others. We can listen their point of view.
We can try to understand them and care about what they think.
When we do this, others start to care what we think too. We share ideas.
The ideas get a little more clear. They change a little. We get a little
closer to agreement. We both feel good.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know when to listen and
when to talk today. Work for me and though me. Thanks.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll look for chances to listen to others
when I really want to talk. I’ll say, “Tell me more about that.” And I’ll listen.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
I do not want to die . . . until I have faithfully made the most of
my talent and cultivated the seed that was placed in me until the
last small twig has grown. --Kathe Kollwitz
There's so much to do before we rest . . . so much to do. We each
are gifted with talents, similar in some respects to others' talents,
but unique in how we'll be able to use them. Do we realize our talents?
We need only to dare to dream, and there they'll be.
It's so easy to fall into the trap of self-pity, thinking we have no
purpose, fearing we'll take life nowhere, dreading others' expectations
of us. But we can turn our thinking around at any moment. The choice
is ours. We can simply decide to discover our talents, and nurture them
and enrich the lives of others. The benefits will be many. So will the joys.
We have a very important part to play, today, in the lives we touch. We
can expect adventure, and we'll find it. We can look for our purpose;
it's at hand. We can remember, we aren't alone. We are in partnership
every moment. Our talents are God-given, and guidance for their full
use is part of the gift.
I will have a dream today. In my dream is my direction.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way
to stay sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
Then one night at an A.A. meeting a friend said that even though he had been
in jail and done lots and lots of stuff, he was no different from me. He felt the
same things I felt. It was then that I knew I was not unique, that the people
did understand the pain inside me.
p. 378
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps,
we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
Most married folks in A.A. have very happy homes. To a surprising extent,
A.A. has offset the damage to family life brought about by years of alcoholism.
But just like all other societies, we do have sex and marital problems, and
sometimes they are distressingly acute. Permanent marriage breakups and
separations, however, are unusual in A.A. Our main problem is not how we
are to stay married; it is how to be more happily married by eliminating the
severe emotional twists that have so often stemmed from alcoholism.
p. 117
************************************************** *********
Today, help me, God, to let go of my resistance to change. Help me to
be open to the process. Help me believe that the place I'll be dropped
off will be better than the place where I was picked up. Help me
surrender, trust, and accept, even if I don't understand.
--Melody Beattie
We must be the change we wish to see in the world.
--Mahatma Gandhi
Today I will spend some time putting my own needs aside to help
someone else. It is so good to know that I can be filled with such good
feelings and I get so much when I give of myself.
--Ruth Fishel
God loves all of us, whether we walk away pain-free or not. Keep
taking care of yourself, no matter what. God, transform my pain into
compassion for others and myself.
--Melody Beattie
Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.
--Jesse Jackson
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
"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 Prophet"
Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to meet it...
--unknown
The task before you is never greater than the power behind you...
--unknown
Always, He will watch over us and comfort us.
--Ernest Holmes
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
RELIGION
"Science without religion is
lame, religion without science is
blind."
-- Albert Einstein
In the field of addiction we need to work together and listen to the
professionalism we all bring: the answer will be in "the many".
So often we divide ourselves up into "ghettos" of learning and miss
what "the others" are saying -- and the disease wins! This is
reminiscent of the old days in the church when science was seen as
the enemy, the world was flat and the earth was the center of the
universe. Pride and ego kept people sick, isolated and afraid -- and
thousands suffered and died. However, people began to listen to each
other and the world benefited from the shared wisdom.
As addictionologists and recovering people we need to listen to each
other.
Help me to see You in the honest experience of every man.
************************************************** *********
Help me, O LORD my God; save me in accordance with your love.
Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O LORD, have done it.
Psalm 109:26-27
With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I
will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to
save his life from those who condemn him.
Psalm 109:30-31
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
James 1:2-3
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
If a part of your past continues to haunt you and rob you of your joy, forgive.
Lord, I can not undo the past, but with Your help, I can let go by forgiving myself
and everyone else that has hurt me.
Do not let yourself be judged by others or ruled by approval or disapproval.
Lord, may I always trust in myself and You and live each day accordingly.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Today's readings
September 8
Special thanks to The Navarre fellowship in Florida for all their awesome sobriety!
Daily Reflections
"WE ASKED HIS PROTECTION"
We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 59
I could not manage life alone. I had tried that road and failed. My
"ultimate sin" dragged me down to the lowest level I have ever
reached and, unable even to function, I accepted the fact that I
desperately needed help. I stopped fighting and surrendered
entirely to God. Only then did I start growing! God forgave me. A
Higher Power had to have saved me, because the doctors doubted
that I would survive. I have forgiven myself now and I enjoy a
freedom I have never before experienced. I've opened my heart
and mind to Him. The more I learn, the less I know - a humbling
fact - but I sincerely want to keep growing. I enjoy serenity, but
only when I entrust my life totally to God. As long as I am honest
with myself and ask for His help, I can maintain this rewarding
existence. Just for today, I strive to live His will for me - soberly. I
thank God that today I can choose not to drink. Today, life is
beautiful!
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Another of the mottoes of A.A. is "But for the Grace of God." Once
we have fully accepted the program we become humble about our
achievement. We do not take too much credit for our sobriety.
When we see another suffering alcoholic in the throes of
alcoholism, we say to ourselves: "But for the Grace of God, there
go I." We do not forget the kind of people we were. We
remember those we left behind us. And we are very grateful to
the grace of God which has given us another chance. Am I truly
grateful for the grace of God?
Meditation For The Day
A consciousness of God's presence, as One who loves you makes all
life different. The consciousness of God's love promotes the
opening of your whole being to God. It brings wonderful relief from
the cares and worries of our daily lives. Relief brings peace and
peace brings contentment. Try to walk in God's love. You will have
that peace which passes all understanding and a contentment that
no one can take from you. Feel sure of God's unfailing love and
care for you and for all His children. There is freedom and serenity
in those who walk in God's love, held safe in His loving care.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may walk in God's love, I pray that, as I go, I may feel the
caring of God's power in my steps and the joy of His love in my heart.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Prayer Under Pressure, p.250
Whenever I find myself under acute tensions, I lengthen my daily
walks and slowly repeat our Serenity Prayer in rhythm to my
steps and breathing.
If I feel that my pain has in part been occasioned by others, I try
to repeat, "God grant me the serenity to love their best, and
never fear their worst." This benign healing process of repetition,
sometimes necessary to persist with for days, has seldom failed to
restore me to at least a workable emotional balance and
perspective.
Grapevine, March 1962
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Admitting a Wrong
Inventory.
It is all but impossible for some people to make the simple admission, I was wrong.
We might have a problem with such admissions because we tend to believe that
they place us at a disadvantage.
The reality is that the sooner we can admit a wrong, the more rapidly it can
be corrected and put behind us. The refusal to admit a wrong, the more
rapidly it can be corrected and put behind us. The refusal to admit a
wrong means making more of the same mistakes, thus bringing further harm
to ourselves and others.
We may have trouble admitting a wrong because we once faced excessive
punishments when we were found wrong. We can find our true course
by realizing that admission of our wrongs is the route to well-being and
improvement.
I'll continue to take every opportunity to learn when I might be
wrong, thus helping to avoid such mistakes in the future.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
I have an intense desire to return to the womb---Anybody’s ! ---Woody Allen
Some days the world just doesn’t seem safe. Maybe a friend died and you are hurting.
Maybe you argued with a loved one. You just want somebody to take care of you.
You want to feel safe and warm.
Turn to the spiritual part of the program. Let your Higher Power hold you with warm,
loving care. Pray. Pray to feel the programs will find you. Why? Because you’ve
opened your heart to recovery. To be loved, you have to open up to love.
Prayer for the Day: I pray for an open heart. I pray that love of the program will
find me and comfort me. Higher Power, I need Your love as a child needs the love of parents.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list three times the world has felt unsafe. I’ll meditate
on how things would have been different if I had turned to my Higher Power for comfort.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
It's astonishing in this world how things don't turn out at all the way
you expect them to! --Agatha Christie
Probably every day of our lives, a plan goes awry. Often we have
counted heavily on a particular outcome. We generally assume we
have all things under control and know exactly what's best for us,
and everyone else as well. But such is not the case. There is a bigger
picture than the one we see. The outcome of that picture is out of our hands.
Our vision is limited, and again divinely so. However, we are able to see
all that we need to see, today. And more important, if we can trust our
inner guidance regarding the events of today, we'll begin to see how each
day fills in a shade more of the bigger picture of our lives. In retrospect
we can see how all events have contributed, in important ways, to the
women we are becoming. Where today's events are leading we can't
know, for certain, but we can trust the divine plan.
I will anticipate with faith what lies ahead today. All experiences carry me
forward to fulfill my goal in life. I will be alert for the nudge.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to
stay sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
The truth is, most of my drinking was done at home alone. I would call people
and talk, and the following mornings were awful, trying to piece together what
I had said. I would say things to my husband like, "Wasn't that an interesting
call last night, " hoping he would volunteer information. My hands were beginning
to shake without the alcohol, yet when I got to A.A., I wasn't sure I belonged
because my drinkalog was not exciting.
p. 378
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps,
we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
This new outlook was, we learned, something especially necessary to us alcoholics.
For alcoholism had been a lonely business, even though we had been surrounded
by people who loved us. But when self-will had driven everybody away and our
isolation had become complete, it caused us to play the big shot in cheap barrooms
and then fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of passersby.
We were still trying to find emotional security by being dominating or dependent
upon others. Even when our fortunes had not ebbed that much and we nevertheless
found ourselves alone in the world, we still vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy
kind of domination or dependence. For those of us who were like that, A.A. had a very
special meaning. Through it we begin to learn right relations with people who
understand us; we don't have to be alone any more.
pp. 116-117
************************************************** *********
The world has a way of giving what is demanded of it. If you are
frightened and look for failure and poverty, you will get them, no
matter how hard you may try to succeed. Lack of faith in yourself, in
what life will do for you, cuts you off from the good things of the
world. Expect victory and you make victory.
--Preston Bradley
Today is a day of opportunities. I am open and ready to find them all,
knowing that I am receiving all the guidance I need to be forward and
be happy.
--Ruth Fishel
"By giving unconditional love ... we become more loving, and by
sharing spiritual growth we become more spiritual."
--Just For Today, p. 99
Today, I will remind myself as often as necessary that I am not a
victim, and I do not need to be victimized by whatever comes my way.
I will work hard to remove myself as a victim, whether that means
setting and enforcing a boundary, walking away, dealing with my
feelings, or giving myself what I need. God, help me let go of my need
to feel victimized.
--Melody Beattie
"Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye."
--H. Jackson Brown Jr.
None of us has the power to make someone else love us.
But we all have the power to give away love, to love other people.
And if we do so, we change the kind of person we are,
and we change the kind of world we live in.
--Rabbi Harold Kushner, in Handbook for the Heart
Wisdom cannot be taught. It can only be learned.
--Source Unknown
You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with.
--Wayne Dyer
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LIES
"A liar needs a good memory."
-- Quintilian
I lied to impress. I lied to hide my guilt and shame. I lied to cover my
mistakes. I lied to bridge the silence. I lied to fantasize. I lied to hurt
and destroy. I lied to hide the real me. Then I lied to cover the lies.
Then I lied to cover the lies I told to cover the original lies! So it
went on. Endless. Exhausting. Meaningless. A part of me always
loathed the lies I told. Then I grew to hate myself.
Today, because I understand spirituality to be based on truth, I try
not to tell lies. When I do lie, I make an effort to correct myself
and apologize. Today lying is painful for me. Today I try to use my
mind, imagination and memory for better things.
O God, who gave mankind the miracle of language and
communication, let me not abuse Your gift with destructive deceit.
************************************************** *********
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our
sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:9
Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the
silence of death. When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O
LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your
consolation brought joy to my soul.
Psalm 94:17-19
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from
there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to
bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so
that they will be like his glorious body.
Phillipians 3:20-21
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Those that meet you will most likely not forget you, but how you are
remembered is your choice. Lord, may I live with kindness, mercy, and love in my heart.
Our body is the temple of God and our soul is His image. It is the devil's
work to make us forget that and feel useless, incapable and worthless. Lord, I will not deny
Your existence in me. I am strong and capable because You live and work through me.
Special thanks to The Navarre fellowship in Florida for all their awesome sobriety!
Daily Reflections
"WE ASKED HIS PROTECTION"
We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 59
I could not manage life alone. I had tried that road and failed. My
"ultimate sin" dragged me down to the lowest level I have ever
reached and, unable even to function, I accepted the fact that I
desperately needed help. I stopped fighting and surrendered
entirely to God. Only then did I start growing! God forgave me. A
Higher Power had to have saved me, because the doctors doubted
that I would survive. I have forgiven myself now and I enjoy a
freedom I have never before experienced. I've opened my heart
and mind to Him. The more I learn, the less I know - a humbling
fact - but I sincerely want to keep growing. I enjoy serenity, but
only when I entrust my life totally to God. As long as I am honest
with myself and ask for His help, I can maintain this rewarding
existence. Just for today, I strive to live His will for me - soberly. I
thank God that today I can choose not to drink. Today, life is
beautiful!
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Another of the mottoes of A.A. is "But for the Grace of God." Once
we have fully accepted the program we become humble about our
achievement. We do not take too much credit for our sobriety.
When we see another suffering alcoholic in the throes of
alcoholism, we say to ourselves: "But for the Grace of God, there
go I." We do not forget the kind of people we were. We
remember those we left behind us. And we are very grateful to
the grace of God which has given us another chance. Am I truly
grateful for the grace of God?
Meditation For The Day
A consciousness of God's presence, as One who loves you makes all
life different. The consciousness of God's love promotes the
opening of your whole being to God. It brings wonderful relief from
the cares and worries of our daily lives. Relief brings peace and
peace brings contentment. Try to walk in God's love. You will have
that peace which passes all understanding and a contentment that
no one can take from you. Feel sure of God's unfailing love and
care for you and for all His children. There is freedom and serenity
in those who walk in God's love, held safe in His loving care.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may walk in God's love, I pray that, as I go, I may feel the
caring of God's power in my steps and the joy of His love in my heart.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Prayer Under Pressure, p.250
Whenever I find myself under acute tensions, I lengthen my daily
walks and slowly repeat our Serenity Prayer in rhythm to my
steps and breathing.
If I feel that my pain has in part been occasioned by others, I try
to repeat, "God grant me the serenity to love their best, and
never fear their worst." This benign healing process of repetition,
sometimes necessary to persist with for days, has seldom failed to
restore me to at least a workable emotional balance and
perspective.
Grapevine, March 1962
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Admitting a Wrong
Inventory.
It is all but impossible for some people to make the simple admission, I was wrong.
We might have a problem with such admissions because we tend to believe that
they place us at a disadvantage.
The reality is that the sooner we can admit a wrong, the more rapidly it can
be corrected and put behind us. The refusal to admit a wrong, the more
rapidly it can be corrected and put behind us. The refusal to admit a
wrong means making more of the same mistakes, thus bringing further harm
to ourselves and others.
We may have trouble admitting a wrong because we once faced excessive
punishments when we were found wrong. We can find our true course
by realizing that admission of our wrongs is the route to well-being and
improvement.
I'll continue to take every opportunity to learn when I might be
wrong, thus helping to avoid such mistakes in the future.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
I have an intense desire to return to the womb---Anybody’s ! ---Woody Allen
Some days the world just doesn’t seem safe. Maybe a friend died and you are hurting.
Maybe you argued with a loved one. You just want somebody to take care of you.
You want to feel safe and warm.
Turn to the spiritual part of the program. Let your Higher Power hold you with warm,
loving care. Pray. Pray to feel the programs will find you. Why? Because you’ve
opened your heart to recovery. To be loved, you have to open up to love.
Prayer for the Day: I pray for an open heart. I pray that love of the program will
find me and comfort me. Higher Power, I need Your love as a child needs the love of parents.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list three times the world has felt unsafe. I’ll meditate
on how things would have been different if I had turned to my Higher Power for comfort.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
It's astonishing in this world how things don't turn out at all the way
you expect them to! --Agatha Christie
Probably every day of our lives, a plan goes awry. Often we have
counted heavily on a particular outcome. We generally assume we
have all things under control and know exactly what's best for us,
and everyone else as well. But such is not the case. There is a bigger
picture than the one we see. The outcome of that picture is out of our hands.
Our vision is limited, and again divinely so. However, we are able to see
all that we need to see, today. And more important, if we can trust our
inner guidance regarding the events of today, we'll begin to see how each
day fills in a shade more of the bigger picture of our lives. In retrospect
we can see how all events have contributed, in important ways, to the
women we are becoming. Where today's events are leading we can't
know, for certain, but we can trust the divine plan.
I will anticipate with faith what lies ahead today. All experiences carry me
forward to fulfill my goal in life. I will be alert for the nudge.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
WINNER TAKES ALL - Legally blind but no longer alone, she found a way to
stay sober, raise a family, and turn her life over to the care of God.
The truth is, most of my drinking was done at home alone. I would call people
and talk, and the following mornings were awful, trying to piece together what
I had said. I would say things to my husband like, "Wasn't that an interesting
call last night, " hoping he would volunteer information. My hands were beginning
to shake without the alcohol, yet when I got to A.A., I wasn't sure I belonged
because my drinkalog was not exciting.
p. 378
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps,
we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."
This new outlook was, we learned, something especially necessary to us alcoholics.
For alcoholism had been a lonely business, even though we had been surrounded
by people who loved us. But when self-will had driven everybody away and our
isolation had become complete, it caused us to play the big shot in cheap barrooms
and then fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of passersby.
We were still trying to find emotional security by being dominating or dependent
upon others. Even when our fortunes had not ebbed that much and we nevertheless
found ourselves alone in the world, we still vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy
kind of domination or dependence. For those of us who were like that, A.A. had a very
special meaning. Through it we begin to learn right relations with people who
understand us; we don't have to be alone any more.
pp. 116-117
************************************************** *********
The world has a way of giving what is demanded of it. If you are
frightened and look for failure and poverty, you will get them, no
matter how hard you may try to succeed. Lack of faith in yourself, in
what life will do for you, cuts you off from the good things of the
world. Expect victory and you make victory.
--Preston Bradley
Today is a day of opportunities. I am open and ready to find them all,
knowing that I am receiving all the guidance I need to be forward and
be happy.
--Ruth Fishel
"By giving unconditional love ... we become more loving, and by
sharing spiritual growth we become more spiritual."
--Just For Today, p. 99
Today, I will remind myself as often as necessary that I am not a
victim, and I do not need to be victimized by whatever comes my way.
I will work hard to remove myself as a victim, whether that means
setting and enforcing a boundary, walking away, dealing with my
feelings, or giving myself what I need. God, help me let go of my need
to feel victimized.
--Melody Beattie
"Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye."
--H. Jackson Brown Jr.
None of us has the power to make someone else love us.
But we all have the power to give away love, to love other people.
And if we do so, we change the kind of person we are,
and we change the kind of world we live in.
--Rabbi Harold Kushner, in Handbook for the Heart
Wisdom cannot be taught. It can only be learned.
--Source Unknown
You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with.
--Wayne Dyer
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LIES
"A liar needs a good memory."
-- Quintilian
I lied to impress. I lied to hide my guilt and shame. I lied to cover my
mistakes. I lied to bridge the silence. I lied to fantasize. I lied to hurt
and destroy. I lied to hide the real me. Then I lied to cover the lies.
Then I lied to cover the lies I told to cover the original lies! So it
went on. Endless. Exhausting. Meaningless. A part of me always
loathed the lies I told. Then I grew to hate myself.
Today, because I understand spirituality to be based on truth, I try
not to tell lies. When I do lie, I make an effort to correct myself
and apologize. Today lying is painful for me. Today I try to use my
mind, imagination and memory for better things.
O God, who gave mankind the miracle of language and
communication, let me not abuse Your gift with destructive deceit.
************************************************** *********
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our
sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:9
Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the
silence of death. When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O
LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your
consolation brought joy to my soul.
Psalm 94:17-19
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from
there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to
bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so
that they will be like his glorious body.
Phillipians 3:20-21
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Those that meet you will most likely not forget you, but how you are
remembered is your choice. Lord, may I live with kindness, mercy, and love in my heart.
Our body is the temple of God and our soul is His image. It is the devil's
work to make us forget that and feel useless, incapable and worthless. Lord, I will not deny
Your existence in me. I am strong and capable because You live and work through me.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Today's readings
9/7
Daily Reflections
"OUR SIDE OF THE STREET"
We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that
nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never
trying to tell him what he should do. His faults are not discussed.
We stick to our own.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 77-78
I made amends to my dad after I quit drinking. My words fell on
deaf ears since I had blamed him for my troubles. Several months
later I made amends to my dad again. This time I wrote a letter in
which I did not blame him nor mention his faults. It worked, and at last
I understood! My side of the street is all that I'm responsible for
and--thanks to God and A.A.-- it's clean for today.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Another of the mottoes of A.A. is "Easy Does It." This means that we
just go along in A.A. doing the best we can and not getting steamed up
over problems that are in A.A. or outside of it. We alcoholics are
emotional people and we have gone to excess in almost everything we
have done. We have not been moderate in many things. We have not
known how to relax. Faith in a Higher Power can help us to learn to
take it easy. We are not running the world. I am only one among many.
We are resolved to live normal, regular lives. From our A.A.
experience we learn that "easy does it." Have I learned to take it
easy?
Meditation For The Day
"The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the
everlasting arms." Sheltering arms express the loving protection
of God's spirit. Human beings, in their troubles and difficulties need
nothing so much as a refuge, a place to relax where they can lay
down their burdens and get relief from cares. Say to yourself:
"God is my refuge." Say it until its truth sinks into your very soul. Say
it until you know it and are sure of it. Nothing can seriously upset you
or make you afraid, if God is truly your refuge.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may go each day to God as a refuge until fear goes and
peace and security come. I pray that I may feel deeply secure in the
Haven of His spirit.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
God's Gifts, p.249
We see that the sun never sets upon A.A.'s Fellowship; that more
than three hundred and fifty thousand of us have now recovered
from our malady; that we have everywhere begun to transcend
the formidable barriers of race, creed, and nationality. This
assurance that so many of us have been able to meet our
responsibilities for sobriety and for growth and effectiveness in
the troubled world where we live, will surely fill us with the deepest
joy and satisfaction.
But, as a people who have nearly always learned the hard way, we
shall certainly not congratulate ourselves. We shall perceive these
assets to be God's gift, which have been in part matched by an
increasing willingness on our part to find and do His will for us.
Grapevine, July 1965
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
A New approach to Freedom
Staying Sober
Most of us discover that we've had mixed-up ideas about the nature of freedom. Real freedom
is not simply doing exactly as one pleases; privileges would be
the correct term for that. And desirable as political freedom is,
it cannot give us what we're really seeking.
We should approach freedom by recognizing that we're really seeking release from
the bondage of self. This self-concern can be one of the worst tyrannies
humans face. As we are released from the bondage of self, we learn that our choices begin to multiply. We make wise decisions instead of being driven to certain actions. We are truly free.
Today I'll enjoy a freedom that is available to anybody who seeks it
wholeheartedly. I'll know it as the freedom only God can
offer.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
A lair needs a good memory. --- Quintilian
Many of us wasted a lot of energy trying to keep track of whom we had told what. For example, we’d tell our boss one story and our family another. Then we’d work hard to make sure they never met.
How wonderful to be done with that way of life! We now have a life based on honestly. We can now be ourselves where we go.
Our program tell us that to get sober, we must live a life of strict honesty. Honesty is our rule to get and stay sober. Life is much more simple this way. We can relax and think of the happy details of life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to live honestly. Being honest brings me closer to You. Help me become closer to You.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll read the first three pages of Chapter Five in Alcoholics Anonymous (Third Edition).
Here, I’ll learn why honesty is so important to my recovery.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
He Sold Himself Short
But he found there was a Higher Power that had more faith in him than he had to himself. Thus, A.A. was born in Chicago.
All of this changed when I went to college. I had to adapt to new associations and associates, and it seemed to be the smart thing to drink and smoke. I confined drinking to weekends, and drank normally in college and for several years thereafter.
p. 258
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity."
Those who look closely soon have the key to this strange paradox. The A.A. member has to conform to the principles of recovery. His life actually depends upon obedience to spiritual principles. If he deviates too far, the penalty is sure and swift; he sickens and dies. At first he goes along because he must, but later he discovers a way of life he really wants to live. Moreover, he finds he cannot keep this priceless gift unless he gives it away. Neither he nor anybody else can survive unless he carries the A.A. message. The moment this Twelfth Step work forms a group, another discovery is made - that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group. Realization dawns that he is but a small part of a great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of the Fellowship. He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group. It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not.
p. 130
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Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish one's
growth without destroying one's roots.
--Cited in The Best of BITS & PIECES
When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what God has done.
--unknown
"Whatever you are trying to avoid won't go away until you confront
it."
--Anonymous
Serenity isn't freedom from the storm, it is peace within the storm.
--unknown
"We learn the magical lesson that making the most of what we have
turns it into more."
--Codependent No More
Inner peace should not be determined by outward experiences.
--unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WORK
"Without work all life goes rotten."
-- Albert Camus
A spiritual discovery that I have made is that I work in order to be,
not simply to exist. To work is human. Work opens the door to the
meaning of life, and it stops life from being boring and dull. Work is
creative. When I was drinking, I did not have this understanding of
work and so it became a burden, something I had to get through,
something I had to do for money or security. I missed the creative
dynamic of work and how it could enable me to feel good about myself.
In recovery I work, create and grow not only in my job, but also in
my leisure hours. Indeed the distinction between the two often
overlaps because the program I take into the office is the same
program I take into the party or disco.
Today God is to be found in everything.
************************************************** *********
"Happy are those...whose hope is in the Lord their God."
Psalm 146:5
"Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"
Luke 9:23
"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13
"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as
crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the
middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river
stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit
every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the
nations."
Revelation 22:1-2
Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for
the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20
"To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul."
Psalm 25:1
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Daily Inspiration
The way to freedom is the belief that we have the ability to choose. Lord, help me make good choices and never be blinded by the false idea that I am a victim of circumstances.
The more difficult your burden, the stronger you are after you overcome it. Lord, bless me as You bring me to everlasting life.
Daily Reflections
"OUR SIDE OF THE STREET"
We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that
nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never
trying to tell him what he should do. His faults are not discussed.
We stick to our own.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 77-78
I made amends to my dad after I quit drinking. My words fell on
deaf ears since I had blamed him for my troubles. Several months
later I made amends to my dad again. This time I wrote a letter in
which I did not blame him nor mention his faults. It worked, and at last
I understood! My side of the street is all that I'm responsible for
and--thanks to God and A.A.-- it's clean for today.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Another of the mottoes of A.A. is "Easy Does It." This means that we
just go along in A.A. doing the best we can and not getting steamed up
over problems that are in A.A. or outside of it. We alcoholics are
emotional people and we have gone to excess in almost everything we
have done. We have not been moderate in many things. We have not
known how to relax. Faith in a Higher Power can help us to learn to
take it easy. We are not running the world. I am only one among many.
We are resolved to live normal, regular lives. From our A.A.
experience we learn that "easy does it." Have I learned to take it
easy?
Meditation For The Day
"The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the
everlasting arms." Sheltering arms express the loving protection
of God's spirit. Human beings, in their troubles and difficulties need
nothing so much as a refuge, a place to relax where they can lay
down their burdens and get relief from cares. Say to yourself:
"God is my refuge." Say it until its truth sinks into your very soul. Say
it until you know it and are sure of it. Nothing can seriously upset you
or make you afraid, if God is truly your refuge.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may go each day to God as a refuge until fear goes and
peace and security come. I pray that I may feel deeply secure in the
Haven of His spirit.
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As Bill Sees It
God's Gifts, p.249
We see that the sun never sets upon A.A.'s Fellowship; that more
than three hundred and fifty thousand of us have now recovered
from our malady; that we have everywhere begun to transcend
the formidable barriers of race, creed, and nationality. This
assurance that so many of us have been able to meet our
responsibilities for sobriety and for growth and effectiveness in
the troubled world where we live, will surely fill us with the deepest
joy and satisfaction.
But, as a people who have nearly always learned the hard way, we
shall certainly not congratulate ourselves. We shall perceive these
assets to be God's gift, which have been in part matched by an
increasing willingness on our part to find and do His will for us.
Grapevine, July 1965
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Walk In Dry Places
A New approach to Freedom
Staying Sober
Most of us discover that we've had mixed-up ideas about the nature of freedom. Real freedom
is not simply doing exactly as one pleases; privileges would be
the correct term for that. And desirable as political freedom is,
it cannot give us what we're really seeking.
We should approach freedom by recognizing that we're really seeking release from
the bondage of self. This self-concern can be one of the worst tyrannies
humans face. As we are released from the bondage of self, we learn that our choices begin to multiply. We make wise decisions instead of being driven to certain actions. We are truly free.
Today I'll enjoy a freedom that is available to anybody who seeks it
wholeheartedly. I'll know it as the freedom only God can
offer.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
A lair needs a good memory. --- Quintilian
Many of us wasted a lot of energy trying to keep track of whom we had told what. For example, we’d tell our boss one story and our family another. Then we’d work hard to make sure they never met.
How wonderful to be done with that way of life! We now have a life based on honestly. We can now be ourselves where we go.
Our program tell us that to get sober, we must live a life of strict honesty. Honesty is our rule to get and stay sober. Life is much more simple this way. We can relax and think of the happy details of life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to live honestly. Being honest brings me closer to You. Help me become closer to You.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll read the first three pages of Chapter Five in Alcoholics Anonymous (Third Edition).
Here, I’ll learn why honesty is so important to my recovery.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
He Sold Himself Short
But he found there was a Higher Power that had more faith in him than he had to himself. Thus, A.A. was born in Chicago.
All of this changed when I went to college. I had to adapt to new associations and associates, and it seemed to be the smart thing to drink and smoke. I confined drinking to weekends, and drank normally in college and for several years thereafter.
p. 258
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity."
Those who look closely soon have the key to this strange paradox. The A.A. member has to conform to the principles of recovery. His life actually depends upon obedience to spiritual principles. If he deviates too far, the penalty is sure and swift; he sickens and dies. At first he goes along because he must, but later he discovers a way of life he really wants to live. Moreover, he finds he cannot keep this priceless gift unless he gives it away. Neither he nor anybody else can survive unless he carries the A.A. message. The moment this Twelfth Step work forms a group, another discovery is made - that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group. Realization dawns that he is but a small part of a great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of the Fellowship. He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group. It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not.
p. 130
************************************************** *********
Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish one's
growth without destroying one's roots.
--Cited in The Best of BITS & PIECES
When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what God has done.
--unknown
"Whatever you are trying to avoid won't go away until you confront
it."
--Anonymous
Serenity isn't freedom from the storm, it is peace within the storm.
--unknown
"We learn the magical lesson that making the most of what we have
turns it into more."
--Codependent No More
Inner peace should not be determined by outward experiences.
--unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WORK
"Without work all life goes rotten."
-- Albert Camus
A spiritual discovery that I have made is that I work in order to be,
not simply to exist. To work is human. Work opens the door to the
meaning of life, and it stops life from being boring and dull. Work is
creative. When I was drinking, I did not have this understanding of
work and so it became a burden, something I had to get through,
something I had to do for money or security. I missed the creative
dynamic of work and how it could enable me to feel good about myself.
In recovery I work, create and grow not only in my job, but also in
my leisure hours. Indeed the distinction between the two often
overlaps because the program I take into the office is the same
program I take into the party or disco.
Today God is to be found in everything.
************************************************** *********
"Happy are those...whose hope is in the Lord their God."
Psalm 146:5
"Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"
Luke 9:23
"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13
"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as
crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the
middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river
stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit
every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the
nations."
Revelation 22:1-2
Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for
the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20
"To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul."
Psalm 25:1
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
The way to freedom is the belief that we have the ability to choose. Lord, help me make good choices and never be blinded by the false idea that I am a victim of circumstances.
The more difficult your burden, the stronger you are after you overcome it. Lord, bless me as You bring me to everlasting life.
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