OCTOBER 23
SURRENDER
"By surrendering control, we gain a far greater power."
Basic Text, p.43
When we were using, we did everything we could to run things our way. We used every scheme imaginable to bring our world under control. When we got what we wanted, we felt powerful, invincible; when we didn't, we felt vulnerable, defeated. But that didn't stop us - it only led to more efforts to control and manipulate our lives into a manageable state.
Scheming was our way of denying our powerlessness. As long as we could distract ourselves with our plans, we could put off accepting that we were out of control. Only gradually did we realize that our lives had become unmanageable and that all the conning and manipulating in the world was not going to put our lives back in order.
When we admit our powerlessness, we stop trying to control and manage our way to a better life - we surrender. Lacking sufficient power of our own, we seek a Power greater than ourselves; needing support and guidance, we ask that Power to care for our will and our lives. We ask others in recovery to share their experience with living the NA program instead of trying to program our own lives. The power and direction we seek is all around us; we need only turn away from self to find it.
Just for today: I will not try to scheme and manipulate my way to a manageable life. Through the NA program, I will surrender myself to my Higher Power's care.
pg. 309
October 23
Daily Reflections
WHAT WE KNOW BEST
"Shoemaker, stick to thy last!" . . . better do one thing supremely well than many badly.
That is the central theme of this Tradition [Five]. Around it our Society gathers in unity.
The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 150
The survival of A.A. depends upon unity. What would happen if a group decided to
become an employment agency, a treatment center or a social service agency? Too much
specialization leads to no specialization, to frittering of efforts and, finally, to decline. I
have the qualifications to share my sufferings and my way of recovery with the newcomer.
Conformity to A.A.'s primary purpose insures the safety of the wonderful gift of sobriety,
so my responsibility is enormous. The life of millions of alcoholics is closely tied to my
competence in "carrying the message to the still-suffering alcoholic."
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
I have learned how to be honest. What a relief! No more ducking or dodging. No more tall
tales. No more pretending to be what I am not. My cards are on the table, for all the
world to see. "I am what I am," as Popeye used to say in the comics. I have had an
unsavory past. I am sorry, yes. But it cannot be changed now. All that is yesterday and is
done. But now my life is an open book. Come and look at it, if you want to. I'm trying to
do the best I can. I will fail often, but I won't make excuses. I will face things as they are
and not run away. Am I really honest?
Meditation For The Day
Though it may seem a paradox, we must believe in spiritual forces which we cannot
see more than in material things which we can see, if we are going to truly live. In the
last analysis, the universe consists more of thought or mathematical formulas than it
does of matter as we understand it. Between one human being and another only
spiritual forces will suffice to keep them in harmony. These spiritual forces we know,
because we can see their results although we cannot see them. A changed life--a new
personality--results from the power of unseen spiritual forces working in us and through
us.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may believe in the Unseen. I pray that I may be convinced by the results of
the Unseen which I do see.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Love+Rationality=Growth, p. 294
"It seems to me that the primary object of any human being is to
grow, as God intended, that being the nature of all growing things.
"Our search must be for what reality we can find, which includes
the best definition and feeling of love that we can acquire. If the
capability of loving is in the human being, then it must surely be in his
Creator.
"Theology helps me in that many of its concepts cause me to
believe that I live in a rational universe under a loving God, and
that my own irrationality can be chipped away, little by little. This
is, I suppose, the process of growth for which we are intended."
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
How do we hurt others?
Inventory
Even while drinking, few of us abused others physically or committed crimes. Yet we did harm others, even when we thought we were hurting only ourselves.
One way we harmed others.... and this applies to many alcoholic family relationships.. was by with-holding the love and support they needed. If we had a nasty disposition at times, this poisoned the atmosphere and made others uncomfortable and afraid.
Maybe we harmed others by not being productive at work. Our absenteeism, for example, may have put our boss in a bad light with superiors or caused the firm to lose a client.
Perhaps the worst harm was in being completely indifferent to what we were doing to others. Any willingness to admit wrong, then, can be a major step toward recovery and self-improvement.
Though, I have no intention of harming anyone today, I'll realize that even my attitude can affect others unfavorably. I'll try to maintain an attitude that's uplifting to everyone.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
It’s not dying faith that’s so hard, it’s living up to it.William Makepeace Thackeray
We may ask, “Do I have to do an Eighth or Ninth Step?” “Do I really need a sponsor?” “Hmm…can I get by without going to so many meetings?” Having faith means putting our questions aside. So…what do we do? We work the program. We accept that those who’ve gone before us were right. We accept the idea that we need others. Faith is knowing that others love and care for us. Faith is also about action. The main way we know that we have faith is by looking at our behavior. Ask yourself this: “Are my actions those of a person with faith?”
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remove the questions that get in my way. Help me act like a person with faith.
Action for the Day: I’ll list four parts of my program that I have faith in, such as, “I believe honesty is important to my sobriety.”
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
...words are more powerful than perhaps anyone suspects, and once deeply engraved in a child's mind, they are not easily eradicated. --May Sarton
How burdened we became, as little girls, with the labels applied by parents, teachers, even school chums. We believe about ourselves what others teach us to believe. The messages aren't always overt. But even the very subtle ones are etched in our minds, and they remind us of our "shortcomings" long into adulthood.
Try as we might to forget the criticisms, the names, they linger in our memories and influence our self-perceptions as adults. The intervening years have done little to erase whatever emotional scars we acquired as children.
Our partnership with God will help us understand that we are spiritual beings with a wonderful purpose in this life. And we are as lovely, as capable, as successful as we perceive ourselves to be. Our own thoughts and words, our own labels can become as powerful as those of our youth. It takes practice to believe in ourselves. But we can break the past's hold on us.
My higher power will help me know the real me. I am all that I ever needed to be; I am special, and I will come to believe that.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
My friend suggested that we contact a man she knew who was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and I agreed to call him. "Perhaps he could call you," she said helpfully, which was the key, because by that night I was just fine, and didn't need any outside help aside form a drink or two. But he kept phoning and bothering me about going to a meeting. When he told me he went to A.A. meetings three or four times a week, I thought, Poor man, he has nothing better to do. What a boring life it must be for him, running around to A.A. meetings with nothing to drink! Boring indeed: no bouncing off walls. no falling down stairs, no regular trips to hospital emergency rooms, no lost cars, and on and on.
p. 393
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
Why did A.A. finally drop all its membership regulations? Why did we leave it to each newcomer to decide himself whether he was an alcoholic and whether he should join us? Why did we dare say, contrary to the experience of society and government everywhere, that we would neither punish nor deprive any A.A. of membership, believe anything, or conform to anything?
The answer, now seen in Tradition Three, was simplicity itself. At last experience taught us that to take away any alcoholic's full chance was sometimes to pronounce his death sentence, and often to condemn him to endless misery. Who dared to be judge, jury, and executioner of his own sick brother?
p. 141
************************************************** *********
Honesty is something you can't wear out.
--Waylon Jennings
And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can
see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
--Antoine de Saint- [The Little Prince]
"Sometimes we need to look hard at a person and remember that he is doing the best
he can. He's just trying to find his way. That's all."
--Ernest Thompson
"God's gift to us is our life. What we do with it, is our gift to God."
An error is a positive way to learn provided you make the attempt to correct the mistake.
--unknown
"It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is
that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves."
--Helen Keller
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
VALUE
"A cynic is a man who knows the
price of everything and value of
nothing."
-- Oscar Wilde
I never knew the value of my life until I looked beyond it. For years I was so
self-obsessed that I missed the joy and beauty of this wonderful world. I was so
concerned with details and minutia of life that I missed the fun of living.
I now see that my behavior had its roots in my childhood. I was the child in a
dysfunctional family. I became a parent to my parents. I took charge of everybody's
life and I felt responsible and guilty. Everything was work and I did not learn how to
play.
Today I am working on my recovery. I am "dumping" my feelings of guilt, shame and
anger. I am beginning to understand that I am not responsible for my parents and I
am beginning to feel free. Today I am learning how to play.
Lord of the dance, teach me the steps.
************************************************** *********
"Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God."
Joshua 23:11
"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?"
Matthew 16:26
"Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous
pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take
refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler."
Psalm 91:3-4
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Start an "I am grateful for..." list and read it when you are feeling low. Lord, help me see things in a new light and understand that with a little effort I can turn my complaints into something positive.
We are the only ones who can change how we think or how we act. Lord, help me make positive decisions so that life doesn't just happen to me.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Saturday Readings
October 22
Daily Reflections
TRUE TOLERANCE
Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent
emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see
what real love for our fellows actually means.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 92
The thought occurred to me that all people are emotionally ill to some extent. How could
we not be? Who among us is spiritually perfect? Who among us is physically perfect?
How could any of us be emotionally perfect? Therefore, what else are we to do but bear
with one another and treat each other as we would be treated in similar circumstances?
That is what love really is.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
I am content to face the rest of my life without alcohol. I have made the great decision
once and for all. I have surrendered as gracefully as possible to the inevitable. I hope I
have no more reservations. I hope that nothing can happen to me now that would justify
my taking a drink. No death of a dear one. No great calamity in any area of my life
should justify me in drinking. Even if I were on some desert isle, far from the rest of the
world, but not far from God, should I ever feel it right to drink. For me, alcohol is
out--period. I will always be safe unless I take that first drink. Am I fully resigned to
this fact?
Meditation For The Day
Day by day we should slowly build up an unshakable faith in a Higher Power in that
Power's ability to give us all the help we need. By having these quiet times each morning,
we start each day with a renewing of our faith, until it becomes almost a part of us and is a
strong habit. We should keep furnishing the quiet places of our souls with all the furniture
of faith. We should try to fill our thoughts each day with all that is harmonious and good,
beautiful, and enduring.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may build a house in my soul for the spirit of God to dwell in. I pray that I
may come at last to an unshakable faith.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
As Bill Sees It
Rebellion Or Acceptance, p.293
All of us pass through the times when we can pray only with the
greatest exertion. Occasionally we go even further than this. We
are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won't pray.
When these things happen, we should not think too ill of ourselves.
We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we
know to be good for us.
************ ********* ********* **
A man who persists in prayer finds himself in possession of great
gifts. When he has to deal with hard circumstances, he finds he can
face them. He can accept himself and the world around him.
He can do this because he now accepts a God who is All--and who
loves all. When he says, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be
Thy name," he deeply and humbly means it. When in good
meditation and thus freed from the clamors of the world, he knows
that he's in God's hands, that his own ultimate destiny is really
secure, here and hereafter, come what may.
1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 105
2. GRAPEVINE, JUNE 1958
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Walk In Dry Places
When the bath is negative
Personal relations
A member referred to getting a "negative bath" every day at work. She was talking about her boss's bad disposition and the poor attitudes of several co-workers. How does one deal with this negativity?
It's not satisfactory to say that this member created her own "negative bath" by her attitudes toward her boss and others. In fact, in many businesses, the atmosphere is negative... and dealing with it takes more than trite comment.
In such situations, we can employ detachment, as practiced in Al-Anon, and accept the things we cannot change, as stated in the Serenity Prayer.
The longer-term solution may require making a major change, such as finding a new job, but we must be careful not to exchange one negative situation for another. We will make the right decision if we're careful to avoid resentment and self-pity while being completely honest about our own motives and intentions.
I may find myself in a "negative bath" of some kind today, but I can detach from it by avoiding resentment or the tendency to blame others.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Keep It Simple
Life is what happens to us while we’re making other plans.
---Thomas LaMance
What happened to our years of drinking and using other drugs? They seemed to pass so quickly with so little to show for them. We had plans, but we didn’t get where we wanted to go. There was always “tomorrow.”
What a difference today! Now we work a program that helps us really live each day. We’re not losing time out of our lives anymore. Now every day is full of life: sights, sounds, people, feelings---those things we used to miss out on. We have the help of a Higher Power who makes every day important.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me do Your will for me today. I place this day in Your care.
Action for the Day: Be on the lookout today for signs of life!
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Each Day a New Beginning
Children awaken you own sense of self when you see them hurting, struggling, testing; when you watch their eyes and listen to their hearts. Children are gifts, if we accept them. --Kathleen Tierney Crilly
Children look to us and their world with fresh eyes, uncynical attitudes, open hearts. They react spontaneously to the events in their lives; what they feel is who they are.
Close observation of children can help us. See how complex we have made our lives! Their simple honesty can serve us well. To look at the world, once again, with wonder, is a byproduct offered us when we live the principles of this program.
So many gifts await us when we accept the program and its principles. We dispense with the baggage of the past. We learn to live this day only. And we come to believe that there is a power greater than ourselves that has everything and us in our lives under control. Children instinctively trust those who take care of them. We can learn to trust, once again, when we apply the Steps of this program to our lives.
I will look to this day with wonder and trust. Everything is okay. I am in the care of a power greater.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
One day I was so hungover at lunchtime I called a friend and had a little cry. "I've tried everything and nothing works." I said, reciting my litany of doctors and different therapies. I did not remember that thirteen years earlier, when I was twenty-one years old, I had attended a few meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous after waking up one morning not knowing where I was. I had just started law school and was terrified most of the time, so I went on a binge to quell the fear, which only got worse. I have no idea what made me go to A.A. way back then. But there were no young people at the meetings, and people kept marveling at how young and fresh I looked. (No one at A.A. said that when I came back thirteen tears later.)
pp. 392-393
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
How could we then guess that all those fears were to prove groundless? How could we know that thousands of these sometimes frightening people were to make astonishing recoveries and become our greatest workers and intimate friends? Was it credible that A.A. was to have a divorce rate far lower than average? Could we then foresee that troublesome people were to become our principle teachers of patience and tolerance? Could any then imagine a society which would include every conceivable kind of character, and cut across every barrier of race, creed, politics, and language with ease?
pp. 140-141
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
With the power of God in my actions and thinking I can do all things with love and
kindness.
--Shelley
"God Loves You - even when you are not looking."
He created me to be a light of love and life. Letting go, I allow the light of Him within me
to shine forth in my life and out into my world.
--unknown
Express love through acknowledgment. Notice the good in those around you and freely
comment on it.
--Mary Manin Morrissey
The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but we will finally hear Him.
--William McGill
We are not living just to be sober; we are living to learn, to serve, and to love.
The express elevator to sobriety doesn't work - please use the Steps.
S T E P S = Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
UNITY
"This land of ours cannot be a
good place for any of us to live
in unless we make it a good
place for all of us to live in."
-- Richard Nixon
My sobriety has given me a comprehensive view of life and my neighbor. Today I believe
that we are all connected and if I hurt or am hurt, then everybody at some level is
affected. Because we are all children of God, it follows that we are all one big family ---
speaking different languages, having different customs, revealing different
physical characteristics and complexions, requiring different satisfaction (both sexual
and emotional), but we are still one big family under God.
This means I have a responsibility to all in the family and I can best exercise that
responsibility by having a healthy respect for myself. I should treat people as I would
want to be treated, allowing them the freedom and love I require in my life. I am the
key to the world's needs.
Lord, let me find my neighbor in myself.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
"Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit
among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of
God."
Colossians 1:6
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
strength."
Deuteronomy 6:5
For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule generation after generation. The
LORD is faithful in all he says; he is gracious in all he does. The LORD helps the fallen
and lifts up those bent beneath their loads. All eyes look to you for help; you give them
their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of
every living thing.
Psalm 145:13-16
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Daily Inspiration
Do not take any action until you've prayed and listened and then you will have guidance to reach the understanding necessary to complete the things you need to do. Lord, I know that there is no obstacle for You and ask that You will guide me along the right path.
Rejoice and be happy for others when they are blessed. Lord, bless me with the ability to be free of envy so that I can truly share the joy of my neighbors.
Daily Reflections
TRUE TOLERANCE
Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent
emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see
what real love for our fellows actually means.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 92
The thought occurred to me that all people are emotionally ill to some extent. How could
we not be? Who among us is spiritually perfect? Who among us is physically perfect?
How could any of us be emotionally perfect? Therefore, what else are we to do but bear
with one another and treat each other as we would be treated in similar circumstances?
That is what love really is.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
I am content to face the rest of my life without alcohol. I have made the great decision
once and for all. I have surrendered as gracefully as possible to the inevitable. I hope I
have no more reservations. I hope that nothing can happen to me now that would justify
my taking a drink. No death of a dear one. No great calamity in any area of my life
should justify me in drinking. Even if I were on some desert isle, far from the rest of the
world, but not far from God, should I ever feel it right to drink. For me, alcohol is
out--period. I will always be safe unless I take that first drink. Am I fully resigned to
this fact?
Meditation For The Day
Day by day we should slowly build up an unshakable faith in a Higher Power in that
Power's ability to give us all the help we need. By having these quiet times each morning,
we start each day with a renewing of our faith, until it becomes almost a part of us and is a
strong habit. We should keep furnishing the quiet places of our souls with all the furniture
of faith. We should try to fill our thoughts each day with all that is harmonious and good,
beautiful, and enduring.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may build a house in my soul for the spirit of God to dwell in. I pray that I
may come at last to an unshakable faith.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
As Bill Sees It
Rebellion Or Acceptance, p.293
All of us pass through the times when we can pray only with the
greatest exertion. Occasionally we go even further than this. We
are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won't pray.
When these things happen, we should not think too ill of ourselves.
We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we
know to be good for us.
************ ********* ********* **
A man who persists in prayer finds himself in possession of great
gifts. When he has to deal with hard circumstances, he finds he can
face them. He can accept himself and the world around him.
He can do this because he now accepts a God who is All--and who
loves all. When he says, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be
Thy name," he deeply and humbly means it. When in good
meditation and thus freed from the clamors of the world, he knows
that he's in God's hands, that his own ultimate destiny is really
secure, here and hereafter, come what may.
1. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 105
2. GRAPEVINE, JUNE 1958
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Walk In Dry Places
When the bath is negative
Personal relations
A member referred to getting a "negative bath" every day at work. She was talking about her boss's bad disposition and the poor attitudes of several co-workers. How does one deal with this negativity?
It's not satisfactory to say that this member created her own "negative bath" by her attitudes toward her boss and others. In fact, in many businesses, the atmosphere is negative... and dealing with it takes more than trite comment.
In such situations, we can employ detachment, as practiced in Al-Anon, and accept the things we cannot change, as stated in the Serenity Prayer.
The longer-term solution may require making a major change, such as finding a new job, but we must be careful not to exchange one negative situation for another. We will make the right decision if we're careful to avoid resentment and self-pity while being completely honest about our own motives and intentions.
I may find myself in a "negative bath" of some kind today, but I can detach from it by avoiding resentment or the tendency to blame others.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Keep It Simple
Life is what happens to us while we’re making other plans.
---Thomas LaMance
What happened to our years of drinking and using other drugs? They seemed to pass so quickly with so little to show for them. We had plans, but we didn’t get where we wanted to go. There was always “tomorrow.”
What a difference today! Now we work a program that helps us really live each day. We’re not losing time out of our lives anymore. Now every day is full of life: sights, sounds, people, feelings---those things we used to miss out on. We have the help of a Higher Power who makes every day important.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me do Your will for me today. I place this day in Your care.
Action for the Day: Be on the lookout today for signs of life!
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Each Day a New Beginning
Children awaken you own sense of self when you see them hurting, struggling, testing; when you watch their eyes and listen to their hearts. Children are gifts, if we accept them. --Kathleen Tierney Crilly
Children look to us and their world with fresh eyes, uncynical attitudes, open hearts. They react spontaneously to the events in their lives; what they feel is who they are.
Close observation of children can help us. See how complex we have made our lives! Their simple honesty can serve us well. To look at the world, once again, with wonder, is a byproduct offered us when we live the principles of this program.
So many gifts await us when we accept the program and its principles. We dispense with the baggage of the past. We learn to live this day only. And we come to believe that there is a power greater than ourselves that has everything and us in our lives under control. Children instinctively trust those who take care of them. We can learn to trust, once again, when we apply the Steps of this program to our lives.
I will look to this day with wonder and trust. Everything is okay. I am in the care of a power greater.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
One day I was so hungover at lunchtime I called a friend and had a little cry. "I've tried everything and nothing works." I said, reciting my litany of doctors and different therapies. I did not remember that thirteen years earlier, when I was twenty-one years old, I had attended a few meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous after waking up one morning not knowing where I was. I had just started law school and was terrified most of the time, so I went on a binge to quell the fear, which only got worse. I have no idea what made me go to A.A. way back then. But there were no young people at the meetings, and people kept marveling at how young and fresh I looked. (No one at A.A. said that when I came back thirteen tears later.)
pp. 392-393
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
How could we then guess that all those fears were to prove groundless? How could we know that thousands of these sometimes frightening people were to make astonishing recoveries and become our greatest workers and intimate friends? Was it credible that A.A. was to have a divorce rate far lower than average? Could we then foresee that troublesome people were to become our principle teachers of patience and tolerance? Could any then imagine a society which would include every conceivable kind of character, and cut across every barrier of race, creed, politics, and language with ease?
pp. 140-141
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
With the power of God in my actions and thinking I can do all things with love and
kindness.
--Shelley
"God Loves You - even when you are not looking."
He created me to be a light of love and life. Letting go, I allow the light of Him within me
to shine forth in my life and out into my world.
--unknown
Express love through acknowledgment. Notice the good in those around you and freely
comment on it.
--Mary Manin Morrissey
The value of persistent prayer is not that He will hear us, but we will finally hear Him.
--William McGill
We are not living just to be sober; we are living to learn, to serve, and to love.
The express elevator to sobriety doesn't work - please use the Steps.
S T E P S = Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
UNITY
"This land of ours cannot be a
good place for any of us to live
in unless we make it a good
place for all of us to live in."
-- Richard Nixon
My sobriety has given me a comprehensive view of life and my neighbor. Today I believe
that we are all connected and if I hurt or am hurt, then everybody at some level is
affected. Because we are all children of God, it follows that we are all one big family ---
speaking different languages, having different customs, revealing different
physical characteristics and complexions, requiring different satisfaction (both sexual
and emotional), but we are still one big family under God.
This means I have a responsibility to all in the family and I can best exercise that
responsibility by having a healthy respect for myself. I should treat people as I would
want to be treated, allowing them the freedom and love I require in my life. I am the
key to the world's needs.
Lord, let me find my neighbor in myself.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
"Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit
among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of
God."
Colossians 1:6
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
strength."
Deuteronomy 6:5
For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule generation after generation. The
LORD is faithful in all he says; he is gracious in all he does. The LORD helps the fallen
and lifts up those bent beneath their loads. All eyes look to you for help; you give them
their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of
every living thing.
Psalm 145:13-16
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* **
Daily Inspiration
Do not take any action until you've prayed and listened and then you will have guidance to reach the understanding necessary to complete the things you need to do. Lord, I know that there is no obstacle for You and ask that You will guide me along the right path.
Rejoice and be happy for others when they are blessed. Lord, bless me with the ability to be free of envy so that I can truly share the joy of my neighbors.
Friday, October 21, 2011
TGIF Readings :-P
October 21
Daily Reflections
NOTHING GROWS IN THE DARK
We will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us, to flower and to grow.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10
With the self-discipline and insight gained from practicing Step Ten, I begin to know the
gratifications of sobriety -- not as mere abstinence from alcohol, but as recovery in every
department of my life.
I renew hope, regenerate faith, and regain the dignity of self-respect. I discover the word
"and" in the phrase "and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it."
Reassured that I am no longer always wrong, I learn to accept myself as I am, with a new
sense of the miracles of sobriety and serenity.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Now that we have considered the obligations of real, working members of A.A., let us
examine what the rewards are that have come to us as a result of our new way of living.
First, I understand myself more than I ever did before. I have learned what was the
matter with me and I know now a lot of what makes me tick. I will never be alone again. I
am just one of many who have the illness of alcoholism and one of many who have learned
what to do about it. I am not an odd fish or a square peg in a round hole. I seem to have
found my right place in the world. Am I beginning to understand myself?
Meditation For The Day
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I
will come in to him and will remain with him and him with me." The knocking of God's
spirit, asking to come into your life, is due to no merit of yours, though it is in response to
the longing of your heart. Keep a listening ear, an ear bent to catch the sound of
the gentle knocking at the door of your heart by the spirit of God. Then open the
door of your heart and let God's spirit come in.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may let God's spirit come into my heart. I pray that it may fill me with an
abiding peace.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Toward Partnership, p. 292
When the distortion of family life through alcohol has been great, a
long period of patient striving may be necessary. After the husband
joins A.A., the wife may become discontented, even highly resentful
that A.A. 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. Each then blames the other.
But eventually the alcoholic, now fully understanding how much he did
to hurt his wife and children, nearly always takes up his marriage
responsibilities with a willingness to repair what he can and accept
what he can't. He persistently tries all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps in his
home, often with fine results. He firmly but lovingly commences to
behave like a partner instead of like a bad boy.
12 & 12, pp. 118-119
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.---Anonymous
Nobody’s always wrong. Nobody’s all bad. And that includes us.
Sometimes, we really get down on ourselves. When we do Step Four, we sometimes see only our faults. When we make our Step Ten checkup, we see only our mistakes. We can’t afford to do this. We need to see our strengths too. But even our faults have a good side. Are you stubborn? Good---be stubborn, you know how to hang on to feelings. So, hang on to the good feelings instead of the bad ones.
Each of us is good and wise. What’s good about us got twisted by our disease. But now we can get the kinks out. We are sober, and we have a program to help us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to see the good in myself and others.
Action for the Day: I’ll take another look at my faults today. How can I use them in good ways?
************************************************** Friday, October 21, 2011
You are reading from the book Today's Gift
Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.
—Queen Victoria
Isn't that always the way? We cope with major events, like births and weddings, fairly well. It is the little things - so inconsequential in the long run - that upset us. If the kids don't pick up their rooms, or dinner is late, or we can't go to the movies because we haven't done our homework, we become irritated and annoyed. Minor things like these upset us much more than they should.
Are they really so important? A messy room is not a terminal illness. A late dinner won't affect our health unless we get so upset about it we make ourselves sick. We'll survive.
If we think back to the last time we were angry or upset, does it seem important now? We probably can't even remember why we reacted that way. How much better life is when we let go of the little irritations.
What irritation can I let go of today?
From Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for families *********
Each Day a New Beginning
The strength of the drive determines the force required to suppress it. --Mary Jane Sherfey
We are all struggling to succeed. And each day of our lives we'll be confronted with major or minor adversities that might well interfere with our success. Adversities don't have to hinder us, however. They can strengthen us, if we incorporate them as opportunities for growth.
For many of us, the ability to handle adversity is a fairly recent phenomenon. And not always can we do it securely and with ease. But we are coming to believe that a power greater than ourselves is at hand and will guarantee us all the strength we'll ever need. Knowing that action is always possible, that passive acceptance of any condition need never be necessary are unconditional gifts of living the Twelve Step program.
Our path forward is as certain as our commitment to it, our belief in the strength of the program, and our faith that all is well even when times are troubled. No one ever promised that our new way of life would be always easy. But we have been promised that we'll arrive at our proper destination if we do the footwork and let God do the navigating.
Success is at hand. I will apply what I'm learning, and I'll meet it.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
Came the day when I realized that I couldn't keep dragging myself off to work in the morning and spending half the energy of every day concealing the fact that I was barely a functioning drunk. I would go home to drink until I passed out, come to in the middle of the night terrified, listen to the radio, and get worldwide telephonitis, finally dozing off at dawn, just in time to be awakened by the alarm and start the process all over again. I gave up on relationships of any significance, saw my friends less, and stopped committing myself to most social occasions because I could never count on being sober. More and more, I just worked and went home to drink--and the drinking was starting to outstrip the working.
p. 392
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
"We were resolved to admit nobody to A.A. but that hypothetical class of people we termed `pure alcoholics.' Except for their guzzling, and the unfortunate results thereof, they could have no other complications. So beggars, tramps, asylum inmates, prisoners, queers, plain crackpots, and fallen women were definitely out. Yes sir, we'd cater only to pure and respectable alcoholics! Any others would surely destroy us. Besides, if we took in those odd ones, what would decent people say about us? We built a fine-mesh fence right around A.A.
"Maybe this sounds comical now. Maybe you think we oldtimers were pretty intolerant. But I can tell you there was nothing funny about the situation then. We were grim because we felt our lives and homes were threatened, and that was no laughing matter. Intolerant, you say? Well, we were frightened. Naturally, we began to act like most everybody does when afraid. After all, isn't fear the true basis of intolerance? Yes, we were intolerant."
p. 140
************************************************** *********
S T E P S = Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety.
C H A N G E = Choosing Honesty Allows New Growth Every day.
Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that
action.
--Mother Teresa
Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it,
you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible.
--Norman Vincent Peale, Positive Thinking Every Day
God is singing and Creation is the melody.
--David Palmer
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
--unknown
I didn't learn humility with my head. I learned humility with my heart.
--unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
CONSCIENCE
"In matters of conscience, the
law of the majority has no
place."
-- Mohandas Gandhi
How I used to hate myself. So many times I caught myself pleasing the crowd, agreeing
with people I did not understand or respect, laughing at jokes and opinions I loathed. How
I used to hate myself!
Today I have a healthy respect for what the majority may feel but I also trust and follow
my conscience. I know that to be in the minority is not necessarily to be in the wrong. My
recovery insists that I listen to my conscience, that inner self that is based on a program
of honesty, that spiritual cornerstone of my life that I have come to trust.
Now I can say to people, "I do not agree." Today I give myself permission to disagree
with family, friends and colleagues.
May I never follow the crowd because of the numbers: God is one.
************************************************** *********
The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective
shade. The sun will not hurt you by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you
from all evil and preserves your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and
go, both now and forever.
Psalm 121:5-8
Let me hear of your unfailing love to me in the morning, for I am trusting you. Show me
where to walk, for I have come to you in prayer. Save me from my enemies, LORD; I run
to you to hide me. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious
Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.
Psalm 143:8-10
"Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down."
Proverbs 26:20
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
There are far more solutions than problems and knowing this is very empowering. Lord, in the encounters of my daily life, may I choose to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
No gift is so precious as love. Gratefully trust God and give Him your love. Lord, I give You my heart.
O
Daily Reflections
NOTHING GROWS IN THE DARK
We will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us, to flower and to grow.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10
With the self-discipline and insight gained from practicing Step Ten, I begin to know the
gratifications of sobriety -- not as mere abstinence from alcohol, but as recovery in every
department of my life.
I renew hope, regenerate faith, and regain the dignity of self-respect. I discover the word
"and" in the phrase "and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it."
Reassured that I am no longer always wrong, I learn to accept myself as I am, with a new
sense of the miracles of sobriety and serenity.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Now that we have considered the obligations of real, working members of A.A., let us
examine what the rewards are that have come to us as a result of our new way of living.
First, I understand myself more than I ever did before. I have learned what was the
matter with me and I know now a lot of what makes me tick. I will never be alone again. I
am just one of many who have the illness of alcoholism and one of many who have learned
what to do about it. I am not an odd fish or a square peg in a round hole. I seem to have
found my right place in the world. Am I beginning to understand myself?
Meditation For The Day
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I
will come in to him and will remain with him and him with me." The knocking of God's
spirit, asking to come into your life, is due to no merit of yours, though it is in response to
the longing of your heart. Keep a listening ear, an ear bent to catch the sound of
the gentle knocking at the door of your heart by the spirit of God. Then open the
door of your heart and let God's spirit come in.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may let God's spirit come into my heart. I pray that it may fill me with an
abiding peace.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Toward Partnership, p. 292
When the distortion of family life through alcohol has been great, a
long period of patient striving may be necessary. After the husband
joins A.A., the wife may become discontented, even highly resentful
that A.A. 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. Each then blames the other.
But eventually the alcoholic, now fully understanding how much he did
to hurt his wife and children, nearly always takes up his marriage
responsibilities with a willingness to repair what he can and accept
what he can't. He persistently tries all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps in his
home, often with fine results. He firmly but lovingly commences to
behave like a partner instead of like a bad boy.
12 & 12, pp. 118-119
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.---Anonymous
Nobody’s always wrong. Nobody’s all bad. And that includes us.
Sometimes, we really get down on ourselves. When we do Step Four, we sometimes see only our faults. When we make our Step Ten checkup, we see only our mistakes. We can’t afford to do this. We need to see our strengths too. But even our faults have a good side. Are you stubborn? Good---be stubborn, you know how to hang on to feelings. So, hang on to the good feelings instead of the bad ones.
Each of us is good and wise. What’s good about us got twisted by our disease. But now we can get the kinks out. We are sober, and we have a program to help us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to see the good in myself and others.
Action for the Day: I’ll take another look at my faults today. How can I use them in good ways?
************************************************** Friday, October 21, 2011
You are reading from the book Today's Gift
Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.
—Queen Victoria
Isn't that always the way? We cope with major events, like births and weddings, fairly well. It is the little things - so inconsequential in the long run - that upset us. If the kids don't pick up their rooms, or dinner is late, or we can't go to the movies because we haven't done our homework, we become irritated and annoyed. Minor things like these upset us much more than they should.
Are they really so important? A messy room is not a terminal illness. A late dinner won't affect our health unless we get so upset about it we make ourselves sick. We'll survive.
If we think back to the last time we were angry or upset, does it seem important now? We probably can't even remember why we reacted that way. How much better life is when we let go of the little irritations.
What irritation can I let go of today?
From Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for families *********
Each Day a New Beginning
The strength of the drive determines the force required to suppress it. --Mary Jane Sherfey
We are all struggling to succeed. And each day of our lives we'll be confronted with major or minor adversities that might well interfere with our success. Adversities don't have to hinder us, however. They can strengthen us, if we incorporate them as opportunities for growth.
For many of us, the ability to handle adversity is a fairly recent phenomenon. And not always can we do it securely and with ease. But we are coming to believe that a power greater than ourselves is at hand and will guarantee us all the strength we'll ever need. Knowing that action is always possible, that passive acceptance of any condition need never be necessary are unconditional gifts of living the Twelve Step program.
Our path forward is as certain as our commitment to it, our belief in the strength of the program, and our faith that all is well even when times are troubled. No one ever promised that our new way of life would be always easy. But we have been promised that we'll arrive at our proper destination if we do the footwork and let God do the navigating.
Success is at hand. I will apply what I'm learning, and I'll meet it.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
Came the day when I realized that I couldn't keep dragging myself off to work in the morning and spending half the energy of every day concealing the fact that I was barely a functioning drunk. I would go home to drink until I passed out, come to in the middle of the night terrified, listen to the radio, and get worldwide telephonitis, finally dozing off at dawn, just in time to be awakened by the alarm and start the process all over again. I gave up on relationships of any significance, saw my friends less, and stopped committing myself to most social occasions because I could never count on being sober. More and more, I just worked and went home to drink--and the drinking was starting to outstrip the working.
p. 392
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
"We were resolved to admit nobody to A.A. but that hypothetical class of people we termed `pure alcoholics.' Except for their guzzling, and the unfortunate results thereof, they could have no other complications. So beggars, tramps, asylum inmates, prisoners, queers, plain crackpots, and fallen women were definitely out. Yes sir, we'd cater only to pure and respectable alcoholics! Any others would surely destroy us. Besides, if we took in those odd ones, what would decent people say about us? We built a fine-mesh fence right around A.A.
"Maybe this sounds comical now. Maybe you think we oldtimers were pretty intolerant. But I can tell you there was nothing funny about the situation then. We were grim because we felt our lives and homes were threatened, and that was no laughing matter. Intolerant, you say? Well, we were frightened. Naturally, we began to act like most everybody does when afraid. After all, isn't fear the true basis of intolerance? Yes, we were intolerant."
p. 140
************************************************** *********
S T E P S = Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety.
C H A N G E = Choosing Honesty Allows New Growth Every day.
Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that
action.
--Mother Teresa
Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it,
you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible.
--Norman Vincent Peale, Positive Thinking Every Day
God is singing and Creation is the melody.
--David Palmer
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
--unknown
I didn't learn humility with my head. I learned humility with my heart.
--unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
CONSCIENCE
"In matters of conscience, the
law of the majority has no
place."
-- Mohandas Gandhi
How I used to hate myself. So many times I caught myself pleasing the crowd, agreeing
with people I did not understand or respect, laughing at jokes and opinions I loathed. How
I used to hate myself!
Today I have a healthy respect for what the majority may feel but I also trust and follow
my conscience. I know that to be in the minority is not necessarily to be in the wrong. My
recovery insists that I listen to my conscience, that inner self that is based on a program
of honesty, that spiritual cornerstone of my life that I have come to trust.
Now I can say to people, "I do not agree." Today I give myself permission to disagree
with family, friends and colleagues.
May I never follow the crowd because of the numbers: God is one.
************************************************** *********
The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective
shade. The sun will not hurt you by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you
from all evil and preserves your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and
go, both now and forever.
Psalm 121:5-8
Let me hear of your unfailing love to me in the morning, for I am trusting you. Show me
where to walk, for I have come to you in prayer. Save me from my enemies, LORD; I run
to you to hide me. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious
Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.
Psalm 143:8-10
"Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down."
Proverbs 26:20
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
There are far more solutions than problems and knowing this is very empowering. Lord, in the encounters of my daily life, may I choose to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
No gift is so precious as love. Gratefully trust God and give Him your love. Lord, I give You my heart.
O
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Thursday's Readings
October 20
Daily Reflections
SOLACE FOR CONFUSION
Obviously, the dilemma of the wanderer from faith is that of profound confusion. He
thinks himself lost to the comfort of any conviction at all. He cannot attain in even a small
degree the assurance of the believer, the agnostic, or the atheist. He is the bewildered
one.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 28
The concept of God was one that I struggled with during my early years of sobriety. The
images that came to me, conjured from my past, were heavy with fear, rejection and
condemnation. Then I heard my friend Ed's image of a Higher Power: As a boy he had
been allowed a litter of puppies, provided that he assume responsibility for their care.
Each morning he would find the unavoidable "byproducts" of the puppies on the kitchen
floor. Despite frustration, Ed said he couldn't get angry because "that's the nature of
puppies." Ed felt that God viewed our defects and shortcomings with a similar
understanding and warmth. I've often found solace from my personal confusion in Ed's
calming concept of God.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
For the past few weeks we have been asking ourselves some searching questions. We
have not been able to answer them all as we would like. But on the right answers to these
questions will depend the usefulness and effectiveness of our lives and to some extent the
usefulness and effectiveness of the whole A.A. movement. It all boils down to this: I
owe a deep debt to A.A. and to the grace of God. Am I going to do all I can to repay this
debt? Let us search our souls, make our own decisions, and act accordingly. Any real
success we have in life will depend on that. Now is the time to put our conclusions into
effect. What am I going to do about it?
Meditation For The Day
"Our Lord and our God, be it done unto us according to Thy will." Simple acceptance of
God's will in whatever happens is the key to abundant living. We must continue to pray:
Not my will but Thy will be done. It may not turn out the way you want it to, but it will be
the best way in the long run, because it is God's way. If you decide to accept whatever
happens as God's will for yourself, whatever it may be, your burdens will be lighter. Try
to see in all things some fulfillment of the Divine Intent.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may see the working out of God's will in my life. I pray that I may be content
with whatever He will for me.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Pain-Killer----or Pain-Healer, p. 291
"I believe that when we were active alcoholics we drank mostly to
kill pain of one kind or another--physical or emotional or psychic.
Of course, everybody has a cracking point, and I suppose you
reached yours--hence, the resort once more to the bottle.
"If I were you, I wouldn't heap devastating blame on myself for
this; on the other hand, the experience should redouble your
conviction that alcohol has no permanent value as a pain-killer."
*********************************
In every A.A. story, pain has been the price of admission into a
new life. But this admission price purchased more than we
expected. It led us to a measure of humility, which we soon discovered
to be a healer of pain. We began to fear pain less, and desire humility
more than ever.
1. LETTER, 1959
2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 75
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
This too shall pass
Acceptance
When personal problems are brought up in group discussions, someone usually remembers the saying, "This too shall pass." We use it in reference to unpleasant matters, but it also applies to happier experiences. It is a certainty that nothing will ever stay the same.
Our responsibility to ourselves is to see all situations constructively, whether they are seen as good or bad at the time. WHat seems a disappoint today might be seen as a blessing tomorrow. And we can't always be sure that today's wonderful opportunity doesn't have a few hidden nettles in it.
The one certainty is that everything will pass. We should extract the good from everything, and let what is unpleasant fade into the past.
Whatever I'm facing today will certainly change as I do my best in the 24 hours ahead. None of us is permanently bound to any problem.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.---Eric Hoffer
When we’re not honest with others, we’re not being honest with ourselves. In recovery, we’re taught how to heal our hearts. We admit we’re wrong, and we do it quickly. We let our spirit have the loudest voice. This way, lies lose power over us. We find a way to be true to our spirit.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You have a soft, quiet voice inside me. Help me, through meditation, to hear You better. Yours is the voice to follow.
Action for the Day: I’ll listen to my Higher Power. I’ll list any lies I’ve been telling myself and others lately. Then I’ll find someone I trust and tell that person what I’ve lied about.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
...You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now. --Joan Baez
How thrilling to contemplate that we can choose every attitude we have and every action we take. We have been gifted with full responsibility for our development. What will we try today? It's our personal choice. How will we decide on a particular issue? Our options are only limited by our vision.
Every situation in life offers us a significant opportunity for making a decision that will, of necessity, influence the remaining situations we encounter. Just as we are interdependent, needing and influencing one another in all instances that bring us together, likewise our decisions are never inviolate. Each is singly important; however, its impact is multiplied by the variety of other decisions triggered.
The choice is ours for livings fully today, for taking advantage of all the opportunities that present themselves. Our personal growths, our emotional and spiritual development, are in our hands. God will provide us with the guidance, and the program offers us the tools. The decision to act is ours, alone.
I will exercise my personal power. My choices determine my development.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
Many drunks later, I tried everything else I could find: more therapy, different psychiatrists (it was always to be the next one would solve my problem), biofeedback, relaxation exercises, Antabuse, lots of self-help books from Freud to Jung, to every current fad that was published or taught. All to no avail, of course, because I'd always end up drunk.
pp. 391-392
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
A member gives us a vivid glimpse of those days. "At one time," he says, "every A.A. group had many membership rules. Everybody was scared witless that something or somebody would capsize the boat and dump us all back into the drink. Our Foundation office* asked each group to send in its list of `protective' regulations. The total list was a mile long. If all those rules had been in effect everywhere, nobody could have possibly joined A.A. at all, so great was the sum of our anxiety and fear.
pp. 139-140
*In 1954, the name of the Alcoholic Foundation, Inc., was changed to the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc., and the Foundation office is now the General Service Office.
************************************************** *********
Faith that the thing can be done is essential to any great achievement.
--Thomas N. Carter
Knowing Gods gift of inner strength and courage, I move forward with the things that
once terrified me.
--Shelly
You could have everything in life and still have nothing or you could seek the Truth.
--unknown
The surface holds only illusions. Search deeper for the truth.
--unknown
Communication is the key to unlocking many doors in life.
--unknown
Change is hard, explaining why it is easier to stay in a negative frame of mind rather than
a positive one.
--unknown
God is there when we need him the most. When we are afflicted, when trials are facing us,
he is there for us. But what we need to understand is that God is there for us even when
there are no trials, or when we are not afflicted. In knowing this truth, we can appeal to
God at any time. We need not look to God only in testing times, but in fertile times. We
should look to cultivate a relationship with Him in good times, and not just bad.
--unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
OBSERVANCE
"The older I grow, the more I
listen to people who don't say
much."
-- German G. Gladden
I've noticed that an important part of my recovery is people watching. I have fun watching
people --- at a party, on a train or in a park. I find the daily "theater" of life fascinating
and stimulating. I also learn so much about me by observing others. I can identify with
their mannerisms, actions and facial antics and intuitively sense what they are feeling. I
see their fear, hesitancy and shame and connect it with mine. People are a mirror to
my life.
Part of my recovery is developing that instinctive spirituality that grows through
observation. The human being is forever communicating, sending energy and messages
not only with words but by his existence --- and especially by his silence. Sometimes a
person's silence can be deafening! God is most alive to me in the lives and behavior of
His people, and part of my worship and prayer is observing the splendor and richness of
my fellow human beings.
You, who have created the universe in such magnificent silence, touch me with Your
stillness.
************************************************** *********
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom."
Luke 12:32
"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father."
Matthew 24:36
"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with
gentleness and respect."
1 Peter 3:15
"This, then, is how you should pray: "‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily
bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against
you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:9-15
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
When we are in a bad mood we are often reactive and irrational. A few moments of gratitude for all that we have will quickly change our feelings. Lord, help me gratefully remember that there is always more good in my life than bad.
Through the power of God within me, I am stronger than any of my circumstances. Lord, I seek, I knock and I ask and You are always there and ready to give me the miracles that I need.
Daily Reflections
SOLACE FOR CONFUSION
Obviously, the dilemma of the wanderer from faith is that of profound confusion. He
thinks himself lost to the comfort of any conviction at all. He cannot attain in even a small
degree the assurance of the believer, the agnostic, or the atheist. He is the bewildered
one.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 28
The concept of God was one that I struggled with during my early years of sobriety. The
images that came to me, conjured from my past, were heavy with fear, rejection and
condemnation. Then I heard my friend Ed's image of a Higher Power: As a boy he had
been allowed a litter of puppies, provided that he assume responsibility for their care.
Each morning he would find the unavoidable "byproducts" of the puppies on the kitchen
floor. Despite frustration, Ed said he couldn't get angry because "that's the nature of
puppies." Ed felt that God viewed our defects and shortcomings with a similar
understanding and warmth. I've often found solace from my personal confusion in Ed's
calming concept of God.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
For the past few weeks we have been asking ourselves some searching questions. We
have not been able to answer them all as we would like. But on the right answers to these
questions will depend the usefulness and effectiveness of our lives and to some extent the
usefulness and effectiveness of the whole A.A. movement. It all boils down to this: I
owe a deep debt to A.A. and to the grace of God. Am I going to do all I can to repay this
debt? Let us search our souls, make our own decisions, and act accordingly. Any real
success we have in life will depend on that. Now is the time to put our conclusions into
effect. What am I going to do about it?
Meditation For The Day
"Our Lord and our God, be it done unto us according to Thy will." Simple acceptance of
God's will in whatever happens is the key to abundant living. We must continue to pray:
Not my will but Thy will be done. It may not turn out the way you want it to, but it will be
the best way in the long run, because it is God's way. If you decide to accept whatever
happens as God's will for yourself, whatever it may be, your burdens will be lighter. Try
to see in all things some fulfillment of the Divine Intent.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may see the working out of God's will in my life. I pray that I may be content
with whatever He will for me.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Pain-Killer----or Pain-Healer, p. 291
"I believe that when we were active alcoholics we drank mostly to
kill pain of one kind or another--physical or emotional or psychic.
Of course, everybody has a cracking point, and I suppose you
reached yours--hence, the resort once more to the bottle.
"If I were you, I wouldn't heap devastating blame on myself for
this; on the other hand, the experience should redouble your
conviction that alcohol has no permanent value as a pain-killer."
*********************************
In every A.A. story, pain has been the price of admission into a
new life. But this admission price purchased more than we
expected. It led us to a measure of humility, which we soon discovered
to be a healer of pain. We began to fear pain less, and desire humility
more than ever.
1. LETTER, 1959
2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 75
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
This too shall pass
Acceptance
When personal problems are brought up in group discussions, someone usually remembers the saying, "This too shall pass." We use it in reference to unpleasant matters, but it also applies to happier experiences. It is a certainty that nothing will ever stay the same.
Our responsibility to ourselves is to see all situations constructively, whether they are seen as good or bad at the time. WHat seems a disappoint today might be seen as a blessing tomorrow. And we can't always be sure that today's wonderful opportunity doesn't have a few hidden nettles in it.
The one certainty is that everything will pass. We should extract the good from everything, and let what is unpleasant fade into the past.
Whatever I'm facing today will certainly change as I do my best in the 24 hours ahead. None of us is permanently bound to any problem.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.---Eric Hoffer
When we’re not honest with others, we’re not being honest with ourselves. In recovery, we’re taught how to heal our hearts. We admit we’re wrong, and we do it quickly. We let our spirit have the loudest voice. This way, lies lose power over us. We find a way to be true to our spirit.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You have a soft, quiet voice inside me. Help me, through meditation, to hear You better. Yours is the voice to follow.
Action for the Day: I’ll listen to my Higher Power. I’ll list any lies I’ve been telling myself and others lately. Then I’ll find someone I trust and tell that person what I’ve lied about.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
...You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now. --Joan Baez
How thrilling to contemplate that we can choose every attitude we have and every action we take. We have been gifted with full responsibility for our development. What will we try today? It's our personal choice. How will we decide on a particular issue? Our options are only limited by our vision.
Every situation in life offers us a significant opportunity for making a decision that will, of necessity, influence the remaining situations we encounter. Just as we are interdependent, needing and influencing one another in all instances that bring us together, likewise our decisions are never inviolate. Each is singly important; however, its impact is multiplied by the variety of other decisions triggered.
The choice is ours for livings fully today, for taking advantage of all the opportunities that present themselves. Our personal growths, our emotional and spiritual development, are in our hands. God will provide us with the guidance, and the program offers us the tools. The decision to act is ours, alone.
I will exercise my personal power. My choices determine my development.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
Many drunks later, I tried everything else I could find: more therapy, different psychiatrists (it was always to be the next one would solve my problem), biofeedback, relaxation exercises, Antabuse, lots of self-help books from Freud to Jung, to every current fad that was published or taught. All to no avail, of course, because I'd always end up drunk.
pp. 391-392
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
A member gives us a vivid glimpse of those days. "At one time," he says, "every A.A. group had many membership rules. Everybody was scared witless that something or somebody would capsize the boat and dump us all back into the drink. Our Foundation office* asked each group to send in its list of `protective' regulations. The total list was a mile long. If all those rules had been in effect everywhere, nobody could have possibly joined A.A. at all, so great was the sum of our anxiety and fear.
pp. 139-140
*In 1954, the name of the Alcoholic Foundation, Inc., was changed to the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc., and the Foundation office is now the General Service Office.
************************************************** *********
Faith that the thing can be done is essential to any great achievement.
--Thomas N. Carter
Knowing Gods gift of inner strength and courage, I move forward with the things that
once terrified me.
--Shelly
You could have everything in life and still have nothing or you could seek the Truth.
--unknown
The surface holds only illusions. Search deeper for the truth.
--unknown
Communication is the key to unlocking many doors in life.
--unknown
Change is hard, explaining why it is easier to stay in a negative frame of mind rather than
a positive one.
--unknown
God is there when we need him the most. When we are afflicted, when trials are facing us,
he is there for us. But what we need to understand is that God is there for us even when
there are no trials, or when we are not afflicted. In knowing this truth, we can appeal to
God at any time. We need not look to God only in testing times, but in fertile times. We
should look to cultivate a relationship with Him in good times, and not just bad.
--unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
OBSERVANCE
"The older I grow, the more I
listen to people who don't say
much."
-- German G. Gladden
I've noticed that an important part of my recovery is people watching. I have fun watching
people --- at a party, on a train or in a park. I find the daily "theater" of life fascinating
and stimulating. I also learn so much about me by observing others. I can identify with
their mannerisms, actions and facial antics and intuitively sense what they are feeling. I
see their fear, hesitancy and shame and connect it with mine. People are a mirror to
my life.
Part of my recovery is developing that instinctive spirituality that grows through
observation. The human being is forever communicating, sending energy and messages
not only with words but by his existence --- and especially by his silence. Sometimes a
person's silence can be deafening! God is most alive to me in the lives and behavior of
His people, and part of my worship and prayer is observing the splendor and richness of
my fellow human beings.
You, who have created the universe in such magnificent silence, touch me with Your
stillness.
************************************************** *********
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom."
Luke 12:32
"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father."
Matthew 24:36
"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with
gentleness and respect."
1 Peter 3:15
"This, then, is how you should pray: "‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily
bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against
you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6:9-15
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
When we are in a bad mood we are often reactive and irrational. A few moments of gratitude for all that we have will quickly change our feelings. Lord, help me gratefully remember that there is always more good in my life than bad.
Through the power of God within me, I am stronger than any of my circumstances. Lord, I seek, I knock and I ask and You are always there and ready to give me the miracles that I need.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Today's Readings
October 19
Daily Reflections
A. A.'S "MAIN TAPROOT"
The principle that we shall find no enduring strength until we first admit complete defeat
is the main taproot from which our whole Society has sprung and flowered.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 21-22
Defeated, and knowing it, I arrived at the doors of A.A., alone and afraid of the unknown.
A power outside of myself had picked me up off my bed, guided me to the phone book,
then to the bus stop, and through the doors of Alcoholics Anonymous. Once inside A.A. I
experienced a sense of being loved and accepted, something I had not felt since early
childhood. May I never lose the sense of wonder I experienced on that first evening with
A.A., the greatest event of my entire life.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Do I realize that I do not know how much time I have left? It may be later than I think.
Am I going to do the things that I know I should do before my time runs out? By the way,
what is my purpose for the rest of my life? Do I realize all I have to make up for in my
past wasted life? Do I know that I am living on borrowed time and that I would not have
even this much time left without A.A. and the grace of God? Am I going to make what
time I have left count for A.A.?
Meditation For The Day
We can believe that somehow the cry of the human soul is never unheard by God. It may
be that God hears the cry, even if we fail to notice God's response to it. The human cry
for help must always evoke a response of some sort from God. It may be that our failure
to discern properly keeps us unaware of the response. But one thing we can believe is
that the grace of God is always available for every human being who sincerely calls for
help. Many changed lives are living proofs of this fact.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may trust God to answer my prayer as He sees fit. I pray that I may be
content with whatever form that answer may take.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
TIME VERSUS MONEY, p. 290
Our attitude toward the giving of time when compared with our
attitude toward giving money presents an interesting contrast. We
give a lot of our time to A.A. activities for our own protection and
growth, but also for the sake of our groups, our areas, A.A. as a
whole, and, above all, the newcomer. Translated into terms of money,
these collective sacrifices would add up to a huge sum.
But when it comes to the actual spending of cash, particularly for
A.A. service overhead, many of us are apt to turn a bit reluctant. We
think of the loss of all that earning power in our drinking years, of
those sums we might have laid by for emergencies or for education
of the kids.
In recent years, this attitude is everywhere on the decline; it
quickly disappears when the real need for a given A.A. service
becomes clear. Donors can seldom see what the exact result has
been. They well know, however, that countless thousands of other
alcoholics and their families are being helped.
TWELVE CONCEPTS, pp. 63-64
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
The same situation... over and over
Growth in Maturity.
Our drinking experience should have taught us that we'll continue to repeat old destructive behaviors until we change our attitudes.
In sobriety, we can take this idea a step further and apply it to other areas. If we have trouble with other people, for example, we should ask what we're doing to bring about unpleasant situations.
This is not to say that we're responsible for everything that goes wrong, but we are getting a message ourselves if we continuously meet the same problem in different forms. Some people, for example, repeatedly become involved in bad relationships or find themselves working for abusive bosses.
Just as a changed attitude helped us recover from our drinking problem, so can a new attitude keep us from repeating other destructive situations.
I'll be on the lookout today for any indications of a tendency to "attract" trouble. It's true that I can have bad luck, but I don't need to bring it on myself.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will.---Seventeenth century proverb
We addicts used to be stubborn. Once we got an idea in our heads, we wouldn’t change it.
We didn’t listen to others ideas. We almost seemed to say, “Don’t tell me the facts. I’ve already made up my mind.”
But lately , some new ideas are making sense to us. We are starting to change our minds. Maybe we are good people, after all. Maybe we do deserve to be happy. Maybe other people can help us. Maybe our Higher Power does know best.
We’re not acting like fools any longer. We’re learning to change our old ideas.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, when I hear a better idea, help me change my mind.
Action for the Day: When I hear or read a new idea today, I’ll really think about it. If it fits, I’ll try it.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
One of the conclusions I have come to in my old age is the importance of living in the ever-present now. In the past, too often I indulged in the belief that somehow or other tomorrow would be brighter or happier or richer. --Ruth Casey
How easily our minds jump from the present to the foibles of the past or our fears about the future. How seldom are our minds on this moment, and only this moment.
Before we picked up this book, where were our thoughts? We need to practice, with diligence, returning our minds to whatever the experience at hand. A truly creative response to any situation can only be made when we are giving it our undivided attention. And each creative response initiates an even more exciting follow-up experience.
All we have of life, all that it can offer us is here, now. If we close our mind to the present, this present, we'll only continue to do so when the tomorrow we dream of now becomes the present. There are no tomorrows.
I will let go of the past and the future. My only reality is here, now. God's gifts are here, today, right now.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
Incredibly, I did not connect the improved manageability of my life in this short period of abstinence to the absence of booze. It didn't matter in the long run, because unfortunately, I started to get drunk again. I recall being fixated on that first glass of wine I was allowed to drink the day my coach informed me that I was ready to start drinking in controlled fashion. My tongue was almost hanging out.
p. 391
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
To establish this principle of membership took years of harrowing experience. In our early time, nothing seemed so fragile, so easily breakable as an A.A. group. Hardly an alcoholic we approached paid any attention; most of those who did join us were like flickering candles in a windstorm. Time after time, their uncertain flames blew out and couldn't be relighted. Our unspoken, constant thought was "Which of us may be the next?"
p. 139
************************************************** *********
I am never alone
never abandoned
never deserted
never judged
never chastised
and never without Gods aid.
--Shelley
"As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God."
Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.
--Elizabeth Harrison
Correction does much, but encouragement does more.
--Goethe
Words to live by are just words, unless you live by them. You have to walk the talk.
--Cited in BITS & PIECES
Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.
--Cited in More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES
The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to
leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
--unknown
We are never so lost that God can't find us.
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
TACT
"Tact is the art of making a
point without making an
enemy."
-- Howard W. Newton
An aspect of my recovery is not hurting people's feelings unnecessarily. I am learning
how to say what I have to say without causing offense. Today I am learning to be tactful
and respectful.
As a drunk I would say the first thing that came into my head without any regard for
the feelings of others. I was often violent with words, sarcastic with comments and
cruel in dialogue. Tact was a sign of weakness; gentleness and sensitivity were
unmanly; my power was seen in forcing people to change their minds!
Today I do not wish to be like this. Today I desire to be tactful.
Lord, let me always express my opinion respectfully.
************************************************** *********
For great is Your love higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Psalm 108:4
You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my only source of hope. Get out of my
life, you evil-minded people, for I intend to obey the commands of my God. LORD,
sustain me as you promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed. Sustain me,
and I will be saved; then I will meditate on your principles continually.
Psalm 119:114-117
Let not kindness and truth forsake thee: Bind them about thy neck; Write them upon the
tablet of thy heart.
Proverbs 3:3
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Complaining reinforces your own unhappiness. Lord, when I speak, help to say things that are worth listening to and reinforce a joyful spirit.
Life is what our thinking makes it. Lord, help me visualize myself richly living each day, believing, achieving, and then succeeding.
Daily Reflections
A. A.'S "MAIN TAPROOT"
The principle that we shall find no enduring strength until we first admit complete defeat
is the main taproot from which our whole Society has sprung and flowered.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 21-22
Defeated, and knowing it, I arrived at the doors of A.A., alone and afraid of the unknown.
A power outside of myself had picked me up off my bed, guided me to the phone book,
then to the bus stop, and through the doors of Alcoholics Anonymous. Once inside A.A. I
experienced a sense of being loved and accepted, something I had not felt since early
childhood. May I never lose the sense of wonder I experienced on that first evening with
A.A., the greatest event of my entire life.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Do I realize that I do not know how much time I have left? It may be later than I think.
Am I going to do the things that I know I should do before my time runs out? By the way,
what is my purpose for the rest of my life? Do I realize all I have to make up for in my
past wasted life? Do I know that I am living on borrowed time and that I would not have
even this much time left without A.A. and the grace of God? Am I going to make what
time I have left count for A.A.?
Meditation For The Day
We can believe that somehow the cry of the human soul is never unheard by God. It may
be that God hears the cry, even if we fail to notice God's response to it. The human cry
for help must always evoke a response of some sort from God. It may be that our failure
to discern properly keeps us unaware of the response. But one thing we can believe is
that the grace of God is always available for every human being who sincerely calls for
help. Many changed lives are living proofs of this fact.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may trust God to answer my prayer as He sees fit. I pray that I may be
content with whatever form that answer may take.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
TIME VERSUS MONEY, p. 290
Our attitude toward the giving of time when compared with our
attitude toward giving money presents an interesting contrast. We
give a lot of our time to A.A. activities for our own protection and
growth, but also for the sake of our groups, our areas, A.A. as a
whole, and, above all, the newcomer. Translated into terms of money,
these collective sacrifices would add up to a huge sum.
But when it comes to the actual spending of cash, particularly for
A.A. service overhead, many of us are apt to turn a bit reluctant. We
think of the loss of all that earning power in our drinking years, of
those sums we might have laid by for emergencies or for education
of the kids.
In recent years, this attitude is everywhere on the decline; it
quickly disappears when the real need for a given A.A. service
becomes clear. Donors can seldom see what the exact result has
been. They well know, however, that countless thousands of other
alcoholics and their families are being helped.
TWELVE CONCEPTS, pp. 63-64
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
The same situation... over and over
Growth in Maturity.
Our drinking experience should have taught us that we'll continue to repeat old destructive behaviors until we change our attitudes.
In sobriety, we can take this idea a step further and apply it to other areas. If we have trouble with other people, for example, we should ask what we're doing to bring about unpleasant situations.
This is not to say that we're responsible for everything that goes wrong, but we are getting a message ourselves if we continuously meet the same problem in different forms. Some people, for example, repeatedly become involved in bad relationships or find themselves working for abusive bosses.
Just as a changed attitude helped us recover from our drinking problem, so can a new attitude keep us from repeating other destructive situations.
I'll be on the lookout today for any indications of a tendency to "attract" trouble. It's true that I can have bad luck, but I don't need to bring it on myself.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will.---Seventeenth century proverb
We addicts used to be stubborn. Once we got an idea in our heads, we wouldn’t change it.
We didn’t listen to others ideas. We almost seemed to say, “Don’t tell me the facts. I’ve already made up my mind.”
But lately , some new ideas are making sense to us. We are starting to change our minds. Maybe we are good people, after all. Maybe we do deserve to be happy. Maybe other people can help us. Maybe our Higher Power does know best.
We’re not acting like fools any longer. We’re learning to change our old ideas.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, when I hear a better idea, help me change my mind.
Action for the Day: When I hear or read a new idea today, I’ll really think about it. If it fits, I’ll try it.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
One of the conclusions I have come to in my old age is the importance of living in the ever-present now. In the past, too often I indulged in the belief that somehow or other tomorrow would be brighter or happier or richer. --Ruth Casey
How easily our minds jump from the present to the foibles of the past or our fears about the future. How seldom are our minds on this moment, and only this moment.
Before we picked up this book, where were our thoughts? We need to practice, with diligence, returning our minds to whatever the experience at hand. A truly creative response to any situation can only be made when we are giving it our undivided attention. And each creative response initiates an even more exciting follow-up experience.
All we have of life, all that it can offer us is here, now. If we close our mind to the present, this present, we'll only continue to do so when the tomorrow we dream of now becomes the present. There are no tomorrows.
I will let go of the past and the future. My only reality is here, now. God's gifts are here, today, right now.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
Incredibly, I did not connect the improved manageability of my life in this short period of abstinence to the absence of booze. It didn't matter in the long run, because unfortunately, I started to get drunk again. I recall being fixated on that first glass of wine I was allowed to drink the day my coach informed me that I was ready to start drinking in controlled fashion. My tongue was almost hanging out.
p. 391
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
To establish this principle of membership took years of harrowing experience. In our early time, nothing seemed so fragile, so easily breakable as an A.A. group. Hardly an alcoholic we approached paid any attention; most of those who did join us were like flickering candles in a windstorm. Time after time, their uncertain flames blew out and couldn't be relighted. Our unspoken, constant thought was "Which of us may be the next?"
p. 139
************************************************** *********
I am never alone
never abandoned
never deserted
never judged
never chastised
and never without Gods aid.
--Shelley
"As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God."
Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.
--Elizabeth Harrison
Correction does much, but encouragement does more.
--Goethe
Words to live by are just words, unless you live by them. You have to walk the talk.
--Cited in BITS & PIECES
Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.
--Cited in More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES
The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to
leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
--unknown
We are never so lost that God can't find us.
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
TACT
"Tact is the art of making a
point without making an
enemy."
-- Howard W. Newton
An aspect of my recovery is not hurting people's feelings unnecessarily. I am learning
how to say what I have to say without causing offense. Today I am learning to be tactful
and respectful.
As a drunk I would say the first thing that came into my head without any regard for
the feelings of others. I was often violent with words, sarcastic with comments and
cruel in dialogue. Tact was a sign of weakness; gentleness and sensitivity were
unmanly; my power was seen in forcing people to change their minds!
Today I do not wish to be like this. Today I desire to be tactful.
Lord, let me always express my opinion respectfully.
************************************************** *********
For great is Your love higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Psalm 108:4
You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my only source of hope. Get out of my
life, you evil-minded people, for I intend to obey the commands of my God. LORD,
sustain me as you promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed. Sustain me,
and I will be saved; then I will meditate on your principles continually.
Psalm 119:114-117
Let not kindness and truth forsake thee: Bind them about thy neck; Write them upon the
tablet of thy heart.
Proverbs 3:3
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Complaining reinforces your own unhappiness. Lord, when I speak, help to say things that are worth listening to and reinforce a joyful spirit.
Life is what our thinking makes it. Lord, help me visualize myself richly living each day, believing, achieving, and then succeeding.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Tuesday's Readings
October 18
Daily Reflections
AN OPEN MIND
True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith . . .
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 33
My alcoholic thinking led me to believe that I could control my drinking, but I couldn't.
When I came to A.A., I realized that God was speaking to me through my group. My mind
was open just enough to know that I needed His help. A real, honest acceptance of A.A.
took more time, but with it came humility. I know how insane I was, and I am extremely grateful
to have my sanity restored to me and to be a sober alcoholic. The new, sober me is a much
better person than I ever could have been without A.A.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Have I got over most of my sensitiveness, my feelings which are too easily hurt, and my
just plain laziness and self-satisfaction? Am I willing to go all out for A.A. at no matter what
cost to my precious self? Is my own comfort more important to me than doing the things
that need to be done? Have I got to the point where what happens to me is not so
important? Can I face up to things that are embarrassing or uncomfortable if they are
the right things to do for the good of A.A.? Have I given A.A. just a small piece of myself?
Am I willing to give all of myself whenever necessary?
Meditation For The Day
Not until you have failed can you learn true humility. Humility arises from a deep sense of
gratitude to God for giving you the strength to rise above past failures. Humility is not
inconsistent with self-respect. The true person has self-respect and the respect of others
and yet is humble. The humble person is tolerant of other's failings, and does not have a
critical attitude toward the foibles of others. Humble people are hard on themselves and
easy on others.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be truly humble and yet have self-respect. I pray that I may see the good
in myself as well as the bad.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
WHEN CONFLICTS MOUNT, p. 289
Sometimes I would be forced to look at situations where I was
doing badly. Right away, the search for excuses would become
frantic.
"These," I would exclaim, "are really a good man's faults." When
that pet gadget broke apart, I would think, "Well, if those people
would only treat me right, I wouldn't have to behave the way I
do." Next was this: "God well knows that I do have awful
compulsions. I just can't get over this one. So He will have to
release me." At last came the time when I would shout, "This, I
positively will not do! I won't even try."
Of course, my conflicts went right on mounting, because I was
simply loaded with excuses, refusals, and outright rebellion.
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Those who want it, Not those who need it.
Honest Desire
In the first bloom of sobriety, many recovering people confront drinking companions who also "need" the program. They're often surprised and disillusion when efforts to help their friends are rejected... sometimes curtly.
We're truly limited to helping those who desire recovery, not those who we think need it. Though intervention methods can be effective, we're still largely helpless to assist those who don't desire recovery.
We regret that we really have no answers for the millions who perish from alcoholism, unaware of their problem. We also can hold out little hope that any future recovery attempts will succeed without the individual alcoholic's cooperation.
Desire..... a personal determination and decision.... is necessary for almost any kind of change. We have the freedom to choose in many areas of our lives, and alcoholics must eventually choose recovery in order to find and maintain it.
Though I'd love to see others recover, I must accept the fact that their personal desire and choice is necessary. I'll remember this if any opportunities arise today to carry the message.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
When people bother you in any way, it is because their souls are trying to get your divine attention and your blessing.
--Catherine Ponder
We are in constant communication with one another and with God in the spiritual realm. No matter how singular our particular course may appear, our path is running parallel to many paths. And all paths will intersect when the need is present. The point of intersection is the moment when another soul seeks our attention. We can be attentive and loving to the people seeking our attention. Their growth and ours is at stake,
We can be grateful for our involvement with other lives. We can be mindful that our particular blessing is like no one else's and that we all need input from the many significant persons in our lives. There is no insignificant encounter in our passage through life. Each juncture with someone else is part of the destiny of both participants.
I will look carefully and lovingly at the people around me today and bless them, one and all. They are in my life because they need to be. I, likewise, need them.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
I thought I had found part of the answer when I stumbled into a private controlled-drinking program, which helped me, during the initial thirty-day mandatory period of abstinence, to hook a very large rug, row by row, well into many late nights. "One more row!" I kept saying, gritting my teeth against a drink. My period of abstinence also helped me get a better job in the corporate world, away from all those hard-drinking criminal lawyers, and a new three-story, four-bedroom house. Just what every single woman needs! It helped me to quit the psychiatrist. During this abstinence, I also got out of a sick relationship, which reproduced the violence of my childhood.
p. 391
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
This Tradition is packed with meaning. For A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker, "You are an A.A. member if you say so. You can declare yourself in; nobody can keep you out. No matter who you are, no matter how low you've gone, no matter how grave your emotional complications - even your crimes - we still can't deny you A.A. We don't want to keep you out. We aren't a bit afraid you'll harm us, never mind how twisted or violent you may be. We just want to be sure that you get the same great chance for sobriety that we've had. So you're an A.A. member the minute you declare yourself."
p. 139
************************************************** *********
"To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at
yourself is maturity."
--William A. Ward
To remain young while growing old is the highest blessing.
--German Proverb
"Make rest a necessity, not an objective."
--Jim Rohn
"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action."
--Benjamin Disraeli
"The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post."
--L. Thomas Holdcroft
"Once you say you are going to settle for second, that's what happens to you."
--John F. Kennedy
Friends are the sunshine of life.
--John Hay
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WORSHIP
"Our concern is not how to
worship in the catacombs but
how to remain human in the
skyscrapers."
-- Abraham Heschel
Worship requires the discovery of "true worth" in my own life. True worship is not only
historical and traditional but also contemporary. I need to discover not only the God of
yesterday, but also the God of the modern city.
My past addiction to fantasy often made me place God in an unreal world. I was happy
talking about the Jews, Roman and Philistines but I missed God in Las Vegas, on
freeways and in local politics.
God is alive in His world, and it is tragic to make Him a prisoner of history.
Let me find You in the place where I live.
************************************************** *********
He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm and He guided them to their desired haven.
Psalm 107:29-30
"You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of
the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday."
Psalm 91:5-6
"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new
person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do,
and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is."
Romans 12:2
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
It is hard to be upset with yourself when you are being nice to someone else. Lord, bless me with a giving spirit be I know that all I give comes back to shine on me in many different ways.
With our blessings come responsibilities. Much is required of those to whom much has been given. Lord, may I use my blessings to be a blessing to others.
Daily Reflections
AN OPEN MIND
True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith . . .
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 33
My alcoholic thinking led me to believe that I could control my drinking, but I couldn't.
When I came to A.A., I realized that God was speaking to me through my group. My mind
was open just enough to know that I needed His help. A real, honest acceptance of A.A.
took more time, but with it came humility. I know how insane I was, and I am extremely grateful
to have my sanity restored to me and to be a sober alcoholic. The new, sober me is a much
better person than I ever could have been without A.A.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Have I got over most of my sensitiveness, my feelings which are too easily hurt, and my
just plain laziness and self-satisfaction? Am I willing to go all out for A.A. at no matter what
cost to my precious self? Is my own comfort more important to me than doing the things
that need to be done? Have I got to the point where what happens to me is not so
important? Can I face up to things that are embarrassing or uncomfortable if they are
the right things to do for the good of A.A.? Have I given A.A. just a small piece of myself?
Am I willing to give all of myself whenever necessary?
Meditation For The Day
Not until you have failed can you learn true humility. Humility arises from a deep sense of
gratitude to God for giving you the strength to rise above past failures. Humility is not
inconsistent with self-respect. The true person has self-respect and the respect of others
and yet is humble. The humble person is tolerant of other's failings, and does not have a
critical attitude toward the foibles of others. Humble people are hard on themselves and
easy on others.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be truly humble and yet have self-respect. I pray that I may see the good
in myself as well as the bad.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
WHEN CONFLICTS MOUNT, p. 289
Sometimes I would be forced to look at situations where I was
doing badly. Right away, the search for excuses would become
frantic.
"These," I would exclaim, "are really a good man's faults." When
that pet gadget broke apart, I would think, "Well, if those people
would only treat me right, I wouldn't have to behave the way I
do." Next was this: "God well knows that I do have awful
compulsions. I just can't get over this one. So He will have to
release me." At last came the time when I would shout, "This, I
positively will not do! I won't even try."
Of course, my conflicts went right on mounting, because I was
simply loaded with excuses, refusals, and outright rebellion.
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Those who want it, Not those who need it.
Honest Desire
In the first bloom of sobriety, many recovering people confront drinking companions who also "need" the program. They're often surprised and disillusion when efforts to help their friends are rejected... sometimes curtly.
We're truly limited to helping those who desire recovery, not those who we think need it. Though intervention methods can be effective, we're still largely helpless to assist those who don't desire recovery.
We regret that we really have no answers for the millions who perish from alcoholism, unaware of their problem. We also can hold out little hope that any future recovery attempts will succeed without the individual alcoholic's cooperation.
Desire..... a personal determination and decision.... is necessary for almost any kind of change. We have the freedom to choose in many areas of our lives, and alcoholics must eventually choose recovery in order to find and maintain it.
Though I'd love to see others recover, I must accept the fact that their personal desire and choice is necessary. I'll remember this if any opportunities arise today to carry the message.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
When people bother you in any way, it is because their souls are trying to get your divine attention and your blessing.
--Catherine Ponder
We are in constant communication with one another and with God in the spiritual realm. No matter how singular our particular course may appear, our path is running parallel to many paths. And all paths will intersect when the need is present. The point of intersection is the moment when another soul seeks our attention. We can be attentive and loving to the people seeking our attention. Their growth and ours is at stake,
We can be grateful for our involvement with other lives. We can be mindful that our particular blessing is like no one else's and that we all need input from the many significant persons in our lives. There is no insignificant encounter in our passage through life. Each juncture with someone else is part of the destiny of both participants.
I will look carefully and lovingly at the people around me today and bless them, one and all. They are in my life because they need to be. I, likewise, need them.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
I thought I had found part of the answer when I stumbled into a private controlled-drinking program, which helped me, during the initial thirty-day mandatory period of abstinence, to hook a very large rug, row by row, well into many late nights. "One more row!" I kept saying, gritting my teeth against a drink. My period of abstinence also helped me get a better job in the corporate world, away from all those hard-drinking criminal lawyers, and a new three-story, four-bedroom house. Just what every single woman needs! It helped me to quit the psychiatrist. During this abstinence, I also got out of a sick relationship, which reproduced the violence of my childhood.
p. 391
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
This Tradition is packed with meaning. For A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker, "You are an A.A. member if you say so. You can declare yourself in; nobody can keep you out. No matter who you are, no matter how low you've gone, no matter how grave your emotional complications - even your crimes - we still can't deny you A.A. We don't want to keep you out. We aren't a bit afraid you'll harm us, never mind how twisted or violent you may be. We just want to be sure that you get the same great chance for sobriety that we've had. So you're an A.A. member the minute you declare yourself."
p. 139
************************************************** *********
"To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at
yourself is maturity."
--William A. Ward
To remain young while growing old is the highest blessing.
--German Proverb
"Make rest a necessity, not an objective."
--Jim Rohn
"Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action."
--Benjamin Disraeli
"The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post."
--L. Thomas Holdcroft
"Once you say you are going to settle for second, that's what happens to you."
--John F. Kennedy
Friends are the sunshine of life.
--John Hay
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WORSHIP
"Our concern is not how to
worship in the catacombs but
how to remain human in the
skyscrapers."
-- Abraham Heschel
Worship requires the discovery of "true worth" in my own life. True worship is not only
historical and traditional but also contemporary. I need to discover not only the God of
yesterday, but also the God of the modern city.
My past addiction to fantasy often made me place God in an unreal world. I was happy
talking about the Jews, Roman and Philistines but I missed God in Las Vegas, on
freeways and in local politics.
God is alive in His world, and it is tragic to make Him a prisoner of history.
Let me find You in the place where I live.
************************************************** *********
He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm and He guided them to their desired haven.
Psalm 107:29-30
"You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of
the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday."
Psalm 91:5-6
"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new
person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do,
and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is."
Romans 12:2
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
It is hard to be upset with yourself when you are being nice to someone else. Lord, bless me with a giving spirit be I know that all I give comes back to shine on me in many different ways.
With our blessings come responsibilities. Much is required of those to whom much has been given. Lord, may I use my blessings to be a blessing to others.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Today's Readings
October 17
Daily Reflections
A DAILY TUNE-UP
Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will
into all of our activities.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85
How do I maintain my spiritual condition? For me it's quite simple:
on a daily basis I ask my Higher Power to grant me the gift of
sobriety for that day! I have talked to many alcoholics who have
gone back to drinking and I always ask them: "Did you pray for
sobriety the day you took your first drink?" Not one of them said
yes. As I practice Step Ten and try to keep my house in order on
a daily basis, I have the knowledge that if I ask for a daily
reprieve, it will be granted.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
What am I going to do today for A.A.? Is there someone I should
call up on the telephone or someone I should go to see? Is there
a letter I should write? Is there an opportunity somewhere to
advance the work of A.A. which I have been putting off or
neglecting? If so, will I do it today? Will I be done with
procrastination and do what I have to do today? Tomorrow may
be too late. How do I know there will be a tomorrow for me?
How about getting out of my easy chair and getting going? Do I
feel that A.A. depends partly on me today?
Meditation For The Day
Today look upward toward God, not downward toward yourself. Look
away from unpleasant surroundings, from lack of beauty, from the
imperfections in yourself and in those around you. In your
unrest, behold God's calmness; in your impatience, God's
patience; in your limitations, God's perfection. Looking upward
toward God, your spirit will begin to grow. Then others will
see something in you that they also want. As you grow in the
spiritual life, you will be enabled to do many things that seemed too
hard for you before.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may keep my eyes trained above the horizon of
myself. I pray that I may see infinite possibilities for spiritual growth.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
EMOTIONAL SOBRIETY, p. 288
If we examine every disturbance we have, great or small, we will
find at the root of it some unhealthy dependency and its
consequent unhealthy demand. Let us, with God's help,
continually surrender these hobbling liabilities.
Then we can be set free to live and love; we may then be able to
twelfth-step ourselves, as well as others, into emotional sobriety.
GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1958
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Driven by Fear
Finding courage.
During any group discussion of fear, someone usually points out that it serves a protective purpose by keeping us out of harm's way.
With the type of fear that drove us, however, we more often fled into further harm while trying to avoid the threats at hand. No person whose fear reaches a panic stage can effectively control his or her actions.
We cannot expect sobriety alone to make us exempt from fear. What it can do is give us an ability to handle our fear constructively.
There are steps to doing this. FIRST, we should not be too prideful to admit that fear can come to us. SECOND, we should admit it when we do feel fear. THIRD, we can discuss our fear with others while turning it over to our Higher Power.
It would be wonderful if these steps then lifted us above any sense of fear. Even if this doesn't happen completely, we've succeeded in mastering our problems if we don't let fear drives us to work against ourselves. If I am afraid to give a presentation for work or go for a job interview, for example, I am being driven into inaction. This must no be allowed to happen.
I can find courage today in the Twelve Step program. This will enable me to act properly and responsibly, even if I'm a bit queasy with fear.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Every child is an artist. The problem is remain an artist once your grow up.---Pablo Picasso
We each have colorful ideas waiting to be shared. We’re alive inside. But do we let this side of us show? Our disease stole much of the child like openness. Many of us were taught that growing up meant denying the child within us. Many of us grew up in homes where it wasn’t safe to act alive and creative. Whatever the reason, it’s time to claim the child, the artist, in each of us. Each of our programs is different, and each has its artistic touch. When we tell our stories, we share our life. And our lives are unique and alive. The more alive we become, the more color we bring to others and ourselves. Let’s not be afraid to add color to our lives.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me claim the child inside of me. Joy is choice. Help me choose it.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll work at not hiding myself from others. I’ll be alive, and I’ll greet everyone I meet with the openness of a child.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
Pride, we are told, my children, "goeth before a fall" and oh, the pride was there, and so the fall was not far away.
--Wilhelmina Kemp Johnstone
Requesting help. Admitting we are wrong. Owning our mistake in either a big or small matter. Asking for another chance or someone's love. All very difficult to do, and yet necessary if we are to grow. The difficulty is our pride, the big ego. We think, "We need to always be right. If we're wrong, then others may think less of us, look down on us, and question our worth." Perfectionism versus worthlessness.
If we are not perfect (and of course we never are), then we must be worthless. In between these two points on the scale is "being human." Our emotional growth, as women, is equal to how readily we accept our humanness, how able we are to be wrong. With humility comes a softness that smoothes our every experience, our every relationship. Pride makes us hard, keeps us hard, keeps others away, and sets us up for the fall.
I will let myself be human today. It will soften my vision of life.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
Unfortunately, by the time we thought it was time to have a "real life" and maybe start a family, the marriage disintegrated. I was then twenty-eight years old, getting divorced, drinking all the time, and seeing a psychiatrist three times a week, trying to solve my problem, whatever it was.
p. 391
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
"So spoke the group conscience. The group was right and I was wrong; the voice on the subway was not the voice of God. Here was the true voice, welling up out of my friends. I listened, and - thank God - I obeyed."
p. 138
************************************************** *********
Acceptance does not mean that I have to agree, I don't have to approve, I don't even
have to like it. I just have to accept.
--unknown
"I can forgive, but I can not forget" is only another way of saying, "I will not forgive."
Forgiveness ought to be like a cancel note - torn in two and burned up so that it never
can be shown against one.
--Henry Ward Beecher
To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee.
--William H. Walton
Life is not always what one wants it to be, but to make the best of it as it is, is the only
way of being happy.
--Jennie Jerome Churchill
Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have.
--Doris Mortman
Ask not that events should happen as you will, but let your will be that events should
happen as they do, and you shall have peace.
--Epicetus
God's word refreshes our minds; God's spirit renews our strength.
--unknown
God is all-knowing, righteous, longsuffering, all powerful, and good."
--unknown
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PROGRESS
You've got to be a fool to want to stop the march of time."
--Pierre Renoir
My fear of the future gave me a fear of change. My need to control made me avoid
any new or confusing ideas. My alcoholism wanted me to escape and hide in the
past--tomorrow was too fearful to be contemplated. At other times--and this is why
alcohol is cunning, baffling and powerful--I would want to escape into tomorrow
and avoid the reality of today.
Time and reality were to be "played with" rather than experienced. But time moves
on, it progresses just like the disease, and if I am to be a winner in this world, I need to
move with it. God is to be experienced in the march of time and today I want to be in
a relationship with God.
Teach me to respect time as an opportunity for growth.
************************************************** *********
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.
Psalm 107:19
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we
are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us
an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but
on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Your principles have been the music of my life throughout the years of my pilgrimage. I
reflect at night on who you are, O LORD, and I obey your law because of this. This is my
happy way of life: obeying your commandments.
Psalm 119:54-56
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Mistakes are often a great source of learning. Lord, may I treat myself kindly when I appear to fall short of my expectations and anticipate the goodness that often is not very obvious.
The source of courage is having a deep sense of God's presence and hearing Him say, "I am with you always.". Lord, You are my solution. You are with me always giving me all that I need.
Daily Reflections
A DAILY TUNE-UP
Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will
into all of our activities.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85
How do I maintain my spiritual condition? For me it's quite simple:
on a daily basis I ask my Higher Power to grant me the gift of
sobriety for that day! I have talked to many alcoholics who have
gone back to drinking and I always ask them: "Did you pray for
sobriety the day you took your first drink?" Not one of them said
yes. As I practice Step Ten and try to keep my house in order on
a daily basis, I have the knowledge that if I ask for a daily
reprieve, it will be granted.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
What am I going to do today for A.A.? Is there someone I should
call up on the telephone or someone I should go to see? Is there
a letter I should write? Is there an opportunity somewhere to
advance the work of A.A. which I have been putting off or
neglecting? If so, will I do it today? Will I be done with
procrastination and do what I have to do today? Tomorrow may
be too late. How do I know there will be a tomorrow for me?
How about getting out of my easy chair and getting going? Do I
feel that A.A. depends partly on me today?
Meditation For The Day
Today look upward toward God, not downward toward yourself. Look
away from unpleasant surroundings, from lack of beauty, from the
imperfections in yourself and in those around you. In your
unrest, behold God's calmness; in your impatience, God's
patience; in your limitations, God's perfection. Looking upward
toward God, your spirit will begin to grow. Then others will
see something in you that they also want. As you grow in the
spiritual life, you will be enabled to do many things that seemed too
hard for you before.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may keep my eyes trained above the horizon of
myself. I pray that I may see infinite possibilities for spiritual growth.
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As Bill Sees It
EMOTIONAL SOBRIETY, p. 288
If we examine every disturbance we have, great or small, we will
find at the root of it some unhealthy dependency and its
consequent unhealthy demand. Let us, with God's help,
continually surrender these hobbling liabilities.
Then we can be set free to live and love; we may then be able to
twelfth-step ourselves, as well as others, into emotional sobriety.
GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1958
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Walk In Dry Places
Driven by Fear
Finding courage.
During any group discussion of fear, someone usually points out that it serves a protective purpose by keeping us out of harm's way.
With the type of fear that drove us, however, we more often fled into further harm while trying to avoid the threats at hand. No person whose fear reaches a panic stage can effectively control his or her actions.
We cannot expect sobriety alone to make us exempt from fear. What it can do is give us an ability to handle our fear constructively.
There are steps to doing this. FIRST, we should not be too prideful to admit that fear can come to us. SECOND, we should admit it when we do feel fear. THIRD, we can discuss our fear with others while turning it over to our Higher Power.
It would be wonderful if these steps then lifted us above any sense of fear. Even if this doesn't happen completely, we've succeeded in mastering our problems if we don't let fear drives us to work against ourselves. If I am afraid to give a presentation for work or go for a job interview, for example, I am being driven into inaction. This must no be allowed to happen.
I can find courage today in the Twelve Step program. This will enable me to act properly and responsibly, even if I'm a bit queasy with fear.
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Keep It Simple
Every child is an artist. The problem is remain an artist once your grow up.---Pablo Picasso
We each have colorful ideas waiting to be shared. We’re alive inside. But do we let this side of us show? Our disease stole much of the child like openness. Many of us were taught that growing up meant denying the child within us. Many of us grew up in homes where it wasn’t safe to act alive and creative. Whatever the reason, it’s time to claim the child, the artist, in each of us. Each of our programs is different, and each has its artistic touch. When we tell our stories, we share our life. And our lives are unique and alive. The more alive we become, the more color we bring to others and ourselves. Let’s not be afraid to add color to our lives.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me claim the child inside of me. Joy is choice. Help me choose it.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll work at not hiding myself from others. I’ll be alive, and I’ll greet everyone I meet with the openness of a child.
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Each Day a New Beginning
Pride, we are told, my children, "goeth before a fall" and oh, the pride was there, and so the fall was not far away.
--Wilhelmina Kemp Johnstone
Requesting help. Admitting we are wrong. Owning our mistake in either a big or small matter. Asking for another chance or someone's love. All very difficult to do, and yet necessary if we are to grow. The difficulty is our pride, the big ego. We think, "We need to always be right. If we're wrong, then others may think less of us, look down on us, and question our worth." Perfectionism versus worthlessness.
If we are not perfect (and of course we never are), then we must be worthless. In between these two points on the scale is "being human." Our emotional growth, as women, is equal to how readily we accept our humanness, how able we are to be wrong. With humility comes a softness that smoothes our every experience, our every relationship. Pride makes us hard, keeps us hard, keeps others away, and sets us up for the fall.
I will let myself be human today. It will soften my vision of life.
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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
THE PERPETUAL QUEST - This lawyer tried psychiatrists. biofeedback, relaxation exercises, and a host of other techniques to control her drinking. She finally found a solution, uniquely tailored, in the Twelve Steps.
Unfortunately, by the time we thought it was time to have a "real life" and maybe start a family, the marriage disintegrated. I was then twenty-eight years old, getting divorced, drinking all the time, and seeing a psychiatrist three times a week, trying to solve my problem, whatever it was.
p. 391
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
"So spoke the group conscience. The group was right and I was wrong; the voice on the subway was not the voice of God. Here was the true voice, welling up out of my friends. I listened, and - thank God - I obeyed."
p. 138
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Acceptance does not mean that I have to agree, I don't have to approve, I don't even
have to like it. I just have to accept.
--unknown
"I can forgive, but I can not forget" is only another way of saying, "I will not forgive."
Forgiveness ought to be like a cancel note - torn in two and burned up so that it never
can be shown against one.
--Henry Ward Beecher
To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee.
--William H. Walton
Life is not always what one wants it to be, but to make the best of it as it is, is the only
way of being happy.
--Jennie Jerome Churchill
Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have.
--Doris Mortman
Ask not that events should happen as you will, but let your will be that events should
happen as they do, and you shall have peace.
--Epicetus
God's word refreshes our minds; God's spirit renews our strength.
--unknown
God is all-knowing, righteous, longsuffering, all powerful, and good."
--unknown
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Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PROGRESS
You've got to be a fool to want to stop the march of time."
--Pierre Renoir
My fear of the future gave me a fear of change. My need to control made me avoid
any new or confusing ideas. My alcoholism wanted me to escape and hide in the
past--tomorrow was too fearful to be contemplated. At other times--and this is why
alcohol is cunning, baffling and powerful--I would want to escape into tomorrow
and avoid the reality of today.
Time and reality were to be "played with" rather than experienced. But time moves
on, it progresses just like the disease, and if I am to be a winner in this world, I need to
move with it. God is to be experienced in the march of time and today I want to be in
a relationship with God.
Teach me to respect time as an opportunity for growth.
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Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.
Psalm 107:19
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we
are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us
an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but
on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Your principles have been the music of my life throughout the years of my pilgrimage. I
reflect at night on who you are, O LORD, and I obey your law because of this. This is my
happy way of life: obeying your commandments.
Psalm 119:54-56
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Daily Inspiration
Mistakes are often a great source of learning. Lord, may I treat myself kindly when I appear to fall short of my expectations and anticipate the goodness that often is not very obvious.
The source of courage is having a deep sense of God's presence and hearing Him say, "I am with you always.". Lord, You are my solution. You are with me always giving me all that I need.
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