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Daily Recovery Readings - December
December 1
Daily Reflections "SUGGESTED" STEPS Our Twelfth Step also says that as a result of practicing all the Steps, we have each found something called a spiritual awakening. . . . A.A.'s manner of making ready to receive this gift lies in the practice of the Twelve Steps in our program." TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 106-07 I remember my sponsor's answer when I told him that the Steps were "suggested." He replied that they are "suggested" in the same way that, if you were to jump out of a airplane with a parachute, it is "suggested" that you pull the ripcord to save your life. He pointed out that it was "suggested" I practice the Twelve Steps, if I wanted to save my life. So I try to remember daily that I have a whole program of recovery based on all Twelve of the "suggested" Steps. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The thoughts that come before having a slip are often largely subconscious. It is a question whether or not our subconscious minds ever become entirely free from alcoholic thoughts as long as we live. For instance, some of us dream about being drunk when we are asleep, even after several years of sobriety in A.A. During the period of our drinking days, our subconscious minds have been thoroughly conditioned by our alcoholic way of thinking and it is doubtful that they ever become entirely free of such thoughts during our lifetime. But when our conscious minds are fully conditioned against drinking, we can stay sober and our subconscious minds do not often bother us. Am I still conditioning my conscious mind? Meditation For The Day Having sympathy and compassion for all who are in temptation, a condition which we are sometimes in, we have a responsibility towards them. Sympathy always includes responsibility. Pity is useless because it does not have a remedy for the need. But wherever our sympathy goes, our responsibility goes too. When we are moved with compassion, we should go to the one in need and bind up his wounds as best we can. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may have sympathy for those in temptation. I pray that I may have compassion for others' trials. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Quantity or Quality, p. 11 "About this slip business--I would not be too discouraged. I think you are suffering a great deal from a needless guilt. For some reason or other, the Lord has laid out tougher paths for some of us, and I guess you are treading one of them. God is not asking us to be successful. He is only asking us to try to be. That, you surely are doing, and have been doing. So I would not stay away from A.A. through any feeling of discouragement or shame. It's just the place you should be. Why don't you try just as a member? You don't have to carry the whole A.A. on your back, you know! "It is not always the quantity of good things that you do, it is also the quality that counts. "Above all, take it one day at a time." Letter, 1958 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Why do bad things happen? Understanding life No one has been able to explain why pain and misfortune must be part of the human condition. Bad things can and do happen to everybody, and sometimes there's no way to explain it. Even in sobriety, AA members have misfortunes---times when it appears that God is hiding. We even hear members share such experiences at meetings. Many of us have found ways to use misfortunes constructively, however, by seeing how the program helps us deal with it. In some cases---but not all---we even learn that a misfortune was a disguised blessing. Most important, by using the program, we are eliminating the drinking that has been the cause of many misfortunes in our lives. That alone makes our immediate world a much better place for everyone. My life today can be both easy and hard. It gives me great comfort to know that I am not making conditions worse for myself and others. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps---First part of Step Twelve. We are awake! Our spirits are alive. We are part of the world. Our addiction no longer clouds our vision. How? Step Twelve answers this. The beauty of Step Twelve is that if we feel our spirits starting to go dead, we know how to awaken them. It's simple. Turn to the Steps. After all, working the Steps has awakened our spirits. The hope and serenity we feel are gifts given to us through the Steps of our program. And the more we turn to the Steps for help, the more life we'll feel. The Steps are what feed and heal our souls. Prayer for the Day Higher Power: Thank you for the Steps. If I start to believe it is I who keeps me sober, remind me of my life before the Twelve Steps. Action for the Day: Today, I'll read the Twelve Steps. I'll think of how each Step helped awaken my spirit. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning And it isn't the thing you do, dear, It's the thing you leave undone Which gives you a bit of a heartache At the setting of the sun. --Margaret Sangster A quality we all share, a very human quality, is to expect perfection from ourselves, to expect the impossible in all tasks done. We must rejoice for the good we do. Each time we pat ourselves on the back for a job well done, our confidence grows a little bit more. Recovery is best measured by our emotional and spiritual health, expressed in our apparent confidence and trust in "the process." We need to recognize and celebrate our strong points, and they'll gain even more strength. Likewise, we need to practice prayer and listening to guidance first to develop our ties to God, but more importantly to be able to acknowledge when help is at hand. We can do all we need to do with God's help. Having goals but keeping them realistic, for the day or the year, is a sign of emotional health. Not dwelling on those that can't be accomplished, at the moment, is another sign. A change of attitude is all most of us need to move from where we are to a better place emotionally. There's never a better time than right now for rejoicing over what I've done. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY It relieved me somewhat to learn that in alcoholics the will is amazingly weakened when it comes to combating liquor, though it often remains strong in other respects. My incredible behavior in the face of a desperate desire to stop was explained. Understanding myself now, I fared forth in high hope. For three or four months the goose hung high. I went to town regularly and even made a little money. Surely this was the answer-self-knowledge. p. 7 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" It is the last day of the following October, a dark, rainy morning. I come to in a pile of hay in a barn. I look for liquor and can't find any. I wander to a stable and drink five bottles of beer. I must get some liquor. Suddenly I feel hopeless, unable to go on. I go home. My wife is in the living room. She had looked for me last evening after I left the car and wandered off into the night. She had looked for me this morning. She has reached the end of her rope. There is no use trying any more, for there is nothing to try. "Don't say anything," I say to her. "I am going to do something." p. 213 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs." In the years since, however, most of us have come to agree with those doctors. We have had a much keener look at ourselves and those about us. We have seen that we were prodded by unreasonable fears or anxieties into making a life business of winning fame, money, and what we thought was leadership. So false pride became the reverse side of that ruinous coin marked "Fear." We simply had to be number one people to cover up our deep-lying inferiorities. In fitful successes we boasted of greater feats to be done; in defeat we were bitter. If we didn't have much of any worldly success we became depressed and cowed. Then people said we were of the "inferior" type. But now we see ourselves as chips off the same old block. At heart we had all been abnormally fearful. It mattered little whether we had sat on the shore of life drinking ourselves into forgetfulness or had plunged in recklessly and willfully beyond our depth and ability. The result was the same--all of us had nearly perished in a sea of alcohol. pp. 123-124 ************************************************** ********* "Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship." --Benjamin Franklin "There are no gains without pains." --Benjamin Franklin Kindness is more than deeds. It is an attitude, an expression, a look, a touch. It is anything that lifts another person. --C. Neil Strait Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much. --Blaise Pascal "It is a sign of strength, not of weakness, to admit that you don't know all the answers." --John P. Loughrane "What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity." --Joseph Addison ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation GOSSIP "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss wants, small minds discuss people." -- Laurence J. Peter Gossip is ultimately a form of malicious cowardice. It is a "blasphemy" because it seeks to denigrate the human being that God has made in His image. As a practicing alcoholic I was a gossip. I exaggerated and manipulated the truth with my gossip. I made up stories against those people I had a resentment towards; innocent people were abused and victimized by my gossip. Also I loved listening to gossip. The listener plays an important role in the life of "gossip" because without the listener it could not exist. It takes two to gossip! Today gossip is unacceptable behavior in my program. ************************************************** ********* But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. James 2:18 "If I say I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression and smile." Job 9:27 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Accept yourself for who you are because who you are has a purpose and an important reason for being. Lord, Your love for me makes me special and lovable. Take care of yourself so that you may give care to others. Lord, may I never totally ignore myself and my feelings for the sake of others and fit in time daily to refresh my spirit. |
December 2
Daily Reflections SERENITY Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, . . . TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 106 As I continued to go to meetings and work the Steps, something began to happen to me. I felt confused because I wasn't sure what it was that I was feeling, and then I realized I was experiencing serenity. It was a good feeling, but where had it come from? Then I realized it had come ". . .as the result of these steps." The program may not always be easy to practice, but I had to acknowledge that my serenity had come to me after working the Steps. As I work the Steps in everything I do, practicing these principles in all my affairs, now I find that I am awake to God, to others, and to myself. The spiritual awakening I have enjoyed as the result of working the Steps is the awareness that I am no longer alone. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The thoughts that come before having a slip seem to be partly subconscious. And yet it is likely that at least part of these thoughts get into our consciousness. An idle thought connected with drinking casually pops into our mind. That is the crucial moment. Will I harbor that thought even for one minute or will I banish it from my mind at once? If I let it stay, it may develop into a daydream. I may begin to see a cool glass of beer or a Manhattan cocktail in my mind's eye. If I allow the daydream to stay in my mind, it may lead to a decision, however unconscious, to take a drink. Then I am headed for a slip. Do I let myself daydream? Meditation For The Day Many of us have a sort of vision of the kind of person God wants us to be. We must be true to that vision, whatever it is, and we must try to live up to it, by living the way we believe we should live. We can all believe that God has a vision of what He wants us to be like. In all people there is a good person whom God sees in us, the person we could be and that God would like us to be. But many a person fails to fulfill that promise and God's disappointments must be many. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may strive to be the kind of a person that God would have me be. I pray that I may try to fulfill God's vision of what I could be. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Renew Your Effort, p. 68 "Though I know how hurt and sorry you must be after this slip, please do not worry about a temporary loss of your inner peace. As calmly as you can, just renew your effort in the A.A. program, especially those parts of it which have to do with meditation and self-analysis. "Could I also suggest that you look at excessive guilt for what it is? Nothing but a sort of reverse pride. A decent regret for what has happened is fine. But guilt--no. "Indeed, the slip could well have been brought about by unreasonable feelings of guilt because of other moral failures, so called. Surely, you ought to look into this possibility. Even here you should not blame yourself for failure; you can be penalized only for refusing to try for better things." Letter, 1958 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Bringing Projects to Completion. Fortitude Starting projects without completing them can be part of our alcoholic nature. It's related to immaturity and a tendency to become bored and discouraged quickly. The 12 Step program can help us overcome this problem. First, we realize and admit to such tendencies, fearlessly facing what has really been a very bad habit. Then we become honest about our motives. We realize that we didn't actually have the abiding interest that would have helped us complete some projects. In such cases, the projects never should have been started... and in the future we'll take are not to embark on similar projects. When something does need to be completed, the program will help us stay with it until it's done. We will always find that the satisfaction of completing a necessary project will be part of sober living. We'll also know that we're growing in the program. I'll take the necessary steps today to move any project toward completion. This will also help with future projects. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple ...we tried to carry this message to alcoholics...--Second part of Step 12. In this part of Step 12, we carry the message of hope. But it's not up to us if anyone accepts the message or not. This keeps us from playing God. We just gently deliver the message. We don't force the program down people's throats. In general, Step Twelve tells us, “Be helpful to those we can help.” When a neighbor is sick, mow her lawn. When a friend is in the hospital, visit him. Step Twelve reminds us that we make a difference. We have hope to give the world. And hope is what we stand for to the addict who still suffers. Hope is what we stand for to the addict's family. How beautiful to stand for hope! Remember when our lives stood for despair?? What a change! Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me shine brightly as a symbol of Your hope. Action for the Day: Today, I'll help someone in need. It may be an alcoholic or other drug addict, or just someone in need. I'll help make the world a better place. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning The old woman I shall become will be quite different from the woman I am now. Another I is beginning . . . --George Sand Change is constant. And we are always becoming. Each chance, each feeling, each responsibility we commit ourselves to adds to the richness of our womanhood. We are not yesterday's woman, today. Our new awarenesses have brought us beyond her. And we can't go back without knowing, somehow, that she no longer meets the needs of today. We can look forward to our changes, to the older woman we are becoming. She will have the wisdom that we still lack. She will have learned to live and let live. She will have acquired, through years of experiences, a perspective that lends sanity to all situations. The lessons we are learning today, the pain that overwhelms us now and again, are nurturing the developing woman within each of us. If only we could accept the lessons and master them. If only we could trust the gift of change that accompanies the pain. I am becoming. And with the becoming, comes peace. I can sense it today. I know where I was yesterday. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY But it was not, for the frightful day came when I drank once more. The curve of my declining moral and bodily health fell off like a ski-jump. After a time I returned to the hospital. This was the finish, the curtain, it seemed to me. My weary and despairing wife was informed that it would all end with heart failure during delirium tremens, or I would soon have to give me over to the undertaker or the asylum. p. 7 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" I am in the hospital for alcoholics. I am an alcoholic. The insane asylum lies ahead. Could I have myself locked up at home? One more foolish idea. I might go out West on a ranch where I couldn't get anything to drink. I might do that. Another foolish idea. I wish I were dead, as I have often wished before. I am too yellow to kill myself. p. 213 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs." But today, in well-matured A.A.'s, these distorted drives have been restored to something like their true purpose and direction. We no longer strive to dominate or rule those about us in order to gain self-importance. We no longer seek fame and honor in order to be praised. When by devoted service to family, friends, business, or community we attract widespread affection and are sometimes singled out for posts of greater responsibility and trust, we try to be humbly grateful and exert ourselves the more in a spirit of love and service. True leadership, we find, depends upon able example and not upon vain displays of power or glory. p. 124 ************************************************** ********* Destroying pride -- man becomes endearing; Destroying anger -- man gets rid of sorrow; Destroying desire -- man acquires peace; Destroying greed -- man achieves happiness. --Satya Sai Baba Whoever seeks God . . . has already found God. --unknown It's never too late to begin making an effort. --unknown When you find yourself rundown from life, pace yourself and take a refreshing break. --unknown BIG BOOK – Believing In God Beats Our Old Knowledge WILLING – When I Live Life, I Need God ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation PROBLEMS "The certainties of one age are the problems of the next." -- R. H. Tawney Life is a process of change that inevitably produces problems; the fear of the new, the discomfort of old values being seen to be wrong, the confusion that so often accompanies growth. Problems are part of life and we can only escape them in death. (Even then nobody can be sure we will be free of problems!) As an alcoholic I tried to run away from my problems by drinking. But the next day the old problems were still there and my drinking had usually brought new problems. Alcohol only produced a momentary escape but reality always returned. Today, with the acceptance of my alcoholism and my decision not to "pick up the first drink", I face my problems. I deal with my problems. I live with the problems of life. Teach me to accept joyously the problems that life and growth inevitably bring. ************************************************** ********* "But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear." Matthew 13:16 "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Life will be so much easier if you can accept that things don't always go as planned and see that these are often magnificent opportunities. Lord, help me learn from the occurences of today that seem to go awry and show me how to make the situation better through my own flexibility and creativity. Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing. Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day. |
December 3
Daily Reflections IN ALL OUR AFFAIRS . . . . we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 106 I find that carrying the message of recovery to other alcoholics is easy because it helps me to stay sober and it provides me with a sense of well-being about my own recovery. The hard part is practicing these principles in all my affairs. It is important that I share the benefits I receive from A.A., especially at home. Doesn't my family deserve the same patience, tolerance and understanding I so readily give to the alcoholic? When reviewing my day I try to ask, "Did I have a chance to be a friend today and miss it?" " Did I have a chance to rise above a nasty situation and avoid it?" "Did I have a chance to say 'I'm sorry,' and refuse to?" Just as I ask God for help with my alcoholism each day, I ask for help in extending my recovery to include all situations and all people! ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day There is some alcoholic thought, conscious or unconscious, that comes before every slip. As long as we live, we must be on the lookout for such thoughts and guard against them. In fact, our A.A. training is mostly to prepare us, to make us ready to recognize such thoughts at once and to reject them at once. The slip comes when we allow such thoughts to remain in our minds, even before we go through the motions of lifting the glass to our lips. The A.A. program is largely one of mental training. How well is my mind prepared? Meditation For The Day Fret not your mind with puzzles you cannot solve. The solutions may never be shown to you until you have left this life. The loss of dear ones, the inequality of life, the deformed and the maimed, and many other puzzling things may not be known to you until you reach the life beyond. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now." Only step by step, stage by stage, can you proceed in your journey into greater knowledge and understanding. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may be content that things which I now see darkly will some day be made clear. I pray that I may have faith that someday I will see face to face. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It The "Slipper" Needs Understanding, p. 99 "Slips can often be charged to rebellion; some of us are more rebellious than others. Slips may be due to the illusion that one can be 'cured' of alcoholism. Slips can also be charged to carelessness and complacency. Many of us fail to ride out these periods sober. Things go fine for two or three years--then the member is seen no more. Some of us suffer extreme guilt because of vices or practices that we can't or won't let go of. Too little self-forgiveness and too little prayer--well, this combination adds up to slips. "Then some of us are far more alcohol-damaged than others. Still others encounter a series of calamities and cannot seem to find the spiritual resources to meet them. There are those of us who are physically ill. Others are subject to more or less continuous exhaustion, anxiety, and depression. These conditions often play a part in slips--sometimes they are utterly controlling." Talk, 1960 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Raising the frustration threshold Achievement What happens when we hit snags in our lives? In drinking, it was a common practice to chuck everything and just get drunk. This always made things worse, sometimes so much so that we forgot about the problem that triggered our frustrations. Dealing with frustration is another part of growing up emotionally. Self-understanding in sobriety will help us detect surges of anger and irritation when things aren't going as planned. We'll recognize these feelings as being the same emotions that plagued us in our drinking days. In sobriety, however, we are given choices. We actually do have the choice of pausing, letting the anger drain away, and then taking charge of the situation by knowing that God is working along with us. By doing this, we can eventually raise our threshold of frustration. If some task or issue makes me angry today, I'll back off and place the outcome in God's hands. I'll know this is working when I have a change in feeling about it. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple And to practice these principles in all our affairs. Third part of Step Twelve. This is a statement about us. We are now people of values. These values reflect our spiritual growth. We know how to help others. We know how to admit our wrongs. We know how to look at ourselves and change our defects. We know how to live an honest life. Step Twelve tells us. "Go use these tools for better living. Go be all you can be. Enjoy life and live a life you can be proud of." Step Twelve also tells us about how to have loving relationships. By the time we complete Step Twelve, we make or regain many relationships. The most important one is with our Higher Power. As we grow in the program, we realize all our relationships are spiritual gifts. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I now have one face instead of many masks. Help me be a person who will stand before You with pride, not shame. Action for the Day: Today, I'll talk with a friend and talk about my new values. I will talk about how much my life has changed. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Sometimes, sisters have the same journey in their hearts. One may help the other or betray her. Will they cross over? Will the ship sail without them? --Louise Bernikow Other women share our struggle. When we treat our women friends as sisters and fellow pilgrims, we find great joy in our mutual help. We pray for the wisdom to let go our feelings of insecurity and rivalry with other women. Rivalry is not good for us. It leads us to forget our own unique qualities. We each are the best person in the world at one thing: being ourselves. When we compete, we need to retain a balanced perspective and to think well of ourselves whether we win or lose. We run the best race we can; therefore, let us not regard other women as rivals. They are our sisters, and they, too, are doing the best they can. Today, I will pray for the serenity that will let me see when my sisters have the same journey in their hearts as I. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY They did not need to tell me. I knew, and almost welcomed the idea. It was a devastating blow to my pride. I, who had thought so well of myself and my abilities, of my capacity to surmount obstacles, was cornered at last. Now I was to plunge into the dark, joining that endless procession of sots who had gone on before. I thought of my poor wife. There had been much happiness after all. What would I not give to make amends. But that was over now. pp. 7-8 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" Four alcoholics play bridge in a smoke-filled room. Anything to get my mind from myself. The game is over and the other three leave. I start to clean up the debris. One man comes back, closing the door behind him. He looks at me. "You think you are hopeless, don't you?" he asks. "I know it," I reply. "Well, you're not," says the man. "There are men on the streets of New York today who were worse than you, and they don't drink anymore." "What are you doing here then?" I ask. "I went out of here nine days ago saying that I was going to be honest, and I wasn't," he answers. A fanatic, I thought to myself, but I was polite. "What is it?" I enquire. pp. 213-214 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs." Still more wonderful is the feeling that we do not have to be specially distinguished among our fellows in order to be useful and profoundly happy. Not many of us can be leaders of prominence, nor do we wish to be. Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with God's help, the knowledge that at home or in the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the well-understood fact that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that love freely given surely brings a full return, the certainty that we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things--these are the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes. True ambition is not what we thought it was. True ambition is the deep desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the grace of God. pp. 124-125 ************************************************** ********* 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 A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner. --English Proverb "History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats." --B. C. Forbes "Spend unbroken chunks of time with the most important people in your life." --Brian Tracy "Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it." --William Durant ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation WONDER "Wonder rather than doubt is the root of knowledge." -- Abraham Heschel Living with paradox is part of my sobriety. Things are never quite what they seem. When I think I have something figured out, I am made to be confused again especially around my life, relationships, people, events and the universe. Life is both simple and incomprehensible. God seems to demand an agnostic faith! There is so much I do not know or understand. But all of this leads to a creative and exciting sobriety. It makes life an adventure. It feeds that artistic part of me that is reborn in my sobriety. Things I used to dislike when I drank, I now enjoy. People and writers that once bored me now fascinate me; even modern art has a spiritual message! O God, let the feelings of amazement always be a part of my faith. ************************************************** ********* "For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light." Ephesians 5:8 "Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God." Romans 15:7 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 "God has given gifts to each of you from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you." 1 Peter 4:10 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Allow your mind to become quiet and less judgmental and you will feel improvements in all areas of your life. Lord, help my mind avoid twisting the words I hear and misjudging the intentions of others in order to justify my own righteousness. Help me to spread Your peace. There is not one moment that we are separated from God's care unless we choose to be. Lord, You provide for my daily needs and deliver me from evil. You are my refuge. |
December 4
Daily Reflections INTO ACTION A.A. is more than a set of principles; it is a society of alcoholics in action. We must carry the message, else we ourselves can wither and those who haven't been given the truth may die. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 13 I desperately wanted to live, but if I was to succeed, I had to become active in our God-given program. I joined what became my group, where I opened the hall, made coffee, and cleaned up. I had been sober about three months when an oldtimer told me I was doing Twelfth-Step work. What a satisfying realization that was! I felt I was really accomplishing something. God had given me a second chance, A.A. had shown me the way, and these gifts were not only free - they were also priceless! Now the joy of seeing newcomers grow reminds me of where I have come from, where I am now, and the limitless possibilities that lie ahead. I need to attend meetings because they recharge my batteries so that I have light when it's needed. I'm still a beginner in service work, but already I am receiving more than I'm giving. I can't keep it unless I give it away. I am responsible when another reaches out for help. I want to be there - sober. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day If we allow an alcoholic thought to lodge in our minds for any length of time, we are in danger of having a slip. Therefore we must dispel such thoughts at once, by refusing their admittance and by immediately putting constructive thoughts in their place. Remember that alcohol is poison to you. Remember that it is impossible for you to drink normally. Remember that one drink will lead to another and you will eventually be drunk. Remember what happened to you in the past as a result of your drinking. Think of every reason you have learned in A.A. for not taking that drink. Fill your mind with constructive thoughts. Am I keeping my thoughts constructive? Meditation For The Day Always seek to set aside the valuations of the world which seem wrong and try to judge only by those valuations which seem right to you. Do not seek too much the praise and notice of men. Be one of those who, though sometimes scoffed at, have a serenity and peace of mind which the scoffers never know. Be one of that band who feel the Divine Principle in the universe, though He be often rejected by men because He cannot be seen. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may not heed too much the judgment of men. I pray that I may test things by what seems right to me. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Those Other People, p.268 "Just like you, I have often thought myself the victim of what other people say and do. Yet every time I confessed the sins of such people, especially those whose sins did not correspond exactly with my own, I found that I only increased the total damage. My own resentment, my self-pity would often render me well-nigh useless to anybody. "So, nowadays, if anyone talks of me so as to hurt, I first ask myself if there is any truth at all in what they say. If there is none, I try to remember that I too have had my periods of speaking bitterly of others; that hurtful gossip is but a symptom of our remaining emotional illness; and consequently that I must never be angry at the unreasonableness of sick people. "Under very trying conditions I have had, again and again, to forgive others--also myself. Have you recently tried this?" Letter, 1946 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places The Lure of Greener Pastures Gratitude One of our old-timers spent a great deal of time trying to find a new job but never succeeding. When he finally retired, on a good pension, it became clear that the job he had kept was probably better and provided more benefits than any job he had been seeking. He was fortunate that none of his proposed job searches ever worked out. The fantasy of finding "greener pastures" is something many of us face, in both drinking and sobriety. We may be very well off where we are, yet feel that something rich and exciting is over in the next meadow. We can feel this way about our jobs, our lifestyles, and our locations. The answer to this greener-pastures obsession is to feel more gratitude for what we have here and now. We might also focus more upon today's activities and less upon impossible dreams of other places. There may be greener pastures somewhere, but I'll first look for the opportunities and benefits of my own life and surroundings. I may be richly blessed without knowing it. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple And to practice these principles in all our affairs. Third part of Step Twelve. This is a statement about us. We are now people of values. These values reflect our spiritual growth. We know how to help others. We know how to admit our wrongs. We know how to look at ourselves and change our defects. We know how to live an honest life. Step Twelve tells us. "Go use these tools for better living. Go be all you can be. Enjoy life and live a life you can be proud of." Step Twelve also tells us about how to have loving relationships. By the time we complete Step Twelve, we make or regain many relationships. The most important one is with our Higher Power. As we grow in the program, we realize all our relationships are spiritual gifts. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I now have one face instead of many masks. Help me be a person who will stand before You with pride, not shame. Action for the Day: Today, I'll talk with a friend and talk about my new values. I will talk about how much my life has changed. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning I want to feel myself part of things, of the great drift and swirl; not cut off, missing things, like being sent to bed early as a child. --Joanna Field Feeling apart from the action and always looking on; wanting attention, and yet afraid of being noticed; no doubt these are familiar memories to most of us. We may still struggle with our self-perception, but we can celebrate that we no longer drown our moods. Connecting with the people next to us, though difficult, is no longer impossible when we rely on the program. There is a way to be a part of the action, a way that never fails. It takes only a small effort, really. We can simply look, with love, at someone nearby today and extend our hearts in honest attention. When we make someone else feel special, we'll become special too. Recovery can help each of us move beyond the boundaries of our own ego. Trusting that our lives are in the loving care of God, however we understand God, relieves us of the need for self-centeredness. We can let go of ourselves now that God is in charge, and we'll discover that we have joined the action. I will open my heart, and I'll be joined to all that's around me. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY No words can tell of the loneliness and despair I found in that bitter morass of self-pity. Quicksand stretched around me in all directions. I had met my match. I had been overwhelmed. Alcohol was my master. p. 8 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" Then he asks me if I believe in a power greater than myself, whether I call that power God, Allah, Confucius, Prime Cause, Divine Mind, or any other name. I told him that I believe in electricity and other forces of nature, but as for a God, if there is one, He has never done anything for me. Then he asks me if I am willing to right all the wrongs I have ever done to anyone, no matter how wrong I thought they were. Am I willing to be honest with myself about myself and tell someone about myself, and am I willing to think of other people. and of their needs instead of myself; to get rid of the drink problem? "I'll do anything," I reply. "Then all of your troubles are over" says the man and leaves the room. The man is in bad mental shape certainly. I pick up a book and try to read, but cannot concentrate. I get in bed and turn out the light. But I cannot sleep. Suddenly a thought comes. Can all the worthwhile people I have known be wrong about God? Then I find myself thinking about myself, and a few things that I had wanted to forget. I begin to see I am not the person I had thought myself, that I had judged myself by comparing myself to others, and always to my own advantage. It is a shock. pp. 214-215 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs." These little studies of A.A. Twelve Steps now come to a close. We have been considering so many problems that it may appear that A.A. consists mainly of racking dilemmas and troubleshooting. To a certain extent, that is true. We have been talking about problems because we are problem people who have found a way up and out, and who wish to share our knowledge of that way with all who can use it. For it is only by accepting and solving our problems that we can begin to get right with ourselves and with the world about us, and with Him who presides over us all. Understanding is the key to right principles and attitudes, and right action is the key to good living; therefore the joy of good living is the theme of A.A.'s Twelfth Step. p. 125 ************************************************** ********* Gratitude is one of the sweet shortcuts to finding peace of mind and happiness inside. No matter what's going on outside of us, there's always something we could be grateful for. --Barry Neil Kaufman If we wait for perfection before enjoying life, we will never enjoy life. --unknown One moment of patience may ward off a great disaster; one moment of impatience may ruin a whole life. --Chinese proverb I am getting to know myself today. I accept who I am today. I like myself today. --Ruth Fishel The Lord will drench you with His showers, but He will dry you with His sun. --Czech Proverb "Good morning, This is your Higher Power speaking. I will not be needing your help today." We win half the battle when we make up our minds to take the world as we find it, including the thorns. --unknown Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly! --unknown ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation PREJUDICE "Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices just recognize --them." Edward R. Murrow In recovery I am accepting that I am not perfect and some prejudices are part of my life what it is to be human. On a daily basis I am trying to deal with them, and talking about them helps. They don't go away just because I talk about them, but I get them in perspective and I grow in an understanding of myself through the recognition of my prejudices. Alcoholism made me into a " fake ". I appeared to be what I was not and my prejudices were part of the camouflage. My prejudices revealed my fears and my need to "people-please". Slowly, in my daily spiritual program, I am discovering the courage to stand alone. ************************************************** ********* Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good spirit lead me on level ground. Psalm 143:10 “But I tell you: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you.” Matthew 5:44 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Be yourself in all that you do and you will soon learn that you are very special. Lord, help me find the peace that You have already placed within my soul. Take less for granted and you will become very busy enjoying all that you have. Lord, thank you for my blessings and for all those that I am able to share them with. |
December 5
Daily Reflections A NEW STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p 107 Many of us in A.A. puzzle over what is a spiritual awakening. I tended to look for a miracle, something dramatic and earth shattering. But what usually happens is that a sense of well-being, a feeling of peace, transforms us into a new level of awareness. That's what happened to me. My insanity and inner turmoil disappeared and I entered into a new dimension of hope, love and peace. I think the degree to which I continue to experience this new dimension is in direct proportion to the sincerity, depth and devotion with which I practice the Twelve Steps of A.A. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day In spite of all we have learned in A.A., our old way of thinking comes back on us, sometimes with overwhelming force, and occasionally some of us have slips. We forget or refuse to call on the Higher Power for help. We seem to deliberately make our minds a blank so far as A.A. training goes, and we take a drink. We eventually get drunk. We are temporarily right back where we started from. Those who have had slips say unanimously that they were no fun. They say A.A. had taken all the pleasure out of drinking. They knew they were doing the wrong thing. The old mental conflict was back in full force. They were disgusted with themselves. Am I convinced that I can never get anything more out of drinking? Meditation For The Day Give something to those who are having trouble, to those whose thoughts are confused, something of your sympathy, your prayers, your time, your love, your thought, your self. Then give of your own confidence, as you have had it given to you by the grace of God. Give of yourself and of your loving sympathy. Give your best to those who need it and will accept it. Give according to need, never according to deserts. Remember that the giving of advice can never take the place of giving of your self. Prayer For The Day I pray that as I have received, so may I give. I pray that I may have the right answer to those who are confused. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Relapses--and the Group, p. 154 An early fear was that of slips or relapses. At first nearly every alcoholic we approached began to slip, if indeed he sobered up at all. Others would stay dry six months or maybe a year and then take a skid. This was always a genuine catastrophe. We would all look at each other and say, "Who next?" Today, though slips are a very serious difficulty, as a group we take them in stride. Fear has evaporated. Alcohol always threatens the individual, but we know that it cannot destroy the common welfare. << << << >> >> >> "It does not seem to pay to argue with 'slippers' about the proper method of getting dry. After all, why should people who are drinking tell people who are dry how it should be done? "Just kid the boys along--ask them if they are having fun. If they are too noisy or troublesome, amiably keep out of their way." 1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 97 2. Letter, 1942 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Holding hands and hugging Sincerity The custom of holding hands while saying the Lord's Prayer has been adopted by many AA groups. We have also seen more hugging than in the past, even between the most unlikely members. Are these new practices good or bad? In accordance with AA tradition, we have to leave such questions to the group conscience. One thought, however, is that such physical actions do not necessarily mean that any true spiritual bonding has taken place. The old-timers who never held hands or hugged still had a great closeness in spirit and in feeling. We must also consider that we may be violating the privacy of the person who doesn't wish to hold hands or hug. If such a person chooses to stand outside the hand=holding circle, he or she maybe cast in the role of dissenter. Would that be fair? Hand -holding and hugging may be here to stay, but let's not make them out to be more than mere physical expressions. The program of the heart is still first. I'll remember today that true bonding is spiritual, not physical. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength, and hope. ---Alcoholics Anonymous All over the world, recovering men and women use the same Twelve Steps to live their lives. Our fellowship keeps growing. The bigger it gets, the faster it grows. Why? Because the program brings our spirits back to life. All over the world, many of us were dying, and now we’re full of life and love. We are bringing our world bake to life. As we share our experience, strength, and hope, we help others join us in coming back to life. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me stay sober today. Guide me and all others who are doing Your will today. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll think of three things I can do to help spread the message of AA and NA. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning It is a long baptism into the seas of humankind, my daughter. Better immersion than to live untouched. --Tillie Olsen We have each had days when we preferred hiding under the covers, avoiding life at all costs. And in times gone by, we did just that, sometimes too frequently. What we didn't always know, and what we still forget on occasion, is that we have a ready and willing partner who will join us in every pursuit. The more fully we commit ourselves to one another and to all our experience, the closer we will come to the very serenity we long for. Serenity accompanies our increasing understanding of life's many mysteries. It's easy to cheat ourselves out of the prizes any day offers us. Fear fosters inertia, leaving us separate, alone, even more afraid. But we have an appointment with life. And our appointment will bring us to the place of full understanding, the place where we'll be certain, forever after, that all is well. And that life is good. Today's appointments are part of the bigger plan for my life. I will face them, enjoy them, and reap their rewards. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY Trembling, I stepped from the hospital a broken man. Fear sobered me for a bit. Then came the insidious insanity of that first drink, and on Armistice Day 1934, I was off again. Everyone became resigned to the certainty that I would have to be shut up somewhere, or would stumble along to a miserable end. How dark it is before the dawn! In reality that was the beginning of my last debauch. I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call the forth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace, and usefulness as time passes. p. 8 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" Then comes a thought that is like A Voice. "Who are you to say there is no God?" It rings in my head, I can't get rid of it. I get out of bed and go to the man's room. He is reading. "I must ask you a question," I say to the man. "How does prayer fit into this thing?" "Well," he answers, "you've probably tried praying like I have. When you've been in a jam you've said, 'God, please do this or that' and if it turned out your way that was the last of it and if it didn't you've said 'There isn't any God' or 'He doesn't do anything for me'. Is that right?" "Yes" I reply. "That isn't the way" he continued. "The thing I do is to say 'God here I am and here are all my troubles. I've made a mess of things and can't do anything about it. You take me, and all my troubles, and do anything you want with me.' Does that answer your question?" "Yes, it does" I answer. I return to bed. It doesn't make sense. Suddenly I feel a wave of utter hopelessness sweep over me. I am in the bottom of hell. And there a tremendous hope is born. It might be true. I tumble out of bed onto my knees. I know not what I say. But slowly a great peace comes to me. I feel lifted up. I believe in God. I crawl back into bed and sleep like a child. p. 215 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs." With each passing day of our lives, may every one of us sense more deeply the inner meaning of A.A. simple prayer: God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, Courage to change the things we can, And wisdom to know the difference. p. 125 ************************************************** ********* Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action. --William James Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul. --Henry David Thoreau If you want to accomplish the goals of your life, you have to begin with the Spirit. --Oprah Winfrey The steps did for me the very thing I kept hoping alcohol would do for me --- they gave me the peace and serenity I had been looking for in a bottle. --unknown Today is full of miracles! --Ruth Fishel "The principles you live by create the world you live in; if you change the principles you live by, you will change your world." --Blaine Lee "What we see depends mainly on what we look for." --John Lubbock The ultimate lesson all of us have is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well. --Elisabeth Kubler-Ross ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation BEAUTY "Not every woman in old slippers can manage to look like Cinderella." -- Don Marquis Beauty is not what you wear or look like; beauty is within. We begin to love ourselves when we see the beauty that God has given to each and every one of us forever. God's image and beauty is expressed through our attitudes and feelings, how we greet and listen to each other and the gentle dignity we afford to another human being. For years I saw myself as ugly, boring, useless and stupid. This message came from parents who forever compared me with others and for years I believed their message. I hid through my teen-age years and quietly tried to escape in food, alcohol and drugs. Then after a crisis I met people who had felt the same but were now feeling different. They loved me until I could begin to love myself. Now I like me. Now I can love me. Today I can like and love you. Help me to see the beauty in the wrinkle; the power in the pain. ************************************************** ********* "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1 "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence." I John 3:18-19 "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.'" John 8:12 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Imagine joy and you will find it. Lord, I thank You for the people that need me and love me, for the ability to hope and especially for the ability to love. One of life's greatest rewards is not what we get, but what we become. Lord, give me the courage to be all that I can. |
December 6
Daily Reflections WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 116 It has been my experience that, when all human resources appear to have failed, there is always One who will never desert me. Moreover, He is always there to share my joy, to steer me down the right path, and to confide in when no one else will do. While my well-being and happiness can be added to, or diminished, by human efforts, only God can provide the loving nourishment upon which I depend for my daily spiritual health. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day People who had a slip are ashamed of themselves--sometimes so ashamed that they fear to go back to A.A. They develop the old inferiority complex and tell themselves that they are no good, that they are hopeless, and that they can never make it. This state of mind is perhaps worse than it was originally. They have probably been somewhat weakened by their slip. But their A.A. training cannot ever be entirely lost. They always know they can go back if they want to. They know there is still God's help for them if they will again ask for it. Do I believe that I can never entirely lose what I have learned in A.A.? Meditation For The Day Nobody entirely escapes temptation. You must expect it and be ready for it when it comes. None of us is entirely safe. You must try to keep your defenses up by daily thought and prayer. That is why we have these daily meditations. You must be able to recognize temptation when it comes. The first step toward conquering temptation always is to see it clearly as temptation and not to harbor it in your mind. Dissociate yourself from it, put it out of your mind as soon as it appears. Do not think of excuses for yielding to it. Turn at once to the Higher Power for help. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may be prepared for whatever temptation may come to me. I pray that I may see it clearly and avoid it with the help of God. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It The Way Of Strength, p. 129 We need not apologize to anyone for depending upon the Creator. We have good reason to disbelieve those who think spirituality is the way of weakness. For us, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that men of faith seldom lack courage. They trust their God. So we never apologize for our belief in Him. Instead, we try to let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 68 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Alcoholism: Disease or Bad Habit? Understanding my problem.. While AA has always considered alcoholism a disease, controversy still simmers over its definition. In the past, alcoholism has been considered a sin, a sickness, or just a very bad habit. More recently, there has been a suggestion that some "problem drinkers" might not be alcoholics at all and can very possibly bring their drinking under control. This controversy will undoubtedly continue, but it is important that recovering people understand the NATURE of alcoholism. It is deadly, it is compulsive, and it is progressive. While there are occasional reports of alcoholics who claim to have become controlled drinkers, few of us have any firsthand evidence of such changes. Much more often, we hear stories of alcoholics who try to drink again, only to find themselves headed down a rocky road. It is not necessary that we define alcoholism perfectly or precisely. What's more important is that we remember we're powerless over alcohol and cannot safely pick up a drink. No definition will change that reality for an alcoholic who has had an unmanageable life. I'm fortunate AA gave me an understanding of my problem that I can live with---one that will help me continue living. Others can worry about defining alcoholism. I'll focus on staying sober myself. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple The strongest of all warriors are these two--Time and Patience. Leo Tolstay One of the first things we learn about in recovery is time. Before, we may have tried to control time by Pushing it along. We tried to hurry everything and everybody. We wanted our "quick fix." But the program tells us to slow down. Easy Does It. We probably couldn't picture ourselves staying sober for the rest of our life. So we were told to just work at staying sober today. We learned to work our program One Day at a Time. We were thought that time can be our friend. Times is our Higher Power's way of not having everything happen at once. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, you are my teacher. You are in charge of the lesson. Help me accept this. Teach me how to use my time wisely. Action for the Day: Today, I'll list five ways I use my time in ways that aren't helpful to me. I'll work at making time my friend. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Each day provides its own gifts. --Ruth P. Freedman We are guaranteed experiences that are absolutely right for us today. We are progressing on schedule. Even when our personal hopes are unmet, we are given the necessary opportunities for achieving those goals that complement our unique destinies. Today is full of special surprises, and we will be the recipient of the ones which are sent to help us grow--in all the ways necessary for our continued recovery. We might not consider every experience a gift at this time. But hindsight will offer the clarity lacking at the moment, just as it has done in many instances that have gone before. We are only offered part of our personal drama each day. But we can trust our lives to have many scenes, many acts, points of climax, and a conclusion. Each of us tells a story with our lives, one different from all other stories and yet necessary to the telling of many other stories too. The days ahead will help us tell our story. Our interactions with others will influence our outcomes and theirs. We can trust the drama and give fully to our roles. Every day is a gift exchange. I give, and I will receive. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY Near the end of that bleak November, I sat drinking in my kitchen. With a certain satisfaction I reflected there was enough gin concealed about the house to carry me through that night and the next day. My wife was at work. I wondered whether I dared hide a full bottle of gin near the head of our bed. I would need it before daylight. p. 8 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" Some men and women come to visit my friend of the night before. He invites me to meet them. They are a joyous crowd. I have never seen people that joyous before. We talk. I tell them of the Peace, and that I believe in God. I think of my wife. I must write her. One girl suggests that I phone her. What a wonderful idea! pp. 215-216 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity." The unity of Alcoholics Anonymous it the most cherished quality our Society has. Our lives, the lives of all to come, depend squarely upon it. We stay whole, or A.A. dies. Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; our world arteries would no longer carry the life-giving grace of God; His gift to us would be spent aimlessly. Back again in their caves, alcoholics would reproach us and say, "What a great thing A.A. might have been!" p. 129 ************************************************** ********* If you are seeking to live a joyful life, add music and dance to each day! --Gary Barnes "Fear less, hope more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Hate less, love more; And all good things are yours." --Swedish Proverb It has been said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength. --Charles Haddon Spurgeon Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. --Martin Luther King Jr. Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. --Helen Keller The best gifts to give: To your friend - loyalty; To your enemy - forgiveness; To your boss - service; To a child - a good example; To your parents - gratitude and devotion; To your mate - love and faithfulness; To all men and women - love; To God - your life. --unknown People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do. --unknown ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation FAILURE "There are two kinds of failures: those who thought and never did, and those who did and never --thought." Laurence J. Peter In my life I know that I am guilty of both these failures. I remember making sand castles in the air without realizing that I could attempt to build one in my life. I would see somebody I wanted to talk with and imagine a conversation, rather than going over and risking possible rejection. Today I am able to risk and I am now the possessor of a thousand memories that actually happened. I am also aware of how thoughtless I was in my addiction. I would react rather than respond; create hostility as a wall to keep people out. Today I am able to think through a problem and apologize when I am wrong. ************************************************** ********* "See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are." 1 John 3:1 "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." John 16:24 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration No matter who you are, it is your right to have peace. Lord, help me stay on my own path to peace and to turn my back on the distractions that are so intent on keeping me from it. To have courage, think courageous, act courageous, and pray to God for courage. Lord, You are full of love for all who come to You. |
December 7
Daily Reflections TRUE AMBITION True ambition is not what we thought it was. True ambition is the deep desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the grace of God. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 124-25 During my drinking years, my one and only concern was to have my fellow man think highly of me. My ambition in everything I did was to have the power to be at the top. My inner self kept telling me something else but I couldn't accept it. I didn't even allow myself to realize that I wore a mask continually. Finally, when the mask came off and I cried out to the only God I could conceive, the Fellowship of A.A., my group and the Twelve Steps were there. I learned how to change resentments into acceptance, fear into hope and anger into love. I have learned also, through loving without undue expectations, through sharing my concerns and caring for my fellow man, that each day can be joyous and fruitful. I begin and end my day with thanks to God, who has so generously shed His grace on me. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day When people come back to A.A. after having a slip, the temptation is strong to say nothing about it. No other A.A. member should force them to declare themselves. It is entirely up to them. If they are well-grounded in A.A., they will realize that it's up to them to speak up at the next meeting and tell about their slip. There is no possible evasion of this duty, if they are thoroughly honest and really desirous of living the A.A. way again. When they have done it, their old confidence returns. They are home again. Their slip should not be mentioned again by others. They are again a good member of A.A. Am I tolerant of other peoples' mistakes? Meditation For The Day It is in the union of a soul with God that strength, new life and spiritual power come. Bread sustains the body but we cannot live by bread alone. To try to do God's will is the meat and support of true living. We feed on that spiritual food. Soul starvation comes from failing to do so. The world talks about bodies that are undernourished. What of the souls that are undernourished? Strength and peace come from partaking of spiritual food. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may not try to live by bread alone. I pray that my spirit may live by trying to do the will of God as I understand it. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Foundation For Life, p. 33 We discover that we receive guidance for our lives to just about the extent that we stop making demands upon God to give it to us on order and on our terms. << << << >> >> >> In praying, we ask simply that throughout the day God place in us the best understanding of His will that we can have for that day, and that we be given the grace by which we may carry it out. << << << >> >> >> There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation, and prayer. Taken separately, these practices can bring much relief and benefit. But when they are logically related and interwoven, the result is an unshakable foundation for life. 12 & 12 1. p. 104 2. p. 102 3. p. 98 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places What rather than who Principles before Personalities. We're sometimes led to do something because a persuasive or important person recommends it. This is, in fact, the strategy behind endorsement advertising. We learn in AA that it's more important to ask what is right that who is offering a course of action. If a course of action is right, it matters not who recommends it. If it is wrong, a dozen important poeole cannot make it right by endorsing it. There are, indeed, many important people whom we can know and trust. But we should always remember that every human being will turn out to have clay feet if he or she is set up as a god. Our trust must always be in our Higher Power and in principles that never fail. I'll not be unduly impressed today by persuasive, charismatic people. I'll follow their ideas only if I believe them to be right. Principles have a precedence over personality. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple We are here to add what we can to, not to get what we can get from, Life. Sir William Osler Service is a word we hear in our recovery program. Service means work we do for others. It's the backbone of our program. The reason is simple. Service to our Higher Power and to others breaks down our wanting to be self-centered. Service brings us back into the world. We really are part of the group when we pitch in to make coffee, set up chairs, or talk in meetings. We really feel like part of the family when we run errands and help with meals and housework. We really connect with our Higher Power when we pray, "Use me today to help others." Service breaks down the feeling of being alone that being self -centered brings. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to be of service to You and others. Show me what is needed. Action for the Day: Today will be a service day. I'll see how valued I am. I'll give to others, knowing that I, too, will receive. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Promises that you make to yourself are often like the Japanese plum tree--they bear no fruit. --Frances Marion The resolve to fulfill commitments we make to ourselves and others may be lacking until we learn to rely on the wisdom and strength offered by our higher power--strength that will make us confident in any situation; wisdom that will insure our right actions. What is difficult alone is always eased in partnership. We promise ourselves changed behavior, new habits, perhaps, or a positive attitude. But then we proceed to focus on our liabilities, giving them even more power, a greater hold over us. We can practice our assets, and they'll foster the promises we want to keep. No longer need we shame ourselves about unfulfilled promises. Whatever our desires, whatever our commitments, if for the good of others and ourselves, they will come to fruition. We can ask for direction. We can ask for resolve, and each worthy hope and unrealized promise will become reality. My assets, when strengthened through use, pave the way for God's help. Any promise can bear fruit when I make it in partnership with God. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY My musing was interrupted by the telephone. The cheery voice of an old school friend asked if he might come over. HE WAS SOBER. It was years since I could remember his coming to New York in that condition. I was amazed. Rumor had it that he had been committed for alcoholic insanity. I wondered how he had escaped. Of course he would have dinner, and then I could drink openly with him. Unmindful of his welfare, I thought only of recapturing the spirit of other days. There was that time we had chartered an airplane to complete a jag! His coming was an oasis in this dreary desert of futility. The very thing - an oasis! Drinkers are like that. pp. 8-9 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" My wife hears my voice and knows I have found the answer to life. She comes to New York. I get out of the hospital and we visit some of these new-found friends. What a glorious time we have! p. 216 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity." "Does this mean," some will anxiously ask, "that in A.A. the individual doesn't count for much? Is he to be dominated by his group and swallowed up in it?" We may certainly answer this question with a loud "No!" We believe there isn't a fellowship on earth which lavishes more devoted care upon its individual members; surely there is none which more jealously guards the individual's right to think, talk, and act as he wishes. No A.A. can compel another to do anything; nobody can be punished or expelled. Our Twelve Steps to recovery are suggestions; the Twelve Traditions which guarantee A.A.'s unity contain not a single "Don't." They repeatedly say "We ought . . ." but never "You must!" p. 129 ************************************************** ********* The heart is wiser than the intellect. --Josiah Holland (1819-1881) You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. --Kahlil Gibran The human contribution is the essential ingredient. It is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live. --Ethel Percy Andrus One of the great gifts of sobriety is learning to see beauty in things not always with the eyes, but with the feeling of the heart. --Shelley "When you get in a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." --Harriet Beecher Stowe "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." --Franklin D. Roosevelt ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation REALITY "Man is a complex being: he makes deserts bloom and lakes die." -- Gil Stern I am a mixture of good and bad. When I was drinking I could be cruel, sarcastic and violent and at other times loving, sensitive and thoughtful. Today in my recovery I know I can be honest, humble and creative, but I also carry within me a dark and destructive side that often hurts, lies and seeks negative power. What a mixture I was and what a mixture I still am! From all my many conversations with a variety of people I have discovered that this is what it is to be human. Today I am able to accept this and develop my spiritual life. I am not perfect, but I try to improve my attitude and behavior. I am not God, but I can aspire to be the best that I can be. Today I own the sickness in my life, but I also accept the responsibility for recovery. With my feet in the dirt, I look to the stars. ************************************************** ********* “To you, O lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: ‘What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me; O Lord, be my help.’ You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.” Psalms 30: 8-12 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration For everyone there is a way to serve and honor God in this life on earth. Lord, let me seize every opportunity, no matter how small, to glorify You, make you better known and always bring myself and others closer to You. Part with what you cherish if it separates you or leads you away from God. Lord, help me place my heart in the right place so that I am not distracted in my journey to Eternal Life. |
December 8
Daily Reflections SERVICE Life will take on a new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you. to have a host of friends - this is an experience you must not miss. . . . Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89 It is through service that the greatest rewards are to be found. But to be in a position of offering true, useful and effective service to others, I must first work on myself. This means that I have to abandon myself to God, admitting my faults and clearing away the wreckage of my past. Work on myself has taught me how to find the necessary peace and serenity to successfully merge inspiration and experience. I have learned how to be, in the truest sense, an open channel of sobriety. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The length of time of our sobriety is not as important as the quality of it. A person who has been in A.A. for a number of years may not be in as good mental condition as a person who has only been in a few months. It is a great satisfaction to have been an A.A. member for a long time and we often mention it. It may sometimes help the newer members, because they may say to themselves, if they can do it I can do it. And yet the older members must realize that as long as they live they are only one drink away from a drunk. What is the quality of my sobriety? Meditation For The Day "And greater works than this shall ye do." We can do greater works when we have more experience of the new way of life. We can have all the power we need from the Unseen God. We can have His grace, His spirit, to make us effective as we go along each day. Opportunities for a better world are all around us. Greater works can we do. But we do not work alone. The power of God is behind all good works. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may find my rightful place in the world. I pray that my works may be made more effective by the grace of God. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Two-Way Tolerance, p. 73 "Your point of view was once mine. Fortunately, A.A. is constructed so that we need not debate the existence of God; but for best results, most of us must depend upon a Higher Power, and no right-minded A.A. would challenge your privilege to believe precisely that way. We should all be glad that good recoveries can be made even on this limited basis. "But turnabout is fair play. If you would expect tolerance for your point of view, I am sure you would be willing to reciprocate. I try to remember that, down through the centuries, lots of brighter people than I have been found on both sides of this debate about belief. For myself, of late years, I am finding it much easier to believe that God made man, than that man made God." Letter, 1966 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places A new frame of mind Mood Control Long after AA was started, the term mood-altering drug came into vogue. Though this originally was applied to hard drugs, it is also true of alcohol. There's nothing wrong with wanting to alter one's mood. None of us really wants to be depressed, anxious, or fearful. We're all looking for ways to stay happy and high-spirited. The problem with all mood-altering drugs, alcohol included, is that they provide temporary highs while bringing on long-term destruction and enslavement. We would love to have those highs if they did not carry such a terrible price. But we can seek a new frame of mind in sober living that will give us better moods without destroying us. This is "the peace that passes all understanding," and it comes only from living the right way and listening to our Higher Power. This is the only mood control that really works. I want to be in a good mood today, but it must be as a result of having a healthy frame of mind. I have no desire for the false highs that were killing me. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple "When I was about 12, I used to think I must be a genius, but nobody's noticed."---John Lennon. "We all have secret ideas about ourselves. How often we have said to ourselves, If only They knew...But if we watch others, we see that many of their ideas are not so secret. We can often guess how they see themselves by the way they act. We all act out our secrets. Faith means trusting our Higher Power with our secrets. Faith in others means trusting them with our secret feelings. Why share these secrets? When we were using alcohol or other drugs we lived too much in a secret world. We need to give up the secrets that keep us from others. We need others in our lives. Our spirits need to be close to others. Prayer for the Day: God, help me to live in ways I'm not ashamed to tell others. Allow me to meet you and others, free of shame. Action for the Day: Today, I'll share one of my secrets w/ a loving friend." ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat before can be inspiring. --Dodie Smith Repeatedly, today and every day, we will be in new situations, new settings with old friends, and old settings and situations with new friends. Each instance is fresh, unlike all the times before. And inspiration can accompany each moment, if we but recognize how special it is. "We will not pass this way again," so the song says, which heightens the meaning of each encounter, every experience. Acknowledging that something can be gained each step along the way invites inspiration. Inspiration moves us to new heights. We will be called to step beyond our present boundaries. Maybe today. Whenever the inspiration catches our attention, we can trust its invitation; we are ready for the challenge it offers. We need not let our narrow, personal expectations of an experience, a new situation perhaps, prevent us from being open to all the dynamic possibilities it offers. I must be willing to let my whole self be moved, inspired. I must be willing to let each moment I experience be the only moment getting my attention. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY The door opened and he stood there, fresh-skinned and glowing. There was something about his eyes. He was inexplicably different. What had happened? I pushed a drink across the table. He refused it. Disappointed but curious, I wondered what had got into the fellow. He wasn't himself. "Come, what's all this about?" I queried. He looked straight at me. Simply, but smilingly, he said, "I've got religion." I was aghast. So that was it - last summer an alcoholic crackpot; now, I suspected, a little cracked about religion. He had that starry-eyed look. Yes, the old boy was on fire all right. But bless his heart, let him rant! Besides, my gin would last longer than his preaching. But he did no ranting. In a matter of fact way he told how two men appeared in court, persuading the judge to suspend his commitment. They had told of a simple religious idea and a practical program of action. That was two months ago and the result was self-evident. It worked! p. 9 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" I am home again. I have lost the fellowship. Those that understand me are far away. The same old problems and worries surround me. Members of my family annoy me. Nothing seems to be working out right. I am blue and unhappy. Maybe a drink-I put on my hat and dash off in the car. p. 216 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity." "Does this mean," some will anxiously ask, "that in A.A. the individual doesn't count for much? Is he to be dominated by his group and swallowed up in it?" We may certainly answer this question with a loud "No!" We believe there isn't a fellowship on earth which lavishes more devoted care upon its individual members; surely there is none which more jealously guards the individual's right to think, talk, and act as he wishes. No A.A. can compel another to do anything; nobody can be punished or expelled. Our Twelve Steps to recovery are suggestions; the Twelve Traditions which guarantee A.A.'s unity contain not a single "Don't." They repeatedly say "We ought . . ." but never "You must!" p. 129 ************************************************** ********* A truly great person is the one who gives you a chance. --Paul Duffy We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. --Frederick Keonig The surest way to drive out the darkness is to bring in the light. --unknown "All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." --Walt Disney "History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats." --B. C. Forbes Serenity isn't freedom from the storm; it is peace within the storm. --unknown ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation ENJOYMENT "All animals, except man, know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it." -- Samuel Butler Today I choose to enjoy my life. Regardless of the problem and difficulties that this day will bring, I have an inner joy that comes with my recovery from addiction. With a clear head and body free from drugs and chemicals I can face today and look forward to tomorrow. My life is to be enjoyed not endured. My worst days today are better than my best days as an addict. Spiritually I am free because I have begun to discover me. God can now be perceived in His world because I have sobriety. Lord of all play, I dance before You in my world and I can stop to smell the roses. ************************************************** ********* Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation." Psalm 95:1 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 "God is able to do far more than we would dare to ask or even dream of - infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes." Ephesians 3:20 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration If you are able to accept the hand of love that God extends to you, you will be able to free yourself of fears and show the full beauty of your inner spirit. Lord, we all suffer from weaknesses of one kind or another, so in our moments of strength, we ask that we may offer help, not judgment, to those who need it. Take less for granted and you will become very busy enjoying all that you have. Lord, thank you for my blessings and for all those that I am able to share them with. |
December 9
Daily Reflections LOVE WITH NO PRICE TAG When the Twelfth Step is seen in its full implication, it is really talking about the kind of love that has no price tag on it. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 106 In order for me to start working the Twelfth Step, I had to work on sincerity, honesty, and to learn to act with humility. Carrying the message is a gift of myself, no matter how many years of sobriety I may have accumulated. My dreams can become reality. I solidify my sobriety by sharing what I have received freely. As I look back to that time when I began my recovery, there was already a seed of hope that I could help another drunk pull himself out of his alcoholic mire. My wish to help another drunk is the key to my spiritual health. But I never forget that God acts through me. I am only His instrument. Even if the other person is not ready, there is success, because my effort in his behalf has helped me to remain sober and to become stronger. To act, to never grow weary in my Twelfth Step work, is the key. If I am capable of laughing today, let me not forget those days when I cried. God reminds me that I can feel compassion! ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The way of A.A. is the way of fellowship. We have read a good deal about fellowship and yet it is such an important part of the A.A. program that it seems that we cannot think too much about it. Human beings were not meant to live alone. A hermit's life is not a normal or natural one. We all need to be by ourselves at times, but we cannot really live without the companionship of others. Our natures demand it. Our lives depend largely upon it. The fellowship of A.A. seems to us to be the best in the world. Do I fully appreciate what the fellowship of A.A. means to me? Meditation For The Day We are all seeking something, but many do not know what they want in life. They are seeking something because they are restless and dissatisfied, without realizing that faith in God can give an objective and a purpose for their lives. Many of us are at least subconsciously seeking for a Power greater than ourselves because that would give a meaning to our existence. If you have found that Higher Power, you can be the means of leading others aright, by showing them that their search for a meaning to life will end when they find faith and trust in God as the answer. Prayer For The Day I pray that my soul will lose its restlessness by finding rest in God. I pray that I may find peace of mind in the thought of God and His purpose for my life. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Carrying the Message, p. 192 The wonderful energy the Twelfth Step releases, by which it carries our message to the next suffering alcoholic and finally translates the Twelve Steps into action upon all our affairs, is the payoff, the magnificent reality of A.A. ******************************** Never talk down to an alcoholic from any moral or spiritual hilltop; simply lay out the kit of spiritual tools for his inspection. Show him how they worked with you. Offer him friendship and fellowship. 1. 12 & 12, p. 109 2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 95 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Fixing things that aren't broken Self-acceptance. At the beginning of our AA sobriety, we were reminded that we were not reformers. Yet we sometimes have a tendency to want to "reform" ourselves or others after we've established sobriety. This can become a practice of "fixing things that aren't broken". We may not realize it, but many things in our lives and personalities were always all right, all along. In believing that we should be changed, we may be taking on the opinions of someone else. There might be no need for change at all. We also may be trying to please people who disapproved of us. Perhaps we're trying to obtain the affection of a parent who always rejected us. But if we're already on a spiritual path and are living rightly, there's no need for change. We'd be trying to fix something that isn't broken. I'll accept myself and others as we are today. We are not out to reform anyone, including ourselves. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple There is no stronger bond of friendship than a mutual enemy.--Frankfort Moore. A.A. is a fellowship united against the same enemy--alcoholism. Our bonds give us strength to recover. We may not even know each other's last name, but we'll do anything to help each other stay sober. Our illness has taken much. But it has also given us much. We have millions of new friends. Almost anywhere in the world, we can find a member of our fellowship. Our new way of life depends on the strength of the fellowship. We should do nothing to weaken it. When you don't feel like going to a meeting--go, not only for yourself but for the sake of the fellowship. It truly needs you. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You have given me A. A. Now help me to keep it going. A.A. needs me, just as I need A.A. Help me give even when I don't want to. Action for the Day: Today, I'll give back to the program. I'll call a new member, volunteer to put on a meeting, or make the coffee." ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning To do nothing is failure. To try, and in the trying you make some mistakes and then you make some positive changes as a result of those mistakes, is to learn and to grow and to blossom. --Darlene Larson Jenks Life is a process, one that is continuously changing. And with each change, we are offered unexpected opportunities for growth. Change is what fosters our development as women. It encourages us to risk new behavior and may even result in some mistakes. Fortunately, no mistakes can seriously hinder us. In fact, most mistakes give us an additional opportunity to learn. Where we stand today is far removed from our position last year, or even last week. Each and every moment offers us new input that influences any decision from this moment forward. The process that we're participating in guarantees our growth as long as we remain conscious of our opportunities and willingly respond to them. We can be glad that the life process is, in fact, never static. always moving, always inviting us to participate fully. I will have the courage to make a mistake today. It's a promise of growth. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY He had come to pass his experience along to me---if I cared to have it. I was shocked, but interested. Certainly I was interested. I had to be, for I was hopeless.10 pp. 9-10 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" Get into the lives of other people, is one thing the fellows in New York had said. I go to see a man I had been asked to visit and tell him my story. I feel much better! I have forgotten about a drink. I am on a train, headed for a city. I have left my wife at home, sick, and I have been unkind to her in leaving. I am very unhappy. Maybe a few drinks when I get to the city will help. A great fear seizes me. I talk to the stranger in the seat with me. The fear and the insane idea is taken away. Things are not going so well at home. I am learning that I cannot have my own way as I used to. I blame my wife and children. Anger possesses me, anger such as I have never felt before. I will not stand for it. I pack my bag and leave. I stay with understanding friends. I see where I have been wrong in some respects. I do not feel angry any more. I return home and say I am sorry for my wrong. I am quiet again. But I have not seen yet that I should do some constructive acts of love without expecting any return. I shall learn this after some more explosions. pp. 216-217 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity." To many minds all this liberty for the individual spells sheer anarchy. Every newcomer, every friend who looks at A.A. for the first time is greatly puzzled. They see liberty verging on license, yet they recognize at once that A.A. has an irresistible strength of purpose and action. "How," they ask, "can such a crowd of anarchists function at all? How can they possible place their common welfare first? What in Heaven's name holds them together?" pp. 129-130 ************************************************** ********* "The craving to find serenity utterly evaporated--and in its place there was serenity. I'd been looking out there for what was right here." --A.A. Grapevine, December, 2000, p. 49 Most of us are just about as happy as we make up our minds to be. --Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. --Eleanor Roosevelt The minute a man ceases to grow, no matter what his years, that minute he begins to be old. --William James The way you see things and the way others see things may not be the same. Be tolerant of other people's views. --unknown ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation OLD "Growing old isn't so bad when you consider the alternative." -- Maurice Chevalier What is the alternative? Not to change! To stay rooted in adolescence, youth, middle-age or whatever. Not to age is not to live, not to experience and not to grow spiritually. An aspect of age, for which I am beginning to be grateful, is "comparison"; today I am able to look at the past and see the benefits of the present. Growth is measurable only through the tunnel of age. I suppose my fear of age is my basic fear of the "unknown" ; fear of "unmanageability" and "powerlessness". These words remind me of the spiritual program that teaches me to confidently place my life in the loving arms of God. If I am responsible in life, I will be responsible in old age. Teach me to use the spiritual perspective that comes with the gift of age. ************************************************** ********* In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness; turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men. For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. Psalms 71:1-5 "See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are." 1 John 3:1 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Do not waste any time disliking who you are because of something you can no longer do anything about. Lord, help me to forgive myself all shortcomings of the past that I still hold on to and rather make the very best of this moment. We never really know how far reaching our influence will be. Lord, may Your loving kindness always flow through me. |
December 10
Daily Reflections CARRYING THE MESSAGE Now, what about the rest of the Twelfth Step? The wonderful energy it releases and the eager action by which it carries our message to the next suffering alcoholic and which finally translates the Twelve Steps into action upon all our affairs is the payoff, the magnificent reality, of Alcoholics Anonymous. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 109 To renounce the alcoholic world is not to abandon it, but to act upon principles I have come to love and cherish, and to restore in others who still suffer the serenity I have come to know. When I am truly committed to this purpose, it matters little what clothes I wear or how I make a living. My task is to carry the message, and to lead by example, not design. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Our drinking fellowship was a substitute one, for lack of something better. At the time, we did not realize what real fellowship could be. Drinking fellowship has a fatal fault. It is not based on a firm foundation. Most of it is on the surface. It is based mostly on the desire to use your companions for your own pleasure and using others is a false foundation. Drinking fellowship has been praised in song and story. The "cup that cheers" has become famous as a means of companionship. But we realize that the higher centers of our brains are dulled by alcohol and such fellowship cannot be on the highest plane. It is at best only a substitute. Do I see my drinking fellowship in its proper light? Meditation For The Day Set for yourself the task of growing daily more and more into the consciousness of a Higher Power. We must keep trying to improve our conscious contact with God. This is done by prayer, quiet times, and communion. Often all you need to do is sit silent before God and let Him speak to you through your thought. Try to think God's thoughts after Him. When the guidance comes, you must not hesitate, but go out and follow that guidance in your daily work, doing what you believe to be the right thing. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may be still and know God is with me. I pray that I may open my mind to the leading of Divine Mind. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It True Tolerance, p. 203 Gradually we began to be able to accept the other fellow's sins as well as his virtues. We coined the potent and meaningful expression "Let us always love the best in others--and never fear their worst." ******************************** Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong. When this happens, we approach true tolerance and we see what real love for our fellows actually means. 1. Grapevine, January 1962 2. 12 & 12, p. 92 12 & 12, p. 65 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places HOW IMPORTANT IS IT? Good judgment. All of our lives, many of us had to deal with "tempests in a teapot." These were minor problems that we somehow magnified until they became disasters. Some of us also took refuge in the bottle when faced with problems. Remembering this with some guilt, we may feel a responsibility today to deal with every problem efficiently and promptly. This feeling might also create unnecessary anxiety. We can easily get to the heart of such matters by asking ourselves, "How Important is it?" We might be making something far more important than it really is. The importance of problems is revealed by our inability to remember what was upsetting us a week ago. Asking, "How important is it?" can be a useful test to avoid excessive worrying about any problem. I'll take a responsibility attitude today, but I'll watch myself for a tendency to go to pieces over things that really aren't important in the long run. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Kindness in giving creates love. --Lao-tzu. In our illness, we takers. Now, we've changed this around. We are now givers. Giving is a big part of recovery. Our word for it is service. Our program is based on care, respect, and service. Our program tells us to “practice these principles in all our affairs." No matter if it's getting to our meeting early to put on the coffee, or going on a Twelfth Step call, we are giving of ourselves. We give so that we know we can make a difference. We give so that we can know how to love better. The healing power of recovery is love. As we give love and kindness to others, we heal. Why? Because people grow by giving kindness and love to others. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power with Your help I'll be a kind and loving giver. I'll look for way to share Your kindness. Action for the Day: Today, I'll list five ways I can be of service to others. I'll put at least one of these ways into action today. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning The forgiving state of mind is a magnetic power for attracting good. No good thing can be withheld from the forgiving state of mind. --Catherine Ponder Forgiveness fosters humility, which invites gratitude. And gratitude blesses us; it makes manifest greater happiness. The more grateful we feel for all aspects of our lives, the greater will be our rewards. We don't recognize the goodness of our lives until we practice gratitude. And gratitude comes easiest when we're in a forgiving state of mind. Forgiveness should be an ongoing process. Attention to it daily will ease our relationships with others and encourage greater self-love. First on our list for forgiveness should be ourselves. Daily, we heap recriminations upon ourselves. And our lack of self-love hinders our ability to love others, which in turn affects our treatment of them. We've come full circle--and forgiveness is in order. It can free us. It will change our perceptions of life's events, and it promises greater happiness. The forgiving heart is magical. My whole life will undergo a dynamic change when I develop a forgiving heart. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY He talked for hours. Childhood memories rose before me. I could almost hear the sound of the preacher's voice as I sat, on still Sundays, way over there on the hillside; there was that proffered temperance pledge I never signed; my grandfather's good natured contempt of some church folk and their doings; his insistence that the spheres really had their music; but his denial of the preacher's right to tell him how he must listen; his fearlessness as he spoke of these things just before he died; these recollections welled up from the past. They made me swallow hard. That war-time day in old Winchester Cathedral came back again. p. 10 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" I am blue again. I want to sell the place and move away. I want to get where I can find some alcoholics to to help and where I can have some fellowship. Will I take a young fellow who has been drinking for two weeks to live with me? Soon I have others who are alcoholics and some who have other problems. I begin to play God. I feel that I can fix them all. I do not fix anyone, but I am getting part of a tremendous education and I have made some new friends. Nothing is right. Finances are in bad shape. I must find a way to make some money. The family seems to think of nothing but spending. People annoy me. I try to read. I try to pray. Gloom surrounds me. Why has God left me? I mope around the house. I will not go out and I will not enter into anything. What is the matter? I cannot understand. I will not be that way. p. 217 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity." Those who look closely soon have the key to this strange paradox. The A.A. member has to conform to the principles of recovery. His life actually depends upon obedience to spiritual principles. If he deviates too far, the penalty is sure and swift; he sickens and dies. At first he goes along because he must, but later he discovers a way of life he really wants to live. Moreover, he finds he cannot keep this priceless gift unless he gives it away. Neither he nor anybody else can survive unless he carries the A.A. message. The moment this Twelfth Step work forms a group, another discovery is made - that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group. Realization dawns that he is but a small part of a great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of the Fellowship. He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group. It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not. p. 130 ************************************************** ********* "If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours". --SHASEC God, help me remember that when I admit and accept the truth, I'll be given the power and guidance to change. --Melody Beattie Keep your sobriety first, to make it last. --unknown Today, I will focus on what's right about me. I will give myself some of the caring I've extended to the world. --Melody Beattie Learn to Let Go. That is the key to happiness. --Buddha Worry is like a rocking chair -- it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere. --unknown ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation SERVICE "There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed." -- Albert Schweitzer I enjoy doing things for other people. I enjoy seeing other people happy, seeing gratitude in their eyes and experiencing their hug of thankfulness. Some people need to restrict how much they do for others and begin doing more for themselves but I am happy and pleased with my service towards others. Why? Because I used to be a "taker". For years I would walk away with all that you could give me and only thank you because I wanted to return for more! In sobriety I am beginning to change this. Now I am giving and I am enjoying it. Lord, the gift of service is a precious gift. ************************************************** ********* "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Matthew 5:6 I honor and love your commands. I meditate on your principles. Remember your promise to me, for it is my only hope. Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles." Psalm 119:48-50 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. 1 Chronicles 16:9-11 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration A blessing is an explosion of joy from God that ripples through your heart and fills your mind with God's light and hope. Lord, help me speak the words of blessing when they are needed by someone who is lonely, or who is dying or who is depressed. As you draw closer and closer to God, you won't have to tell anyone because it will show in your face. Lord, teach me Your ways as I am ready and let Your love and peace flow through me even in my difficult moments. |
December 11
Daily Reflections A GENUINE HUMILITY . . . . we are actually to practice a genuine humility. This is to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 192 Experience has taught me that my alcoholic personality tends to be grandiose. While having seemingly good intentions, I can go off on tangents in pursuit of my "causes." My ego takes over and I lose sight of my primary purpose. I may even take credit for God's handiwork in my life. Such an overstated feeling of my own importance is dangerous to my sobriety and could cause great harm to A.A. as a whole. My safeguard, the Twelfth Tradition, serves to keep me humble. I realize, both as an individual and as a member of the Fellowship, that I cannot boast of my accomplishments, and that "God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves." ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Doctors think of the A.A. fellowship as group therapy. This is a very narrow conception of the depth of the A.A. fellowship. Looking at it purely as a means of acquiring and holding sobriety, it is right as far as it goes. But it doesn't go far enough. Group therapy is directed toward the help that the individual receives from it. It is essentially selfish. It is using the companionship of other alcoholics only in order to stay sober ourselves. But this is only the beginning of real A.A. fellowship. Do I deeply feel the true A.A. fellowship? Meditation For The Day Most of us have had to live through the dark part of our lives, the time of failure, the nighttime of our lives, when we were full of struggle and care, worry and remorse, when we felt deeply the tragedy of life. But with our daily surrender to a Higher Power, comes a peace and joy that makes all things new. We can now take each day as a joyous sunrise-gift from God to use for Him and for other fellow people. The night of the past is gone, this day is ours. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may take this day as a gift from God. I pray that I may thank God for this day and be glad in it. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It We Need Outside Help, p.248 It was evident that a solitary self-appraisal, and the admission of our defects based upon that alone, wouldn't be nearly enough. We'd have to have outside help if we were surely to know and admit the truth about ourselves--the help of God and of another human being. Only by discussing ourselves, holding back nothing, only by being willing to take advice and accept direction could we set foot on the road to straight thinking, solid honesty, and genuine humility. ******************************** If we are fooling ourselves, a competent adviser can see this quickly. And, as he skillfully guides us away from our fantasies, we are surprised to find that we have few of the usual urges to defend ourselves against unpleasant truths. In no other way can fear, pride, and ignorance be so readily melted. After a time, we realize that we are standing firm on a brand-new foundation for integrity, and we gratefully credit our sponsors, whose advice pointed the way. 1. 12 & 12, p.59 2. Grapevine, August 1961 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Keep the Focus on Personal Responsibility Responsible attitudes. Alcoholics often try to shift responsibility to others. We once thought it was possible to blame others for our drinking, and we had sneaky ways of manipulating family members so they would feel guilty and comply with our demands. In sober living, we must not allow ourselves to slip back into this mode of thinking. Keeping the focus on personal responsibility is our best way of approaching all problems. "What is my responsibility in this?" is a good question to ask in evaluating our part in situations. We are always responsible for our own sobriety. Beyond that, we're also responsible for maintaining good attitudes and making sure that our own anger and pride do not make any situation worse than it already is. I'll be responsible today for my own thoughts, feelings, and actions. If any stressful issue or situation arises, I'll keep my focus on personal responsibility. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge.--Tuli Keupferberg. Recovery has happened to us. We stopped drinking or using other drugs and, like magic, a new world appeared. Being sober sure shakes up a person's life! It's good to shake up our world every now and then. This way, we see there's not just one “world”, but many. We grow each time we step into a new world and learn new things. Of course, the addict's world was new and exciting to us at one time. But we got trapped and couldn't find our way out. Our Higher Power had to free us. We need to try new worlds, but we always need to take our Higher Power with us--into worlds where there's honesty, love, and trust. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, lead me to new worlds where I'll learn more about living fully. Action for the Day: I'll list 3 ways I can step into a new world today. For example, I could read something new, go to a museum, or eat a new food. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Occupation is essential. --Virginia Woolf Having desires, setting goals, and achieving them are necessary to our fulfillment. There is purpose to our lives, even when we can't clearly see our direction; even when we doubt our abilities to contribute. Let us continue to respond to our opportunities. Many of us experienced the clouds of inaction in earlier periods waiting, waiting, waiting, hoping our circumstances would change, even praying they would, but taking no responsibility for changing what was in our power. Inaction caged us. Stripped of power, life held little or no meaning. However, we've been given another chance. The program has changed our lives. We have a reason for living, each day, even the days we feel hopeless and worthless. Maybe we are without a goal at this time. Perhaps the guidance is not catching our attention. We can become quiet with ourselves and let our daydreams act as indicators. We have something essential to do, and we are being given all the chances we'll need to fulfill our purpose. We can trust in our worth, our necessity to others. I will remember, the program came to me. I must have a part to play. I will look and listen for my opportunities today. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY I had always believed in a power greater than myself. I had often pondered these things. I was not an atheist. Few people really are, for that means blind faith in the strange proposition that this universe originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere. My intellectual heroes, the chemists, the astronomers, even the evolutionists, suggested vast laws and forces at work. Despite contrary indications, I had little doubt that a mighty purpose and rhythm underlay all. How could there be so much of precise and immutable law, and no intelligence? I simply had to believe in a Spirit of the Universe, who knew neither time nor limitation. But that was as far as I had gone. p. 10 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories Our Southern Friend Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?" I'll get drunk! It is a cold-blooded idea. It is premeditated. I fix up a little apartment over the garage with books and drinking water. I am going to town to get some liquor and food. I shall not drink until I get back to the apartment. Then I shall lock myself in and read. And as I read, I shall take little drinks at long intervals. I shall get myself "mellow" and stay that way. I get in the car and drive off. Halfway down the driveway a thought strikes me. I'll be honest anyway. I'll tell my wife what I am going to do. I back up to the door and go into the house. I call my wife into a room where we can talk privately. I tell her quietly what I intend to do. She says nothing. She does not get excited. She maintains a perfect calm. When I am through speaking, the whole idea has become absurd. Not a trace of fear is in me. I laugh at the insanity of it. We talk of other things. Strength has come from weakness. I cannot see the cause of this temptation now. But I am to learn later that it began with the desire for my own material success becoming greater than the interest in the welfare of my fellow man. I learn more of that foundation stone of character, which is honesty. I learn that when we act upon the highest conception of honesty which is given us, our sense of honesty becomes more acute. I learn that honesty is truth, and the truth shall make us free! pp. 217-218 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity." So at the outset, how best to live and work together as groups became the prime question. In the world about us we saw personalities destroying whole peoples. The struggle for wealth, power, and prestige was tearing humanity apart as never before. If strong people were stalemated in the search for peace and harmony, what was to become of our erratic band of alcoholics? As we had once struggled and prayed for individual recovery, just so earnestly did we commence to quest for the principles through which A.A. itself might survive. on anvils of experience, the structure of our Society was hammered out. pp. 130-131 ************************************************** ********* Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth. --Horace "Ask for what you want. Ask for help, ask for input, ask for advice and ideas -- but never be afraid to ask." --Brian Tracy "Material success may result in the accumulation of possessions; but only spiritual success will enable you to enjoy them." --Nido Qubein "The act of taking the first step is what separates the winners from the losers." --Brian Tracy Life is very beautiful, you know. It is a gift given to us by God. Don’t ignore its beauty. Don’t ignore its joy. Don’t ignore its love. Embrace it, cherish it, and live it with all of your heart. Make the life you live as beautiful and wonderful as the life God has given you. Whether you are rich or poor, young or old, healthy or sick always remember that life is beautiful and so are you. --Joseph J. Mazzella ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation TODAY "The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next." -- Mignon McLaughlin I do not have to have courage for a lifetime, just for the moment. I am helped by the philosophy that teaches me to live one day at a time, one hour at a time, one moment at a time. It is too awesome to try to live my tomorrows today. Life is a process to be lived not a future to be anticipated. For years I tried to anticipate what life had to throw at me, and I always came away confused, surprised and exhausted. I missed the joy of the moment by worrying about the future. What was he going to do? What happens if the police get involved? Will my mother telephone next week? Will my niece grow up to be alcoholic? Am I to blame? I had a thousand questions that I could not answer; nobody can answer for the future today. I can only take responsibility for my life a day at a time. I developed the courage to face the moment and I became a winner. May I avoid the temptation to seek the fantasy of tomorrow for the reality of today. ************************************************** ********* For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ...' 1 Thessalonians 5:9 "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." I Timothy 2:1-5 “He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends.” Proverbs 17:9 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Use Jesus' as your example on how to live. Lord, You will guide and advise us and then You will leave it to us to decide our own future. Give us wisdom in our choices. God gives abundantly to those who pass His gifts on to others. Lord, let Your blessings flow in to me and then out from me. I will neither be selfish nor let my gifts stagnate. |
December 12
Daily Reflections A COMMON SOLUTION The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 17 The most far-reaching Twelfth Step work was the publication of our Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Few can equal that book for carrying the message. My idea is to get out of myself and simply do what I can. Even if I haven't been asked to sponsor and my phone rarely rings, I am still able to do Twelfth Step work. I get involved in "brotherly and harmonious action." At meetings I show up early to greet people and to help set up, and to share my experience, strength and hope. I also do what I can with service work. My Higher Power gives me exactly what He wants me to do at any given point in my recovery and, if I let Him, my willingness will bring Twelfth Step work automatically. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Clergymen speak of the spiritual fellowship of the church. This is much closer to the A.A. way than mere group therapy. Such a fellowship is based on a common belief in God and a common effort to live a spiritual life. We try to do this in A.A. We also try to get down to the real problems in each others' lives. We try to open up to each other. We have a real desire to be of service to each other. We try to go deep down into the personal lives of our members. Do I appreciate the deep personal fellowship of A.A.? Meditation For The Day Love and fear cannot dwell together. By their very natures, they cannot exist side by side. Fear is a very strong force. And therefore a weak and vacillating love can soon be routed by fear. But a strong love, a love that trusts in God, is sure eventually to conquer fear. The only sure way to dispel fear is to have the love of God more and more in your heart and soul. Prayer For The Day I pray that love will drive out the fear in my life. I pray that my fear will flee before the power of the love of God. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Going It Alone, p. 274 Going it alone in spiritual matters is dangerous. How many times have we heard well-intentioned people claim the guidance of God when it was plain that they were mistaken? Lacking both practice and humility, they deluded themselves and were so able to justify the most arrant nonsense on the ground that this was what God had told them. People of very high spiritual development almost always insist on checking with friends or spiritual advisers the guidance they feel they have received from God. Surely, then, a novice ought not lay himself open to the chance of making foolish, perhaps tragic, blunders. While the comment or advice of others may not be infallible, it is likely to be far more specific than any direct guidance we may receive while we are still inexperienced in establishing contact with a Power greater than ourselves. 12 & 12, p. 60 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Demanding credit Approval. The struggle for recognition sometimes takes an ugly form in AA. Even the pioneers of AA had disputes about who deserved credit for the fellowship's success. Demanding credit and recognition is a loser's game for people who are seeking growth in sobriety. It is an indication that we still need applause and approval of the sort that drove us while we were drinking. It is a way of saying that we still don't believe good work should be done for its own sake, but rather for the applause that goes with it. The real kicker is that people who demand recognition never get enough of it. Ironically, if we don't try to obtain credit for our actions, it sometimes comes anyway, without effort on our part. I'll watch myself for any tendency to demand credit for the things I do in the program. My healthy growth in sobriety should be reward enough. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple God gave us memory that we might have roses in December.--James M. Barrie. Do you remember what it was like to not have sobriety? Remember the shame? Remember the loneliness? Remember lying and wishing you could stop? Remember the powerlessness? Do you remember, also, how it felt when you began to believe you had an illness? Your shame was lifted. Remember what it was like to look around at your meeting and know you belonged? Your loneliness was lifted. Remember when you family started to trust you again? Your dishonesty had been lifted. Sobriety gives us many roses. Our memory will help to keep them fresh. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, never let me forget what it was like. Why? Because I'm only one drink or pill away from losing You. Action for the Day: I'll find a friend I trust. I'll tell that person what my life was like before sobriety. I'll also talk about how I got sober. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning If I am to be remembered, I hope it is for the honesty I try to demonstrate, the patience I try to live by, and the compassion I feel for others. --JoAnn Reed Each of us hopes we are leaving a lasting, positive impression on those we befriend and maybe even those we encounter by chance. Having others speak well of us provides the strokes that are often necessary to our "keeping on" when difficulties surface. What we sometimes forget is that we are responsible for whatever lasting impression we leave. Our behavior does influence what another person carries away from our mutual experience. We may have left unfavorable impressions during our using days. On occasion, we do yet. However, it's progress, not perfection, we're after. And each day we begin anew, with a clear slate and fresh opportunities to spread good cheer, to treat others with love and respect, to face head-on and with full honesty all situations drawing our attention and participation. As I look forward to the hours ahead, I will remember that I control my actions toward others. If I want to be remembered fondly, I must treat each person so. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY With ministers, and the worlds religions, I parted right there. When they talked of a God personal to me, who was love, superhuman strength and direction, I became irritated and my mind snapped shut against such a theory. p. 10 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. January 8, 1938--that was my D-Day; the place, Washington, D.C. This last real merry-go-round had started the day before Christmas, and I had really accomplished a lot in those fourteen days. First, my new wife had walked out, bag, baggage, and furniture; then the apartment landlord had thrown me out of the empty apartment; and the finish was the loss of another job. After a couple of days in dollar hotels and one night in the pokey, I finally landed on my mother's doorstep--shaking apart, with several days' beard, and of course, broke as usual. Many of these same things had happened to me many times before, but this time they had all descended together. For me, this was it. p. 219 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity." Countless times, in as many cities and hamlets, we reenacted the story of Eddie Rickenbacker and his courageous company when their plane crashed in the Pacific. Like us, they had suddenly found themselves saved from death, but still floating upon a perilous sea. How well they saw that their common welfare came first. None might become selfish of water or bread. Each needed to consider the others, and in abiding faith they knew they must find their real strength. And as they did find, in measure to transcend all the defects of their frail craft, every test of uncertainty, pain, fear, and despair, and even the death of one. p. 131 ************************************************** ********* Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you the best way they know how. --Unknown Smiles are contagious. See if you can infect someone today. --unknown I can't do His will my way. --unknown "It is a sign of strength, not of weakness, to admit that you don't know all the answers." --John P. Loughrane Miracles are not just extraordinary occurrences. They are also small simple things that are often overlooked. Take the time today to notice one. --unknown ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation PRINCIPLES "At the back of every noble life are the principles that have fashioned it." -- George Lorimer God is to be found in the principles of life. The suggested patterns of behavior that lead to happiness, freedom and unity in the world. God is not just a "good idea", an intellectual philosophy or other worldly entity. God is practical goodness that can be demonstrated and seen in the world. Principles lead to action; principles produce change in attitude and behavior; principles must have a practical result. Sometimes you hear the phrase "walk the talk", implying that the principles we talk about should be evident in our daily lives. Also principles should be seen in the small things of life being courteous, giving a smile to a stranger, offering a hug to a friend in pain. God is alive in the principles of life. Help me to practice the principles I believe in. ************************************************** ********* "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained." Philippians 3:12-16 "Your life will be brighter than the noonday....And you will have confidence, because there is hope." Job 11:17-18 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Reach higher than you think possible for all that you want and you find that often you attain even more. Lord, I rely on Your promises made to each of us and especially on Your love. Be patient with others, but mostly be patient with yourself. Lord, help me to keep a smile on my face and to realize my goodness and refuse to dwell on my imperfections. |
December 13
Daily Reflections THINKING OF OTHERS Our very lives, as ex-problem drinkers, depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 20 Thinking of others has never come easily to me. Even when I try to work the A.A. program, I'm prone to thinking, "How do I feel today. Am I happy, joyous and free?" The program tells me that my thoughts must reach out to those around me: "Would that newcomer welcome someone to talk to?" "That person looks a little unhappy today, maybe I could cheer him up." It is only when I forget my problems, and reach out to contribute something to others that I can begin to attain the serenity and God-consciousness I seek. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day We come now to A.A. fellowship. It is partly group therapy. It is partly spiritual fellowship. But it is even more. It is based on a common illness, a common failure, a common problem. It goes deep down into our personal lives and our personal needs. It requires a full opening up to each other of our inner most thoughts and most secret problems. All barriers between us are swept aside. They have to be. Then we try to help each other get well. The A.A. fellowship is based on a sincere desire to help the other person. In A.A. we can be sure of sympathy, understanding and real help. These things make the A.A. fellowship the best that we know. Do I fully appreciate the depth of the A.A. fellowship? Meditation For The Day The Higher Power can guide us to the right decisions if we pray about them. We can believe that many details of our lives are planned by God and planned with a wealth of forgiving love for the mistakes we have made. We can pray today to be shown the right way. We can choose the good, and when we choose it, we can feel that the whole power of the universe is behind us. We can achieve a real harmony with God's purpose for our lives. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may choose aright today. I pray that I may be shown the right way to live today. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Compelling Love, p.273 The life of each A.A. and of each group is built around our Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. We know that the penalty for extensive disobedience to these principles is death for the individual and dissolution for the group. But an even greater force for A.A.'s unity is our compelling love for our fellow members and for our principles. ******************************** You might think the people at A.A.'s headquarters in New York would surely have to have some personal authority. But, long ago, trustees and secretaries alike found they could do no more than make very mild suggestions to the A.A. groups. They even had to coin a couple of sentences which still go into half the letters they write: "Of course you are at perfect liberty to handle this matter any way you please. But the majority experience in A.A. does seem to suggest . . ." A.A. world headquarters is not a giver of orders. It is, instead, our largest transmitter of the lessons of experience. 1. Twelve Concepts, p.8 2. 12 & 12, pp. 173-174 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Visualizing Success Optimistic Thinking Some people insist that we must visualize ourselves enjoying success if we ever hope to achieve it. AA says virtually the same about sobriety; in fact, "A Vision for You" is the name of a chapter in Alcoholics Anonymous. There is a lot of talk in AA about projecting into the future and "seeing the worst." It takes far less energy.... and it's far more constructive..... to see ourselves doing our best, in sobriety and in all things. We have rich imaginative powers. Quite often, we used gifts wrongly when we were drinking... we would create dark pictures of our future troubles, particularly in the depressed periods between drinking bouts. In AA., we learn to use those same powers to see ourselves enjoying happy sobriety as well as a secure place in the world. I'm confident that I'm growing in sobriety and building healthy relationships in all of my activities. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Live and Let Live--AA slogan In our addiction, we didn't car. We didn't care about other people, even though we wanted to. We just didn't come through for them in ways that mattered. We didn't care for ourselves. We let bad things happen to us. We didn't care about living. We set no goals, had no fun, smelled no flowers. In our recovery, we do care. We care about others, ourselves, and life. Our spirits are on the move again. There's life in our hearts. Our bodies are getting well. And we're daring to dream. We're living! Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, put some life and energy into me today. Help me love my new life. Action for the Day: Today, I'll focus on being alive. As I breathe in, I'll gather more and more life energy from nature. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Across the fields I can see the radiance of your smile and I know in my heart you are there. But the anguish I am feeling makes the distance so very far to cross. --Deidra Sarault Looking down the hallway of our lives, we sense many uncomfortable corners. And they are there. But through the discomfort comes the ease of understanding. The security that we long for, we discover has been ours all along. All we needed to do was move into the corner--with trust. As we stand before any problems, any new task, any unfamiliar environment, dread may overwhelm us. We stand there alone. But the choice available to us now and always is to invite the spirit of God to share the space we're in. In concert with God's Spirit, no problem or task can be greater than our combined abilities to handle it. Our lives will be eased in direct proportion to our faith that God is there, caring for our every concern, putting before us the experiences we need to grow on. We can let go of our anguish, our doubts and fears. Eternal triumph is ours for the asking. The smiling faces I encounter today--I will let them assure me that all is well. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY To Christ I conceded the certainty of a great man, not to closely followed by those who claimed Him. His moral teaching--most excellent. For myself, I had adopted those parts which seemed convenient and not too difficult; the rest I disregarded. p. 11 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. Here I was, thirty-nine years old and a complete washout. Nothing had worked. Mother would take me in only if I would stay locked in a small storeroom and give her my clothes and shoes. We had played this game before. That is the way Jackie found me, lying on a cot in my skivvies, with hot and cold sweats, pounding heart and that awful itchy scratchiness all over. Somehow I had always managed to avoid D.T.'s. p. 219 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity." Thus has it been with A.A. By faith and by works we have been able to build upon the lessons of an incredible experience. They live today in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, which - God willing - shall sustain us in unity for so long as He may need us. p. 131 ************************************************** ********* Everything I experience serves a purpose. Today, my past is healed; I am alive, awake, and free. I have the courage to change. --Glad Day by Joan Larkin "We live by admiration, hope and love." --William Wordsworth If you judge people, you have no time to love them. --Mother Teresa Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure? --Anonymous An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory. --Friedrich Engels Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody's watching. --Anonymous ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation SUFFERING "Man cannot remake himself without suffering. For he is both the marble and the sculptor." -- Alexis Carrel I know that I have grown through my sufferings. I know that I am able to understand and forgive other people because I have been there, too. I know that I am patient and considerate because of my sufferings. My anguish keeps me "earthed". It stops me from playing God; it teaches me the reality of life that life hurts! It is wonderful, joyous, loving and eventful, but it also hurts. For many years I hid my sufferings and pretended they were not there; the result was loneliness and hypocrisy. God, may my sufferings keep me real. ************************************************** ********* Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are his riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods! For who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who knows enough to be his counselor? Romans 11:33-34 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, each with the attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5-6 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. 1 Corinthians 1:25 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration If we focus too much on ourselves and the troubles in our lives, it is very difficult to be happy. Lord, refresh my spirit, help me let go of longing to become something I am not and show me how to be the best of who I am. Open your mind and empty your heart of fears so that you can know and experience God to the fullest. Lord, You are my peace, my assurance and the love that I hold on to. |
December 14
Daily Reflections REACHING OUT Never talk down to an alcoholic from any moral or spiritual hilltop; simply lay out the kit of spiritual tools for his inspection. Show him how they worked with you. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 95 When I come into contact with a newcomer, do I have a tendency to look at him from my perceived angle of success in A.A.? Do I compare him with the large number of acquaintances I have made in the Fellowship? Do I point out to him in a magisterial way the voice of A.A.? What is my real attitude toward him? I must examine myself whenever I meet a newcomer to make sure that I am carrying the message with simplicity, humility and generosity. The one who still suffers from the terrible disease of alcoholism must find in me a friend who will allow him to get to know the A.A. way, because I had such a friend when I arrived in A.A. Today it is my turn to hold out my hand, with love, to my sister or brother alcoholic, and to show her or him the way to happiness. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The way of A.A. is the way of service. Without that, it would not work. We have been "on the wagon" and hated it. We have taken the pledge and waited for the time to be up with impatience. We have tried in all manner of ways to help ourselves. But not until we begin to help other people do we get full relief. It is an axiom that the A.A. program has to be given away in order to be kept. A river flows into the Dead Sea and stops. A river flows into a clear pool and flows out again. We get and then we give. If we do not give, we do not keep. Have I given up all ideas of holding A.A. for myself alone? Meditation For The Day Try to see the life of the spirit as a calm place, shut away from the turmoil of the world. Think of your spiritual home as a place full of peace, serenity, and contentment. Go to this quiet, meditative place for the strength to carry you through today's duties and problems. Keep coming back here for refreshment when you are weary of the hubbub of the outside world. From this quietness and communion comes our strength. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may keep this resting place where I can commune with God. I pray that I may find refreshment in meditation on the Eternal. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It After the "Honeymoon", p. 216 "For most of us, the first years of A.A. are something like a honeymoon. There is a new and potent reason to stay alive, joyful activity aplenty. For a time, we are diverted from the main life problems. That is all to the good. "But when the honeymoon has worn off, we are obliged to take our lumps, like other people. This is where the testing starts. Maybe the group has pushed us onto the side lines. Maybe difficulties have intensified at home, or in the world outside. Then the old behavior patterns reappear. How well we recognize and deal with them reveals the extent of our progress." ******************************** The wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong. 1. Letter, 1954 2. 12 & 12, p. 88 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places The best of the Past Living today. We're told that we should forget the past when we come into AA. Since we can't change it, we should not waste time and energy reliving it. Let's be careful, however, not to take this advice too literally. There was much in our past that was good, even when we were drinking. We have a right and a need to treasure these important things. The real dangers of living in the past come either from brooding about its mistakes or from thinking that our best days are already behind us. We can think of the past as a foundation for the good we expect today and in all the days ahead. I'll preserve the best in my memories of the past, knowing that these helped bring me to my present state of recovery. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is broken winged bird that cannot fly. --Langston Hughes Many of our dreams died as our addiction got worse. We felt the loss but couldn't speak it. With recovery, we regain our ability to dream. Dreams of sharing our lives with family and friends return. They push out thoughts of getting high. Dreams of pride and self-respect reappear. They replace the awful feeling of shame. Like the quote above says, "Hold fast to dreams...." Our dreams are our wishes for the future. They hold a picture of who we want to be. In our dreams, we let our spirits soar. Often, we fell close to God, others and ourselves. Thanks God, we can dream again. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks to you, my wings have been mended. Guide me as I fly. Action for the Day: Today, I'll take time out to dream and share my dream with those I love. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning A theme may seem to have been put aside, but it keeps returning--the same thing modulated, somewhat changed in form. --Muriel Rukeyser No struggle we have is really new. It's another shade of the struggle that plagued us last week or perhaps last year. And we'll stumble again and again until we learn to quit struggling. The trying situations at work, or the personality type that irritates us, will always exist. But when we've come to accept as good and growth-enhancing all situations and all persons, we'll sense the subtle absence of struggle. We'll realize that the person we couldn't tolerate has become a friend. The situation we couldn't handle is resolved, forever. The lessons we need to learn keep presenting themselves, until we've finished the homework. If we sense a struggle today, we can look at it as an assignment, one that is meant for our growth. We can remember that our struggles represent our opportunities to grow. Fortunately, the program has given us a tutor. We have a willing teacher to help us. We need to move on, to be open to other assignments. No problem will be too much for us to handle. I will enjoy my role as student today. I will be grateful for all opportunities to grow. They make possible my very special contribution in this life. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY The wars which had been fought, the burnings and chicanery that religious dispute had facilitated, made me sick. I honestly doubted whether, on balance, the religions of mankind had done any good. Judging from what I had seen in Europe and since, the power of God in human affairs was negligible, the Brotherhood of Man a grim jest. If there was a Devil, he seemed the Boss of the Universal, and he certainly had me. p. 11 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. I seriously doubt I ever would have asked for help, but Fitz, an old school friend of mine, had persuaded Jackie to call on me. Had he come two or three days later I think I would have thrown him out, but he hit when I was open for anything. Jackie arrived about seven in the evening and talked until three a.m. I don't remember much of what he said, but I did realize that here was another guy exactly like me; he had been in the same laughing academies and the same jails, known the same loss of jobs; same frustrations, same boredom and the same loneliness. If anything, he had known all of them better and more often than I. Yet he was happy, relaxed, confident and laughing. That night for the first time in my life I really let down my hair and admitted my general loneliness. Jackie told me about a group of fellows in New York, of whom my old friend Fitz was one, who had the same problem I had, and who by working together to help each other were not now drinking and were happy like himself. He said something about God or a Higher Power, but I brushed that off--that was for the birds, not for me. Little more of our talk stayed in my memory, but I do know I slept the rest of the night while before I had never known what a real night's sleep was. pp. 219-220 ************************************************** ********* 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." Where does A.A. get its direction? Who runs it? This, too, is a puzzler for every friend and newcomer. When told that our Society has no president having authority to govern it, no treasurer who can compel the payment of any dues, no board of directors who can cast an erring member into outer darkness, when indeed no A.A. can give another a directive and enforce obedience, our friends gasp and exclaim, "This simply can't be. There must be an angle somewhere." These practical folk then read Tradition Two, and learn that the sole authority in A.A. is a loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience. They dubiously ask an experienced A.A. member if this really works. The member, sane to all appearances, immediately answers, "Yes! It definitely does." The friends mutter that this looks vague, nebulous, pretty naive to them. Then they commence to watch us with speculative eyes, pick up a fragment of A.A. history, and soon have the solid facts. p. 132 ************************************************** ********* In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him. --Dereke Bruce "Life is short, and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh, be swift to love, make haste to be kind." --Henri Frederic Amiel "The human spirit rings with hope at the sound of an encouraging word. --unknown "Many a good man has failed because he had his wishbone where his backbone should have been." --Unknown The first step identifies the problem, the remaining eleven steps are the solution. The first tradition identifies the problem, the remaining eleven traditions are how we do that. --unknown "Every situation can be a positive situation if you look upon it as an opportunity for growth and self-improvement." --Brian Tracy "Step into a new you each day. Reach out to greater health, happiness, fitness, friendship, love and greater pride in yourself." --Mark Victor Hansen Every recovery from alcoholism began with one sober hour. Life didn't end when I got sober -- it started. H E A L = Helping Every Alcoholic Live. Take a walk with God. He will meet you at the Steps. ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation GOD "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me." -- Jesus (Matthew 27:46) In my sickness I was often angry at God. Angry that He did not do what I wanted Him to do when I wanted Him to do it. I was a spoiled child. I refused to understand that suffering could be an important part of my spiritual growth. Today I know this to be true. The biggest part of my suffering, then and today, is the feeling of isolation. Not knowing for certain that He hears me. Not understanding completely what His will is for me. Not getting clear answers to my daily confusion. The doubt is part of the faith. The "not knowing" is the answer. Lord, may the daily doubts lead to a creative faith. ************************************************** ********* "All things work together for good to them that love God." Romans 8:28 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 "Seek the LORD and live." Amos 5:6a ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Laughter is a speedy way to bring people together, build friendships and reduce stresses. Lord, help me participate in the many opportunities to feel the calming effect of laughter. God gives abundantly to those who pass His gifts on to others. Lord, let Your blessings flow in to me and then out from me. I will neither be selfish nor let my gifts stagnate. |
December 15
Daily Reflections DOING ANYTHING TO HELP Offer him [the alcoholic] friendship and fellowship. Tell him that if he wants to get well you will do anything to help. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 95 I remember how attracted I was to the two men from A.A. who Twelfth-Stepped me. They said I could have what they had, with no conditions attached, that all I had to do was make my own decision to join them on the pathway to recovery. When I start convincing a newcomer to do things my way, I forget how helpful those two men were to me in their open-minded generosity. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Service to others makes the world a good place. Civilization would cease if all of us were always and only for ourselves. We alcoholics have a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the well-being of the world. We have a common problem. We find a common answer. We are uniquely equipped to help others with the same problem. What a wonderful world it would be if everybody took their own greatest problem and found the answer to it and spent the rest of their lives helping others with the same problem, in their spare time. Soon we would have the right kind of a world. Do I appreciate my unique opportunity to be of service? Meditation For The Day Today can be lived in the consciousness of God's contact, upholding you in all good thoughts, words and deeds. If sometimes there seems to be a shadow on your life and you feel out of sorts, remember that this is not the withdrawal of God's presence, but only your own temporary unwillingness to realize it. The quiet gray days are the days for doing what you must do, but know that the consciousness of God's nearness will return and be with you again, when the gray days are past. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may face the dull days with courage. I pray that I may have faith that the bright days will return. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It A.A. In Two Words, p.271 "All A.A. progress can be reckoned in terms of just two words: humility and responsibility. Our whole spiritual development can be accurately measured by our degree of adherence to these magnificent standards. "Ever deepening humility, accompanied by an ever greater willingness to accept and to act upon clear-cut obligations--these are truly our touchstones for all growth in the life of the spirit. They hold up to us the very essence of right being and right doing. It is by them that we are enabled to find and to do God's will." Talk, 1965 (Printed In Grapevine, January 1966) ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Watching our boundaries. Personal relationships Setting boundaries in personal relationships is how we manage actions that could otherwise get out of control. One firm boundary in AA, for example, is maintaining other members' anonymity, as well as our own. We are always overstepping boundaries if we disclose another's AA membership without permission. It's wise, too, not to expect the easy familiarity of the meetings to carry over into all other activities. One member who was employed by another AA member apparently wondered why his boss was so easygoing and cordial at AA meetings and so remote and businesslike in the factory. It made perfect sense, however; their relationship in the plant was different from their AA relationship and required another set of boundaries. We can protect ourselves and others by being careful to establish proper boundaries for all relationships. This means that what's appropriate for one setting may not be for another. I'll check to be sure that I'm observing proper boundaries, for myself and others. I must not violate others' rights any more than I want my own violated. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple As ass is beautiful to an ass, and a pig to a pig.-- English proverb. When we see someone drunk and out of control, can we see the beautiful person inside them? If we can't, who will? Step Twelve reminds us that we have to help the alcoholic or other drug addict who suffers. This task has been given to us because we, most of all, should be able to look past the drunkenness and see the person. We were there. We know what it's like to be trapped in a world without meaning. If these memories have faded, we may need to go back over Step One. We may find ourselves angry with the practicing drunk or other drug addict. This is a sign that we have gotten too far from our past. Remember, "But for the grace of God..." Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, Help me remember my past and what it's like now. This helps me care about the person who still suffers. Action for the Day: Today, I'll respect my illness. I'll look for the beauty inside every drunk and other drug addict. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Happiness is a form of freedom, and of all people I should be the freest. I've earned this happiness and this freedom. --Angela L. Wozniak Life is a process, and we are progressing beautifully. We are no longer abusing our bodies and minds with drugs. We are taking special time, daily, to look for guidance. We are working the Steps of the program, better and better as the abstinent days add up. We are free from past behaviors. And we can be free from our negative attitudes too. Making a decision to look for the good in our experiences and in our friends and acquaintances frees us from so much frustration. It ushers in happiness, no only for us but for the others we are treating agreeably. Happiness is a byproduct of living the right kind of life. We can take a moment today, each time an action is called for, to consider our response. The one that squares with our inner selves and feels good, is the right one. Happiness will accompany it. Happiness is always within my power. My attitude is at the helm. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY But my friend sat before me, and he made the point blank declaration that God had done for him what he could not do for himself. His human will had failed. Doctors had pronounced him incurable. Society was about to lock him up. Like myself, he had admitted complete defeat. Then he had, in effect, been raised from the dead, suddenly taken from the scrap heap to a level of life better than the best he had ever known! p. 11 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. This was my introduction to this "understanding fellowship" although it was to be more than a year later before our Society was to bear the name, Alcoholics Anonymous. All of us in A.A. know the tremendous happiness that is in our sobriety, but there are also tragedies. My sponsor, Jackie, was one of these. He brought in many of our original members, yet he himself could not make it and died of alcoholism. The lesson of his death still remains with me, yet I often wonder what would have happened if somebody else had made that first call on me. So I always say that as long as I remember January 8th that is how long I will remain sober. pp. 220-221 ************************************************** ********* 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." What are these facts of A.A. life which brought us to this apparently impractical principle? John Doe, a good A.A. moves - let us say - to Middletown, U.S.A. Alone now, he reflects that he may not be able to stay sober, or even alive, unless he passes on to other alcoholics what was so freely given him. He feels a spiritual and ethical compulsion, because hundreds may be suffering within reach of his help. Then, too, he misses his home group. He needs other alcoholics as much as they need him. He visits preachers, doctors, editors, policemen , and bartenders ... with the result that Middletown now has a group, and he is the founder. pp. 132-133 ************************************************** ********* Too often we under estimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. --Leo Buscaglia He who speaks sows, and he who listens harvests. --Argentinean Proverb God is my compass, may I follow direction. --Shelley "Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer." --Denis Waitley "The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem." --Theodore Rubin ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation POVERTY "The poor you always have with you." -- Jesus (John 12:8) Whoever said that life was going to be easy? A great number of people are placed in circumstances that are beyond their control and they die in helpless poverty. The poor are always with us. I cannot understand this dilemma and I have few answers for most of the world's suffering. However, I have a faith in God's love being realized beyond the grave for everyone. But many of "the poor" are spiritually destitute by their own making. They choose to live lives that are consistently destructive and they refuse to change. Alcoholics and drug addicts are committing suicide by their lifestyle! I know because for years I was one. This produces a spiritual poverty that need not remain. This is a poverty that can be overcome. Recovery is finding the hidden treasure that is within. Let me find Your treasure in the loving care I give myself. ************************************************** ********* Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ." 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." I Corinthians 10:13 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Add excitement to the day by meeting everything as though it is your very first time. Lord, give me the ability to change the ordinary into something special, to do more than just slide through the moments of the day and take time to notice that my life really is terrific most of the time. We have two ends; one for sitting and one for thinking. My success depends on which one I use more. Lord, grant me the determination and the necessary energy that I need to accomplish my goals for today and for my future. |
December 16
Daily Reflections PARTNERS IN RECOVERY . . . nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics . . . Both you and the new man must walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress. . . . Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances! ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 89, 100 Doing the right things for the right reasons -- this is my way of controlling my selfishness and self-centeredness. I realize that my dependency on a Higher Power clears the way for peace of mind, happiness and sobriety. I pray each day that I will avoid my previous actions, so that I will be helpful to others. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The way of A.A. is the way of faith. We don't get the full benefit of the program until we surrender our lives to some Power greater than ourselves and trust that Power to give us the strength we need. There is no better way for us. We can get sober without it. We can stay sober for some time without it. But if we are going to truly live, we must take the way of faith in God. That is the path for us. We must follow it. Have I taken the way of faith? Meditation For The Day Life is not a search for happiness. Happiness is a by-product of living the right kind of a life, of doing the right thing. Do not search for happiness, search for right living and happiness will be your reward. Life is sometimes a march of duty during dull, dark days. But happiness will come again, as God's smile of recognition of your faithfulness. True happiness is always the by-product of a life well lived. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may not seek happiness but seek to do right. I pray that I may not seek pleasure so much as the things that bring true happiness. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Two Roads for the Oldtimer, p. 138 The founders of many groups ultimately divide into two classes known in A.A. slang as "elder statesmen" and "bleeding deacons." The elder statesman sees the wisdom of the group's decision to run itself and holds no resentment over his reduced status. His judgment, fortified by considerable experience, is sound; he is willing to sit quietly on the side lines patiently awaiting developments. The bleeding deacon is just as surely convinced that the group cannot get along without him. He constantly connives for re-election to office and continues to be consumed with self-pity. Nearly every oldtimer in our Society has gone through this process in some degree. Happily, most of them survive and live to become elder statesmen. They become the real and permanent leadership of A.A. 12 & 12, p. 135 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Others must not define us. Self-image The thoughtless practice of lumping people into categories can be destructive. Some of us still seethe with resentment over the roles we were given in our families while growing up. We realize that this way of being defined was a put-down. As adults living sober, we must now make sure that we define ourselves in ways that contribute to our success and happiness. If others attempt to attach labels to us, we must not accept this... at least not in our own minds. If others are attempting to define us in this way, we must always ask whether we've invited such labeling. Did your behavior somehow give them this impression? Did we mask our true feelings to present an image with which we don't really want to live? Whatever the answer, we must take charge of defining who we are and what we want to be. If I don't like the way people have been viewing me, I'll change the signals I've been sending out. Any signals I send should fit the way I really want to be known. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Charity sees the need, not the cause.--German proverb. Charity is not just giving money to good causes. Charity is having a heart that's ready to give. Charity is helping a friend at two in the morning. Charity is going early to the meeting to put on coffee without being asked. Service is how Twelve Step programs refer to "Charity". Service and charity are a lifestyle. We see a need, so we try to help. Our values and our heart will guide us in how we help. Service is a big part of our program. Service helps us think of others, not just of ourselves. We stop asking, "What's in it for me?" The act of helping others is what's in it for us. Sobriety is what's in it for us. Serenity is what's in it for us. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You have given me many talents. Help me see how my talents can make the world a better place. Giving of myself is believing in You and myself. Action for the Day: Today, I'll list my talents and I'll think of ways I can use them to help others. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning To have someone who brings out the colors of life and whose very presence offers tranquility and contentment enriches my being and makes me grateful for the opportunity to share. --Kathleen Tierney Crilly Loneliness and isolation are familiar states to most of us. We often protected our insecurities by hiding out, believing that we'd survive if others didn't know who we really were. But we discovered that our insecurities multiplied. The remedy is people--talking to people, exposing our insecurities to them, risking, risking, risking. Sharing our mutual vulnerabilities helps us see how fully alike we are. Our most hated shortcoming is not unique, and that brings relief. It's so easy to feel utterly shamed in isolation. Hearing another woman say "I understand. I struggle with jealousy too," lifts the shame, the dread, the burden of silence. The program has taught us that secrets make us sick, and the longer we protect them, the greater are our struggles. The program promises fulfillment, serenity, achievement when we willingly share our lives. Each day we can lighten our burdens and help another lighten hers, too. I will be alert today to the needs of others. I will risk sharing. I will be a purveyor of tranquility. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY Had this power originated in him? Obviously it had not. There had been no more power in him than there was in me at that minute; and this was none at all. That floored me. It began to look as though religious people were right after all. Here was something at work in a human heart which had done the impossible. My ideas about miracles were drastically revised right then. Never mind the musty past; here sat a miracle directly across the kitchen table. He shouted great tidings. p. 11 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. The age-old question in A.A. which came first, the neurosis or the alcoholism. I like to think I was fairly normal before alcohol took over. My early life was spent in Baltimore where my father was a physician and a grain merchant. My family lived in very prosperous circumstances, and while both my parents drank, sometimes too much, neither was an alcoholic. Father was a very well-integrated person, and while mother was highstrung and a bit selfish and demanding, our home life was reasonably harmonious. There were four of us children, and although both of my brothers later became alcoholic--one died of alcoholism--my sister has never taken a drink in her life. p. 221 ************************************************** ********* 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." Being the founder, he is at first the boss. Who else could be? Very soon, though, his assumed authority to run everything begins to be shared with the first alcoholics he has helped. At this moment, the benign dictator becomes the chairman of a committee composed of his friends. These are the growing group's hierarchy of service - self-appointed, of course, because there is no other way. In a matter of months, A.A. booms in Middletown. p. 133 ************************************************** ********* The secret of what life's all about, Was answered by the sages: Life's about one day at a time, No matter what your age is. --Robert Half "In discussing an approach to bringing about positive changes within oneself, learning is only the first step. There are other factors as well: conviction, determination, action and effort." --Dalai Lama "If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you'll never enjoy the sunshine." --Morris West "It is a defining moment when someone in authority finally reaches the conclusion that leadership is not about using people ~ it's about serving them." --Neil Eskelin "Until you have learned to be tolerant with those who do not always agree with you; until you have cultivated the habit of saying some kind word of those whom you do not admire; until you have formed the habit of looking for the good instead of the bad there is in others, you will be neither successful nor happy." --Napoleon Hill "Everyone Smiles in the same language." --Proverb "Pain comes like the weather, but joy is a choice." --Rodney Crowell, Singer, Songwriter God can bring showers of blessing out of storms of adversity. --unknown ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation GENEROSITY "Liberty is the one thing you can't have unless you give it to others." -- William Allen White Spirituality is rooted in a respect for self that demands an equal respect for others. I can expect to be treated with dignity if I afford dignity to others. In the one is the key to the many. For years I lived a compulsive life that only made me self-centered and spoiled, and it didn't work! I was unhappy, lonely and resentful. Today I find that the more I give to others the more I receive. Less is more. In this sense it is much easier to be good than bad because "goodness" works! Spirit of generosity, may I always reflect the gratitude that gives. ************************************************** ********* "I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever." Psalm 52:8 "The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me." Psalm 116:6 "Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content" 1 Timothy 6:6-8 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." 1 Peter 2:9 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Do that which is right and learn to do it for the right reason. Lord, give us strength as we stand up to temptation and spiritual power as we resist the pressures and stresses that bear down on us. You cannot ask too much if you use your blessings ceaselessly. Lord, help me to reflect on and live in Your spirit. |
December 17
Daily Reflections A PRICELESS REWARD . . . . work with other alcoholics. . . . It works when other activities fail. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89 "Life will take on a new meaning," as the Big Book says (p. 89) This promise has helped me to avoid self-seeking and self-pity. To watch others grow in this wonderful program, to see them improve the quality of their lives, is a priceless reward for my effort to help others. Self-examination is yet another reward for an ongoing recovery, as are serenity, peace and contentment. The energy derived from seeing others on a successful path, of sharing with them the joys of the journey, gives to my life a new meaning. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The way of faith is of course not confined to A.A. It is the way for everybody who wants to really live. But many people can go through life without much of it. Many are doing so, to their own sorrow. The world is full of lack of faith. Many people have lost confidence in any meaning in the universe. Many are wondering if it has any meaning at all. Many are at loose ends. Life has no goal for many. They are strangers in the land. They are not at home. But for us in A.A. the way of faith is the way of life. We have proved by our past lives that we could not live without it. Do I think I could live happily without faith? Meditation For The Day "He maketh His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends the rain on the just and the unjust." God does not interfere with the working of natural laws. The laws of nature are unchangeable, otherwise we could not depend on them. As far as natural laws are concerned, God makes no distinction between good and bad people. Sickness or death may strike anywhere. But spiritual laws are also made to be obeyed. On our choice of good or evil depends whether we go upward to true success and victory in life or downward to loss and defeat. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may choose today the way of the spiritual life. I pray that I may live today with faith and hope and love. ************************************************** ********* 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 Looking For Protectors Self-Reliance Many of us managed to survive while drinking by finding protectors we could lean on. Sometimes the protector wasn't a very strong person---only someone who was willing to support us in some way. A protector could even be a person who gave us flattery or companionship when we wanted it. Such alliances are usually unhealthy and have no lasting place in society. We cannot depend on protectors who will eventually betray us or fail us through no fault of their own. In sobriety, we must grow into a satisfactory form of self-reliance. This is not reliance on our own resources; rather, it is really a way of relying on our Higher Power, the group, our sponsors, and the higher understanding we've found in the program. If we're still looking for people willing to protect us, we need more growth in sobriety. I've been given tools for understanding myself and my life. I can use those tools effectively as I go through the day. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple The rose and the thorn, and sorrow and gladness are linked together. --Saadi. When we were drinking and drugging, we didn't have to deal much with feelings. We turned them off. Then, when we let go of the alcohol and other drugs, we started to come back to life. Now--we have feelings again! But, even now, in recovery, we're scared of too much happiness. It's true--we don't want sadness and pain at all. Yet, feelings--the good and the bad--keep on coming. And we have to handle them. We are learning to handle our feelings. We're getting strong enough to deal with them. With the help of our friends in the program, and our Higher Power, we're ready for life. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I want to be fully alive, but I'm a little scared. Help me know what to do with my feelings today. Action for the Day: Today, I'll be open to feelings. I'll enjoy my good feelings and share them. I'll ask for help with hard feelings by praying, and by calling my sponsor. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Give to the world the best you have, and the best will come back to you. --Madeline Bridge We do reap, in some measure, at some time, what we sow. Our respect for others will result in kind. Our love expressed will return tenfold. The kindness we greet others with will ease their relations with us. We get from others what we give, if not at this time and place, at another. We can be certain that our best efforts toward others do not go unnoticed. And we can measure our due by what we give. A major element of our recovery is the focus we place on our behavior, the seriousness with which we tackle our inventories. We can look at ourselves and how we reach out and act toward others; it is a far cry from where we were before entering this program. Most of us obsessed on "What he did to me," or "What she said." And then returned their actions in kind. How thrilling is the knowledge that we can invite loving behavior by giving it! We have a great deal of control over the ebb and flow of our lives. In every instance we can control, our behavior. Thus never should we be surprised about the conditions of our lives. What goes around comes around. I will look for the opportunities to be kind and feel the results. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY I saw that my friend was much more than inwardly reorganized. He was on a different footing. His roots grasped a new soil. Despite the living example of my friend there remained in me the vestiges of my old prejudice. The word God still aroused a certain antipathy. When the thought expressed that there might be a God personal to me this feeling was intensified. I didn't like the idea. I could go for such conceptions as Creative Intelligence, Universal Mind or Spirit of Nature but I resisted the thought of a Czar of the Heavens, however loving His sway might be. I have since talked with scores of men who felt the same way. pp. 11-12 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. Until I was thirteen I attended public schools, with regular promotions and average grades. I have never shown any particular talents, nor have I had any really frustrating ambitions. At thirteen I was packed off to a very fine Protestant boarding school in Virginia, where I stayed four years, graduating without any special achievements. In sports I made the track and tennis teams; I got along well with the other boys and had a fairly large circle of acquaintances but no intimate friends. I was never homesick and was always pretty self-sufficient. p. 221 ************************************************** ********* 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." Growing pains now beset the group. Panhandlers panhandle. Lonely hearts pine. Problems descend like an avalanche. Still more important, murmurs are heard in the body politic, which swell into a loud cry: "Do these oldtimers think they can run this group forever? Let's have an election!" The founder and his friends are hurt and depressed. They rush from crisis to crisis and from member to member, pleading; but it's no use, the revolution is on. The group conscience is about to take over. pp. 133-134 ************************************************** ********* "Enthusiastic people experience life from the inside out." --Nido Qubein There are two days about which nobody should ever worry, and these are yesterday and tomorrow. --Robert J. Burdette What people really need is a good listening-to. --Mary Lou Casey When I have done all the footwork I know to do and things are still not working out, I know today that it is time to meditate. I have faith that my answer is still to come. --Ruth Fishel No one else's opinion about me can determine my worth. --Mary Manin Morrissey "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." --Melody Beattie ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation FEAR "Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." -- Marie Curie God is on my side. Today I really believe and understand this truth, and it helps me cope with my fears. Now I am beginning to understand that I was the only real enemy in my life. With this new understanding of God I have the power of choice back in my life. I do not have to stay in a sick process. I do not need sick and negative people in my life. I do not have to place myself in destructive relationships or in fearful situations. God is alive in my life and I am discovering the spiritual power of choice. God, give me the courage to confront my fear and be willing to make changes in my life. ************************************************** ********* "Behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2 "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Proverbs 30:5 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Treat your family as you would treat a best friend. Lord, help me to treasure my family with all of their imperfections as well as my own and cherish the time we have together. Let nothing that others do alter how you treat them. Lord, may I treat all with love and consideration. |
December 18
Daily Reflections HONESTY WITH NEWCOMERS Tell him exactly what happened to you. Stress the spiritual feature freely. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 93 The marvel of A.A. is that I tell only what happened to me. I don't waste time offering advice to potential newcomers, for if advice worked, nobody would get to A.A. All I have to do is show what has brought me sobriety and what has changed my life. If I fail to stress the spiritual feature of A.A.'s program, I am being dishonest. The newcomer should not be given a false impression of sobriety. I am sober only through the grace of my Higher Power, and that makes it possible for me to share with others. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Unless we have the key of faith to unlock the meaning of life, we are lost. We do not choose faith because it is one way for us, but because it is the only way. Many have failed and will fail. For we cannot live victoriously without faith; we are at sea without a rudder or an anchor, drifting on the sea of life. Wayfarers without a home. Our souls are restless until they find rest in God. Without faith, our lives are a meaningless succession of unrelated happenings, without rhyme or reason. Have I come to rest in faith? Meditation For The Day This vast universe around us, including this wonderful earth on which we live, was once perhaps only a thought in the mind of God. The nearer the astronomers and the physicists get to the ultimate composition of all things, the nearer the universe approaches a mathematical formula, which is thought. The universe may be the thought of the Great Thinker. We must try to think God's thoughts after Him. We must try to get the guidance from the Divine Mind as to what His intention is for the world and what part we can have in carrying out that intention. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may not worry over the limitations of the human mind. I pray that I may live as though my mind were a reflection of the Divine Mind. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Those Other People, p.268 "Just like you, I have often thought myself the victim of what other people say and do. Yet every time I confessed the sins of such people, especially those whose sins did not correspond exactly with my own, I found that I only increased the total damage. My own resentment, my self-pity would often render me well-nigh useless to anybody. "So, nowadays, if anyone talks of me so as to hurt, I first ask myself if there is any truth at all in what they say. If there is none, I try to remember that I too have had my periods of speaking bitterly of others; that hurtful gossip is but a symptom of our remaining emotional illness; and consequently that I must never be angry at the unreasonableness of sick people. "Under very trying conditions I have had, again and again, to forgive others--also myself. Have you recently tried this?" Letter, 1946 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places The Fear Of Loneliness Raising Self-Esteem The fear of being alone brings strange results. It may cause us to cling to arrangements and relationships that are unsatisfactory or destructive. Some of us become enablers for loved ones who are still drinking; quite often this can involve putting up with abuse we shouldn't have to endure. We endure such relationships because we fear we'll be alone and defenseless without them. We may even put up with friends who are manipulative or treacherous because we can't visualize having happier, healthier friendships. When we recognize that we are holding on to unsatisfactory relationships for such reasons, we need to apply the program more diligently in our own lives. Usually, we need more self-esteem--a belief that we deserve satisfactory relationships. We do not have to be alone, but neither do we have to endure what amounts to abuse and rejection. WhetherI'm with people or alone today, I'll know that all of my relationships should be satisfactory for everybody involved. I'll let my Higher Power guide me to the relationships that are right for me. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."Franklin D. Roosevelt As addicts, we had lots of fear. Some of us were afraid of failure. So we didn't try to do much. Or else we tried too hard all the time. We used alcohol and other drugs to forget our fear, but it didn't go away. It got worse. Now we know we don't have to be afraid. When our lives are in the care of our Higher Power, we're safe. Faith is the cure for out fear. But still, fear keeps creeping back inside us. That's okay. It's normal. There is so much that's new in our sober life! We don't know what will happen next. It's hard to always remember to trust our Higher Power. It's hard to always do what our Higher Power says. It's hard to always have faith. We have to practice turning our fear over to our Higher Power. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, be with me when I'm afraid. Help me remember to have faith to believe in You, even when my fear tells me not to. Action for the Day: Today, I'll notice my fear and pray each time get afraid. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Destruction. Crashing realities exploding in imperfect landings. Ouch. It's my heart that's breaking, for these have been my fantasies and my world. --Mary Casey We frequently aren't given what we want--whether it's a particular job, a certain relationship, a special talent. But we are always given exactly what we need at the moment. None of us can see what tomorrow is designed to bring, and our fantasies are always tied to a future moment. Our fantasies seldom correlate with the real conditions that are necessary to our continued spiritual growth. Fantasies are purposeful. They give us goals to strive for, directions to move in. They are never as far-sighted as the goals our higher power has in store for us, though. We have far greater gifts than we are aware of, and we are being pushed to develop them at the very times when it seems our world is crashing down. We can cherish our fantasies--but let them go. Our real purpose in life far exceeds our fondest dreams. The Steps have given us the tools to make God's plan for us a reality. How limited is my vision, my dreams. If one of mine is dashed today, I will rest assured that an even better one will present itself, if I but let it. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. He said, "Why don't you choose your own conception of God?" That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years. I stood in the sunlight at last. It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning. I saw that growth could start from that point. Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might build what I saw in my friend. Would I have it? Of course I would! p. 12 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. However, here I probably took my first step toward my coming alcoholism by developing a terrific aversion to all churches and established religions. At this school we had Bible readings before each meal, and church services four times on Sunday, and I became so rebellious at this time that I swore i would never join or go to any church, except for weddings or for funerals. pp. 221-222 ************************************************** ********* 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." Now comes the election. If the founder and his friends have served well, they may - to their surprise - be reinstated for a time. If, however, they have heavily resisted the rising tide of democracy, they may be summarily beached. In either case, the group now has a so-called rotating committee, very sharply limited in its authority. In no sense whatever can its members govern or direct the group. They are servants. Theirs is the sometimes thankless privilege of doing the group's chores. Headed by the chairman, they look after public relations and arrange meetings. Their treasurer, strictly accountable, takes money from the hat that is passed, banks it, pays the rent and other bills, and makes a regular report at business meetings. The secretary sees that literature is on the table, looks after the phone-answering service, answers the mail, and sends out notices of meetings. Such are the simple services that enable the group to function. the committee gives no spiritual advice, judges no one's conduct, issues no orders. Every one of them may be promptly eliminated at the next election if they try this. And so they make the belated discovery that they are really servants, not senators. These are universal experiences. Thus throughout A.A. does the group conscience decree the terms upon which its leaders shall serve. p. 134 ************************************************** ********* Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it. --Ralph Waldo Emerson "Let me tell thee, time is a very precious gift of God; so precious that it is only given to us moment by moment." --Amelia Barr Pain is never permanent. --Saint Theresa of Avila Meetings: A checkup from the neck up. --unknown Don't give up before the miracle happens. --unknown ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation FREEDOM "You are free and that is why you are lost." -- Franz Kafka Part of my understanding of spirituality is that we have many choices and we live in moments of "not knowing". Part of being human is that we have feelings of being lost. These feelings can lead to fear and loneliness or they can be seen as the essence of man's risk and adventure. With freedom comes daily uncertainties; nothing is predestined or made to happen God is in the choice. Herein lies true greatness. The fact is that we do not have all the answers. We are not sure of the results. The joys are mingled with the pain and sorrows such is the divinity of life. And yet still we choose to live! Sobriety is accepting the reality of this uncertain life. My responsibility is accepting this freedom and making a daily choice not to drink. May I accept my "lostness" until I return home to You. ************************************************** ********* "...behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Luke 1:20-21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love, and His wonderful deeds for men. Psalm 107:15 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. Psalm 107:19 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration If you are not happy with what you have, how will you be happy with what you want to have? Lord, may I appreciate the good things in my life and refuse to feel sorry for myself or compare myself to others. Many joys come from the simple things. Lord, open my eyes that I may see the wonders in my life and take the time to enjoy them. |
December 19
Daily Reflections UNDERSTANDING THE MALADY When dealing with an alcoholic, there may be a natural annoyance that a man could be so weak, stupid and irresponsible. Even when you understand the malady better, you may feel this feeling rising. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 139 Having suffered from alcoholism, I should understand the illness, but sometimes I feel annoyance, even contempt, toward a person who cannot make it in A.A. When I feel that way, I am satisfying my false sense of superiority and I must remember, but for the grace of God, there go I. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day The skeptic and the agnostic say it is impossible for us to find the answer to life. Many have tried and failed. But many have put aside intellectual pride and have said to themselves: Who am I to say there is no God? Who am I to say there is no purpose in life? The atheist makes a declaration: "The world originated in a cipher and aimlessly rushes nowhere." Others live for the moment and do not even think about why they are here or where they are going. They might as well be clams on the bottom of the ocean, protected by their hard shells of indifference. They do not care. Do I care where I am going? Meditation For The Day We may consider the material world as the clay which the artist works with, to make of it something beautiful or ugly. We need not fear material things, which are neither good nor bad in the moral sense. There seems to be no active force for evil--outside of human beings themselves. Humans alone can have either evil intentions--resentments, malevolence, hate and revenge--or good intentions--love and good will. They can make something ugly or something beautiful out of the clay of their lives. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may make something beautiful out of my life. I pray that I may be a good artisan of the materials which I have been given to use. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Behind Our Excuses, p.267 As excuse-makers and rationalizers, we drunks are champions. It is the business of the psychiatrist to find the deeper causes for our conduct. Though uninstructed in psychiatry, we can, after a little time in A.A., see that our motives have not been what we thought they were, and that we have been motivated by forces previously unknown to us. Therefore we ought to look, with the deepest respect, interest, and profit, upon the example set us by psychiatry. ******************************** "Spiritual growth through the practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, plus the aid of a good sponsor, can usually reveal most of the deeper reasons for our character defects, at least to a degree that meets our practical needs. Nevertheless, we should be grateful that our friends in psychiatry have so strongly emphasized the necessity to search for false and often unconscious motivations." 1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p.236 2. Letter, 1966 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Deadlines Facing delays The procrastination of our drinking years caused some of us to become compulsive and fearful about meeting deadlines. We fret and stew if we're unable to get things done when we think they should be completed. Without being careless or irresponsible, we should remember that we're really living in a spiritual world on a spiritual basis. There are times when a delay even turns out to be beneficial because additional information or assistance turns up later on to ensure the success of a project. It is part of mature living to keep promises and to meet the proper deadlines. Let's be sure, however, that we're not simply meeting unrealistic deadlines of our own making. We don't have to do this to atone for any failures of the past. I'll look over my plans today to make sure that I haven't set any unrealistic deadlines for myself. I may be trying too much, too soon. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple The truth is more important than the facts. --Frank Lloyd Wright. Before recovery, we relied on false facts about addiction. We said things like, "I can quit anytime I want." "If you had my family, you'd drink too." The truth is, we were out of control. We couldn't manage our lives. We were sick. We were scared. When others pointed out this truth to us, we denied it. Honesty, the backbone of our program, is about truth. We even start our meetings with the truth about who we are. "Hi, my name is ___________, and I'm an alcoholic," or "Hi, my name is _______________, and I'm a drug addict." The truth frees us from our addiction. The truth heals us and gives us comfort. It's like a blanket on a cold winter night. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be an honest person. I pray for the strength to face the truth and speak it. Action for the Day: Today, I'll list 3 ways I have used facts in a dishonest way. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning My singing is very therapeutic. For three hours I have no troubles--I know how it's all going to come out. --Beverly Sills Have we each found an activity that takes us outside of ourselves? An activity that gives us a place to focus our attention? Being self-centered and focused on ourselves accompanies the illness we're struggling to recover from. The decision to quit preoccupying on ourselves, our own struggles with life, is not easy to maintain. But when we have an activity that excites us, on which we periodically concentrate our attention, we are strengthened. And the more we get outside of ourselves, the more aware we become that "all is well." It seems our struggles are intensified as women. So often we face difficult situations at work and with children, alone. The preoccupation with our problems exaggerates them. And the vicious cycle entraps us. However, we don't have to stay trapped. We can pursue a hobby. We can take a class, join a health club. We can dare to follow whatever our desire--to try something new. We need to experience freedom from the inner turmoil in order to know that we deserve even more freedom. Emotional health is just around the corner. I will turn my attention to the world outside myself. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY Thus was I convinced that God is concerned with us humans when we want Him enough. At long last I saw, I felt, I believed. Scales of pride and prejudice fell from my eyes. A new world came into view. p. 12 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. At seventeen I entered the university, really to satisfy my father, who wanted me to study medicine there as he had. That is where I had. That is where I had my first drink and I still remember it, for every "first" drink afterwards did exactly the same trick--I could feel it go right through every bit of my body and down to my very toes. But each drink after the "first" drink seemed to become less and less effective and after three or four they all seemed like water. I was never a hilarious drunk; the more I drank the quieter I got, and the drunker I got the harder I fought to stay sober. So it is clear that I never had any fun out of drinking--I would be the soberest-seeming one in the crowd and all of a sudden I would be the drunkest. Even that first night I blacked out, which leads me to believe that I was an alcoholic from my very first drink. The first year in college I just got by in my studies, and that year I majored in poker and drinking. I refused to join any fraternity, as I wanted to be a free lance, and that year my drinking was confined to one-night stands, once or twice a week. The second year my drinking was more or less restricted to week-ends, but I was nearly kicked out for scholastic failure. p. 222 ************************************************** ********* 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." This brings us straight to the question "Does A.A. have a real leadership?" Most emphatically the answer is "Yes, notwithstanding the apparent lack of it." Let's turn again to the deposed founder and his friends. What becomes of them? As their grief and anxiety wear away, a subtle change begins. Ultimately, they divide into two classes known in A.A. slang as "elder statesmen" and "bleeding deacons." The elder statesman is the one who sees the wisdom of the group's decision, who holds no resentment over his reduced status, whose judgment, fortified by considerable experience, is sound, and who is willing to sit quietly on the sidelines patiently awaiting developments. The bleeding deacon is one who is just as surely convinced that the group cannot get along without him, who constantly connives for reelection to office, and who continues to be consumed with self-pity. A few hemorrhage so badly that - drained of all A.A. spirit and principal - they get drunk. At times the A.A. landscape seems to be littered with bleeding forms. Nearly every oldtimer in our Society has gone through this process in some degree. Happily, most of them survive and live to become elder statesmen. They become the real and permanent leadership of A.A. Theirs is the quiet opinion, the sure knowledge and humble example that resolve a crisis. When sorely perplexed, the group inevitably turns to them for advice. They become the voice of the group conscience; in fact, these are the true voice of Alcoholics Anonymous. They do not drive by mandate; they lead by example. This is the experience which has led us to the conclusion that our group conscience, well-advised by its elders, will be in the long run wiser than any single leader. pp. 134-135 ************************************************** ********* "Keep your head and your heart going in the right direction and you will not have to worry about your feet." --Unknown Reputation is what you are in the light; character is what you are in the dark. --American Proverb Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some. --Charles Dickens The mere sense of living is joy enough. --Emily Dickinson Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself, And know that everything in this life has purpose. There are no mistakes, No coincidences, All events are blessings given to us to learn from. --Elizabeth Kubler-Ross ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation INDIVIDUALITY "The People, though we think a great entity when we use the word, means nothing more than so many --- millions of individual men (and women)." James Bryce I am an individual. I am unique. I am special. Today I am able to enjoy my difference. I do not need to hide in alcohol, food or drugs. I do not have to put energy into being the same as friends or neighbors. I do not need to please people in order to feel good about myself. Today I am my own person. God made us varied and different in so many ways, and yet so many of us spend our time trying to be the same. The effort exerted to achieve the lowest common denominator is exactly that: the lowest. My spiritual program demands that I be honest with who I am and what I feel. My self-worth is rooted in my individuality. In my difference is my soul. May I always remain true to my individuality. ************************************************** ********* "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 For anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Hebrews 4:10 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration 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. The first and most powerful commandment is love. Through love we unite ourselves together with God and with each other and bring ourselves closer to our desired goal. Lord, I love You with all my heart and soul and mind. |
December 20
Daily Reflections THE REWARDS OF GIVING This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands nothing. He does not expect his brother sufferer to pay him, or even to love him. And then he discovers that by the divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether his brother has yet received anything or not. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 109 Through experience with Twelfth Step work, I came to understand the rewards of giving that demands nothing in return. At first I expected recovery in others, but I soon learned that this did not happen. Once I acquired the humility to accept the fact that every Twelfth Step call was not going to result in a success, then I was open to receive the rewards of selfless giving. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Our faith should control the whole of our life. We alcoholics were living a divided life. We had to find a way to make it whole. When we were drinking, our lives were made up of a lot of scattered and unrelated pieces. We must pick up our lives and put them back together again. We do it by recovering a faith in a Divine Principle in the universe which hold us together and holds the whole universe together and gives it meaning and purpose. We surrender our disorganized lives to that Power, we get into harmony with the Divine Spirit, and our lives are made whole again. Is my life whole again? Meditation For The Day Avoid fear as you would a plague. Fear, even the smallest fear, is a hacking at the cords of faith that bind you to God. However small the fraying, in time those cords will wear thin, and then one disappointment or shock will make them snap. But for the little fears, the cords of faith would have held firm. Avoid depression, which is allied to fear. Remember that all fear is disloyalty to God. It is a denial of His care and protection. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may have such trust in God today that I will not fear anything too greatly. I pray that I may have assurance that God will take care of me in the long run. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Give Thanks, p.266 Though I still find it difficult to accept today's pain and anxiety with any great degree of serenity--as those more advanced in the spiritual life seem able to do--I can give thanks for present pain nevertheless. I find the willingness to do this by contemplating the lessons learned from past suffering--lessons which have led to the blessings I now enjoy. I can remember how the agonies of alcoholism, the pain of rebellion and thwarted pride, have often led me to God's grace, and so to a new freedom. Grapevine, March 1962 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Returning to Basics Continuing. Now and then, an AA discussion focuses on the theme of "returning to the basics." This is a good time to shake out the excessive concerns that might be cluttering up our lives. No matter how long we've been living in sobriety, we can never afford to dismiss the basic reasons we came to AA in the first place. We had made a mess of our lives, and no human power could relieve our alcoholism. By accepting and admitting this, we were able to find a new way of life. This was also our admission ticket to the larger society, where people are concerned about many things. We sometimes become too caught up in all these concerns even to the extent of forgetting our own needs. It's good, occasionally, to focus a meeting on AA basics. they are as essential today as they were when we first knew that we needed them. I'll remind myself today that the basics give me a firm foundation on which to stand. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ---Edith Wharton Our Higher Power is the candle. And our hearts, like a mirror, reflect a warm, loving glow. But when we used alcohol and other drugs, we tired to be the candle. We wanted to have control. Many of us acted like this to hide how out of control we felt. We never thought we could be happy by admitting we were out of control. In recovery, we accept that it’s okay to be the mirror. We accept that our Higher Power is the candle that guides us. We want to be the mirror that reflects how much our Higher Power loves us. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for the light and warmth You give me. Action for the Day: Tonight, I’ll light a candle and place it in front of a mirror. I’ll study how they work together to light the room. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Somewhere along the line of development we discover what we really are, and then we make our real decision for which we are responsible. Make that decision primarily for yourself because you can never really live anyone else's life, not even your own child's. The influence you exert is through your own life and what you become yourself. --Eleanor Roosevelt Taking full responsibility for who we are, choosing friends, making plans for personal achievement, consciously deciding day by day where we want to go with our lives, ushers in adventure such as we've never known. For many of us, months and years were wasted while we passively hid from life in alcohol, drugs, food, and other people. But we are breathing new life today. Recovery offers us, daily, the opportunity to participate in the adventure of life. It offers us the opportunity to share our talents, our special gifts with those with whom we share moments of time. We are becoming, every moment of time. As are our friends. Discovering who and what we really are, alone and with one another within our experiences is worthy of celebration. I will congratulate others and myself today. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY The real significance of my experience in the Cathedral burst upon me. For a brief moment, I had needed and wanted God. There had been a humble willingness to have Him with me---and He came. But soon the sense of His presence had been blotted out by worldly clamors, mostly those within myself. And so it had been ever since. How blind had I been. pp. 12-13 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. In the spring of 1917, in order to beat being fired from school, I became "patriotic" and joined the Army. I am one of the lads who came out of the service with a lower rank than when I went in. I had been to OTC the previous summer, so I went into the Army as a sergeant but I came out a private, and you really have to be unusual to do that. In the next two years, I washed more pans and peeled more potatoes than any other doughboy. In the Army, I became a periodic alcoholic--the periods always coming whenever I could make the opportunity. However, I did manage to keep out of the guardhouse. My last bout in the Army lasted from November 5 to 11, 1918. We heard by wireless in the fifth that the Armistice would be signed the next day (this was a premature report), so I had a couple of cognacs to celebrate; then I hopped a truck and went AWOL. My next conscious memory was in Bar le Duc, many miles from base. It was November 11, and bells were ringing and whistles blowing for the real Armistice. There I was, unshaven, clothes torn and dirty, with no recollection of wandering all over France but, of course, a hero to the local French. Back at camp, all was forgiven because it was the End, but in the light of what I have since learned, I know I was a confirmed alcoholic at nineteen. pp. 222-223 ************************************************** ********* 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." When A.A. was only three years old, an event occurred demonstrating this principle. One of the first members of A.A., entirely contrary to his own desires, was obliged to conform to group opinion. Here is the story in his words. "One day I was doing a Twelfth Step job at a hospital in New York. The proprietor, Charlie, summoned me to his office. `Bill,' he said, `I think it's a shame that you are financially so hard up. All around you these drunks are getting well and making money. But you're giving this work full time, and you're broke. It isn't fair.' Charlie fished in his desk and came up with and old financial statement. Handing it to me, he continued, `This shows the kind of money the hospital used to make back in the 1920's. Thousands of dollars a month. It should be doing just as well now, and it would - if only you'd help me. so why don't you move your work in here? I'll give you and office, a decent drawing account, and a very healthy slice of the profits. Three years ago, when my head doctor, Silkworth, began to tell me of the idea of helping drunks by spirituality, I thought it was crackpot stuff, but I've changed my mind. some day this bunch of ex-drunks of yours will fill Madison Square Garden, and I don't see why you should starve meanwhile. What I propose is perfectly ethical. You can become a lay therapist, and more successful than anybody in the business.' pp. 135-136 ************************************************** ********* Our struggle to be perfect at every stage of life is a common element of the human conditions. What comes with age and wisdom is acceptance of our imperfections. --Karen Casey & Martha Vanceburg Don't think there are no crocodiles because the water's calm. --Malaysian Proverb "One thing at a time, all things in succession. That which grows slowly endures." --J. G. Hubbard "Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene." --Arthur Christopher Benson For it is in giving that we receive. --Saint Francis of Assisi My spiritual home. is one of peace, serenity, and contentment. --Shelley I can go to a quiet spiritual place, one with God, and feel this busy world around me, is refreshed in beauty, love, and serenity. --Shelley ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation PESSIMISM "Pessimist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both." -- Oscar Wilde Today I am able to see how I was always looking on the "gloomy" side of life. The glass was always half empty! I can remember thinking that nothing good was ever going to happen, life was to be endured, everybody had a price and people were all selfishly out for themselves. I projected onto others my own sickness, my own despair, my own pessimism. It was a suicidal existence. Today I choose to be a positive and creative person who refuses to be surrounded by negativism. My attitude in life makes all the difference to my enjoyment of life. Today my glass is more than half full and I am happy. In the gift of choice, I recognize my potential joy. ************************************************** ********* "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. John 6:63 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Thoughts are powerful, so pay close attention to what you think about. Lord, help me to think thoughts of love, peace and abundance so that this becomes my experience. There is a time for everything. Take time to pray, to sing, to laugh, to work and to touch the hearts of others. Lord, help me be aware that today will never return so that I will not misuse my time or waste it unwisely. |
December 21
Daily Reflections LISTEN, SHARE AND PRAY When working with a man and his family, you should take care not to participate in their quarrels. You may spoil your chance of being helpful if you do. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 100 When trying to help a fellow alcoholic, I've given in to an impulse to give advice, and perhaps that's inevitable. But allowing others the right to be wrong reaps its own benefits. The best I can do - and it sounds easier than it is to put into practice - is to listen, share personal experience, and pray for others. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Have I ceased being inwardly defeated, at war with myself? Have I given myself freely to A.A. and to the Higher Power? Have I got over being sick inside? Am I still wandering mentally or am I "on the beam?" I can face anything, if I am sure I am on the way. When I am sure, I should bet my life on A.A. I have learned how the program works. Now will I follow it with all I have, with all I can give, with all my might, with all my life? Am I going to let A.A. principles guide the rest of my life? Meditation For The Day In this time of quiet meditation, follow the pressure of the Lord's leading. In all decisions to be made today, yield to the gentle pressure of your conscience. Stay or go as that pressure indicates. Take the events of today as part of God's planning and ordering. He may lead you to a right decision. Wait quietly until you have an inner urge, a leading, a feeling that a thing is right, a pressure on your will by the spirit of God. Prayer For The Day I pray that today I may try to follow the inner pressure of God's leading. I pray that I may try to follow my conscience and do what seems right today. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Neither Dependence nor Self-Sufficiency, p.265 When we insisted, like infants, that people protect and take care of us or that the world owed us a living, then the result was unfortunate. The people we most loved often pushed us aside or perhaps deserted us entirely. Our disillusionment was hard to bear. We failed to see that, though adult in years, we were still behaving childishly, trying to turn everybody--friends, wives, husbands, even the world itself--into protective parents. We refused to learn that overdependence upon people is unsuccessful because all people are fallible, and even the best of them will sometimes let us down, especially when our demands for attention become unreasonable. ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Keeping the Faith with Guidance Good Orderly Direction Does guidance from our Higher Power always come through? We must believe that it does, even when we don't seem to receive a visible answer. Spiritual guidance usually doesn't come as we think it should. What we're likely to find instead is that over time, a number of unrelated events come together for a good purpose. Although this appears to be chance or coincidence, very important outcomes often develop from simple happenings___ maybe just from meeting someone on the street. We can never really determine how any chain of events will play out. The best we can do is to continue seeking guidance while following the highest principles in our program. Many chance happenings will be recognized as guidance when we look back at an entire chain of events. My best way to seek guidance is simply to remember today that my life and affairs are in God's care and keeping. The highest good will come from this. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Don't give your advice before you are called upon. Desiderius Erasmus If someone wants your advice, the person will ask for it. That's one reason why in Twelve Step programs we don't go around trying to talk people into joining. But people will ask us for advice. They'll see how we've changed, and they'll want what we have. All we have to do is tell them where we found it--in AA, NA or another Twelve Step group. We don't tell them what to do. We tell them our own story--what it was like, what happened, and where we are now. And we invite them to join us. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me carry the healing message of the program to these who ask for advice. Action for the Day: I'll make a decision to spend time with the next person who ask for my help. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Every person is responsible for all the good within the scope of her abilities, and no more . . . --Gail Hamilton We have been given the gift of life. Our recovery validates that fact. Our pleasure with that gift is best expressed by the fullness with which we greet and live life. We need not back off from the invitations our experiences offer. Each one of them gives us a chance, a bit different from all other chances, to fulfill part of our purpose in the lives of others. It has been said that the most prayerful life is the one most actively lived. Full encounter with each moment is evidence of our trust in the now and thus our trust in our higher power. When we fear what may come or worry over what has gone before, we're not trusting in God. Growth in the program will help us remember that fact, thus releasing us to participate more actively in the special circumstances of our lives. When we look around us today, we know that the persons in our midst need our best, and they're not there by accident but by Divine appointment. We can offer them the best we have--acceptance, love, support, our prayers, and we can know that is God's plan for our lives and theirs, I will celebrate my opportunities for goodness today. They'll bless me in turn. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY At the hospital I was separated from alcohol for the last time. Treatment seemed wise, for I showed signs of delirium tremens. There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away, root and branch. I have not had a drink since. p. 13 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. With the war over and back in Baltimore with the folks, I had several small jobs for three years, and then I went to work soliciting as one of the first ten employees of a new national finance company. What an opportunity I shot to pieces there! This company now does a volume of over three billion dollars annually. Three years later, at twenty-five, I opened and operated their Philadelphia office and was earning more than I ever have since. I was the fair-haired boy all right, but two years later I was blacklisted as an irresponsible drunk. It doesn't take long. p. 223 ************************************************** ********* 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." "I was bowled over. There were a few twinges of conscience until I saw how really ethical Charlie's proposal was. There was nothing wrong whatever with becoming a lay therapist. I thought of Lois coming home exhausted from the department store each day, only to cook supper for a houseful of drunks who weren't paying board. I thought of the large sum of money still owing my Wall Street creditors. I thought of a few of my alcoholic friends, who were making as much money as ever. Why shouldn't I do as well as they? pp. 136-137 ************************************************** ********* Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. --Arnold Schwarzenegger Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. --Buddha In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us. --Flora Edwards As long as I am willing, God will always provide the answers. No one said I would like them, but I accept them. --Shelley "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it." --Thomas Paine Sobriety is a journey of joyful discovery. Recovery is not a race. Every recovery from alcoholism began with one sober hour. ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation ORIGINALITY "Originality exists in every individual because each of us differ from the others. We are all primary --numbers divisible only by ourselves." Jean Guitton For too many years I tried to be "the same" as other people; matched their styles, repeated their words, did what they wanted, lived to please a crowd of people I did not really know and they certainly did not know me! I said other people's prayers, quoted other people's opinions and memorized the ideas of others and I felt empty. Today I value the lives of others but I am slowly beginning to explore my place in this universe. Today I accept the "specialness" that is me; that uniqueness makes me God's miracle. Now others are listening and benefiting from my life. ************************************************** ********* For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:8-10 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, `Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." Luke 10:25-28 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Growth is not easy. It comes from fully experiencing each situation and mastering it with understanding. Lord, Your presence in my life dispels my fears and guides me through all of life's circumstances. Today be cheerful when it is difficult and patient when that, too, is difficult. Lord, I will let Your love for me flow through me and touch those around me. |
December 22
Daily Reflections PRINCIPLES, NOT PERSONALITIES The way our "worthy" alcoholics have sometimes tried to judge the "less worthy" is, as we look back on it, rather comical. Imagine, if you can, one alcoholic judging another! THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 37 Who am I to judge anyone? When I first entered the Fellowship I found that I liked everyone. After all, A.A. was going to help me to a better way of life without alcohol. The reality was that I couldn't possibly like everyone, nor they me. As I've grown in the Fellowship, I've learned to love everyone just from listening to what they had to say. That person over there, or the one right here, may be the one God has chosen to give me the message I need for today. I must always remember to place principles above personalities. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day As we look back over our drinking careers, we must realize that our lives were a mess because we were a mess inside. The trouble was in us, not in life itself. Life itself was good enough, but we were looking at it the wrong way. We were looking at life through the bottom of a whiskey glass, and it was distorted. We could not see all the beauty and goodness and purpose in the world, because our vision was blurred. We were in a house with one-way glass in the windows. People could see us but we could not look out and see them and see what life meant to them and should mean to us. We were blind then, but now we can see. Can I now look at life as it really is? Meditation For The Day Fear no evil, because the power of God can conquer evil. Evil has power to seriously hurt only those who do not place themselves under the protection of the Higher Power. This is not a question of feeling, it is an assured fact of our experience. Say to yourself with assurance that whatever it is, no evil can seriously harm you as long as you depend on the Higher Power. Be sure of the protection of God's grace. Prayer For The Day I pray that fear of evil will not get me down. I pray that I may try to place myself today under the protection of God's grace. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It The Step That Keeps Us growing, p.264 Sometimes, when friends tell us how well we are doing, we know better inside. We know we aren't doing well enough. We still can't handle life, as life is. There must be a serious flaw somewhere in our spiritual practice and development. What, then, is it? The chances are better than even that we shall locate our trouble in our misunderstanding or neglect of A.A.'s Step Eleven--prayer, meditation, and the guidance of God. The other Steps can keep most of us sober and somehow functioning. But Step Eleven can keep us growing, if we try hard and work at it continually. Grapevine, June 1958 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Watching what we think Personal Inventory. It's healthy for AA members to confess personal difficulties with destructive thinking. When we find ourselves becoming too irritable or impatient, it's important to admit this in meetings or one-on-one discussions. Usually, just the admission of the problem helps solve it. It's only false pride that makes us think we should be "above" destructive thinking. As human beings, we'll be susceptible to human failings no matter how long we've been sober. If we continue to watch what we think, we'll also be able to head off very serious problem before they get out of control. Far from being a sign that we're not working the program, the practice of weeding out our current faults is the Tenth Step in action. Continuing to take personal inventory and admitting our wrongs are a safeguard against trouble. Destructive thinking is no respecter of persons, and even as an older member, I could lapse into it today. I always have the Tenth Step, however, to get me back on track. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple It is possible to be different and still be right.--Anne Wilson Schaef Each of us is special. In some ways we're all different. It's a good thing too. We'd be bored if we were all the same. Sometimes though, we try to hide the special things about us. We don't want to be "different." But the ways that we're different makes us special. Others have a knack of fixing things. Some of us make beautiful art. Others are great with kids. Our Higher Power made us as different, as unique, as beautiful snowflakes. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me use my special gifts the way You want me to. Help me be thankful that You have given me something special to share with others. Action for the Day: I'll think of one thing about me that's special. I'll talk with my sponsor about it. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Every person is responsible for all the good within the scope of her abilities, and no more . . . --Gail Hamilton We have been given the gift of life. Our recovery validates that fact. Our pleasure with that gift is best expressed by the fullness with which we greet and live life. We need not back off from the invitations our experiences offer. Each one of them gives us a chance, a bit different from all other chances, to fulfill part of our purpose in the lives of others. It has been said that the most prayerful life is the one most actively lived. Full encounter with each moment is evidence of our trust in the now and thus our trust in our higher power. When we fear what may come or worry over what has gone before, we're not trusting in God. Growth in the program will help us remember that fact, thus releasing us to participate more actively in the special circumstances of our lives. When we look around us today, we know that the persons in our midst need our best, and they're not there by accident but by Divine appointment. We can offer them the best we have--acceptance, love, support, our prayers, and we can know that is God's plan for our lives and theirs, I will celebrate my opportunities for goodness today. They'll bless me in turn. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY My schoolmate visited me, and I fully acquainted him with my problems and deficiencies. We made a list of people I had hurt or toward whom I felt resentment. I expressed my entire willingness to approach these individuals, admitting my wrong. Never was I to be critical of them. I was to right all such matters to the utmost of my ability. p. 13 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. My next job was in sales promotion for an oil company in Mississippi, where I promptly became high man and got lots of pats on the back. Then I turned two company cars over in a short time and bingo--fired again! Oddly enough, the big shot who fired me from this company was one of the first men I met when I later joined the New York A.A. Group. He had also gone all the way through the wringer and had been dry two years when I saw him again. pp. 223-224 ************************************************** ********* 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." "Almost timidly, one of my friends began to speak. `We know how hard up you are, Bill. It bothers us a lot. We've often wondered what we might do about it. But I think I speak for everyone here when I say that what you now propose bothers us an awful lot more.' The speaker's voice grew more confident. `Don't you realize,' he went on, `that you can never become a professional? As generous as Charlie has been to us, don't you see that we can't tie this thing up with his hospital or any other? You tell us that Charlie's proposal is ethical. Sure, it's ethical, but what we've got won't run on ethics only; it has to be better. Sure, Charlie's idea is good, but it isn't good enough. This is a matter of life and death, Bill, and nothing but the very best will do!' Challengingly, my friends looked at me as their spokesman continued. `Bill, haven't you often said right here in this meeting that sometimes the good is the enemy of the best? Well, this is a plain case of it. You can't do this thing to us!' pp. 137-138 ************************************************** ********* Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When The language of truth is simple. --Czech Proverb "Laughter is by definition healthy." --Doris Lessing As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way. --Ralph Waldo Emerson Your vision will become clear only when You can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. --Carl Jung "Being quiet does not mean sacrificing productivity." --Jane Nelson ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation PERSEVERANCE "Great works are performed, not by strength, but perseverance." -- Samuel Johnson Today I saw a large 200-pound man drunk in a parking lot. Last night I heard a frail mother celebrate ten years of sobriety. The difference? Perseverance. People get what they really want in life. If you want sobriety more than anything else, are prepared to go to any lengths, then nothing will stop you. Perseverance reveals the "walk" as well as the "talk". Today I need to remember that what is worth having requires sacrifice and effort. God helps those who are prepared to help themselves. Today I intend to help myself to sobriety. I pray that I may persevere through my fears towards my goal. ************************************************** ********* Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Matthew 19:14 Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Timothy 4:12 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen. 1 Corinthians 16:23-24 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration If you want peace and goodness in your life you must be kind and loving. Lord, may I avoid creating misery so that my life will reflect my love for You. God's blessings never end and His mercies are forever. Lord, may I love others as You love me. |
December 23
Daily Reflections RECOVERY, UNITY, SERVICE Our Twelfth Step - carrying the message - is the basic service that AA's Fellowship gives; this is our principal aim and the main reason for our existence. THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 160 I thank God for those who came before me, those who told me not to forget the Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity and Service. In my home group, the Three Legacies were described on a sign which said: "You take a three-legged stool, try to balance it on only one leg, or two. Our Three Legacies must be kept intact. In Recovery, we get sober together; in Unity, we work together for the good of our Steps and Traditions; and through Service - we give away freely what has been given to us." One of the chief gifts of my life has been to know that I will have no message to give, unless I recover in unity with A.A. principles. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day We have definitely left that dream world behind. It was only a sham. It was a world of our own making and it was not the real world. We are sorry for the past, yes, but we learned a lot from it. We can put it down to experience, as we see it now, because it has given us the knowledge necessary to face the world as it really is. We had to become alcoholics in order to find the A.A. program. We would not have got it any other way. In a way, it was worth it. Do I look at my past as valuable experience? Meditation For The Day Shed peace, not discord, wherever you go. Try to be part of the cure of every situation, not part of the problem. Try to ignore evil, rather than to actively combat it. Always try to build up, never to tear down. Show others by your example that happiness comes from living the right way. The power of your example is greater than the power of what you say. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may try to bring something good into every situation today. I pray that I may be constructive in the way I think and speak and act today. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Fear And Faith, p.263 The achievement of freedom from fear is a lifetime undertaking, one that can never be wholly completed. When under heavy attack, acute illness, or in other conditions of serious insecurity, we shall all react to this emotion--well or badly, as the case may be. Only the self-deceived will claim perfect freedom from fear. ******************************** We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up. Sometimes we had to search persistently, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. 1. Grapevine, January 1962 2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p.55 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places AA goes the Distance Fortitude Few societies or organizations have better ways of measuring success than AA. Since we are friends as well as recovering people, some of us get to know others fairly well over long periods of time. Even in a large city, we meet people again and again, year after year. We've come to think it very commonplace that some individuals have been sober ten years or more, and that some members have been in the fellowship more than forty years. The AA program does have staying power; it goes the distance for those who continue to follow it. We should remind ourselves of this when we hear of new, faddish theories about alcoholism and recovery. Most of the time, the results reported are very short-term. What we really need is recovery with staying power, which we can find in the AA program. Today's sobriety can be another link in an endless chain of sobriety. AA will go the distance for me if I take care of each day as it comes. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple We not only need to be willing to give, but also to be open to receiving from others.---from On Hope Many of us took so much from others during our addiction that now we may not want to ask for anything. We may be afraid to ask for help, so our needs go unmet. In fact, many of us would rather give than receive. In recovery, we need to understand the difference between taking and receiving. Giving to others is important. So is receiving from others. As we grow spiritually, we learn to accept gifts. The gift of sobriety teaches us this. We need to accept the gifts the world gives us without shame. We are entitled. God loves us and will give us much if we're willing to receive it. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be receptive to Your gifts. Help me see and believe that I'm entitled to all the happiness of the world. Action for the Day: I'll think of what a friend has given me. I'll thank this friend. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning . . . The present enshrines the past. --Simone de Beauvoir Each of our lives is a multitude of interconnecting pieces, not unlike a mosaic. What has gone before, what will come today, are at once and always entwined. The past has done its part, never to be erased. The present is always a composite. In months and years gone by, perhaps we anticipated the days with dread. Fearing the worst, often we found it; we generally find that which we fear. But we can influence the mosaic our experiences create. The contribution today makes to our mosaic can lighten its shade, can heighten its contrast, and can make bold its design. What faces us today? A job we enjoy or one we fear? Growing pains of our children? Loneliness? How we move through the minutes, the hours, influences our perception of future minutes and hours. No moment is inviolate. Every moment is part of the whole that we are creating. We are artists. We create our present from influences of our past. I will go forth today; I will anticipate goodness. I will create the kind of moments that will add beauty to my mosaic. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY I was to test my thinking by the new God-consciousness within. Common sense would thus become uncommon sense. I was to sit quietly when in doubt, asking only for direction and strength to meet my problems as He would have me. Never was I to pray for myself, except as my requests bore on my usefulness to others. Then only might I expect to receive. But that would be in great measure. p. 13 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. After the oil job blew up, I went back to Baltimore and Mother, my first wife having said a permanent goodbye. Then came a sales job with a national tire company. I reorganized their city sales policy and eighteen months later, when I was thirty, they offered me the branch managership. As part of this promotion, they sent me to their national convention in Atlantic City to tell the big wheels how I'd done it. At this time I was holding what drinking I did down to weekends, but I hadn't had a drink at all in a month. I checked into my hotel room and then noticed a placard tucked under the glass on the bureau stating "There will be positively NO drinking at this convention," signed by the president of the company. That did it! Who me? The Big Shot? The only salesman invited to talk at the convention? The man who was going to take over one of their biggest branches come Monday? I'd show 'em who was boss! No one in that company ever saw me again--ten days later I wired my resignation. p. 224 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* "The tree in which the sap is stagnant remains fruitless." --Hosea Ballou Speaking without thinking is shooting without aiming. --French Proverb Don't let your tongue cut your throat. --Irish Proverb As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way. --Ralph Waldo Emerson When you find you are upset over a situation, stop and ask yourself one very important question. "Is this something I can change?" Whether it is or not, turn your negative energy in to productive energy. You can either change the situation, or change your perspective of the situation. --unknown ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation LANGUAGE "If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought." -- George Orwell Sobriety for me means much more than "not drinking" or "not using" --- it means the daily decision to be a positive and creative human being in all areas of my life: How I treat people. What I eat. The books I read and how I speak! Not even my worst enemy would call me a "prude" but I think that bad language used on a regular basis is unacceptable in sobriety. Why? Because it hurts the listener and does not show respect for self or the God-given gift of communication. If you have no respect for language, you will ultimately not grow as a spiritual person. May Your "words of love" be reflected in my speech and writings. ************************************************** ********* To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. Psalms 25:1-2 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalms 25:4-5 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Each time you have a kind thought, say a kind word or do a kind deed you are living your love. Lord, as I see the world through loving eyes, I experience heaven on earth. Get and keep a good humored attitude toward life. This will bring you support rather than opposition. Lord, may I always be a peacemaker. |
December 24
Daily Reflections A "SANE AND HAPPY USEFULNESS" We have come to believe He would like us to keep our heads in the clouds with Him, but that our feet ought to be firmly planted on earth. That is where our fellow travelers are, and that is where our work must be done. These are the realities for us. We have found nothing incompatible between a powerful spiritual experience and a life of sane and happy usefulness. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 130 All the prayer and meditation in the world will not help me unless they are accompanied by action. Practicing the principles in all my affairs shows me the care that God takes in all parts of my life. God appears in my world when I move aside, and allow Him to step into it. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day We have been given a new life, just because we happened to become alcoholics. We certainly don't deserve the new life that has been given us. There is little in our past to warrant the life we have now. Many people live good lives from their youth on, not getting into serious trouble, being well adjusted to life, and yet they have not found all that we drunks have found. We had the good fortune to find Alcoholics Anonymous and with it a new life. We are among the lucky few in the world who have learned a new way of life. Am I deeply grateful for the new life that I have learned in A.A.? Meditation For The Day A deep gratitude to the Higher Power for all the blessings which we have and which we don't deserve has come to us. We thank God and mean it. Then comes service to our fellow men, out of gratitude for what we have received. This entails some sacrifice of ourselves and our own affairs. But we are glad to do it. Gratitude, service, and then sacrifice are the steps that lead to good A.A. work. They open the door to a new life for us. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may gladly serve others, out of deep gratitude for what I have received. I pray that I may keep a deep sense of obligation. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Individual Responsibilities, p.262 Let us emphasize that our reluctance to fight one another, or anybody else, is not counted as some special virtue which entitles us A.A.'s to feel superior to other people. Nor does this reluctance mean that the members of A.A. are going to back away from their individual responsibilities as citizens. Here they should feel free to act as they see the right upon the public issues of our times. But when it comes to A.A. as a whole, that's quite a different matter. As a group we do not enter into public controversy, because we are sure that our Society will perish if we do. 12 & 12, p.177 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Jealousy toward loved ones Feeling Though resentment gets more attention in AA than jealousy, both of these ugly emotions can plague us in sobriety. Some of us can be very distressed and ashamed when the green demon of jealousy suddenly assaults us. Does this mean we're not working our program? No, because the purpose of our program is to bring honesty and healing into our lives, not denial of basic human emotions. It's very understandable that we have pangs of jealousy even in sobriety. Quite often, this jealousy will be felt toward loved ones and close friends. One young AA father disclosed he was jealous of his wife when their infant son seemed more responsive to her than to him. We can also experience jealousy when others close to us receive things we'd like to have. It's even possible to be jealous of another's standing in AA. When such feelings arise, we always have the answer: We must discuss our feelings with certain AA friends and turn these problems over to our Higher Power. This, not denial, is always the solution. If the green demon of envy and jealousy arises today, I'll let the healing power of the Twelve Steps go to work on it. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple We must all hang together or we will hang separately.---Ben Franklin We didn't get ourselves sober. And we don't keep ourselves sober. Our program does this. That is why the Twelfth Step is important. We must be willing to give service to our program whenever it's needed. When a friend calls and say he or she feels like using, we don't say we're sorry. We get our friend and take him or her to a meeting. Our survival depends on this kind of action. We are to carry the message. We carry the message by deeds, not words. We are part of a fellowship based on action. A fellowship guided by love. It is not words that keep us sober--it is action. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be ready whenever there's a need. Help me be ready to put my self-will aside. Give me strength. Action for the Day: I will think of my group members. Who could use a supportive call or visit? I will call or visit those who need my help. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Follow your dream . . if you stumble, don't stop and lose sight of your goal, press on to the top. For only on top Can we see the whole view . . . --Amanda Bradley Today, we can, each of us, look back on our lives and get a glimmering of why something happened and how it fit into the larger mosaic of our lives. And this will continue to be true for us. We have stumbled. We will stumble. And we learn about ourselves, about what makes us stumble and about the methods of picking ourselves up. Life is a process, a learning process that needs those stumbles to increase our awareness of the steps we need to take to find our dream at the top. None of us could realize the part our stumbling played in the past. But now we see. When we fall, we need to trust that, as before, our falls are "up," not down. I will see the whole view in time. I see part of it daily. My mosaic is right and good and needs my stumbles. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY My friend promised when these things were done I would enter upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems. Belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the new order of things, were the essential requirements. Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid. It meant destruction of self-centeredness. I must turn in all things to the Father of Light who presides over us all. These were revolutionary and drastic proposals, but the moment i fully accepted them, the effect was electric. There was a sense of victory, followed by such a peace and serenity as I had ever known. There was utter confidence. I felt lifted up, as though the great clean wind of a mountain top blew through and through. God comes to most men gradually, but His impact on me was sudden and profound. pp. 13-14 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. As long as things were tough and the job a challenge, I could always manage to hold on pretty well, but as soon as I learned the combination, got the puzzle under control, and the boss to pat me on the back, I was gone again. Routine jobs bored me, but I would take on the toughest one I could find and work day and night until I had it under control; then it would become tedious, and I'd lose all interest in it. I could never be bothered with the follow-through and would invariably reward myself for my efforts with that "first" drink. pp. 224-225 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* Sharing our experiences with other people gives them hope. --unknown What I am is God's gift to me. What I make of myself is my gift to Him. --unknown "An apology is the superglue of life: it can repair just about anything." --Unknown A man's true wealth is the good he does in the world. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror. --Kahlil Gibran "Joy is not in things; It is in us" --Richard Wagner "Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect." --Oren Arnold "At this time of the year, we need to remind ourselves that what we give from deep within has a much greater worth than what we give from our wallets. Some attempt to impress others with their contributions, but the real acts of kindness are when we give our time, our talents, and gifts that are a reflection of our hearts. -*Neil Eskelinn ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation BROTHERHOOD "I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world." -- Socrates My recovery has enabled me to see that I belong; I belong not simply to a race or nation but to the world. The freedom experienced in my recovery enables me to embrace different cultures, races and religions. Spirituality has brought harmony into my life. Today I can go where I please. I can learn languages and communicate with people in foreign lands. I can listen to ideas and philosophies that enrich God "as I understand Him". The healing that I have experienced in my recovery is more than discovering my choice around alcohol, it is discovering my choice around life. Today I am not content to exist in my life, I choose to live it. Welcome to my world! May I always choose to see and appreciate the richness of my life. ************************************************** ********* He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. Psalm 25 9-10 "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground." Psalm 143:10 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration As you draw closer and closer to God, you won't have to tell anyone because it will show in your face. Lord, teach me Your ways as I am ready and let Your love and peace flow through me even in my difficult moments. When you live in the spirit of God you will always feel the love within you. Lord, may I seek peace in You and not from the outside world. |
December 25
Daily Reflections AT PEACE WITH LIFE Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done." ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85 I read this passage each morning, to start off my day, because it is a continual reminder to "practice these principles in all my affairs." When I keep God's will at the forefront of my mind, I am able to do what I should be doing, and that puts me at peace with life, with myself and with God. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Many alcoholics will be saying today: "This is a good Christmas for me." They will be looking back over the past Christmases which were not like this one. They will be thanking God for their sobriety and their new found life. They will be thinking about how their lives have changed when they came into A.A. They will be thinking that perhaps God let them live through all the hazards of their drinking careers, when they were perhaps often close to death, in order that they may be used by Him in the great work of A.A. Is this a happy Christmas for me? Meditation For The Day The kingdom of heaven is also for the lowly, the sinners, the repentant. "And they presented unto him gifts--gold, frankincense, and myrrh." Bring your gifts of gold--your money and material possessions. Bring your frankincense--the consecration of your life to a worthy cause. Bring your myrrh--your sympathy and understanding and help. Lay them all at the feet of God and let Him have full use of them. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may be truly thankful on this Christmas day. I pray that I may bring my gifts and lay them on the altar. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It "Fearless and Searching", p.261 My self-analysis has frequently been faulty. Sometimes I've failed to share my defects with the right people; at other times, I've confessed their defects, rather than my own; and still other times, my confession of defects has been more in the nature of loud complaints about my circumstances and my problems. ******************************** When A.A. suggests a fearless moral inventory, it must seem to every newcomer that more is being asked of him than he can do. Every time he tries to look within himself, Pride says, "You need not pass this way," and Fear says, "You dare not look!" But pride and fear of this sort turn out to be bogymen, nothing else. Once we have a complete willingness to take inventory, and exert ourselves to do the job thoroughly, a wonderful light falls upon this foggy scene. As we persist, a brand-new kind of confidence is born, and the sense of relief at finally facing ourselves is indescribable. 1. Grapevine, June 1958 2. 12 & 12, pp.49-50 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Liking Ourselves Self-esteem. It's maybe unsettling to learn that we need to like ourselves more, especially when we've often been accused of being conceited. Being conceited does not mean liking oneself; it's really a matter of being smug and contemptuous in our dealing with others. This attitude is easily recognized by others, and it causes them to dislike us. However, if we like ourselves in the right way, others sense this too, and they will be drawn to us. We will truly like ourselves more as we learn to practice the principles of AA. We will like the kind of life we are trying to live. We will like ourselves for practicing fairness and honesty. We will also like ourselves for letting people see us as we are and feel comfortable doing so. In liking ourselves, we feel no need to impress or dazzle others. I'll remember today that I have a right to be in the world. I will do my best to be fair toward others, but I will like myself regardless of their reactions. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another.--Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz. Not that we're getting well. We feel the need for love more than ever. We tried to avoid love by using chemicals to feel good. But it didn't work. Addiction cut us off even more from people. How do we fill our needs for love? We can think about this fact: People give us love all the time. Only we just haven't seen it. Every time someone comes to a meeting to get well with us, that is love. Love isn't all-or-nothing. Little gems of love are all over. Watch them. Enjoy them. Give them to others. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, love comes from You. Help me see it, and give it. Action for the Day: I'll look three persons in the eye today and send them love in my smile. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning What we suffer, what we endure . . is done by us, as individuals, in private. --Louise Bogan Empathy we can give. Empathy we can find, and it comforts. But our pain, the depth of it, can never be wholly shared, fully understood, actually realized by anyone other than ourselves. Alone, each of us comes to terms with our grief, our despair, even our guilt. Knowing that we are not alone in what we suffer, makes the difficulties each of us must face easier. We haven't been singled out, of that we're certain. Remembering that our challenges offer us the lessons we need in the school of life makes them more acceptable. In time, as our recovery progresses, we'll even look eagerly to our challenges as the real exciting opportunities for which we've been created. Suffering prompts the changes necessary for spiritual growth. It pushes us like no other experience to God--for understanding, for relief, for unwavering security. It's not easy to look upon suffering as a gift. And we need not fully understand it; however, in time, its value in our lives will become clear. I will not be wary of the challenges today. I will celebrate their part of my growth. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY For a moment I was alarmed, and called my friend, the doctor, to ask if I were still sane. He listened in wonder as I talked. Finally he shook his head saying, "Something has happened to you I don't understand. But you had better hang on to it. Anything is better than the way you were." The good doctor now sees many men who have such experiences. He knows that they are real. p. 14 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. After the tire job came the thirties, the Depression, and the downhill road. In the eight years before A.A. found me, I had over forty jobs--selling and traveling--one thing after another, and the same old routine. I'd work like mad for three or four weeks without a single drink, save my money, pay a few bills, and then "reward" myself with alcohol. Then I'd be broke again, hiding out in cheap hotels all over the country, having one-night jail stands here and there, and always that horrible feeling "What's the use--nothing is worthwhile." Every time I blacked out, and that was every time I drank, there was always that gnawing fear, "What did I do this time?" Once I found out. Many alcoholics have learned they can bring their bottle to a cheap movie theater and drink, sleep, wake up, and drink again in the darkness. I had repaired to one of these one morning with my jug, and, when I left late in the afternoon, I picked up a newspaper on the way home. Imagine my surprise when I read in a page-one "box" that I had been taken from the theater unconscious around noon that day, removed by ambulance to a hospital and stomach-pumped, and then released. Evidently I had gone right back to the movie with a bottle, stayed there several hours, and started home with no recollection of what had happened. p. 225 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* Every day is a gift. That is why we call it the present. --unknown "Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others." --Brian Tracy "The duty of helping one's self in the highest sense involves the helping of one's neighbors." --Samuel Smiles "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it's in your power to help them. If you can help your neighbor now, don't say, 'Come back tomorrow, and then I'll help you.'" --unknown Life's lessons are not taught in classrooms. --unknown "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost, that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." --Henry David Thoreau ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation GENEROSITY "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us." -- John (1:14) There is a beautiful fairy tale about a land where everybody had an abundance of "warm fuzzies" that they exchanged with each other and shared with each other. Everything in this land was wonderful because all the people were generously giving and receiving "warm fuzzies". Then a rumor began that there was to be a shortage of "warm fuzzies," and people began to hoard and selfishly protect their supply of "warm fuzzies." At this point, "cold pricklies" were introduced into the land. Sadness, pain, tension and persecution developed in the land, and the growth of the "cold pricklies" kept people separated, fearful and alone. The tragedy of this tale is that the rumor was not true! As long as people generously share their "warm fuzzies", they will never disappear. The "warm fuzzies" only disappear when they are not shared. The more we give, the more we receive. Abundance rests in giving, never hoarding! Master, may I always be generous with all that You have given me. ************************************************** ********* "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11 "Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" John 20:29 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing. Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day. No detail is too insignificant for God's attention. Lord, You encourage me daily as You guide my humblest moments. |
December 26
Daily Reflections ACCEPTING SUCCESS OR FAILURE Furthermore, how shall we come to terms with seeming failure or success? Can we now accept and adjust to either without despair or pride? Can we accept poverty, sickness, loneliness, and bereavement with courage and serenity? Can we steadfastly content ourselves with the humbler, yet sometimes more durable, satisfactions when the brighter, more glittering achievements are denied us? TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 112 After I found A.A. and stopped drinking, it took a while before I understood why the First Step contained two parts: my powerlessness over alcohol and my life's unmanageability. In the same way, I believed for a long time that, in order to be in tune with the Twelve Steps, it was enough for me "to carry this message to alcoholics." That was rushing things. I was forgetting that there were a total of Twelve Steps and that the Twelfth Step also had more than one part. Eventually I learned that it was necessary for me to "practice these principles" in all areas of my life. In working all the Steps thoroughly, I not only stay sober and help someone else to achieve sobriety, but also I transform my difficulty with living into a joy of living. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day I am glad to be a part of A.A., of that great fellowship that is spreading over the United States and all over the world. I am only one of the many A.A.'s, but I am one. I am grateful to be living at this time, when I can help A.A. to grow, when it needs me to put my shoulder to the wheel and help keep the movement going. I am glad to be able to be useful, to have a reason for living, a purpose in life. I want to lose my life in this great cause and so find it again. Am I grateful to be an A.A.? Meditation For The Day These meditations can teach us how to relax. We can be of service to other people in a small way at least. And we can be happy while doing it. We should not worry too much about people we cannot help. We can make it a habit to leave the outcome of the things we do to the Higher Power. We can go along through life doing the best we can, but without a feeling of urgency or strain. We can enjoy all the good things and the beauty of life, but at the same time depend deeply on God. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may give my life to this worthwhile cause. I pray that I may enjoy the satisfaction that comes from good work well done. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Accepting God's Gifts, p. 168 "Though many theologians hold that sudden spiritual experiences amount to a special distinction, if not a divine appointment of some sort, I question this view. Every human being, no matter what his attributes for good or evil, is a part of the divine spiritual economy. Therefore, each of us has his place, and I cannot see that God intends to exalt one another. "So it is necessary for all of us to accept whatever positive gifts we receive with a deep humility, always bearing in mind that our negative attitudes were first necessary as a means of reducing us to such a state of that we would be ready for a gift of the positive ones via the conversion experience. Your own alcoholism and the immense deflation that finally resulted are indeed the foundation upon which your spiritual experience rests." Letter, 1964 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Humility: Teachable and Honest Open to growth. Humility& is often used in the context of being honest enough to admit one's faults, but it also means being teachable. The truly humble person realizes there's always more to learn and is open to such learning. If we think we have humility, we usually don't. However, we can look back and recognize times when we made wonderful progress while being deeply humble. This was particularly true when we recognized our alcoholism and achieved sobriety. In this one action, we changed our lives. If we continue to practice the honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness that helped get us sober, these traits will be apparent in other areas of our lives. Though humility isn't generally sought as a way of life, it's the right way for recovering people. I'll be open today to ideas from any direction. I can learn something from every person. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple To be emotionally committed to somebody is very difficult, but to be alone is impossible. --Stephen Sondheim. Let's face it, relationships are hard to work! But we are lucky! Recovery is about relationships. We learn how to set limits. We learn how to listen to and talk to others. In Step One, we begin a new relationship with ourselves. In Step Two and Three, we begin a relationship with our Higher Power. In later Steps, we mend our relationships with family and friends. In our relationship with our sponsor, we learn about being friends. And our past relationships with alcohol and other drugs is being replaced by people and our Higher Power. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for all the new relationships. Thank-you for teaching me how to feel human again. Action for the Day: Today, I'll make a list of all the new relationships I have now, due to my sobriety. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning It is only framed in space that beauty blooms; only in space are events, and objects and people unique and significant and therefore beautiful. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh We must look closely; focus intently on the subjects of our attention. Within these subjects is the explanation of life's mysteries. To observe anything closely means we must pull it aside with our minds and fondle it, perhaps. We must let the richness of the object, the person, the event, wash over us and savor its memory. Many of us only now are able to look around ourselves slowly, with care, noting the detail, the brilliant color of life. Each day is an opportunity to observe and absorb the beauty while it blooms. I will look for beauty today, in myself, and in a friend, and I will find it. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY While I lay in the hospital the thought came that there were thousands of hopeless alcoholics who might be glad to have what had been so freely given me. Perhaps I could help some of them. They in turn might work with others. My friend had emphasized the absolute necessity of demonstrating these principles in all my affairs. Particularly was it imperative to work with others as he had worked with me. Faith without works was dead, he said. And how appallingly true for the alcoholic! For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. If he did not work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank, he would surely die. Then faith would be dead indeed. With us it is just like that. pp. 14-15 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. The mental state of the sick alcoholic is beyond description. I had no resentments against individuals--the whole world was all wrong. My thoughts went round and round with, What's it all about anyhow? People have wars and kill each other; they struggle and cut each other's throats for success, and what does anyone get out of it? Haven't I been successful, haven't I accomplished extraordinary things in business? What do I get out of it? Everything's all wrong and the hell with it. For the last two years of my drinking, I prayed during every drunk that I wouldn't wake up again. Three months before I met Jackie, I had made my second feeble try at suicide. pp. 225-226 ************************************************** ********* 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. ************************************************** ********* The paradox of control is simple. The more we try to control life, the less control we have. --Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. A person who possesses true peace is not one whose life is without problems and turmoil but is rather a person who has peace in spite of it. --unknown If you always do what you've always done, you will always be where you've always been. --unknown A B C = Acceptance, Belief, Change. When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. --unknown ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation APATHY "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke I read about the Holocaust and I am ashamed. I am ashamed to belong to the human race that allowed, by an overwhelming silence, the slaughter of millions. The ultimate in people-pleasing is to do nothing. The fear of being an outcast or traitor allows the addiction to Power to develop. Power is an addiction that is rarely discussed in society. And yet evil needs people and politics to function alone it is but a word. With this new day I seek to be involved in the good life. Today I am not afraid to stand alone for what I believe to be the principles of a God-given spirituality. I know evil because I know myself. I know tyranny and injustice because for years I perpetrated negativity in my life. Now I choose to say "no". Today I seek to make amends for past wrongs by being rigorously honest in all my affairs. Because I know what it is to hate, I seek to love. I wish to be responsible in God's world. Teach me not only to learn from past mistakes but translate this knowledge into action. ************************************************** ********* "Nothing will be impossible with God." Luke 1:37 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 145:3 "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:5 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration If you think success and really believe it will happen, you will perform in a manner that leads to success. Lord, may I always avoid negative thoughts and visualize myself in the manner that You intended for me. We are powerless to change our past, but we can change how we look at it. Lord, help me to realize that my past has made me a stronger person and show me that these experiences have taught me valuable life lessons. |
December 27
Daily Reflections PROBLEM SOLVING "Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems." ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 42 Through the recovery process described in the Big Book, I have come to realize that the same instructions that work on my alcoholism, work on much more. Whenever I am angry or frustrated, I consider the matter a manifestation of the main problem within me, alcoholism. As I "walk" through the Steps, my difficulty is usually dealt with long before I reach the Twelfth "suggestion," and those difficulties that persist are remedied when I make an effort to carry the message to someone else. These principles do solve my problems! I have not encountered an exception, and I have been brought to a way of living which is satisfying and useful. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day I need the A.A. principles for the development of the buried life within me, that good life, which I had misplaced, but which I found again in this fellowship. This life within me is developing slowly but surely, with many set-backs, many mistakes, many failures, but still developing. As long as I stick close to A.A., my life will go on developing, and I cannot yet know what it will be, but I know that it will be good. That's all I want to know. It will be good. Am I thanking God for A.A.? Meditation For The Day Build your life on the firm foundation of true gratitude to God for all His blessings and true humility because of your unworthiness of these blessings. Build the frame of your life out of self-discipline, never let yourself get selfish or lazy or contented with yourself. Build the walls of your life out of service to others, helping others find the way to live. Build the roof of your life out of prayer and quiet times, waiting for God's guidance from above. Build a garden around your life out of peace of mind and serenity and a sure faith. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may build my life on A.A. principles. I pray that it may be a good building when my work is finished. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Servant, Not Master, p.259 In A.A., we found that it did not matter too much what our material condition was, but it mattered greatly what our spiritual condition was. As we improved our spiritual outlook, money gradually became our servant and not our master. It became a means of exchanging love and services with those about us. ******************************** One of A.A.'s Loners is an Austrian sheepman who lives two thousand miles from the nearest town, where yearly he sells his wool. In order to be paid the best prices he has to get to town during a certain month. But when he heard that a big regional A.A. meeting was to be held at a later date when wool prices would have fallen, he gladly took heavy financial loss in order to make his journey then. That's how much an A.A. meeting means to him. 1. 12 & 12, p.122 2. A.A. Comes Of Age, p.31 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Limiting Gossip No harm to others. "When you've told me their names, do not tell me their faults," a person said at an AA meeting. She was explaining how careful we must be to keep gossip within tight limits. However, it is possible to identify people in gossip without actually speaking their names. We can give so many facts that the listener can identify whom we're discussing. This is no less malicious and thoughtless than actually naming the person. We can avoid these dangers by giving up both the desire to gossip and the wish to listen to gossip. We will always have matters to gossip about; we can always find weaknesses in those we envy, faults in people we want to see taken down a notch or two. But if we persist in the program, we should find ourselves moving out of this limited way of thinking. We'll put severe limits on gossip at the same time. I'll sidestep gossip if it starts to find a way into my life today. Under God's guidance, I have better things to do. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Reading is to the Mind, what exercise is to the body. Good ideas are the seeds that start our growth. We hear things at meetings. We listen to our sponsor. Maybe we listen to program tapes. And we read. Reading is special because we do it when we're alone. We read in quiet times, when we can think. We can read as fast or as slow as we want. We can mark special words and come back to them again and again. We'll figure things out in our way, but we need help to get started. That's why we read. It gives us good ideas to think about. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, speak to me through helpful readings and help me learn at my best pace. Action for the Day: Reading is easier the more I do it. Today I'll feel proud that I've read program ideas to get my mind thinking in a healthy way. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning One needs something to believe in, something for which one can have wholehearted enthusiasm. --Hannah Senesh Life offers little, if we sit passively in the midst of activity. Involvement is a prerequisite if we are to grow. For our lives' purposes we need enthusiasm; we need enthusiasm in order to greet the day expectantly. When we look toward the day with anticipation, we are open to all the possibilities for action. We must respond to our possibilities if we are to mature emotionally and recover spiritually. Idly observing life from the sidelines guarantees no development beyond our present level. We begin to change once we start living up to our commitment to the program, its possibilities and our purpose, and it's that change, many days over, that moves us beyond the negative, passive outlook of days gone by. The program has offered us something to believe in. We are no longer the women we were. So much more have we become! Each day's worth of recovery carries us closer to fulfilling our purpose in life. I believe in recovery, my own; when I believe in success, I'll find it. There is magic in believing. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY My wife and I abandoned ourselves with enthusiasm to the idea of helping other alcoholics to a solution of their problems. It was fortunate, for my old business associates remained skeptical for a year and a half, during which I found little work. I was not to well at the time, and was plagued by waves of self-pity and resentment. This sometimes nearly drove me back to drink, but I soon found that when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day. Many times I have gone to my old hospital in despair. On talking to a man there, I would be amazingly lifted up and set on my feet. It is a design for living that works in rough going. p. 15 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. This was the background that made me willing to listen on January 8. After being dry for two weeks and sticking close to Jackie, all of a sudden I found I had become the sponsor of my sponsor, for he was suddenly taken drunk. I was startled to learn he had only been off the booze a month or so himself when he brought me the message! However, I made as SOS call to the New York Group, whom I hadn't met yet, and they suggested we both come there. This we did the next day, and what a trip! I really had a chance to see myself from a nondrinking point of view. We checked into the home of Hank, the man who had fired me eleven years before in Mississippi, and there I met Bill, our founder. Bill had then been dry three years and Hank, two. At the time, I thought them just a swell pair of screwballs, for they were not going to save all the drunks in the world but also all the so-called normal people! All they talked of that first weekend was God and how they were going to straighten out Jackie's and my life. In those days we really took each other's inventories firmly and often. Despite all this, I did like these new friends because, again, they were like me. They had also been periodic big shots who had goofed out repeatedly at the wrong time, and they also knew how to split one paper match into three separate matches. (This is very useful knowledge in places where matches are prohibited.) They, too, had taken a train to one town and had wakened hundred of miles in the opposite direction, never knowing how they got there. The same old routines seemed to be common to us all. During that first weekend, I decided to stay in New York and take all they gave out with, except the "God stuff." I knew they had to straighten out their thinking and habits, but I was all right; I just drank too much. Just give me a good front and a couple of bucks, and I'd be right back in the big time. I'd been dry three weeks, had the wrinkles out, and had sobered up my sponsor all by myself! pp. 226-227 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* A person who possesses true peace is not one whose life is without problems and turmoil but is rather a person who has peace in spite of it. --unknown "You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses." --Tom Wilson Everyone has a gift for something, even if it is the gift of being a good friend. --Marian Anderson Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don't keep it a secret. --Mary Kay Ash The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. --Anna Quindlen It's never too late — in fiction or in life — to revise. --Nancy Thayer ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation LIES "Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle that fits them all." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes To lie is to rob life of meaning. In my addiction I was a liar, not just by what I said but by what I did, what I left unsaid and by my manipulation with half-truths. All lies shut out truth making us prisoners of fantasy and illusion. The world becomes what we want it to be rather than what it is and reality is lost. The liar is forced into the prison of loneliness, despair and isolation because nobody can know him, nobody can understand him. His language and communication are ego-centered. The liar is not living in the real world. He is living in his own world, with his own rules and definitions. The lies are the killing wounds, and they are self-inflicted. Today I prefer the pain of truth to the passing satisfaction of the lie and the habit of telling the truth is growing in me! God of Truth, may You ever be reflected in the life I seek to live. ************************************************** ********* Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. John 15:2 "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. Galatians 5:22-23 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration When we become aware that we possess all the spiritual treasures necessary for a productive and happy life, we will never want for anything. Lord, You are a limitless source of abundance and love. There is not one moment that we are separated from God's care unless we choose to be. Lord, You provide for my daily needs and deliver me from evil. You are my refuge. |
December 28
Daily Reflections SUIT UP AND SHOW UP In A.A. we aim not only for sobriety - we try again to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and of the world that once rejected us. This is the ultimate demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work is the first but not the final step. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 21 The old line says, "Suit up and show up." That action is so important that I like to think of it as my motto. I can choose each day to suit up and show up, or not. Showing up at meetings starts me toward feeling a part of that meeting, I can talk with newcomers, and I can share my experience; that's what credibility, honesty, and courtesy really are. Suiting up and showing up are the concrete actions I take in my ongoing return to normal living. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day A.A. may be human in its organization, but it is divine in its purpose. The purpose is to point me toward God and the good life. My feet have been set upon the right path. I feel it in the depths of my being. I am going in the right direction. The future can be safely left to God. Whatever the future holds, it cannot be too much for me to bear. I have the Divine Power with me, to carry me through everything that may happen. Am I pointed toward God and the good life? Meditation For The Day Although unseen, the Lord is always near to those who believe in Him and trust Him and depend on Him for the strength to meet the challenges of life. Although veiled from mortal sight, the Higher Power is always available to us whenever we humbly ask for it. The feeling that God is with us should not depend on any passing mood of ours, but we should try to be always conscious of His power and love in the background of our lives. Prayer For The Day I pray that today I may feel that God is not too far away to depend on for help. I pray that I may feel confident of His readiness to give me the power that I need. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Alone No More, p.252 Alcoholism was a lonely business, even though we were surrounded by people who loved us. But when our self-will had driven everybody away and our isolation became complete, we commenced to play the big shot in cheap barrooms. Failing even in this, we had to fare forth alone on the street to depend upon the charity of passers-by. We were trying to find emotional security either by dominating or by being dependent upon others. Even when our fortunes had not totally ebbed, we nevertheless found ourselves alone in the world. We still vainly tried to be secure by some unhealthy sort of domination or dependence. For those of us who were like that, A.A. has a very special meaning. In this Fellowship we begin to learn right relations with people who understand us; we don't have to be alone any more. 12 & 12, pp. 116-117 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Rehearing Rejection Fortitude The possibility of rejection exists with almost everything we do, if we are free to choose. We might not like rejection, but we want the same freedom to reject others. As freely choosing people, we need to turn down ideas or proposals we don't like. One thing we should never do, however, is rehearse rejections before they occur. If we do this, we may give up even before we have attempted what we hope to accomplish. In effect, we will be killing our hopes even before others have a chance to review them. This is always a ticket to failure. Rejection is really a feedback mechanism that reports information we ought to have. It tells us either to change our approach or to seek acceptance elsewhere. It is not evidence that we're completely unacceptable. Our problem with any single rejection may be that it causes us to recall all the rejections we ever had. We can learn to see any rejection as a normal event that can be beneficial if we accept it properly. I'll not let any fear or visualization of rejection keep me from actions I ought to take today. I am an acceptable person, and there is a place for what I have to offer. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning The human heart dares not stay away too long from that which hurt it most. There is a return journey to anguish that few of us are released from making. --Lillian Smith As the sore tooth draws our tongue, so do rejections, affronts, painful criticisms, both past and present draw our minds. We court self-pity, both loving and hating it. But we can change this pattern. First we must decide we are ready to do so. The program tells us we must become "entirely ready." And then we must ask to have this shortcoming removed. The desire to dwell on the injustices of our lives becomes habitual. It takes hours of our time. It influences our perceptions of all other experiences. We have to be willing to replace that time-consuming activity with one that's good and healthy. We must be prepared for all of life to change. Our overriding self-pity has so tarnished our perceptions that we may never have sensed all the good that life daily offers. How often we see the glass as half-empty rather than half-full! A new set of experiences awaits me today. And I can perceive them unfettered by the memories of the painful past. Self-pity need not cage me, today. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple If You Walk With Lame Men You'll soon Limp Yourself. Seaman McManus Before recovery, we kept company with people who were as sick as us, or worse. We got angry and made fun of people who were trying to improve their lives. They scared us. They were like mirrors that reflected how spiritually lost we were becoming. Now we walk in the crowd we avoided. Now we have values. We have spiritual beliefs. Living up to these values and beliefs can be hard. We need to be around people who live by their values. In recovery, we learn that we need others. Remember, the first word in Step One is we. We need good people in our lives. We need friends who will not tell us what we want to hear, but what we are doing wrong. Prayer for the Day: Sometimes I act like I need no one. Help me pick my friends wisely, for my life is at stake. Action for the Day: Today, I'll pick one friend, and we'll talk about how we can better help each other. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY We commenced to make many fast friends and a fellowship has grown up among us of which it is a wonderful thing to feel a part. The joy of living we really have, even under pressure and difficulty. I have seen hundreds of families set their feet in the path that really goes somewhere; have seen the most impossible domestic situations righted; feuds and bitterness of all sorts wiped out. I have seen men come out of asylums and resume a vital place in the lives of their families and communities. Business and professional men have regained their standing. There is scarcely any form of trouble and misery which has not been overcome among us. In one western city and its environs there are one thousand of us and our families. We meet frequently so that newcomers may find the fellowship they seek. At these informal gatherings one may often see from 50 to 200 persons. We are growing in numbers and power.* * In 2001, A.A. is composed of over 100,000 groups. pp. 15-16 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. Bill and Hank had just taken over a small automobile polish company, and they offered me a job--ten dollars a week and keep at Hank's house. We were all set to put DuPont out of business. p. 227 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* "When it is dark enough, you can see the stars." --Charles A. Beard "Learn from the negative as well as the positive, from the failures as well as the successes." --Jim Rohn "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." --Ralph Waldo Emerson "If you want to be listened to, you should put in time listening." --Marge Piercy "In every crisis there is a message. Crises are nature's way of forcing change--breaking down old structures, shaking loose negative habits so that something new and better can take their place." --Susan Taylor ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation HUMOR "Humor is an affirmation of dignity, a declaration of man's superiority to all that befalls him." -- Romain Gary Today I laugh at myself. Today I need to laugh at myself in order to stay sane. Today I choose not to take myself too seriously. When I tell jokes about the alcoholic, I am not belittling the person. I am making fun of the disease that nearly killed me. For me to live with the disease, I need to be able to laugh at the disease in this way I stop it from having power in my life. Also I catch something of the symptoms of the disease in the jokes: the grandiosity, arrogance, manipulation, insanity, ego, selfishness and exaggeration. The joke allows me to face reality with a smile. O God, thank You for the healing gift of humor. ************************************************** ********* "For you are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness." II Samuel 22:29 "Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore!" 1 Chronicles 16:11 See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God. 1 John 3:1 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13 "Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed." Isaiah 49:23 "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Do not run ahead of the Lord, but walk with Him, pray for His guidance and listen to His answers. Lord, let me put Your will first in my life. Do what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord and receive the fullness of His blessings. Lord, I thank You for the gifts that I have received and ask forgiveness for all that I have done wrong. |
December 29
Daily Reflections THE JOY OF LIVING . . . . therefore the joy of good living is the theme of A.A.'s Twelfth Step. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 125 A.A. is a joyful program! Even so, I occasionally balk at taking the necessary steps to move ahead, and find myself resisting the very actions that could bring about the joy I want. I would not resist if those actions did not touch some vulnerable area of my life, an area that needs hope and fulfillment. Repeated exposure to joyfulness has a way of softening the hard, outer edges of my ego. Therein lies the power of joyfulness to help all members of A.A. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Participating in the privileges of the movement, I shall share in the responsibilities, taking it upon myself to carry my fair share of the load, not grudgingly but joyfully. I am deeply grateful for the privileges I enjoy because of my membership in this great movement. They put an obligation upon me which I will not shirk. I will gladly carry my fair share of the burdens. Because of the joy of doing them, they will no longer be burdens, but opportunities. Will I accept every opportunity gladly? Meditation For The Day Work and prayer are the two forces which are gradually making a better world. We must work for the betterment of ourselves and our fellow men. Faith without works is dead. But all work with people should be based on prayer. If we say a little prayer before we speak or try to help, it will make us more effective. Prayer is the force behind the work. Prayer is based on faith that God is working with us and through us. We can believe that nothing is impossible in human relationships, if we depend on the help of God. Prayer For The Day I pray that my life may be balanced between prayer and work. I pray that I may not work without prayer or pray without work. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Unlimited Choice, p. 201 Any number of alcoholics are bedeviled by the dire conviction that if they ever go near A.A. they will be pressured to conform to some particular brand of faith or theology. They just don't realize that faith is never an imperative for A.A. membership. That sobriety can be achieved with an easily acceptable minimum of it, and that our concepts of a Higher Power and God--as we understand Him--afford everyone a nearly unlimited choice of spiritual belief and action. ******************************** In talking to a prospect, stress the spiritual feature freely. If the man be agnostic or atheist, make it emphatic that he does not have to agree with your conception of God. He can choose any conception he likes, provided it makes sense to him. The main thing is that he is willing to believe in a Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual principles. 1. Grapevine, April 1961 2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 93 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Mending the past No Regrets of the Past "The past is best mended by living so fully today that its errors have no place in our lives." These words by an AA member suggest an approach for healing from the past. All of us would benefit to use today's knowledge to deal with situations we mishandled in the past. But we must remember that whatever mistakes we made, we had available only the knowledge and resources we possessed the, and we may have done about as well as we possibly could at this time. We should also remember that active alcoholism is a crippling and ugly disease with many terrible consequences. It's not surprising that bad things happened to others and us when we were drinking. We can only be grateful that we are now recovering and that matters are better, not worse, than they once were. I'll live fully today, allowing no thoughts of regret from my past to intrude. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Many people are living in an emotional jail without recognizing it. Virginia Satir. Our disease was our jail. We felt so bad that we were sure we must have done something awful. But we didn't cause our disease. We have done nothing to deserve our disease. We aren't responsible for the fact that we have a disease. But we ARE responsible for our recovery. We have been granted probation. The terms of our probation are simple: don't drink or use other drugs, and work the Steps. If we follow these simple rules, we'll be free. And it will be clear to us that only a Power greater than ourselves could give us this freedom. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to stay free. For this next twenty-four - hour period, take from me any urge to drink or use other drugs. With Your help, I'll be free. Action for the Day: Today, I'll think about my disease. I am not morally weak. I have a dangerous illness. What can keep me free from my disease? ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Kindness and intelligence don't always deliver us from the pitfalls and traps. There is no way to take the danger out of human relationships. --Barbara Grizzuti Harrison Relationships with other people are necessary to escape loneliness; however, relationships do not guarantee freedom from pain. Nurturing a meaningful relationship with another human being takes patience, even when we don't have any. It takes tolerance, even if we don't feel it. It takes selflessness, at those very moments our own ego is crying for attention. Yet, we need relationships with others; they inspire us. We learn who we are and who we can become through relationships. They precipitate our accomplishments. Our creativity is encouraged by them, and so is our emotional and spiritual development. We can look around us, attentively. We can feel blessed, even when it's a negative situation. Every situation is capable of inspiring a positive step forward. Every situation is meant for our good. There's risk in human relationships, and it's often accompanied by pain. But I am guaranteed growth, and I will find the happiness I seek. I will reach out to someone today. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition BILL'S STORY An alcoholic in his cups is an unlovely creature. Our struggles with them are variously strenuous, comic, and tragic. One poor chap committed suicide in my home. He could not, or would not, see our way of life. There is, however, a vast amount of fun about it all. I suppose some would be shocked at our seeming worldliness and levity. But just underneath there is deadly earnestness. Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish. Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia. We have it with us right here and now. Each day my friend's simple talk in our kitchen multiplies itself in a widening circle of peace on earth and good will to men. Bill W., co-founder of A.A., died January 24,1971. p. 16 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. At that time the group in New York was composed of about twelve men who were working on the principle of every drunk for himself; we had no real formula and no name. We would follow one man's ideas for a while, decide he was wrong, and switch to another's method. But we were staying sober as long as we kept and talked together. There was one meeting a week at Bill's home in Brooklyn, and we all took turns there spouting off about how we had changed our lives overnight, how many drunks we had saved and straightened out, and last but not least, how God had touched each of us personally on the shoulder. Boy, what a circle of confused idealists! Yet we all had one really sincere purpose in our hearts, and that was not to drink. At our weekly meeting I was a menace to serenity those first few months, for I took every opportunity to lambaste that "spiritual angle," as we called it, or anything else that had any tingle of theology. Much later I discovered the elders held many prayer meetings hoping to find a way to give me the heave-ho but at the same time stay tolerant and spiritual. They did not seem to be getting an answer, for here I was staying sober and selling lots of auto polish, on which they were making one thousand percent profit. So I rocked along my merry independent way until June, when I went out selling auto polish in England. After a very good week, two of my customers took me to lunch on Saturday. We ordered sandwiches, and one man said, "Three beers." I let that sit too. Then it was my turn--I ordered, "Three beers," but this time it was different; I had a cash investment of thirty cents, and, on a ten-dollar-a-week-salary, that a big thing. So I drank all three beers, one after the other, and said, "I'll be seeing you, boys," and went around the corner for a bottle. I never saw either of them again. pp. 227-228 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* Keep your sobriety first to make it last. --unknown Having the world's best idea will do you no good unless you act on it. People who want milk shouldn't sit on a stool in the middle of a field in hopes that a cow will back up to them. --Curtis Grant When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm. --Sherrie R. "When nobody around you measures up, it's time to check your yardstick." --Bill Lemly Without God's inner source of enlightenment and refreshment, I would soon stagnate and feel despair. --Shelley The heart of AA is the act of one person giving to another. ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation MADNESS "The madman who knows that he is mad is close to sanity." -- Juan Ruiz de Alarcon An alcoholic who continues to drink is committing suicide. An addict who continues to use is committing suicide. An overeater who continues to eat compulsively and destructively is committing suicide. Madness. It is like a man standing in the town square stabbing himself with a knife and asking the passer-by, "Why am I bleeding?" Today I accept my past destructive behavior and try to change it on a daily basis. Spirituality is loving yourself enough to "see" the writing on the wall and do something about it. Change is sanity for the madman! God, You seem to have given me a dose of insanity. Let me use it to Your glory. ************************************************** ********* "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." Revelation 3:20 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Philippians 2:3 "Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand." Romans 14:4 "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Today picture yourself as the happiest person that you know and watch how contagious this enthusiasm for life is. Lord, may I bring out the best in those with whom I share today so they can in turn bring out more of my best. Choose God instead of choosing to worry. Lord, in Your justice, rescue and deliver me. |
December 30
Daily Reflections ANONYMITY Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 564 Tradition Twelve became important early in my sobriety and, along with the Twelve Steps, it continues to be a must in my recovery. I became aware after I joined the Fellowship that I had personality problems, so that when I first heard it, the Tradition's message was very clear: there exists an immediate way for me to face, with others, my alcoholism and attendant anger, defensiveness, offensiveness. I saw Tradition Twelve as being a great ego-deflator; it relieved my anger and gave me a chance to utilize the principles of the program. All of the Steps, and this particular Tradition, have guided me over decades of continuous sobriety. I am grateful to those who were here when I needed them. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day To the extent that I fail in my responsibilities, A.A. fails. To the extent that I succeed, A.A. succeeds. Every failure of mine will set back A.A. work to that extent. Every success of mine will put A.A. ahead to that extent. I shall not wait to be drafted for service to others, but I shall volunteer. I shall accept every opportunity to work for A.A. as a challenge, and I shall do my best to accept every challenge and perform my task as best I can. Will I accept every challenge gladly? Meditation For The Day People are always failures in the deepest sense when they seek to live without God's sustaining power. Many people try to be self-sufficient and seek selfish pleasure and find that it does not work too well. No matter how much material wealth they acquire, no matter how much fame and material power, the time of disillusionment and futility usually comes. Death is ahead, and they cannot take any material thing with them when they go. What does it matter if I have gained the whole world, but lost my own soul? Prayer For The Day I pray that I will not come empty to the end of my life. I pray that I may so live that I will not be afraid to die. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It We Cannot Stand Still, p. 25 In the first days of A.A., I wasn't much bothered about the areas of life in which I was standing still. There was always the alibi: "After all," I said to myself, "I'm far too busy with much more important matters." That was my near perfect prescription for comfort and complacency. << << << >> >> >> How many of us would presume to declare, "Well, Im sober and I'm happy. What more can I want, or do? I'm fine the way I am." We know that the price of such self-satisfaction is an inevitable backslide, punctuated at some point by a very rude awakening. We have to grow or else deteriorate. For us, the status quo can only be today, never for tomorrow. Change we must; we cannot stand still. 1. Grapevine, June 1961 2. Grapevine, February 1961 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Maturity means principles Right Action A principle is sometimes defined as a fundamental guide to action. The more mature we become, the more likely it is that we'll work from principles rather than blind feelings. The principles outlined in the Twelve Steps are good guide for mature living. They call for honesty in motive, fair and considerate treatment of others, and reliance on our Higher Power throughout each day. As we continue on such a path, we will outgrow the childish selfishness and reactions that were so destructive in our old lives. We will be viewed by others as mature, responsible, reliable people. We also grow into maturity by acting according to sound principles even when we don't always feel like it. Whatever our feelings might be at any given moment, we can choose actions that are sound and constructive. Whatever my feelings might be from moment to moment, I"ll act according to the best principles today. I know this is a part of growing up. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Keep It Simple.---AA slogan Addiction messed up our thinking. We know that from taking Step One. We forgot things. We had blackouts. We made excuses, and we even started to believe them. We were mixed up. We couldn't figure things out. We decided to get high and forget about it. Now our minds are clear. We can keep thinking clearly if we work our program and Keep It Simple. Don't drink or use other drugs. Go to meetings. Work the Steps. Be yourself. Ask for help. Trust your Higher Power. Two thoughts will always mess us up if we let them in. They are "Yes, but..." and "What if?" Don't let them in. Keep It Simple. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks for recovery. Help me stay sober and clean today. Action for the Day: Today, I'll take one thing at a time and Keep It Simple. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning And what a delight it is to make friends with someone you have despised! --Colette What does it mean to say we "despise" someone? Usually it means that we have invested a lot of energy in negative feelings; it means that we have let ourselves care deeply about someone. We would never say we "despised" someone who wasn't important to us. Why have we chosen to let negative feelings occupy so much of our hearts? Sometimes, in the past, that negative energy has become almost an obsession, consuming our time, gnawing at our self-esteem. But in recovery there comes a moment of lightning change; a moment of release from the bonds of obsession. The other person is, after all, just another person--a seeker, like ourselves. And, since we cared enough to devote our time and energies to disliking her, she is probably someone who would be rewarding to know. Recovery has given us the opportunity to turn over many negative feelings, to discover that "friend" and "enemy" can be two sides of the same person. Today, I will look into my heart and see whether I am clinging to obsessive concerns with other people. I will resolve to let them go. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition THERE IS A SOLUTION WE, OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS know thousands of men and women who were once just as hopeless as Bill. Nearly all have recovered. They have solved the drink problem. We are average Americans. All sections of this country and many of its occupations are represented, as well as many political, economic, social, and religious backgrounds. We are people who normally would not mix. But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful. We are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck when camaraderie, joyousness and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to Captain's table. Unlike the feelings of the ships passengers, however, our joy in escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways. The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us. But that in itself would never have held us together as we are now joined. p. 17 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. I had completely forgotten the January 8 when I found the Fellowship, and I spent the next four days wandering around New England half drunk, by which I mean I couldn't get drunk and I couldn't get sober. I tried to contact the boys in New York, but telegrams bounced right back, and when I finally got Hank on the telephone he fired me right then. This was when I really took my first good look at myself. My loneliness was worse than it had ever been before, for now even my own kind had turned against me. This time it really hurt, more than any hangover ever had. My brilliant agnosticism vanished, and I saw for the first time that those who really believed, or at least honestly tried to find a Power greater than themselves, were much more composed and contented than I had ever been, and they seemed to have a degree of happiness I had never known. pp. 228-229 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking." As group after group saw these possibilities, they finally abandoned all membership regulations. One dramatic experience after another clinched this determination until it became our universal tradition. Here are two examples: On the A.A. calendar it was Year Two. In that time nothing could be seen but two struggling, nameless groups of alcoholics trying to hold their faces up to the light. p. 141 ************************************************** ********* Don't hate - it's too big a burden to bear. --Martin Luther King, Sr. Never be afraid to entrust the unknown future to the all-knowing God." --unknown "We may not know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future." --unknown God can make all things new, even you. --unknown When you find you are upset over a situation, stop and ask yourself one very important question. "Is this something I can change?" Whether it is or not, turn your negative energy in to productive energy. You can either change the situation, or change your perspective of the situation. --unknown You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips. --Oliver Goldsmith You cannot raise a man up by calling him down. --William Boetcker Don't let yesterday use up too much of today. --Will Rogers ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation BALANCE "A society that gives to one class all the opportunities for leisure, and to another class all the burdens of work, dooms both classes to spiritual sterility." -- Lewis Mumford Spirituality brings with it balance. In order to be relaxed, healthy and alive, I need both work and leisure. For me I need to remember it is okay to take a day off; to stay in and relax is not a waste; play time is creative time! I was not only compulsive around alcohol and people but I was also obsessive about work. I was and am a work-aholic. I need to remember to H.A.L.T.: Don't get too Hungry. Don't get too Angry. Don't get too Lonely. Don't get too Tired. Work for me can be a form of escape. In leisure I have the opportunity to meet with myself. Go on enjoy yourself, with yourself! You, who made me a laborer in the vineyard, also expected me to sit and enjoy it. ************************************************** ********* "I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10 "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Begin every day as if it were your very first because you really are always at the beginning. Lord, thank you for the constant ability to stop any offensive behaviors that I have and the gift of being forgiven and being able to forgive myself. Imagine that you were paid for every kindness and charged for every unkindness. Would you be rich or poor? Lord, I often pray for material wealth. Let me not neglect my soul by now praying for the ability to build my spiritual wealth also. |
December 31
Daily Reflections Daily Resolutions The idea of "twenty-four-hour" living applies primarily to the emotional life of the individual. Emotionally speaking, we must not live in yesterday, nor in tomorrow. As Bill Sees It, p. 284 A New year: 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes--a time to consider directions, goals, and actions. I must make some plans to live a normal life, but also I must live emotionally within a twenty-four hour frame, for if I do, I don't have to make New Year's resolutions! I can make every day a New Year's day! I can decide, "Today I will do this . . . Today I will do that." Each day I can measure my life by trying to a little better, by deciding to follow God's will and making an effort to put the principles of our A.A. program into action. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day I shall be loyal in my attendance, generous in my giving, kind in my criticism, creative in my suggestions, loving in my attitudes. I shall give A.A. my interest, my enthusiasm, my devotion, and most of all, myself. The Lord's Prayer has become part of my A.A. thoughts for each day: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Have I given myself? Meditation For The Day As we look back over the year just gone, it has been a good year to the extent that we have put good thoughts, good words, and good deeds into it. None of what we have thought, said, or done need be wasted. Both the good and the bad experiences can be profited by. In a sense, the past is not entirely gone. The result of it, for good or evil, is with us at the present moment. We can only learn by experience and none of our experience is completely wasted. We can humbly thank God for the good things of the year that has gone. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may carry good things into the year ahead. I pray that I may carry on with faith, with prayer, and with hope. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Wider Understanding, p.255 To reach more alcoholics, understanding of A.A. and public good will towards A.A. must go on growing everywhere. We need to be on still better terms with medicine, courts, prisons, mental hospitals, and all enterprises in the alcoholism field. We need the increasing good will of editors, writers, television and radio channels. These publicity outlets need to be opened ever wider. ******************************** Nothing matters more to A.A.'s future welfare than the manner in which we use the colossus of modern communication. Used unselfishly and well, it can produce results surpassing our present imagination. Should we handle this great instrument badly, we shall be shattered by the ego manifestations of our own people. Against this peril, A.A. members' anonymity before the general public is our shield and our buckler. 1. Twelve Concepts, p.51 2. Grapevine, November 1960 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Has it been a Year of Growth? Growth As any year draws to a close, we should reflect on how we have grown in sobriety. We should also identify changes during the year that enabled us to overcome bad habits and to move closer to better patterns of living. Though we never are guaranteed favorable outcomes, we should always remember that sobriety is its own reward. We want a full life of course, but it must begin with a decision to seek and to maintain sobriety at all costs. We find that with sobriety, lots of other problems seem to solve themselves. Even if they don't we have the tools to move forward and to achieve goals that always eluded us while we were drinking. Every year in sobriety is a year of growth. I'll be conscious today of recent improvements I've made in my life and all my affairs. With sobriety, these improvements will go on for a lifetime. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple May you live all the days of your life'--Jonathan Swift. Tonight, at midnight, a New Year will begin. None of us know what the New Year will hold. But we can trust ourselves to hold on to the spirit of recovery as we go through the year. As a New Year is about to begin, we can rejoice in our new way of life. We can give our will and our life to our HP. By doing these things, we'll be ready for the New Year. PRAYER: Higher Power, I pray that I'll start the New Year safe in Your loving arms. I pray that I'll keep working my program. ACTION: Tonight, at midnight, I'll say the Serenity Prayer. I will think of all the others who have read this meditation book and who will join me in this prayer. We are a recovering community. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning In the process of growing to spiritual maturity, we all go through many adolescent stages. --Miki L. Bowen Progress, not perfection, is our goal in this recovery program. And many days we'll be haunted by the feeling that we've regressed. We will display old behavior. We will feel unable to change, to go on, to make gains once again. But these periods will pass, and soon progress will be evident again. We must be wary of our need for perfection. It's this need that makes normal progress seem not good enough. And yet, that's all we're capable of--and all we'll ever need to be capable of. The program, its Steps and the promises offered, provide the tools we have lacked, yet need to use in order to accept ourselves wholly and imperfectly. Daily attention to our spiritual side will foster the spiritual and emotional health we long for. Prayer and meditation, combined with honest inventory-taking, can show us the personal progress needed, the personal progress made. However, we will falter on occasion. We will neglect our program some days. But it won't ever be beyond our reach. And each day is a new beginning. Today is before me, and I can make progress. I will begin with a quiet prayer and a moment of meditation. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition THERE IS A SOLUTION The tremendous fact for everyone of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism. p. 17 ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories The Vicious Cycle How it finally broke a Southerner's obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. Peddling off my polish samples for expenses, I crawled back to New York a few days later in a very chastened frame of mind. When the others saw my altered attitude they took me back in, but for me they had to make it tough; if they hadn't I don't think I ever would have stuck it out. Once again, there was the challenge of a tough job, but this time I was determined to follow through. For a long time the only Higher Power I could concede was the power of the group, but this was far more than I had ever recognized before, and it was at least a beginning. It was also an ending, for never since June 16th, 1938, have I had to walk alone. p. 229 ************************************************** ********* Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking." A newcomer appeared at one of these groups, knocked on the door and asked to be let in. He talked frankly with that group's oldest member. He soon proved that his was a desperate case, and that above all he wanted to get well. "But," he asked, "will you let me join your group? Since I am the victim of another addiction even worse stigmatized than alcoholism, you may not want me among you. Or will you?" There was the dilemma. What should the group do? The oldest member summoned two others, and in confidence laid the explosive facts in their laps. Said he, "Well, what about it? If we turn this man away, he'll soon die. If we allow him in, only god knows what trouble he'll brew. What shall the answer be - yes or no?" pp. 141-142 ************************************************** ********* "Wherever you go, whomever you meet, look for an opportunity to help, to inspire, to lend support." --Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson Most people search high and wide for the keys to success. If they only knew, the key to their dreams lies within. --George Washington Carver Look for the Good. --unknown The traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous help me play well with others, when what I really want to do is take my toys and go home! --unknown "You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do." --Henry Ford ************************************************** ********* Father Leo's Daily Meditation CHANGE "It is not necessary to get away from human nature but to alter its inner attitude of heart and mind." -- J. F. Newton An understanding of sobriety and serenity that has proved helpful to me is that we are not only changing but involved in change. We determine the results of the change. I can change for good or bad. I can stay sober or drink. I can be cheerful and creative or negative and destructive. My attitude determines the results of my changing life. Spirituality has been given, but it also needs to be nurtured. I need to surround myself with loving and honest people if I am to allow my spirituality to grow in my life. My continued willingness is essential to my sobriety and serenity. Thank You for making me with a mind and heart that together create the action. ************************************************** ********* I believe that I am now a child of God . 1 John 3:1-3 I believe that I was saved by the grace of God through faith, that it was a gift and not the result of any works on my part. Ephesians 2:8 I choose to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Ephesians 6:10 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration To have courage, think courageous, act courageous, and pray to God for courage. Lord, You are full of love for all who come to You. Abundance is God's to give, so shut out all limited thoughts. Lord, my faith in You and my faith in the talents and abilities You have given me makes me able to achieve my goals. |
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