Daily Recovery Readings - September

[bluidkiti]

September 23

Daily Reflections

"I WAS AN EXCEPTION"

He [Bill W.] said to me, gently and simply, "Do you
think that you are one of us?"
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 413

During my drinking life I was convinced I was an exception.
I thought I was beyond petty requirements and had the right
to be excused. I never realized that the dark counterbalance
of my attitude was the constant feeling that I did not
"belong." At first, in A.A., I identified with others only
as an alcoholic. What a wonderful awakening for me it has
been to realize that, if human beings were doing the best
they could, then so was I! All of the pains, confusions and
joys they feel are not exceptional, but part of my life,
just as much as anybody's.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Step Twelve is, "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." Note that the basis of our
effectiveness in carrying the message to others is the
reality of our own spiritual awakening. If we have not
changed, we cannot be used to change others. To keep
this program, we must pass it on to others. We cannot
keep it for ourselves. We may lose it unless we give it
away. It cannot flow into us and stop; it must continue
to flow into us as it flows out to others.

Meditation For The Day

"Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you."
When you are faced with a problem beyond your strength,
you must turn to God by an act of faith. It is that turning
to God in each trying situation that you must cultivate.
The turning may be one of glad thankfulness for God's grace
in you life. Or your appeal to God may be a prayerful
claiming of His strength to face a situation and finding
that you have it when the time comes. Not only the power to
face trials, but also the comfort and joy of God's nearness
and companionship are yours for the asking.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may try to draw near to God each day in prayer.
I pray that I may feel His nearness and His strength in my life.

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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.

********************************

We are now on a different basis: the basis of trusting and relying
upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. Just to
the extent that we do as we think He would have us do, and humbly
rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity.

1. 12 & 12, p.115
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p.68

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Walk In Dry Places

When resentment Returns
Inventory
It’s surprising and even humiliating to find an old resentment
flaring up, sometimes years after we thought it had been put to rest.
When that happens, we wonder how thorough we really were in
releasing the resentment in the first place.
The secret of handling this problem is to turn the old resentment
over to our Higher Power without wasting time wondering why it
came up again. We need to deal with it as if it were a brand-new
problem; and in a sense, it is.
As for questioning our past sincerity, that too is a waste of time.
We are always trying to do our best with the understanding we
have for each day. Being too hard on us does not make it easier
to practice our program. Resentments can and do return, but they
don't have to destroy us.
I'll realize today that I'm always susceptible to any of my ongoing problems,
including resentment. Fortunately, I have my program for dealing with
them when they occur.

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Keep It Simple

. . . he who finds himself loses his misery. Matthew Arnold
We have lost a lot of misery. In it’s place inside us, a spirit grows. . .
as love is added.
Especially self-love. In our illness, we came to hate ourselves. It was
really our illness we hated. We couldn’t find ourselves. All we saw was
what others saw---our illness.
In recovery, we’ve found ourselves again. We’ve found we’re good people.
We’ve also come to love the world around us. We see we have something
to offer this world---ourselves.
Why? Because we have found ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: I’m so glad to be alive. At times life hurts, but, in living,
I found You. Thank-you Higher Power. I pray that we may always be close.
Action for the Day: I will list ten great things I’ve discovered about myself
in recovery.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Who will I be today? The "Cosmopolitan" woman, the little girl, the scholar,
the mother? Who will I be to answer the needs of others, and yet answer the
needs of me? --Deidra Sarault
We wear many hats. One aspect of our maturity is our ability to balance our
roles. It's often quite difficult to do so; however, the program offers us many
tools for balancing our lives.
Fulfilling some of the needs of significant others in our lives brings us joy. Our
own needs must be given priority, though. We cannot give away what we don't
have, and we have nothing unless we give sincere attention and love to ourselves.
In years gone by, we may have taken too little care of others, or we overdid it.
In either case, we probably neglected ourselves. Most of us starved ourselves
spiritually, many of us emotionally, a few physically. We were all too often
"all-or-nothing" women.
Today we're aware of our choices. We've been making a number of good ones
lately: We're abstinent. We're living the Steps. And we're choosing how to
spend our time, and what to do with our lives. But no choice will turn out
very well if we haven't taken care of ourselves.
I will center on myself. I will nurture the maturing woman within and then reach out.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

WE AGNOSTICS

We found, too, that we had been worshippers. What a state of mental goose-flesh that used to bring on! Had we not variously worshipped people, sentiment, things, money, and ourselves? And then, with a better motive, had we not worshipfully beheld the sunset, the sea, or a flower? Who of us had not loved something or somebody? How much did these feelings, these loves, these worships, have to do with pure reason? Little or nothing, we saw at last. Were not these things the tissue out of which our lives were constructed? Did not these feelings, after all, determine the course of our existence? It was impossible to say we had no capacity for faith, or love, or worship. In one form or another we had been living by faith and little else.

p. 54

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

In the morning we think of the hours to come. Perhaps we think of our day's work and the chances it may afford us to be useful and helpful, or of some special problem that it may bring. Possibly today will see a continuation of a serious and as yet unresolved problem left over from yesterday. Our immediate temptation will be to ask for specific solutions to specific problems, and for the ability to help other people as we have already thought they should be helped. In that case, we are asking God to do it our way. Therefore, we ought to consider each request carefully to see what its real merit is. Even so, when making specific requests, it will be well to add to each one of them this qualification: "...if it be Thy will." 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.

p. 102

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Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of
its strength.
--Soberbyker

"He who would have fruit must climb the tree."
--Thomas Fuller

"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend."
--Theophrastus

"The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which
includes not only others but ourselves as well."
--Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

"If one could only learn to appreciate the little things...
A song that takes you away, for there are those who cannot hear.
The beauty of a sunset, for there are those who cannot see.
The warmth and safety of your home, for there are those who are homeless.
Time spent with good friends for there are those who are lonely.
A walk along the beach for there are those who cannot walk.
The little things are what life is all about.
Search your soul and learn to appreciate."
--Shadi Souferian

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

LOVE

"Take away love and our earth
is a tomb."
-- Robert Browning

Spirituality is essentially love. It is the love that suffers and grows in
the acceptance of my compulsive and obsessive behavior. It is the love
that requires a knowledge of "self" in order to give understanding and
respect to others. Spirituality is that loving vulnerability that creates
healing in recovery. It provides meaning to life and relationships.

The world is a creative place, and we will only find happiness when we
begin to create. God has created us to take and make -- give and
receive. With the suffering, loneliness, struggle and acceptance comes
a love that is real and alive.

Teach me to live in life and not merely exist.

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Let us go to His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool.
Psalm 132:7

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things
there is no law."
Galatians 5:22-23

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Daily Inspiration

Your happiness is happening right now unless you chose not to see it.
Lord, I trust in Your presence and therefore I am always able to see
You work in my life.

Everything we need to deal with life's problems lies within us. Our trials
are tests to see if we can discover the solution. Lord, I call out Your name
when I face my difficulties and together we will overcome them.

[bluidkiti]

September 24

Daily Reflections

VIGILANCE

We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again:
"Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic." Commencing
to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short
time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking,
there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking
notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33

Today I am an alcoholic. Tomorrow will be no different.
My alcoholism lives within me now and forever. I must
never forget what I am. Alcohol will surely kill me if
I fail to recognize and acknowledge my disease on a daily
basis. I am not playing a game in which a loss is a
temporary setback. I am dealing with my disease, for which
there is no cure, only daily acceptance and vigilance.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Let us continue with Step Twelve. We must practice these
principles in all our affairs. This part of the twelfth
step must not be overlooked. It is the carrying on of the
whole program. We do not just practice these principles in
regard to our drinking problem. We practice them in ALL our
affairs. We do not give one compartment of our lives to God
and keep the other compartments to ourselves. We give our
whole lives to God and we try to do His will in every respect.
"Herein lies our growth, herein lies all the promise of the
future, and ever-widening horizon." Do I carry the A.A.
principles with me wherever I go?

Meditation For The Day

"Lord, to whom shall we go but to Thee? Thou hast the words
of eternal life." The words of eternal life are the words
from God controlling your true being, controlling the real
spiritual you. They are the words from God which are heard
by you in your heart and mind when these are wide open to
His spirit. These are the words of eternal life which express
the true way you are to live. They say to you in the stillness
of your heart and mind and soul: "Do this and live."

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may follow the dictates of my conscience.
I pray that I may follow the inner urging of my soul.

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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

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Walk In Dry Places

Willingness to listen
Willingness
Why is it that we'll accept information from some people but not from
others? Many people tried to advise us while we were drinking; why
would we listen only to recovering alcoholics?
We can't answer that question, except to say that most human beings are
willing to listen only to certain people at certain times. That's why business
organizations have to select sales people carefully; customers will respond to
some people, but not to others.
As we grow in sobriety, however, we develop the willingness to listen to people
we would have once avoided. We can find wonderful ideas in all sorts of places
and from all types of people. As we become more open-minded and willing, we
can listen more and learn more.
My prejudices and fears of the past kept me from listening to people who would
have helped me. I'll be more open-minded and willing today.

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Keep It Simple

To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves.--- Will Durant
Sometimes we say bad things about others. When we do this, it makes us look
bad too.
Our friends worry what we might say about them behind their backs. They’re
afraid to trust us. We become known as gossips.
The things we say about other people tell a lot about us. We are kind or unkind.
We gossip or we don’t. This doesn’t mean we have to say everyone is wonderful
all the time. As we work our program to see ourselves better, we begin to see other
people more clearly too. We see their strong points and their weak points. But we
can know these things without gossiping about them.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see others clearly, and in their best
light. Let me bring out the good in others.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list the people I’m closest to at work, school, and
home. I’ll think of how I talk about them to others. Am I kind?

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Each Day a New Beginning

Woman must not be awed by that which has been built up around her; she
must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression. --Margaret Sanger
Let us not stifle ourselves any longer. Let us dare to dream and realize those
dreams. Let us dare to take risks, having faith that to advance in any respect
implies taking risks. Fortunately, we have the support of the program and one
another to cushion the fall, if it should come. But more important, we have one
another's example to inspire us as we contemplate our own agenda for self-
expression.
Many of us for far too long passively watched others move forward. No
longer need we be passive observers, but the familiarity of no action, no
choice making, and irresponsibility, makes passivity attractive at times.
We must remember responsible choices, for only those make possible our
very special contributions.
Not every day do we awaken with the strength needed to "do our part."
But the strength will be available just as quickly as we call for it. Alone,
we are strugglers; however, we have a ready partnership, and it guarantees
us guidance, wisdom, and strength when we ask for it.
I have so much to offer other women. And I need another's example. Every
expression of my strength will boost another woman's strength. I will give.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

WE AGNOSTICS

Imagine life without faith! Were nothing left but pure reason, it wouldn’t be life. But we believed in life—of course we did. We could not prove life in the sense that you can prove a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, yet, there it was. Could we still say the whole thing was nothing but a mass of electrons, created out of nothing, meaning nothing, whirling on to a destiny of nothingness? Or course we couldn’t. The electrons themselves seemed more intelligent than that. At least, so the chemist said.

p. 54

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

As the day goes on, we can pause where situations must be met and decisions made, and renew the simple request: "Thy will, not mine, be done." If at these points our emotional disturbance happens to be great, we will more surely keep our balance, provided we remember, and repeat to ourselves, a particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to us in our reading or meditation. Just saying it over and over will often enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of all--our search for God's will, not our own, in the moment of stress. At these critical moments, if we remind ourselves that "it is better to comfort than to be comforted, to understand than to be understood, to love than to be loved," we will be following the intent of Step Eleven.

pp. 102-103

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"Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host."
--Maya Angelou

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in
other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people
interested in you."
--Dale Carnegie

"Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince
a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give
lifting that person your best shot, but don't hang around long
enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround
yourself with optimistic people."
--Zig Ziglar

"He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not
remains a fool forever."
--Chinese Proverb

"It takes time to build a corporate work of art. It takes time to build a
life. And it takes time to develop and grow. So give yourself, your
enterprise, and your family the time they deserve and the time they
require."
--Jim Rohn

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

GOD

"God is not a cosmic bellboy."
-- Harry Emerson Fosdick

My understanding of God is within the context of freedom. God is
involved in His world but He allows it an autonomy. We are not
puppets on a string. When things begin to go wrong, God does not
interfere and make changes (usually) without our cooperation. God
reveals the extent of His love by allowing us a creative responsibility
in our lives.

For years I did not understand this. I thought that if I prayed enough,
He would answer all my prayers and come to my rescue. When He
didn't, I grew confused, angry and resentful. What was I doing wrong?
Where was God in my life? He didn't love me. Why wasn't God my
cosmic co-dependent?

Today I love his detachment. Today I grow in my freedom. Today I
cooperate with His miracle.

Lord, thank You for allowing me the freedom to fail.

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"The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives
me life."
Job 33:4

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of
Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the
surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I
have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the
righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
Philippians 3:7-9

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Daily Inspiration

Each of us has important gifts to share and things to do. Lord, may I be
valuable to those that need my value and do what I can to make a joyful difference.

Prayer may not always change a situation, but it will always change us.
Lord, I accept Your answers to my prayers because I know that they will
always be right and, in Your wisdom, best for me.

[bluidkiti]

September 25

Daily Reflections

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth:
Job or no job -- wife or no wife -- we simply do not stop
drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people
ahead of dependence on God.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 98

Before coming to A.A., I always had excuses for taking a
drink: "She said . . . , " "He said . . . ," "I got fired
yesterday," "I got a great job today." No area of my life
could be good if I drank again. In sobriety my life gets
better each day. I must always remember not to drink, to
trust God, and to stay active in A.A. Am I putting anything
before my sobriety, God, and A.A. today?

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Let us consider the term "spiritual experience" as given
in Appendix II of the Big Book: "A spiritual experience
is something that brings about a personality change. By
surrendering our lives to God as we understand Him, we
are changed. The nature of this change is evident in
recovered alcoholics. This personality change is not
necessarily in the nature of a sudden and spectacular
upheaval. We do no need to acquire an immediate and
overwhelming God-consciousness followed at once by a vast
change in feeling and outlook. In most cases, the change
is gradual." Do I see a gradual and continuing change in
myself?

Meditation For The Day

"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I
will give you rest." For rest from the care of life, you
can turn to God each day in prayer and communion. Real
relaxation and serenity comes from a deep sense of the
fundamental goodness of the universe. God's everlasting
arms are underneath all and will support you. Commune with
God, not so much for petitions to be granted as for the
rest that comes from relying on His will and His purposes
for your life. Be sure of God's strength available to you,
be conscious of His support, and wait quietly until that
true rest from God fills your being.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be conscious of God's support today.
I pray that I may rest safe and sure therein.

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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

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Walk In Dry Places

Willingness to listen
Willingness
Why is it that we'll accept information from some people but not from
others? Many people tried to advise us while we were drinking; why
would we listen only to recovering alcoholics?
We can't answer that question, except to say that most human beings
are willing to listen only to certain people at certain times. That's why
business organizations have to select sales people carefully; customers
will respond to some people, but not to others.
As we grow in sobriety, however, we develop the willingness to listen to
people we would have once avoided. We can find wonderful ideas in all
sorts of places and from all types of people. As we become more
open-minded and willing, we can listen more and learn more.
My prejudices and fears of the past kept me from listening to people
who would have helped me. I'll be more open-minded and willing today.

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Keep It Simple

Martyrs set bad examples---David Russell
Sometimes we call people “martyrs.” We sometimes think of them
as victims. They suffer, but sometimes not for a cause. They play
“poor me.” They want people to notice how much they suffer. They
are afraid to really live. These are the people who set bad examples.
True martyrs died for causes they believed in. We remember them
because they were so full of energy and spirit. Recovery helps us
live better. Let’s go for it!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks for giving me energy
and for healing my spirit. Help me live fully by putting my life in
Your care.
Action for the Day: What kind of example do I set? Does my life
reflect joy for life and recovery?

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Each Day a New Beginning

...we do not always like what is good for us in this world. --Eleanor Roosevelt
Most of us can look back and recall how we fought a particular change.
How certain we were that we wouldn't survive the upheaval! Perhaps we
lost a love or were forced to leave a home or a job. Retrospect allows
us to see the good of the change, and we can see the necessary part
each change has played in our development as recovering women.
We've had to change to cover the distances we've traveled. And
we'll have to continue changing.
The program and its structure, and our faith in that structure, can
ease the harsh consequences of change. Our higher power wants
only the best for us, of that we can be sure. However, the best may
not always "fit" when first we try it. Patience, trust, and prayer are a
winning combination when the time comes for us to accept a change.
We'll know when it's coming. Our present circumstances will begin to pinch.
Change means growth. It's a time for celebration, not dread. It means
I am ready to move ahead--that I have "passed" the current test.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

WE AGNOSTICS

Hence, we saw that reason isn’t everything. Neither is reason, as most of us use it, entirely dependable, thought it emanate from our best minds. What about people who proved that man could never fly?
Yet we had been seeing another kind of flight, a spiritual liberation from this world, people who rose above their problems. They said God made these things possible, and we only smiled. We had seen spiritual release, but liked to tell ourselves it wasn’t true.

pp. 54-55

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

Of course, it is reasonable and understandable that the question is often asked: "Why can't we take a specific and troubling dilemma straight to God, and in prayer secure from Him sure and definite answers to our requests?"
This can be done, but it has hazards. We have seen A.A.'s ask with much earnestness and faith for God's explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or financial crisis to correcting a minor personal fault, like tardiness. Quite often, however, the thoughts that seem to come from God are not answers at all. They prove to be well-intentioned unconscious rationalizations. The A.A., or indeed any man, who tries to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayer, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual. To any questioning or criticism of his actions he instantly proffers his reliance upon prayer for guidance in all matters great or small. He may have forgotten the possibility that his own wishful thinking and the human tendency to rationalize have distorted his so-called guidance. With the best of intentions, he tends to force his own will into all sorts of situations and problems with the comfortable assurance that he is acting under God's specific direction. Under such an illusion, he can of course create great havoc without in the least intending it.

pp. 103-104

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One should not give up, neglect, or forget for a moment his inner life,
but he must learn to work in it, with it, and out of it, so that the unity
of his soul may break out in all his activities.
--Meister Eckhart

All people, have goodness in their hearts and greatness in their souls.
--Shelley

The more I let go of my own suffering and self-pity, I can see those
around me with the eyes of love and compassion. I am
becoming more aware of other people's pain and unhappiness today
and I will reach out to them in loving ways that
heal me while helping them to heal.
--Ruth Fishel

Today I am living in the moment, instead of living for a moment.

"Don't go through life, GROW through life."
--Eric Butterworth

If you hang out in a barber shop long enough, you are going to get a haircut.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

PRAYER

"Prayer is not asking. It is a
language of the soul."
-- Mohandas Gandhi

At school I was told that prayer is "talking to God". Then I discovered
that prayer is more than this -- prayer is a relationship with God. It is
a two-way system -- I talk to God but I must also listen to Him. Like
any relationship that is going to work and grow, it needs time. I must
spend time developing my relationship with God. I must create an
awareness of his presence in my life because I believe He is always
there for me.

But more than this, prayer is a yearning for truth within the center of
my being. In prayer I get in touch with that part of me that will be
forever restless until it finds rest, eternal rest, in Him.

O God, prayer is my journey into You.

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How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony.
Psalm 133:1

"Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called ...
bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Ephesians 4:1-3

"Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is
good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one
another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the
Spirit, serve the Lord."
Romans 12:9-11

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

Every decision we make is not critical nor is every mistake fatal.
Lord, help me keep things in perspective and avoid the panic such thinking creates.

Take time to learn from the mistakes of others. We don't have time
to make all of them ourselves. Lord, guide me onto paths that lead me to You.

[bluidkiti]

September 26

Daily Reflections

OUR CHILDREN

The alcoholic may find it hard to re-establish friendly
relations with his children. . . . In time they will see
that he is a new man and in their own way they will let
him know it. . . . From that point on, progress will be
rapid. Marvelous results often follow such a reunion.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 134

While on the road to recovery I received a gift that
could not be purchased. It was a card from my son in
college, saying, "Dad, you can't imagine how glad I
am that everything is okay. Happy Birthday, I love you."
My son had told me that he loved me before. It had been
during the previous Christmas holidays, when he had said
to me, while crying, "Dad, I love you! Can't you see what
you're doing to yourself?" I couldn't. Choked with emotion,
I had cried, but this time, when I received my son's card,
my tears were tears of joy, not desperation.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Continuing the consideration of the term "spiritual experience":
"The acquiring of an immediate and overwhelming God-consciousness,
resulting in a dramatic transformation, though frequent, is by
no means the rule. Most of our spiritual experiences are of the
educational variety, and they develop slowly over a period of
time. Quite often friends of newcomers are aware of the
difference long before they are themselves. They finally
realize that they have undergone a profound alteration in
their reaction to life and that such a change could hardly have
been brought about by themselves alone." Is my outlook on
life changing for the better?

Meditation For The Day

Look at the world as your Father's house. Think of all people
you meet as guests in you Father's house, to be treated with
love and consideration. Look at yourself as a servant in your
father's house, as a servant of all. Think of no work as beneath
you. Be ever ready to do all you can for others who need your
help. There is gladness in God's service. There is much
satisfaction in serving the highest that you know. Express your
love for God in service to all who are living with you in your
Father's house.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may serve others out of gratitude to God.
I pray that my work may be a small repayment for His grace
so freely given 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 Limited and Unlimited
Spiritual growth.
In our human experience, we face one imitation after another. We are
always up against limited time energy, limited knowledge.
Yet everything we're learning tells us that all of these are without limit
in the universal. In terms of energy, for example, we know that we
would be rich beyond belief if we could really tap the sun's energy that
rushes to the earth.
What we call human progress may really refer to the gaining of knowledge
that enables us to shake off limitations. We actually did that by becoming
sober in our 12 Step program. Now we're learning to extend our limits in
many other ways; and though we are human and limited, we surely have
not begun to each any limits as far as God is concerned. Limited though
we seem to be, we're part of a Universe that is without limits.
I'll focus today on the possibility of extending my limits, knowing that
this is what God has planned for me.

************************************************** *********

Keep It Simple

The distance doesn’t matter; only the first step is difficult.---Mme. Marquise du Deffand
During our addiction, we were on a path leading to death---death of our
spirit, mind, and body.
On that path, we tired not to think about where it would lead. We didn’t
want to get there. We just followed the path toward death, with one drink,
pill, snort or toke at a time.
Now we’ve chosen a new path for our lives. Making that choice was hard.
We knew only the old path. We were afraid to change. But we did it. That
was the hardest part.
We are excited to follow our new path. We know it leads to good things.
We can follow the map---the Twelve Steps---and enjoy the trip. It will last
as long as we live, and the map will guide us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks for helping me choose the path of life.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll study the map for my life by reading the Twelve Steps.

************************************************** *********

Each Day a New Beginning

Why is life so tragic, so like a little strip of pavement over an abyss? I look
down; I feel giddy; I wonder how I am ever to walk to the end. --Virginia Woolf
As we look toward the hours ahead, we can be thankful that we need be
concerned with only a single day's worth of hours. No more. What may
come tomorrow, a decision that might be necessary next week, a big change
in our lives coming next year, all will be handled with ease, when the time is right.
How fortunate we are, those of us who share this program for living! Our
worries about the future are over, if we want them to be. We need to take
only one step at a time. One day at a time. And always in the care of God.
Relief from our lives of worry is immediate when we live the axiom, "Let go and let God."
Life does present us with tragedies, and we learn from them. They need not
detour us, however. In fact, they strengthen us and encourage personal growth.
And no experience will ever be more than we and our higher power can handle.
I will turn to the program and everything it offers today. Just today, and no more,
is my concern.

************************************************** *********

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

WE AGNOSTICS

Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.

p. 55

************************************************** *********

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

We also fall into another similar temptation. We form ideas as to what we think God's will is for other people. We say to ourselves, "This one ought to be cured of his fatal malady," or "That one ought to be relieved of his emotional pain," and we pray for these specific things. Such prayers, of course, are fundamentally good acts, but often they are based upon a supposition that we know God's will for the person for whom we pray. This means that side by side with an earnest prayer there can be a certain amount of presumption and conceit in us. It is A.A.'s experience that particularly in these cases we ought to pray that God's will, whatever it is, be done for others as well as for ourselves.

p. 104

************************************************** *********

"Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for
to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they
satisfy you."
--Wayne Dyer

Every second of every moment is a new beginning.
I can start my day over any time I choose.
I can also begin my life anew at any time.
This very moment can be a new beginning!

"Nothing we learn in this world is ever wasted."
--Eleanor Roosevelt

"Our worth is determined by the good deeds we do, rather than
by the fine emotions we feel."
--Elias L, Magoon

"It is only possible to live happily-ever-after on a day-to-day basis."
--Margaret Bonano

"Each day provides its own gifts."
--Martial

"The best way to secure future happiness is to be as happy as
is rightfully possible today."
--Charles W. Eliot

Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again.
--Dorothy Fields

***********************************************

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

PAIN

"You can't hold a man down
without staying down with him."
-- Booker T. Washington

I know who was holding me down in my life. I was. I know who was
bringing pain and sadness in my life. I was. I know who was making me
the victim of addiction. I was. I would beat myself up and then
complain about the bruises!

I did this because I could not "see". I had not accepted or understood
the implications of my alcoholism. Today I am beginning to take care
of myself because I have accepted my disease. I do not choose today
to be the enemy in my life -- I have surrendered to live. I do not want
to hurt anymore. I do not want to hide in guilt and fear anymore. I do
not choose to be my victim today.

God, I thank You for the freedom to determine my life and my
victories.

************************************************** *********

“The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will
reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit
will reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:8

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. Philippians 3:13-14

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

An ordinary day can become profound by realizing your importance to others
and acting on it. Lord, may I be dependable to those who depend on me
without complaints or resentments.

Rejoice. This is the day the Lord has made. Lord, my days pass so quickly.
May I have a generous heart and the time to see the needs of those around me.

[willbe275]

Naturally just before a fall one may become quite arrogant
and confident enough in their own abilities that they don't think they need The Lord.
I believe I have obtained some wisdom in the last couple of years,
but I have much wisdom yet to gain and I need The Lord to help me attain it.
I cannot obtain it on my own. Lord I need you now and always. I love you.

W.O.W101

[bluidkiti]

September 27

Daily Reflections

WITHOUT RESERVATION

When brimming with gratitude, one's heartbeat must surely
result in outgoing love, . . . .
AS BILL SEES IT, p.37

While practicing service to others, if my successes give
rise to grandiosity, I must reflect on what brought me to
this point. What has been given joyfully, with love, must
be passed on without reservation and without expectation.
For as I grow, I find that no matter how much I give with
love, I receive much more in spirit.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Continuing the consideration of the term "spiritual experience":
"What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been
accomplished by years of self-discipline. With few exceptions,
our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner
resource which they presently identify with their own conception
of a Power greater than themselves. Most of us think this
awareness of a Power greater than ourselves the essence of
spiritual experience. Some of us call it God-consciousness.
In any case, willingness, honesty, and open-mindedness are
the essentials of recovery." Have I tapped that inner resource
which can change my life?

Meditation For The Day

God's power in your life increases as your ability to understand
His grace increases. The power of God's grace is only limited by
the understanding and will of each individual. God's miracle-working
power is only limited in each individual soul by the lack of
spiritual vision of the soul. God respects free will, the right
of each person to accept or reject His miracle-working power.
Only the sincere desire of the soul gives Him the opportunity
to bestow it.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not limit God's power by my lack of vision.
I pray that I may keep my mind open today to His influence.

************************************************** *********

As Bill Sees It

When Infancy Is Over, p.269

"You must remember that every A.A. group starts, as it should,
through the efforts of a single man and his friends--a founder and
his hierarchy. There is no other way.

"But when infancy is over, the original leaders always have to make
way for that democracy which springs up through the grass roots and
will eventually sweep aside the self-chosen leadership of the past."

********************************

Letter to Dr. Bob:
"Everywhere the A.A. groups have taken their service affairs into
their own hands. Local founders and their friends are now on the side
lines. Why so many people forget that, when thinking of the future of
our world services, I shall never understand.

"The groups will eventually take over, and maybe they will squander
their inheritance when they get it. It is probable, however, that they won't.
Anyhow, they really have grown up; A.A. is theirs; let's give it to them.

Letters
1. 1950
2. 1949

************************************************** *********

Walk In Dry Places

The Test Of My Ideas
Change
Early in its existence, the AA fellowship tended to resist new ideas, yet did
accept many good purpose, because it screened out practices that could have
destroyed the fellowship.
But other, new ideas have been accepted and have benefited the fellowship.
How can we test a new idea before we decide to accept it?
Whatever the idea, it should be beneficial in promoting personal recovery.
If it is somehow harmful to those seeking recovery, it should not be accepted.
If this simple test is applied honestly and with fairness, new ideas can be
considered on their own merits and can usually be discussed in an atmosphere
of reason and understanding. The AA traditions will support most sound ideas.
Knowing that God is the source of new ideas, we can be open to additional guides
that can help us along the way. I'll be on the lookout today for any helpful ideas.

************************************************** *********

Keep It Simple

Honesty is the backbone of our recovery program. Honesty opens us up. It breaks
down the walls we had built around our secret world. Those walls made a prison for
us. But all of that is now changed. We are free.
Honesty has made us wise. We aren’t sneaking drinks anymore. We don’t have a
stash to protect.
People who didn’t trust us now depend on our honesty. People who worked hard to
avoid us, now seek us out. Self-honesty is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You are truth. I pray that I may not turn away
from truth. I will not lie. My life depends on honesty.
Action For the Day: For twenty or thirty minutes, I will think about how learning to
be honest has changed my life.

************************************************** *********

Each Day a New Beginning

The wisdom of all ages and cultures emphasizes the tremendous power our thoughts
have over our character and circumstances. --Liane Cordes
"As we think, so we are." We are gifted with the personal power to make thoughtful
choices and thus decide whom we are. Our actions and choices combine to create our
character, and our character influences the circumstances of our lives.
Our personal mind power will work to our advantage when we think positively, or it
will contribute to our disadvantage. Imagining our good fortunes will prepare us for
them. Imagining the successful completion of a task heightens and strengthens the
commitment we must make daily to it. Imagining the steps necessary to the successful
accomplishment of any goal directs our efforts so we don't falter along the way. Our
minds work powerfully for our good. And just as powerfully to our detriment, when
fears intrude on all our thoughts.]
The program has given me positive personal power; it lies in the relationship I have
with my higher power. My outlook and attitude toward life reveals the strength of my
connection to God. I will work with God and imagine my good fortune today.

************************************************** *********

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us.

p. 55

************************************************** *********

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

In A.A. we have found that the actual good results of prayer are beyond question. They are matters of knowledge and experience. All those who have persisted have found strength not ordinarily their own. They have found wisdom beyond their usual capability. And they have increasingly found a peace of mind which can stand firm in the face of difficult
circumstances.

p. 104

************************************************** *********

Come, let us give a little time to folly... and even in a melancholy
day let us find time for an hour of pleasure.
--Saint Bonaventura

"Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding."
--Harvey Mackay

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is
invisible to the eye.
--Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Real success requires respect for and faithfulness to the highest
human values - honesty, integrity, self-discipline, dignity, compassion,
humility, courage, personal responsibility, courtesy, and human service.
--Michael DeBakey, M.D.

Hope never abandons you, you abandon it.
--George Weinberg

Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which
discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.
--May Sarton

***********************************************

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

ACHIEVEMENT

"Do not mistake activity for
achievement."
-- Mabel Newcomber

Often I am running in circles and not getting anywhere. I spend
forever "doing" things and yet I know I am not achieving anything. I
am going nowhere in my life!

"Be still and know that I am God." I need to stop. I need to listen to
the pain that is within. I need to relax in my gratitude. I need to rest in
myself. Tomorrow has not yet come -- today I take time for me.

Lord, I hear Your still small voice. Today I rest in me and discover
Thee.

************************************************** *********

"We ought to obey God rather than men."
Acts 5:29

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools
shall be destroyed.
Proverbs, 13:20

"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he
considered me faithful, appointing me to his service."
I Timothy 1:12

"To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and
happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing
up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is
meaningless, a chasing after the wind."
Ecclesiastes 2:26

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

Get rid of the excuses for not doing those things that make you happy. Lord,
Your peace within me calms my spirit and opens my heart to recognize the joy
of this day.

Forget the useless and unhealthy things of your past that clutter your mind so
that you can live a life that is alive and vibrant. Lord, help me to discard all
that clouds my day so that I am able to live the life that You intend me to live.

[bluidkiti]

September 28

Daily Reflections

LOVE WITHOUT STRINGS

Practical experience shows that nothing will so much
insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with
other alcoholics.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89

Sponsorship held two surprises for me. First, that
my sponsees cared about me. What I had thought was
gratitude was more like love. They wanted me to be
happy, to grow and remain sober. Knowing how they felt
kept me from drinking more than once. Second, I
discovered that I was able to love someone else
responsibly, with respectful and genuine concern for
that person's growth. Before that time, I had thought
that my ability to care sincerely about another's
well-being had atrophied from lack of use. To learn
that I can love, without greed or anxiety, has been
one of the deepest gifts the program has given. Gratitude
for that gift has kept me sober many times.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

For the past two months we have been studying passages
and steps from the Big Book. Now why not read the book
itself again? It is essential that the A.A. program become
part of us. We must have its essentials at our finger tips.
We cannot study the big book too much or too often. The
more we read it and study it, the better equipped we are
to think A.A., act A.A., and live A.A. We cannot know too
much about the program. The chances are that we will never
know enough. But we can make as much of it our own as
possible. How much of the Big Book have I thoroughly mastered?

Meditation For The Day

We need to accept the difficulties and disciplines of life
so as to fully share the common life of other people. Many
things that we must accept in life are not to be taken so
much as being necessary for us personally, as to be experienced
in order that we may share in the sufferings and problems of
humanity. We need sympathy and understanding. We must share
many of the experiences of life, in order to understand and
sympathize with others. Unless we have been through the same
experiences, we cannot understand other people or their makeup
well enough to be able to help them.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may accept everything that comes my way as part
of life. I pray that I may make use of it in helping my fellow men.

************************************************** *********

As Bill Sees It

Honesty And Recovery, p.270

In taking an inventory, a member might consider questions such as
these:

How did my selfish pursuit of the sex relation damage other
people and me? What people were hurt, and how badly? Just how
did I react at the time? Did I burn with guilt? Or did I insist that I
was the pursued and not the pursuer, and thus absolve myself?

How have I reacted to frustration in sexual matters? When
denied, did I become vengeful or depressed? Did I take it out on
other people? If there was rejection, or coldness at home, did I
use this as a reason for promiscuity?

*******************************

Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family
back. His recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent
upon his relationship with God, however he may define Him.

1. 12 & 12 ,pp. 50-51
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 99-100

************************************************** *********

Walk In Dry Places

The Role of self-sufficiency
Success
When AA was first launched, the ideal of the self made person was often exalted. Certain outstanding individuals seem to have achieved amazing success entirely by their own efforts. In the drive to be such a self made person, AA co-founder Bill W. was swept away in a torrent of alcoholic grandeur.
We know today that there's no such thing as a self-made person. We all need each other, and at various times we would have been lost without assistance taht was generously and freely given. Everyone has had such assistance at one time or anotehr. WE are not entirely self-sufficient.
The true role of self-sufficiency is to use our talent and opportunities wisely and beneficially in cooperation with others. Our own success in whatever we do will be enhanced as we continue to acknowledge our need for others.
Throughout the day, there will be many times when I need the help of others, and many times when others will need my help. I will give and receive help gratefully.

************************************************** *********

Each Day a New Beginning

I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it regardless of the possible outcome.
—Golda Meir
Living a principled life is what the inner self desires. It's what God desires. And it's what the healthier ego desires. Living the program's principles is giving each of us practice in living a principled life, one that is free of guilt for our shortcomings.
Having principles assures direction. We need not ponder long how to proceed in any situation, what decision to make regarding any matter, when we are guided by principles. They offer us completeness. They help us define who we are and who we will be, in any turn of events.
As women, particularly as recovering women, we have struggled with self-definition. Often we were as others defined us, or we merely imitated those close by. Sometimes we may slip into old behavior and lose sight of who we are and how we want to live. It's then that the program's principles come immediately to our aid.
There is no doubt about how today should be lived. I will do it with confidence and joy.

************************************************** *********

Keep It Simple

Honesty is the backbone of our recovery program. Honesty opens us up. It breaks down the walls we had built around our secret world. Those walls made a prison for us. But all of that is now changed. We are free.
Honesty has made us wise. We aren’t sneaking drinks anymore. We don’t have a stash to protect.
People who didn’t trust us now depend on our honesty. People who worked hard to avoid us, now seek us out. Self-honesty is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You are truth. I pray that I may not turn away from truth. I will not lie. My life depends on honesty.
Action For the Day: For twenty or thirty minutes, I will think about how learning to be honest has changed my life.

************************************************** *********

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

WE AGNOSTICS

We can only clear the ground a bit. If our testimony helps sweep away prejudice, enables you to think honestly, encourages you to search diligently within yourself, then, if you wish, you can join us on the Broad Highway. With this attitude you cannot fail. the consciousness of your belief is sure to come to you.

p. 55

************************************************** *********

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

We discover that we do 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. Almost any experienced A.A. will tell how his affairs have taken remarkable and unexpected turns for the better as he tried to improve his conscious contact with God. He will also report that out of every season of grief or suffering, when the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered, and that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God does "move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform."

pp. 104-105

************************************************** *********

The gift we can offer others is so simple a thing as hope.
--Daniel Berrigan

Until you value yourself, you won't value your time.
Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.
--M. Scott Peck

"This above all; to thine own self be true."
--William Shakespeare

The most important things in life aren't things.

H = Help others develop their potential. The possibilities and
rewards are endless.
E = Enlist people to help you. Having a support system improves
your ability to get the results you want.
A = Action keeps you moving forward. Do a little bit every day
and eventually you'll get to your goal.
R = Reach deep inside to find your strength. It's there if you
are willing to be courageous.
T = Trust the process. Rome wasn't built in a day. It takes time
to reap the benefits.
--Carol Gegner

Let there be more joy and laughter in your living.
--Eileen Caddy

***********************************************

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

MISTAKES

"Good people are good because
they've come to wisdom through
failure."
-- William Saroyan

Today I am able to learn from my mistakes because I can see that they
really were mistakes! I was trying to play the game of life without a
full deck. My big mistake in life was trying to drink alcohol like a
non-alcoholic. I couldn't do it.

Drugs do not think; they react. They always work, and for me they
worked against me. Most of my failures in life stemmed from a
fundamental misconception -- alcoholics cannot drink like
non-alcoholics! This I now accept. And in a strange way that is difficult
to explain, I am a stronger person for having lived through my
alcoholism. God has become more real, the world is more
comprehensible, my life is more understandable because of the pain.

If a part of "goodness" is knowing that you are not perfect, then on a
daily basis I am becoming a good person.

God, who has created a world in which there is pain and failure, help
me to accept both as vehicles to wisdom.

************************************************** *********

“Come to me all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will
give you rest. Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am
gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. The
teaching I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is
light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him
must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:6

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

Allowing yourself to be less than perfect allows you to accomplish great things in small ways. Lord, may I remove the pressure I overwhelming place on myself and do what I can when I can.

When one door shuts, immediately begin looking for the others that are opening. Lord, thank You for Your unceasing care and generosity.

[Al Cooper]

September 28 is a repeat of September 27.

[bluidkiti]

Thank you Al for letting me know. I have the new one posted for September 28th now. Have a great day!

[bluidkiti]

September 29

Daily Reflections

EXACTLY ALIKE

Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is
the bright spot of our lives.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 89

A man came to the meeting drunk, interrupted the speakers,
stood up and took his shirt off, staggered loudly back and
forth for coffee, demanded to talk, and eventually called
the group's secretary an unquotable name and walked out. I
was glad he was there--once again I saw what I still could
be. I don't have to be drunk to want to be the exception
and the center of attention. I have often felt abused and
responded abusively when I was simply being treated as a
garden variety human being. The more the man tried to insist
he was different, the more I realized that he and I were
exactly alike.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Having got this far, shall we pause and ask ourselves
some searching questions? We need to check up on ourselves
periodically. Just how good an A.A. am I? Am I attending
meetings regularly? Am I doing my share to carry the load?
When there is something to be done, do I volunteer? Do I
speak at meetings when asked, no matter how nervous I am?
Do I accept each opportunity to do twelfth-step work as a
challenge? Do I give freely of my time and money? Am I
trying to spread A.A. wherever I go? Is my daily life a
demonstration of A.A. principles? Am I a good A.A.?

Meditation For The Day

How do I get strength to be effective and to accept
responsibility? By asking the Higher Power for the strength
I need each day. It has been proved in countless lives that
for every day I live the necessary power shall be given me.
I must face each challenge that comes to me during the day,
sure that God will give me the strength to face it. For every
task that is given me, there is also given me all the power
necessary for the performance of that task. I do not need to
hold back.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may accept every task as a challenge.
I know I cannot wholly fail if God is with me.

************************************************** *********

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

When should I be Grateful?
Gratitude
One spiritual writer believed that our only reason for gratitude should
be that we are part of God's universe. Others point out that gratitude
helps us, not God or the other people to whom we are grateful.
Their point is that it's not very uplifting simply to tie our gratitude to
certain gifts or benefits. Such gratitude is fairly shallow and is almost
no more than good manners. As recovering alcoholics, we need more
than that.
The best reason for gratitude is the outlook it creates as we cultivate it
within ourselves. We will actually feel mentally and physically uplifted if
we know true gratitude. This is the true spiritual outlook alcoholics seek
in the bottle but can find only in the new way of life.
I'll find ways to practice gratitude today without letting others know what
I'm doing.

************************************************** *********

Keep It Simple

Al didn’t smile for forty years. You’ve got to admire a man like that.
>From the TV show, “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”
Remember how we used to live? We were always trying to cover up some
lie or mistake.
We were all like Al. Our energy was going into our illness, not into living.
Gratitude is the key word in the program. Gratitude is being thankful for
the getting to know our Higher Power. Remember what it was like to not
smile for all those years?
Recovery has given us back our smiles. What a relief! We can relax and
enjoy our new life.
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I’ll always remember what is was like when
I was using. I pray that I’ll not take my recovery for granted. I prayer for gratitude.
Action For the Day: I will list all the things the program and recovery have
given me. I will smile about them today.

************************************************** *********

Each Day a New Beginning

Female friendships that work are relationships in which women help each
other to belong to themselves. --Louise Bernikow
To have anything worth giving to a friend, we must belong to ourselves. Are
we someone we like? Does our behavior agree with our beliefs? Do our
friends share our values, and when we are together do we support one another?
If we don't like our own company, we will try to hide our real selves. The more
we hide, the further we are running from wholeness and health. We can assess
ourselves, calmly and lovingly, so that we can keep on becoming the women we
want to be. The more congruent are our behavior and our beliefs, the more we
belong to ourselves. The better we like ourselves, the better friends we can be.
The love and sympathy of my women friends can help me in my spiritual journey
toward serenity, and I can help theirs. Today, I will accompany others on their
journey, and thus find company for my own.

************************************************** *********

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

In this book you will read the experience of a man who thought he was an atheist. His story is so interesting that some of it should be told now. His change of heart was dramatic, convincing, and moving.
Our friend was a minister’s son. He attended church school, where he became rebellious at what he thought an overdose of religious education. For years thereafter he was dogged by trouble and frustration. Business failure, insanity, fatal illness, suicide—these calamities in his immediate family embittered and depressed him. Post-war disillusionment, ever more serious alcoholism, impending mental and physical collapse, brought him to the point to self-destruction.

pp. 55-56

************************************************** *********

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

All this should be very encouraging news for those who recoil from prayer because they don't believe in it, or because they feel themselves cut off from God's help and direction. All of us, without exception, pass through times when we can pray only with the greatest exertion of will. Occasionally we go even further than this. We are seized with a rebellion so sickening that we simply won't pray. When these things happen we should not think too ill of ourselves. We should simply resume prayer as soon as we can, doing what we know to be good for us.

p. 105

************************************************** *********

Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.
--Hyman Judah Schactel

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
--Mother Theresa

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in
your years."
--Abraham Lincoln

"Being rich isn't about money. Being rich is a state of mind. Some of
us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to
take time to stop and eat the heart of the watermelon. And some of us
will be rich without ever being more than a paycheck ahead of the
game."
--Harvey B. Mackay

"If your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset."
--Krishnamurti

"Sometimes you have to get to rock bottom in order to see the right way back up."
--Kate Bell

***********************************************

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

BLACKOUTS

"It is human nature to think
wisely and act foolishly."
-- Anatole France

I experienced blackouts in my drinking. Often I would wake up and not
know where I had been, what I had said or what I had done. I would
awake to peer through windows searching for my car. I would
telephone to find out what time I had left the party and if anything had
happened. Often as I bathed I would discover bruises or bleeding from
an unremembered incident.

There were other times I knew what I had done, knew what I had said,
remembered how I behaved -- and yet still I went back for more. I
drank alcoholically for years because my pride would not allow me to
be alcoholic. I created the wisest excuses for staying sick!

Today my sobriety requires a wisdom that is based on reality.

Lord of action, teach me to place my feet alongside my best thinking.

************************************************** *********

"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow me."
Luke 9:23

A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger.
Proverbs 16:1

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

Start something you've been putting off or finish something you've started
so that you can remove the frustration that comes with procrastination.
Lord, help me in my little way to do my little part to make this day a little better.

With our blessings come responsibilities. Much is required of those to whom much
has been given. Lord, may I use my blessings to be a blessing to others.

[bluidkiti]

September 30

Daily Reflections

THE CIRCLE AND THE TRIANGLE

The circle stands for the whole world of A.A., and the triangle
stands for A.A.'s Three Legacies of Recovery, Unity, and Service.
Within our wonderful new world, we have found freedom from our
fatal obsession.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 139

Early in my A.A. life, I became employed in its services and
I found the explanation of our society's logo to be very
appropriate. First, a circle of love and service with a
well-balanced triangle inside, the base of which represents
our Recovery through the Twelve Steps. Then the other two sides,
representing Unity and Service, respectively. The three sides of
the triangle are equal. As I grew in A.A. I soon identified
myself with this symbol. I am the circle, and the sides of the
triangle represent three aspects of my personality: physical,
emotional sanity, spirituality, the latter forming the symbol's
base. Taken together, all three aspects of my personality
translate into a sober and happy life.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

There are no leaders in A.A., except as they volunteer to
accept responsibility. The work of carrying on A.A.--leading
group meetings, serving on committees, speaking before other
groups, doing twelfth-step work, spreading A.A. among the
alcoholics of the community--all these things are done on a
volunteer basis. If I don't volunteer to do something concrete
for A.A., the movement is that much less effective. I must do
my fair share to carry the load. A.A. depends on all its
members to keep it alive and to keep it growing. Am I doing my
share for A.A.?

Meditation For The Day

When you look to God for strength to face responsibility and
are quiet before Him, His healing touch causes the Divine
Quiet to flow into your very being. When in weakness you cry
to God, His touch brings healing, the renewal of your courage,
and the power to meet every situation and be victorious. When
you faint by the way or are distracted by feelings of inferiority,
then rely on the touch of God's spirit to support you on your way.
Then arise and go forth with confidence.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may lay myself open today to the healing touch of God.
I pray that I may not falter or faint by the wayside, but renew
my courage through prayer.

************************************************** *********

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

How do we communicate?
Carrying the message.
What we are always carries a stronger message than what we say.
This is why we're sometimes turned off by people who seek to
overwhelm us with charm. It's also why we can sometimes be
drawn to people who are quiet and unassuming.
However it works, there is a powerful message in one's unspoken
thoughts and feelings. We can usually sense, for example, the
mood of people in a room, even when little is being said. If we
spend any time with others, they will soon know much about us
even if we say little.
This silent communication may be the great secret of AA's success
in reaching those who still suffer. If we are living sober and want to
help others, that's he message we give out. That's also a form of
carrying the message.
I'll communicate today by maintaining a warm and friendly attitude
toward every person I meet, knowing that thoughts and feelings
speak louder than words.

************************************************** *********

Keep It Simple

If we follow the Twelve Steps, we’ll leave failure behind. We may
have tried and tired to be sober, good people, but failed if we were
doing it our way. Now is the time to stop listening to ourselves and
start listening to pros, those who have gone before us.
When we follow their lead, exciting changes happen. First we stay
sober. We regain self-respect. We meet people we respect and become
friends. Our families start to trust us again. And why? Because we gave
up doing it our way and listened. We listened to the experts.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, allow me to become an expert listener.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll find someone I respect and ask how
they work their program. I’ll ask them to share their wisdom.

************************************************** *********

Each Day a New Beginning

Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight
in whatever remains to them? --Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
We choose the lives we lead. We choose sadness or happiness; success
for failure; dread or excited anticipation. Whether or not we are conscious
of our choices, we are making them every moment.
Accepting full responsibility for our actions is one of the requirements of
maturity. Not always the easiest thing to do, but necessary to our further
development. An unexpected benefit of accepting our responsibility is
that it heightens our awareness of personal power. Our well being is
within our power. Happiness is within our power. Our attitude about
any condition, present or future, is within our power, if we take it.
Life is "doing unto us" only what we allow. And it will favor us with
whatever we choose. If we look for excitement, we'll find it. We can
search out the positive in any experience. All situations present seeds
of new understanding, if we are open to them. Our responses to the
events around us determine whatever meaning life offers. We are in
control of our outlook. And our outlook decides our future.
This day is mine, fully, to delight in--or to dread. The decision is always mine.

************************************************** *********

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

WE AGNOSTICS

One night, when confined in a hospital, he was approached by an alcoholic who had known a spiritual experience. Our friend’s gorge rose as he bitterly cried out: “If there is a God, He certainly hasn’t done anything for me!” But later, alone in his room, he asked himself this question: “Is it possible that all the religious people I have known are wrong?” While pondering the answer he felt as though he lived in hell. Then, like a thunderbolt, a great thought came. It crowded out all else:
“Who are you to say there is no God?”
This man recounts that he tumbled out of bed to his knees. In a few seconds he was overwhelmed by a conviction of the Presence of God. It poured over and through him with the certainty and majesty of a great tide at flood. The barriers he had built through the years were swept away. He stood in the Presence of Infinite Power and Love. He had stepped from bridge to shore. For the first time, he lived in conscious companionship with his Creator.
Thus was our friend’s cornerstone fixed in place. No later vicissitude has shaken it. His alcoholic problem was taken away. That very night, years ago, it disappeared. Save for a few brief moments of temptation the though of drink has never returned; and at such times a great revulsion has risen up in him. Seemingly he could not drink even if he would. God had restored his sanity.

pp. 56-57

************************************************** *********

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us. We no longer live in a completely hostile world. We are no longer lost and frightened and purposeless. The moment we catch even a glimpse of God's will, the moment we begin to see truth, justice, and love as the real and eternal things in life, we are no longer deeply disturbed by all the seeming evidence to the contrary that surrounds us in purely human affairs. We know that God lovingly watches over us. We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter.

p. 105

************************************************** *********

Practicing the program, I learned to trust God, not just believe in Him.
--Ron C.

Let your ears hear what your mouth says.
--Jewish Proverb

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is
the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.
--Mark Twain

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood."
--Stephen Covey

"Truly, it is in darkness that one finds the light, so when we are in sorrow,
then this light is nearest to all of us." --Meister Eckhart

***********************************************

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

PATIENCE

"Prayer of the modern
American: 'Dear God, I pray for
patience. And I want it right
now!'"
-- Oren Arnold

How I appreciate those times when I experience the gift of patience in
my life, not as often as I would like. That is an interesting point: I am
impatient about having patience!

Seriously, patience is when I recognize the need to "back off" -- allow
God into the driver's seat, resting in the knowledge that things happen
in God's time. This does not mean that I am not involved, but it allows
for God's comprehensive plan for His world. I can experience patience
usually when I get in touch with gratitude. Once I stop giving energy
to the "I wants", the joy of serenity breathes through my life and I
can rest. Sometimes I need to "stop" and say a loud and resonant
"thank you".

Lord, let me breathe these words into my life: "Thy will be done."

************************************************** *********

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy,
and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
Matthew 6:19-20

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of
doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the
Day approaching."
Hebrews 10:25

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

Change yourself and those around you will change too. Lord, help me to
be my best so that I can bring out the best in others.

Peace comes not from having no problems, but from being able to deal with
them. Lord, bless me with the confidence and wisdom to grow from life's challenges.