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08-29-2007, 03:46 PM
Daily Reflections
THE ONLY REQUIREMENT. . .
"At one time. . .every A.A. group had many membership rules.
Everybody was scared witless that something or somebody would
capsize the boat. . .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. . ."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139-40
I'm grateful that the Third Tradition only requires of me a desire
to stop drinking. I had been breaking promises for years. In the
Fellowship I didn't have to make promises, I didn't have to
concentrate. It only required my attending one meeting, in a foggy
condition, to know I was home. I didn't have to pledge undying love.
Here, strangers hugged me. "It gets better," they said, and "One
day at a time, you can do it." They were no longer strangers, but
caring friends. I ask God to help me to reach out to people
desiring sobriety, and to, please, keep me grateful!
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
"Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure
immunity from drinking as extensive work with other alcoholics.
Carry the message to other alcoholics. You can help when no one
else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Life
will take on new meaning for you. To watch people recover, to see
them help others in turn, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a
fellowship grow about you, to have a host of friends, this is an
experience you must not miss." Am I always ready and willing to help
other alcoholics?
Meditation For The Day
One secret of abundant living is the art of giving. The paradox of
life is that the more you give, the more you have. If you loose your
life in the service of others, you will save it. You can give
abundantly and still live abundantly. You are rich in one respect – you
have a spirit that is inexhaustible. Let no mean or selfish thought
keep you from sharing this spirit. Of love, of help, of
understanding, and of sympathy, give and keep giving. Give your
personal ease and comfort, your time, your money, and most of all,
yourself. And you will be living abundantly.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may live to give. I pray that I may learn this secret of
abundant living.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Dependence--Unhealthy or Healthy, p. 72
"Nothing can be more demoralizing than a clinging and abject
dependence upon another human being. This often amounts to the
demand for a degree of protection and love that no one could possibly
satisfy. So our hoped-for protectors finally flee, and once more we
are left alone--either to grow up or to disintegrate."
<< << << >> >> >>
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 to rely wholly on human
protection and care.
1. Letter, 1966
2. 12 & 12, p. 116
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
THE MASKS ARE FALLING
Openness Individuals and families can be quite successful at masking personal problems and feelings. This doesn't always work very well with alcoholics, though some of us did manage to conceal our problem for long periods before our lives began to break down.
However, it is becoming more acceptable to admit to such problems, and it is no longer surprising to read that a prominent person is being treated for an addiction.
This new openness has also made it possible to abandon the masks we've been wearing to hide our feelings. When people learn they can be more open with their problems and need for help, it also becomes easier to admit that they are angry. fearful. unhappy, or even frightened.
Removing our masks and letting others see us as we are is only the first phase in the real honesty we're seeking. After expressing ourselves authentically, do we find we like who we are?
Now that we know and admit the truth about ourselves, what are we going to do to make needed changes?
I will face who and what I really am today. I will use my strengths and not let any shortcomings keep me from being effective.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Love is something if you give away, you end up having more. --- Malvina Reynolds
Service is how we give love away. It’s the “self” of self-help. Service is not a duty; a gift that’s been given to us. We help ourselves by helping others. It’s how we make sure the program will be here tomorrow. We “carry the message.” It’s just one way we see how important we are to others. The world needs us. The world needs our love.
Prayer for the Day: I pray for help in making service a big part of my program. Higher Power, help me to “carry the message.”
Action for the Day: Which people could use a kind word and a little love? I will go visit them or give them a call.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
HE LIVED ONLY TO DRINK - "I had been preached to, analyzed, cursed, and counseled, but no one had ever said, 'I identify with what's going on with you. It happened to me and this is what I did about it.'"
The rewards of sobriety are bountiful and as progressive as the disease they counteract. Certainly among these rewards for me are release from the prison of uniqueness, and the realization that participation in the A.A. way of life is a blessing and a privilege beyond estimate--a blessing to live a life free from the pain and degradation of drinking and filled with the joy of useful, sober living, and a privilege to grow in sobriety one day at a time and bring the message of hope as it was brought to me.
p. 451
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Six - "An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose."
Here are some of the things we dreamed. Hospitals didn't like alcoholics, so we thought we'd build a hospital chain of our own. People needed to be told what alcoholism was, so we'd educate the public, even rewrite school and medical textbooks. We'd gather up derelicts from skid rows, sort out those who could get well, and make it possible for the rest to earn their livelihood in a kind of quarantined confinement. Maybe these places would make large sums of money to carry on our other good works. We seriously thought of rewriting the laws of the land, and having it declared that alcoholics are sick people. No more would they be jailed; judges would parole them in our custody. We'd spill A.A. into the dark regions of dope addiction and criminality. We'd form groups of depressive and paranoid folks; the deeper the neurosis, the better we'd like it. It stood to reason that if alcoholism could be licked, so could any problem.
pp. 155-156
************************************************** *********
"When anger spreads through the breast, guard thy tongue from
barking idly."
--Sappho
Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to
you.
--Madeline Bridges
Words are powerful, may I use them wisely.
--Shelley
Today I will do all that I am capable of doing at this time of my life
to free myself of past mistakes. And then I will let go and live in my
now...fully enjoying today.
--Ruth Fishel
Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it."
-- Lou Holtz
We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us . . .
Sobriety is a gift, not a right.
AA is not something you join, it's a way of life.
Life didn't end when I got sober -- it started.
While it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple, it works.
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LISTENING
"If other people are going to
talk, conversation becomes
impossible."
-- James McNeill Whistler
Part of my addiction was never listening to what people were saying.
This was part arrogance, part denial, part fear, part control, part ego
--- the bottom line was that I did not listen. I was bored and unhappy
with my life because I was a prisoner of my own thoughts.
My spiritual awakening --- which I consider a process rather than an
event, a process that is still going on in my life on a daily basis --- was
in allowing some new information into my life that led to admittance
and acceptance. The day that I was able to admit that I was an
alcoholic was the day I took a step towards acceptance.
Today I receive immense help and comfort from other people,
especially recovering alcoholics. Two people experiencing an honest
conversation are part of God's promised love for His world.
Let the words I hear be acceptable in Your sight
************************************************** *********
"The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who
dwell therein."
Psalms 24:1
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of
them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you
nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will
soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will
walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:29-31
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
The best things in life aren't really things at all. Lord, thank You for all that I am and for all that I am able to be and thank You for my family, my friends, and for all those that touch my life in a special way.
Spend less time trying to change and more time making the best of who you are. Lord, help me daily to put Your words into action.
THE ONLY REQUIREMENT. . .
"At one time. . .every A.A. group had many membership rules.
Everybody was scared witless that something or somebody would
capsize the boat. . .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. . ."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 139-40
I'm grateful that the Third Tradition only requires of me a desire
to stop drinking. I had been breaking promises for years. In the
Fellowship I didn't have to make promises, I didn't have to
concentrate. It only required my attending one meeting, in a foggy
condition, to know I was home. I didn't have to pledge undying love.
Here, strangers hugged me. "It gets better," they said, and "One
day at a time, you can do it." They were no longer strangers, but
caring friends. I ask God to help me to reach out to people
desiring sobriety, and to, please, keep me grateful!
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
"Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure
immunity from drinking as extensive work with other alcoholics.
Carry the message to other alcoholics. You can help when no one
else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Life
will take on new meaning for you. To watch people recover, to see
them help others in turn, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a
fellowship grow about you, to have a host of friends, this is an
experience you must not miss." Am I always ready and willing to help
other alcoholics?
Meditation For The Day
One secret of abundant living is the art of giving. The paradox of
life is that the more you give, the more you have. If you loose your
life in the service of others, you will save it. You can give
abundantly and still live abundantly. You are rich in one respect – you
have a spirit that is inexhaustible. Let no mean or selfish thought
keep you from sharing this spirit. Of love, of help, of
understanding, and of sympathy, give and keep giving. Give your
personal ease and comfort, your time, your money, and most of all,
yourself. And you will be living abundantly.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may live to give. I pray that I may learn this secret of
abundant living.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Dependence--Unhealthy or Healthy, p. 72
"Nothing can be more demoralizing than a clinging and abject
dependence upon another human being. This often amounts to the
demand for a degree of protection and love that no one could possibly
satisfy. So our hoped-for protectors finally flee, and once more we
are left alone--either to grow up or to disintegrate."
<< << << >> >> >>
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 to rely wholly on human
protection and care.
1. Letter, 1966
2. 12 & 12, p. 116
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
THE MASKS ARE FALLING
Openness Individuals and families can be quite successful at masking personal problems and feelings. This doesn't always work very well with alcoholics, though some of us did manage to conceal our problem for long periods before our lives began to break down.
However, it is becoming more acceptable to admit to such problems, and it is no longer surprising to read that a prominent person is being treated for an addiction.
This new openness has also made it possible to abandon the masks we've been wearing to hide our feelings. When people learn they can be more open with their problems and need for help, it also becomes easier to admit that they are angry. fearful. unhappy, or even frightened.
Removing our masks and letting others see us as we are is only the first phase in the real honesty we're seeking. After expressing ourselves authentically, do we find we like who we are?
Now that we know and admit the truth about ourselves, what are we going to do to make needed changes?
I will face who and what I really am today. I will use my strengths and not let any shortcomings keep me from being effective.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Love is something if you give away, you end up having more. --- Malvina Reynolds
Service is how we give love away. It’s the “self” of self-help. Service is not a duty; a gift that’s been given to us. We help ourselves by helping others. It’s how we make sure the program will be here tomorrow. We “carry the message.” It’s just one way we see how important we are to others. The world needs us. The world needs our love.
Prayer for the Day: I pray for help in making service a big part of my program. Higher Power, help me to “carry the message.”
Action for the Day: Which people could use a kind word and a little love? I will go visit them or give them a call.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
HE LIVED ONLY TO DRINK - "I had been preached to, analyzed, cursed, and counseled, but no one had ever said, 'I identify with what's going on with you. It happened to me and this is what I did about it.'"
The rewards of sobriety are bountiful and as progressive as the disease they counteract. Certainly among these rewards for me are release from the prison of uniqueness, and the realization that participation in the A.A. way of life is a blessing and a privilege beyond estimate--a blessing to live a life free from the pain and degradation of drinking and filled with the joy of useful, sober living, and a privilege to grow in sobriety one day at a time and bring the message of hope as it was brought to me.
p. 451
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Six - "An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose."
Here are some of the things we dreamed. Hospitals didn't like alcoholics, so we thought we'd build a hospital chain of our own. People needed to be told what alcoholism was, so we'd educate the public, even rewrite school and medical textbooks. We'd gather up derelicts from skid rows, sort out those who could get well, and make it possible for the rest to earn their livelihood in a kind of quarantined confinement. Maybe these places would make large sums of money to carry on our other good works. We seriously thought of rewriting the laws of the land, and having it declared that alcoholics are sick people. No more would they be jailed; judges would parole them in our custody. We'd spill A.A. into the dark regions of dope addiction and criminality. We'd form groups of depressive and paranoid folks; the deeper the neurosis, the better we'd like it. It stood to reason that if alcoholism could be licked, so could any problem.
pp. 155-156
************************************************** *********
"When anger spreads through the breast, guard thy tongue from
barking idly."
--Sappho
Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to
you.
--Madeline Bridges
Words are powerful, may I use them wisely.
--Shelley
Today I will do all that I am capable of doing at this time of my life
to free myself of past mistakes. And then I will let go and live in my
now...fully enjoying today.
--Ruth Fishel
Ability is what you're capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it."
-- Lou Holtz
We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us . . .
Sobriety is a gift, not a right.
AA is not something you join, it's a way of life.
Life didn't end when I got sober -- it started.
While it isn't always easy, if I keep it simple, it works.
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LISTENING
"If other people are going to
talk, conversation becomes
impossible."
-- James McNeill Whistler
Part of my addiction was never listening to what people were saying.
This was part arrogance, part denial, part fear, part control, part ego
--- the bottom line was that I did not listen. I was bored and unhappy
with my life because I was a prisoner of my own thoughts.
My spiritual awakening --- which I consider a process rather than an
event, a process that is still going on in my life on a daily basis --- was
in allowing some new information into my life that led to admittance
and acceptance. The day that I was able to admit that I was an
alcoholic was the day I took a step towards acceptance.
Today I receive immense help and comfort from other people,
especially recovering alcoholics. Two people experiencing an honest
conversation are part of God's promised love for His world.
Let the words I hear be acceptable in Your sight
************************************************** *********
"The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who
dwell therein."
Psalms 24:1
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of
them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you
nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will
soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will
walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:29-31
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
The best things in life aren't really things at all. Lord, thank You for all that I am and for all that I am able to be and thank You for my family, my friends, and for all those that touch my life in a special way.
Spend less time trying to change and more time making the best of who you are. Lord, help me daily to put Your words into action.