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12-01-2007, 05:51 PM
Daily Reflections
SERENITY
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, . . .
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 106
As I continued to go to meetings and work the Steps, something began to happen to me. I
felt confused because I wasn't sure what it was that I was feeling, and then I realized I
was experiencing serenity. It was a good feeling, but where had it come from? Then I
realized it had come ". . .as the result of these steps." The program may not always be
easy to practice, but I had to acknowledge that my serenity had come to me after working
the Steps. As I work the Steps in everything I do, practicing these principles in all my
affairs, now I find that I am awake to God, to others, and to myself. The spiritual
awakening I have enjoyed as the result of working the Steps is the awareness that I am
no longer alone.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The thoughts that come before having a slip seem to be partly subconscious. And yet it is
likely that at least part of these thoughts get into our consciousness. An idle thought
connected with drinking casually pops into our mind. That is the crucial moment. Will I
harbor that thought even for one minute or will I banish it from my mind at once? If I let it
stay, it may develop into a daydream. I may begin to see a cool glass of beer or a
Manhattan cocktail in my mind's eye. If I allow the daydream to stay in my mind, it
may lead to a decision, however unconscious, to take a drink. Then I am headed for a
slip. Do I let myself daydream?
Meditation For The Day
Many of us have a sort of vision of the kind of person God wants us to be. We must be
true to that vision, whatever it is, and we must try to live up to it, by living the way we
believe we should live. We can all believe that God has a vision of what He wants us to be
like. In all people there is a good person whom God sees in us, the person we could be
and that God would like us to be. But many a person fails to fulfill that promise and God's
disappointments must be many.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may strive to be the kind of a person that God would have me be. I pray that
I may try to fulfill God's vision of what I could be.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Learning To Trust, p. 310
Our entire A.A. program rests upon the principle of mutual trust. We
trust God, we trust A.A., and we trust each other. Therefore, we trust
our leaders in world service. The "Right of Decision" that we offer
them is not only the practical means by which they may act and lead
effectively, but it is also the symbol of our implicit confidence.
<< << << >> >> >>
If you arrive at A.A. with no religious convictions, you can, if you wish,
make A.A. itself or even your A.A. group of people your "Higher
Power." Here's a large group of people who have solved their alcohol
problem. In this respect they are certainly a power greater than you.
Even this minimum of faith will be enough.
Many members who have crossed the threshold just this way will tell
you that, once across, their faith broadened and deepened. Relieved
of the alcohol obsession, their lives unaccountably transformed, they
came to believe in a Higher Power, and most of them began to talk of
God.
1. Twelve Concepts, p. 16
2. 12 & 12, pp. 27-28
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Bringing Projects to Completion.
Fortitude
Starting projects without completing them can be part of our alcoholic nature. It's related to immaturity and a tendency to become bored and discouraged quickly.
The 12 Step program can help us overcome this problem. First, we realize and admit to such tendencies, fearlessly facing what has really been a very bad habit. Then we become honest about our motives. We realize that we didn't actually have the abiding interest that would have helped us complete some projects. In such cases, the projects never should have been started... and in the future we'll take are not to embark on similar projects.
When something does need to be completed, the program will help us stay with it until it's done. We will always find that the satisfaction of completing a necessary project will be part of sober living. We'll also know that we're growing in the program.
I'll take the necessary steps today to move any project toward completion. This will also help with future projects.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
...we tried to carry this message to alcoholics...--Second part of Step 12.
In this part of Step 12, we carry the message of hope. But it's not up to us if anyone accepts the message or not. This keeps us from playing God. We just gently deliver the message. We don't force the program down people's throats. In general, Step Twelve tells us, “Be helpful to those we can help.” When a neighbor is sick, mow her lawn. When a friend is in the hospital, visit him. Step Twelve reminds us that we make a difference. We have hope to give the world. And hope is what we stand for to the addict who still suffers. Hope is what we stand for to the addict's family. How beautiful to stand for hope! Remember when our lives stood for despair?? What a change!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me shine brightly as a symbol of Your hope.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll help someone in need. It may be an alcoholic or other drug addict, or just someone in need. I'll help make the world a better place.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
BUILDING A NEW LIFE - Hallucinating and restrained by sheriff's deputies and hospital staff, this once-happy family man received an unexpected gift from God--a firm foundation in sobriety that would hold up through good times and bad.
One of my daughters drove me to the program and helped me fill out the paperwork. I almost fell down going into the building. My hallucinations began again, and the staff moved me to a room with a padded floor they called the TV room. I began to think I was in prison and these guys wanted to kill me. When they opened the door to the room, I ran for a window down the hall, thinking I would escape. They grabbed me, afraid I would try to jump through it. I kept hitting my shoulder against the wall trying to break out and picked at the nails with my fingertips until they were raw. The staff called the sheriff's department, and it took three deputies, two counselors, and two nurses to hold me down and give me a shot. Finally I lay there quietly, ready to die like a man.
p. 483
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step One - "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable."
Why all this insistence that every A.A. must hit bottom first? The answer is that few people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have hit bottom. For practicing A.A.'s remaining eleven Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking. Who wishes to be rigorously honest and tolerant? Who wants to confess his faults to another and make restitution for harm done? Who cares anything about a Higher Power, let alone meditation and prayer? Who wants to sacrifice time and energy in trying to carry A.A.'s message to the next sufferer? No, the average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme, doesn't care for this prospect--unless he has to do these things in order to stay alive himself.
p. 24
************************************************** *********
Destroying pride -- man becomes endearing;
Destroying anger -- man gets rid of sorrow;
Destroying desire -- man acquires peace;
Destroying greed -- man achieves happiness.
--Satya Sai Baba
Whoever seeks God . . . has already found God.
--unknown
It's never too late to begin making an effort.
--unknown
When you find yourself rundown from life, pace yourself and take a refreshing break.
--unknown
BIG BOOK – Believing In God Beats Our Old Knowledge
WILLING – When I Live Life, I Need God
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PROBLEMS
"The certainties of one age are
the problems of the next."
-- R. H. Tawney
Life is a process of change that inevitably produces problems; the fear of the new, the
discomfort of old values being seen to be wrong, the confusion that so often accompanies
growth. Problems are part of life and we can only escape them in death. (Even then
nobody can be sure we will be free of problems!)
As an alcoholic I tried to run away from my problems by drinking. But the next day the
old problems were still there and my drinking had usually brought new problems. Alcohol
only produced a momentary escape but reality always returned.
Today, with the acceptance of my alcoholism and my decision not to "pick up the first
drink", I face my problems. I deal with my problems. I live with the problems of life.
Teach me to accept joyously the problems that life and growth inevitably bring.
************************************************** *********
"But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear."
Matthew 13:16
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have,
because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"
Hebrews 13:5
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Life will be so much easier if you can accept that things don't always go as planned and see that these are often magnificent opportunities. Lord, help me learn from the occurences of today that seem to go awry and show me how to make the situation better through my own flexibility and creativity.
Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing. Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day.
SERENITY
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, . . .
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 106
As I continued to go to meetings and work the Steps, something began to happen to me. I
felt confused because I wasn't sure what it was that I was feeling, and then I realized I
was experiencing serenity. It was a good feeling, but where had it come from? Then I
realized it had come ". . .as the result of these steps." The program may not always be
easy to practice, but I had to acknowledge that my serenity had come to me after working
the Steps. As I work the Steps in everything I do, practicing these principles in all my
affairs, now I find that I am awake to God, to others, and to myself. The spiritual
awakening I have enjoyed as the result of working the Steps is the awareness that I am
no longer alone.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The thoughts that come before having a slip seem to be partly subconscious. And yet it is
likely that at least part of these thoughts get into our consciousness. An idle thought
connected with drinking casually pops into our mind. That is the crucial moment. Will I
harbor that thought even for one minute or will I banish it from my mind at once? If I let it
stay, it may develop into a daydream. I may begin to see a cool glass of beer or a
Manhattan cocktail in my mind's eye. If I allow the daydream to stay in my mind, it
may lead to a decision, however unconscious, to take a drink. Then I am headed for a
slip. Do I let myself daydream?
Meditation For The Day
Many of us have a sort of vision of the kind of person God wants us to be. We must be
true to that vision, whatever it is, and we must try to live up to it, by living the way we
believe we should live. We can all believe that God has a vision of what He wants us to be
like. In all people there is a good person whom God sees in us, the person we could be
and that God would like us to be. But many a person fails to fulfill that promise and God's
disappointments must be many.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may strive to be the kind of a person that God would have me be. I pray that
I may try to fulfill God's vision of what I could be.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Learning To Trust, p. 310
Our entire A.A. program rests upon the principle of mutual trust. We
trust God, we trust A.A., and we trust each other. Therefore, we trust
our leaders in world service. The "Right of Decision" that we offer
them is not only the practical means by which they may act and lead
effectively, but it is also the symbol of our implicit confidence.
<< << << >> >> >>
If you arrive at A.A. with no religious convictions, you can, if you wish,
make A.A. itself or even your A.A. group of people your "Higher
Power." Here's a large group of people who have solved their alcohol
problem. In this respect they are certainly a power greater than you.
Even this minimum of faith will be enough.
Many members who have crossed the threshold just this way will tell
you that, once across, their faith broadened and deepened. Relieved
of the alcohol obsession, their lives unaccountably transformed, they
came to believe in a Higher Power, and most of them began to talk of
God.
1. Twelve Concepts, p. 16
2. 12 & 12, pp. 27-28
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Bringing Projects to Completion.
Fortitude
Starting projects without completing them can be part of our alcoholic nature. It's related to immaturity and a tendency to become bored and discouraged quickly.
The 12 Step program can help us overcome this problem. First, we realize and admit to such tendencies, fearlessly facing what has really been a very bad habit. Then we become honest about our motives. We realize that we didn't actually have the abiding interest that would have helped us complete some projects. In such cases, the projects never should have been started... and in the future we'll take are not to embark on similar projects.
When something does need to be completed, the program will help us stay with it until it's done. We will always find that the satisfaction of completing a necessary project will be part of sober living. We'll also know that we're growing in the program.
I'll take the necessary steps today to move any project toward completion. This will also help with future projects.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
...we tried to carry this message to alcoholics...--Second part of Step 12.
In this part of Step 12, we carry the message of hope. But it's not up to us if anyone accepts the message or not. This keeps us from playing God. We just gently deliver the message. We don't force the program down people's throats. In general, Step Twelve tells us, “Be helpful to those we can help.” When a neighbor is sick, mow her lawn. When a friend is in the hospital, visit him. Step Twelve reminds us that we make a difference. We have hope to give the world. And hope is what we stand for to the addict who still suffers. Hope is what we stand for to the addict's family. How beautiful to stand for hope! Remember when our lives stood for despair?? What a change!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me shine brightly as a symbol of Your hope.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll help someone in need. It may be an alcoholic or other drug addict, or just someone in need. I'll help make the world a better place.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
BUILDING A NEW LIFE - Hallucinating and restrained by sheriff's deputies and hospital staff, this once-happy family man received an unexpected gift from God--a firm foundation in sobriety that would hold up through good times and bad.
One of my daughters drove me to the program and helped me fill out the paperwork. I almost fell down going into the building. My hallucinations began again, and the staff moved me to a room with a padded floor they called the TV room. I began to think I was in prison and these guys wanted to kill me. When they opened the door to the room, I ran for a window down the hall, thinking I would escape. They grabbed me, afraid I would try to jump through it. I kept hitting my shoulder against the wall trying to break out and picked at the nails with my fingertips until they were raw. The staff called the sheriff's department, and it took three deputies, two counselors, and two nurses to hold me down and give me a shot. Finally I lay there quietly, ready to die like a man.
p. 483
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step One - "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable."
Why all this insistence that every A.A. must hit bottom first? The answer is that few people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have hit bottom. For practicing A.A.'s remaining eleven Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking. Who wishes to be rigorously honest and tolerant? Who wants to confess his faults to another and make restitution for harm done? Who cares anything about a Higher Power, let alone meditation and prayer? Who wants to sacrifice time and energy in trying to carry A.A.'s message to the next sufferer? No, the average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme, doesn't care for this prospect--unless he has to do these things in order to stay alive himself.
p. 24
************************************************** *********
Destroying pride -- man becomes endearing;
Destroying anger -- man gets rid of sorrow;
Destroying desire -- man acquires peace;
Destroying greed -- man achieves happiness.
--Satya Sai Baba
Whoever seeks God . . . has already found God.
--unknown
It's never too late to begin making an effort.
--unknown
When you find yourself rundown from life, pace yourself and take a refreshing break.
--unknown
BIG BOOK – Believing In God Beats Our Old Knowledge
WILLING – When I Live Life, I Need God
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
PROBLEMS
"The certainties of one age are
the problems of the next."
-- R. H. Tawney
Life is a process of change that inevitably produces problems; the fear of the new, the
discomfort of old values being seen to be wrong, the confusion that so often accompanies
growth. Problems are part of life and we can only escape them in death. (Even then
nobody can be sure we will be free of problems!)
As an alcoholic I tried to run away from my problems by drinking. But the next day the
old problems were still there and my drinking had usually brought new problems. Alcohol
only produced a momentary escape but reality always returned.
Today, with the acceptance of my alcoholism and my decision not to "pick up the first
drink", I face my problems. I deal with my problems. I live with the problems of life.
Teach me to accept joyously the problems that life and growth inevitably bring.
************************************************** *********
"But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear."
Matthew 13:16
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have,
because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"
Hebrews 13:5
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Life will be so much easier if you can accept that things don't always go as planned and see that these are often magnificent opportunities. Lord, help me learn from the occurences of today that seem to go awry and show me how to make the situation better through my own flexibility and creativity.
Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing. Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day.