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12-22-2007, 04:17 PM
Daily Reflections
RECOVERY, UNITY, SERVICE
Our Twelfth Step - carrying the message - is the basic
service that AA's Fellowship gives; this is our
principal aim and the main reason for our existence.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 160
I thank God for those who came before me, those who told
me not to forget the Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity and
Service. In my home group, the Three Legacies were
described on a sign which said: "You take a three-legged
stool, try to balance it on only one leg, or two. Our
Three Legacies must be kept intact. In Recovery, we get
sober together; in Unity, we work together for the good
of our Steps and Traditions; and through Service - we
give away freely what has been given to us." One of the
chief gifts of my life has been to know that I will have
no message to give, unless I recover in unity with A.A.
principles.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We have definitely left that dream world behind. It was
only a sham. It was a world of our own making and it was
not the real world. We are sorry for the past, yes, but we
learned a lot from it. We can put it down to experience, as
we see it now, because it has given us the knowledge necessary
to face the world as it really is. We had to become alcoholics
in order to find the A.A. program. We would not have got
it any other way. In a way, it was worth it. Do I look at my
past as valuable experience?
Meditation For The Day
Shed peace, not discord, wherever you go. Try to be part
of the cure of every situation, not part of the problem.
Try to ignore evil, rather than to actively combat it.
Always try to build up, never to tear down. Show others
by your example that happiness comes from living the
right way. The power of your example is greater than the
power of what you say.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to bring something good into every
situation today. I pray that I may be constructive in the
way I think and speak and act today.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
WHEN CONFLICTS MOUNT, p. 289
Sometimes I would be forced to look at situations where I was
doing badly. Right away, the search for excuses would become
frantic.
"These," I would exclaim, "are really a good man's faults." When
that pet gadget broke apart, I would think, "Well, if those people
would only treat me right, I wouldn't have to behave the way I
do." Next was this: "God well knows that I do have awful
compulsions. I just can't get over this one. So He will have to
release me." At last came the time when I would shout, "This, I
positively will not do! I won't even try."
Of course, my conflicts went right on mounting, because I was
simply loaded with excuses, refusals, and outright rebellion.
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
AA goes the Distance
Fortitude
Few societies or organizations have better ways of measuring success than AA. Since we are friends as well as recovering people, some of us get to know others fairly well over long periods of time. Even in a large city, we meet people again and again, year after year.
We've come to think it very commonplace that some individuals have been sober ten years or more, and that some members have been in the fellowship more than forty years.
The AA program does have staying power; it goes the distance for those who continue to follow it.
We should remind ourselves of this when we hear of new, faddish theories about alcoholism and recovery. Most of the time, the results reported are very short-term. What we really need is recovery with staying power, which we can find in the AA program.
Today's sobriety can be another link in an endless chain of sobriety. AA will go the distance for me if I take care of each day as it comes.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
We not only need to be willing to give, but also to be open to receiving from others.---from On Hope
Many of us took so much from others during our addiction that now we may not want to ask for anything.
We may be afraid to ask for help, so our needs go unmet. In fact, many of us would rather give than receive. In recovery, we need to understand the difference between taking and receiving. Giving to others is important. So is receiving from others. As we grow spiritually, we learn to accept gifts. The gift of sobriety teaches us this. We need to accept the gifts the world gives us without shame. We are entitled.
God loves us and will give us much if we're willing to receive it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be receptive to Your gifts. Help me see and believe that I'm entitled to all the happiness of the world.
Action for the Day: I'll think of what a friend has given me. I'll thank this friend.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
ON THE MOVE - Working the A.A. program showed this alcoholic how to get from geographics to gratitude.
Then something happened that I now believe helped me to stay sober and find my Higher Power. I woke up one morning and couldn't feel my legs. I could still walk with a little difficulty, but it got worse as time passed. Several months and lots of medical examinations, doctors, hospital visits, and tests later, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The path since then has been quite a journey. I now either walk with crutches or use a wheelchair. There have been lots of times I wanted and intended to drink again. During my second year of sobriety, I slowly became angrier and angrier. I was in what one of my sponsors now refers to as "the angry years." I was one of those people we see at meetings and wonder how they stay sober.
p. 490
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
Practicing Step Three is like the opening of a door which to all appearances is still closed and locked. All we need is a key, and the decision to swing the door open. There is only one key, and it is called willingness. Once unlocked by willingness, the door opens almost of itself, and looking through it, we shall see a pathway beside which is an inscription. It reads: "This is the way to a faith that works." In the first two Steps we were engaged in reflection. We saw that we were powerless over alcohol, but we also perceived that faith of some kind, if only in A.A. itself, is possible to anyone. These conclusions did not require action; they required only acceptance.
p. 34
************************************************** *********
"The tree in which the sap is stagnant remains fruitless."
--Hosea Ballou
Speaking without thinking is shooting without aiming.
--French Proverb
Don't let your tongue cut your throat.
--Irish Proverb
As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you find you are upset over a situation, stop and ask yourself one very important
question. "Is this something I can change?" Whether it is or not, turn your negative
energy in to productive energy. You can either change the situation, or change your
perspective of the situation.
--unknown
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LANGUAGE
"If thought corrupts language,
language can also corrupt
thought."
-- George Orwell
Sobriety for me means much more than "not drinking" or "not using" --- it means the
daily decision to be a positive and creative human being in all areas of my life: How I
treat people. What I eat. The books I read and how I speak! Not even my worst
enemy would call me a "prude" but I think that bad language used on a regular basis
is unacceptable in sobriety. Why? Because it hurts the listener and does not show
respect for self or the God-given gift of communication.
If you have no respect for language, you will ultimately not grow as a spiritual person.
May Your "words of love" be reflected in my speech and writings.
************************************************** *********
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to
shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
Psalms 25:1-2
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach
me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Psalms 25:4-5
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Each time you have a kind thought, say a kind word or do a kind deed you are living your love. Lord, as I see the world through loving eyes, I experience heaven on earth.
Get and keep a good humored attitude toward life. This will bring you support rather than opposition. Lord, may I always be a peacemaker.
RECOVERY, UNITY, SERVICE
Our Twelfth Step - carrying the message - is the basic
service that AA's Fellowship gives; this is our
principal aim and the main reason for our existence.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 160
I thank God for those who came before me, those who told
me not to forget the Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity and
Service. In my home group, the Three Legacies were
described on a sign which said: "You take a three-legged
stool, try to balance it on only one leg, or two. Our
Three Legacies must be kept intact. In Recovery, we get
sober together; in Unity, we work together for the good
of our Steps and Traditions; and through Service - we
give away freely what has been given to us." One of the
chief gifts of my life has been to know that I will have
no message to give, unless I recover in unity with A.A.
principles.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
We have definitely left that dream world behind. It was
only a sham. It was a world of our own making and it was
not the real world. We are sorry for the past, yes, but we
learned a lot from it. We can put it down to experience, as
we see it now, because it has given us the knowledge necessary
to face the world as it really is. We had to become alcoholics
in order to find the A.A. program. We would not have got
it any other way. In a way, it was worth it. Do I look at my
past as valuable experience?
Meditation For The Day
Shed peace, not discord, wherever you go. Try to be part
of the cure of every situation, not part of the problem.
Try to ignore evil, rather than to actively combat it.
Always try to build up, never to tear down. Show others
by your example that happiness comes from living the
right way. The power of your example is greater than the
power of what you say.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to bring something good into every
situation today. I pray that I may be constructive in the
way I think and speak and act today.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
WHEN CONFLICTS MOUNT, p. 289
Sometimes I would be forced to look at situations where I was
doing badly. Right away, the search for excuses would become
frantic.
"These," I would exclaim, "are really a good man's faults." When
that pet gadget broke apart, I would think, "Well, if those people
would only treat me right, I wouldn't have to behave the way I
do." Next was this: "God well knows that I do have awful
compulsions. I just can't get over this one. So He will have to
release me." At last came the time when I would shout, "This, I
positively will not do! I won't even try."
Of course, my conflicts went right on mounting, because I was
simply loaded with excuses, refusals, and outright rebellion.
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
AA goes the Distance
Fortitude
Few societies or organizations have better ways of measuring success than AA. Since we are friends as well as recovering people, some of us get to know others fairly well over long periods of time. Even in a large city, we meet people again and again, year after year.
We've come to think it very commonplace that some individuals have been sober ten years or more, and that some members have been in the fellowship more than forty years.
The AA program does have staying power; it goes the distance for those who continue to follow it.
We should remind ourselves of this when we hear of new, faddish theories about alcoholism and recovery. Most of the time, the results reported are very short-term. What we really need is recovery with staying power, which we can find in the AA program.
Today's sobriety can be another link in an endless chain of sobriety. AA will go the distance for me if I take care of each day as it comes.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
We not only need to be willing to give, but also to be open to receiving from others.---from On Hope
Many of us took so much from others during our addiction that now we may not want to ask for anything.
We may be afraid to ask for help, so our needs go unmet. In fact, many of us would rather give than receive. In recovery, we need to understand the difference between taking and receiving. Giving to others is important. So is receiving from others. As we grow spiritually, we learn to accept gifts. The gift of sobriety teaches us this. We need to accept the gifts the world gives us without shame. We are entitled.
God loves us and will give us much if we're willing to receive it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be receptive to Your gifts. Help me see and believe that I'm entitled to all the happiness of the world.
Action for the Day: I'll think of what a friend has given me. I'll thank this friend.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
ON THE MOVE - Working the A.A. program showed this alcoholic how to get from geographics to gratitude.
Then something happened that I now believe helped me to stay sober and find my Higher Power. I woke up one morning and couldn't feel my legs. I could still walk with a little difficulty, but it got worse as time passed. Several months and lots of medical examinations, doctors, hospital visits, and tests later, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The path since then has been quite a journey. I now either walk with crutches or use a wheelchair. There have been lots of times I wanted and intended to drink again. During my second year of sobriety, I slowly became angrier and angrier. I was in what one of my sponsors now refers to as "the angry years." I was one of those people we see at meetings and wonder how they stay sober.
p. 490
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
Practicing Step Three is like the opening of a door which to all appearances is still closed and locked. All we need is a key, and the decision to swing the door open. There is only one key, and it is called willingness. Once unlocked by willingness, the door opens almost of itself, and looking through it, we shall see a pathway beside which is an inscription. It reads: "This is the way to a faith that works." In the first two Steps we were engaged in reflection. We saw that we were powerless over alcohol, but we also perceived that faith of some kind, if only in A.A. itself, is possible to anyone. These conclusions did not require action; they required only acceptance.
p. 34
************************************************** *********
"The tree in which the sap is stagnant remains fruitless."
--Hosea Ballou
Speaking without thinking is shooting without aiming.
--French Proverb
Don't let your tongue cut your throat.
--Irish Proverb
As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you find you are upset over a situation, stop and ask yourself one very important
question. "Is this something I can change?" Whether it is or not, turn your negative
energy in to productive energy. You can either change the situation, or change your
perspective of the situation.
--unknown
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LANGUAGE
"If thought corrupts language,
language can also corrupt
thought."
-- George Orwell
Sobriety for me means much more than "not drinking" or "not using" --- it means the
daily decision to be a positive and creative human being in all areas of my life: How I
treat people. What I eat. The books I read and how I speak! Not even my worst
enemy would call me a "prude" but I think that bad language used on a regular basis
is unacceptable in sobriety. Why? Because it hurts the listener and does not show
respect for self or the God-given gift of communication.
If you have no respect for language, you will ultimately not grow as a spiritual person.
May Your "words of love" be reflected in my speech and writings.
************************************************** *********
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to
shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
Psalms 25:1-2
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach
me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Psalms 25:4-5
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Each time you have a kind thought, say a kind word or do a kind deed you are living your love. Lord, as I see the world through loving eyes, I experience heaven on earth.
Get and keep a good humored attitude toward life. This will bring you support rather than opposition. Lord, may I always be a peacemaker.