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04-07-2008, 04:16 PM
Daily Reflections
AN INSIDE LOOK
We want to find exactly how, when, and where our natural
desires have warped us. We wish to look squarely at the
unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves. By
discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can
move toward their correction
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.43
Today I am no longer a slave to alcohol, yet in so many
ways enslavement still threatens--my self, my desires,
even my dreams. Yet without dreams I cannot exist; without
dreams there is nothing to keep me moving forward.
I must look inside myself, to free myself. I must call
upon God's power to face the person I've feared the most,
the true me, the person God created me to be. Unless I can
or until I do, I will always be running, and never be truly
free. I ask God daily to show me such a freedom!
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Second, alcoholics recover their faith in a Power greater
than themselves. They admit that they're helpless by
themselves and they call on that Higher Power for help.
They surrender their lives to God, as they understand Him.
They put their drink problem in God's hands and leave it
there. They recover their faith in a Higher Power that can
help them. Have I recovered my faith?
Meditation For The Day
You must make a stand for God. Believers in God are
considered by some as peculiar people. You must even be
willing to be deemed a fool for the sake of your faith.
You must be ready to stand aside and let the fashions and
customs of the world go by, when God's purposes are thereby
forwarded. Be known by the marks that distinguish a believer
in God. These are honesty, purity, unselfishness, love,
gratitude, and humility.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be ready to profess my belief in God
before others. I pray that I may not be turned aside by
the skepticism and cynicism of unbelievers.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Imaginary Perfection, p. 181
When we early A.A.'s got our first glimmer of how spiritually prideful we could be, we
coined this expression: "Don't try to be a saint by Thursday!"
That oldtime admonition may look like another of those handy alibis that can excuse us
from trying for our best. Yet a closer view reveals just the contrary. This is our A.A. way
of warning against pride-blindness, and the imaginary perfections that we do not possess.
<< << << >> >> >>
Only Step One, where we made the 100 per cent admission that we were powerless over
alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection. The remaining eleven Steps state
perfect ideals. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which
we estimate our progress.
1. Grapevine, June 1961
2. 12 & 12, p. 68
************************************************** *********
Walk in Dry Places
Keep it Simple, BUT not simple-minded
Working the Steps.
Dr. Bob Smith left little in the way of written material for AA's future. His phrase "Keep it Simple," however, is now a guiding slogan in the program. What did he really have in mind with this final piece of advice?
We can take it as certain that Dr. Bob…. A highly intelligent man… was not saying that we shouldn't use our heads for real thinking and study. One of the blessings of sobriety, in fact, should be the ability to think clearly and effectively. It would be a mistake to believe that one must renounce a brainpower and education in order to stay sober.
The real aim of "keeping it simple" should be to stay mindful of the principles and essentials that are key to everybody else. Even the most difficult subject can usually be mattered by processes of simplification. The deepest book, for example, is still composed of only twenty-six letters.
We can "Keep it Simple" by building or lives around the principles of the Twelve Step program. When we discover new ideas, they'll reinforce and expand what we've already learned. In this way, we should always be learning and growing… which is beautiful simple, but certainly not simple-minded.
I'll be grateful today for the ability to think and to understand complicated subjects. With a strong foundation in the bedrock principles of AA, I can use my mind in constructive and progressive ways.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
It's a simple formula: Do your best and somebody might like it.---Dorothy Baker
Our program is a selfish program. It tells us to let go of what others
think. We're staying sober for ourselves, not for anyone else. Our body
and our spirit are at stack. And we know what we need to do to stay sober.
If we fell shaky about going to a party, we don't go---no matter who gets upset.
If our job makes it hard to stay sober, we get a different one---no mater
who it upsets. It's simple we must take good care of ourselves before we can be good to others. In doing this, we learn how to be a friend, a good parent, a good spouse. we have to care for ourselves to have good relationships. Do I believe it okay to be selfish when it comes to my program?
Prayer for the Day : Higher Power, help me do what is best for my recovery, no matter what others think.
Action for the Day: I will remind myself that staying sober is simple. I don't use chemicals.
And I work the program.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
GROUNDED - Alcohol clipped this pilot's wings until sobriety and hard work brought him back to the sky.
It took several years, but I learned to be grateful for my alcoholism and the program of recovery it forced me into, for all the things that had happened to me and for me, for a life today that transcends and far exceeds anything I had previously known. I could not have that today if I had not experienced all the yesterdays.
p. 529
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Seven - "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."
The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear--primarily fear that we would lose something we already possessed or would fail to get something we demanded. Living upon a basis of unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration. Therefore, no peace was to be had unless we could find a means of reducing these demands. The difference between a demand and a simple request is plain to anyone.
p. 76
************************************************** *********
I came to this program to save my butt and found out it was attached
to my soul.
--Anonymous
Just beyond the night, another day is breaking, bringing hope to all.
--D. Hockaday
Newness opens eyes
Be in love, at peace with all
Travel to know joy
--Tara
"Change is simply a combination of growing up and gaining
knowledge."
--Jill Thomas
God, help me stay alert to the lessons of today.
-Melody Beattie
"If you're not feeling God's Presence, who moved?" God exists
everywhere. Whenever we feel abandoned by God, remember, it is we
who have moved. God is always fully present to us when we
remember to open our hearts to that Presence.
--Mary Manin Morrissey
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LIES
"It takes a wise man to handle a
lie; a fool had better remain
honest."
--Norman Douglas
As a drinking alcoholic I was telling so many lies to cover the lies I had
previously told that I got lost in a maze of untruth! Most of the lies
were stupid, irrelevant and harmless - but they were all aimed at
building up my ego. Making me look good. Telling people I had more.
My memory could not keep up with my tongue and I became guilty,
ashamed and embarrassed.
Today I need to remember that there is nothing any lie can give me
that I need; there is nothing in the world of fabrication that I need; I
have what I need.
Today I have a relationship with a God and Friend that I can
understand and be vulnerable with; I don't need to be perfect to be
loved.
Help me to seek the good life in those things that are good.
************************************************** *********
"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He
who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."
1 John 4:4
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be
put away from you, along with all malice.
Ephesians 4:31
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
There is no good enough reason to ever feel we are a failure. No matter how hard we fall, God is there to restore our spirit and forgive our past. Lord, help me to understand that it is this moment that counts, not the last one and with each new moment, I have a new beginning.
They are wise who depend on God. Lord, Your perfect law revives my soul. Keeping Your law makes me rich.
AN INSIDE LOOK
We want to find exactly how, when, and where our natural
desires have warped us. We wish to look squarely at the
unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves. By
discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can
move toward their correction
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p.43
Today I am no longer a slave to alcohol, yet in so many
ways enslavement still threatens--my self, my desires,
even my dreams. Yet without dreams I cannot exist; without
dreams there is nothing to keep me moving forward.
I must look inside myself, to free myself. I must call
upon God's power to face the person I've feared the most,
the true me, the person God created me to be. Unless I can
or until I do, I will always be running, and never be truly
free. I ask God daily to show me such a freedom!
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Second, alcoholics recover their faith in a Power greater
than themselves. They admit that they're helpless by
themselves and they call on that Higher Power for help.
They surrender their lives to God, as they understand Him.
They put their drink problem in God's hands and leave it
there. They recover their faith in a Higher Power that can
help them. Have I recovered my faith?
Meditation For The Day
You must make a stand for God. Believers in God are
considered by some as peculiar people. You must even be
willing to be deemed a fool for the sake of your faith.
You must be ready to stand aside and let the fashions and
customs of the world go by, when God's purposes are thereby
forwarded. Be known by the marks that distinguish a believer
in God. These are honesty, purity, unselfishness, love,
gratitude, and humility.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be ready to profess my belief in God
before others. I pray that I may not be turned aside by
the skepticism and cynicism of unbelievers.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Imaginary Perfection, p. 181
When we early A.A.'s got our first glimmer of how spiritually prideful we could be, we
coined this expression: "Don't try to be a saint by Thursday!"
That oldtime admonition may look like another of those handy alibis that can excuse us
from trying for our best. Yet a closer view reveals just the contrary. This is our A.A. way
of warning against pride-blindness, and the imaginary perfections that we do not possess.
<< << << >> >> >>
Only Step One, where we made the 100 per cent admission that we were powerless over
alcohol, can be practiced with absolute perfection. The remaining eleven Steps state
perfect ideals. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which
we estimate our progress.
1. Grapevine, June 1961
2. 12 & 12, p. 68
************************************************** *********
Walk in Dry Places
Keep it Simple, BUT not simple-minded
Working the Steps.
Dr. Bob Smith left little in the way of written material for AA's future. His phrase "Keep it Simple," however, is now a guiding slogan in the program. What did he really have in mind with this final piece of advice?
We can take it as certain that Dr. Bob…. A highly intelligent man… was not saying that we shouldn't use our heads for real thinking and study. One of the blessings of sobriety, in fact, should be the ability to think clearly and effectively. It would be a mistake to believe that one must renounce a brainpower and education in order to stay sober.
The real aim of "keeping it simple" should be to stay mindful of the principles and essentials that are key to everybody else. Even the most difficult subject can usually be mattered by processes of simplification. The deepest book, for example, is still composed of only twenty-six letters.
We can "Keep it Simple" by building or lives around the principles of the Twelve Step program. When we discover new ideas, they'll reinforce and expand what we've already learned. In this way, we should always be learning and growing… which is beautiful simple, but certainly not simple-minded.
I'll be grateful today for the ability to think and to understand complicated subjects. With a strong foundation in the bedrock principles of AA, I can use my mind in constructive and progressive ways.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
It's a simple formula: Do your best and somebody might like it.---Dorothy Baker
Our program is a selfish program. It tells us to let go of what others
think. We're staying sober for ourselves, not for anyone else. Our body
and our spirit are at stack. And we know what we need to do to stay sober.
If we fell shaky about going to a party, we don't go---no matter who gets upset.
If our job makes it hard to stay sober, we get a different one---no mater
who it upsets. It's simple we must take good care of ourselves before we can be good to others. In doing this, we learn how to be a friend, a good parent, a good spouse. we have to care for ourselves to have good relationships. Do I believe it okay to be selfish when it comes to my program?
Prayer for the Day : Higher Power, help me do what is best for my recovery, no matter what others think.
Action for the Day: I will remind myself that staying sober is simple. I don't use chemicals.
And I work the program.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
GROUNDED - Alcohol clipped this pilot's wings until sobriety and hard work brought him back to the sky.
It took several years, but I learned to be grateful for my alcoholism and the program of recovery it forced me into, for all the things that had happened to me and for me, for a life today that transcends and far exceeds anything I had previously known. I could not have that today if I had not experienced all the yesterdays.
p. 529
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Seven - "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."
The chief activator of our defects has been self-centered fear--primarily fear that we would lose something we already possessed or would fail to get something we demanded. Living upon a basis of unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and frustration. Therefore, no peace was to be had unless we could find a means of reducing these demands. The difference between a demand and a simple request is plain to anyone.
p. 76
************************************************** *********
I came to this program to save my butt and found out it was attached
to my soul.
--Anonymous
Just beyond the night, another day is breaking, bringing hope to all.
--D. Hockaday
Newness opens eyes
Be in love, at peace with all
Travel to know joy
--Tara
"Change is simply a combination of growing up and gaining
knowledge."
--Jill Thomas
God, help me stay alert to the lessons of today.
-Melody Beattie
"If you're not feeling God's Presence, who moved?" God exists
everywhere. Whenever we feel abandoned by God, remember, it is we
who have moved. God is always fully present to us when we
remember to open our hearts to that Presence.
--Mary Manin Morrissey
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LIES
"It takes a wise man to handle a
lie; a fool had better remain
honest."
--Norman Douglas
As a drinking alcoholic I was telling so many lies to cover the lies I had
previously told that I got lost in a maze of untruth! Most of the lies
were stupid, irrelevant and harmless - but they were all aimed at
building up my ego. Making me look good. Telling people I had more.
My memory could not keep up with my tongue and I became guilty,
ashamed and embarrassed.
Today I need to remember that there is nothing any lie can give me
that I need; there is nothing in the world of fabrication that I need; I
have what I need.
Today I have a relationship with a God and Friend that I can
understand and be vulnerable with; I don't need to be perfect to be
loved.
Help me to seek the good life in those things that are good.
************************************************** *********
"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He
who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."
1 John 4:4
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be
put away from you, along with all malice.
Ephesians 4:31
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
There is no good enough reason to ever feel we are a failure. No matter how hard we fall, God is there to restore our spirit and forgive our past. Lord, help me to understand that it is this moment that counts, not the last one and with each new moment, I have a new beginning.
They are wise who depend on God. Lord, Your perfect law revives my soul. Keeping Your law makes me rich.