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05-02-2008, 09:11 PM
Daily Reflections
CLEANING HOUSE
Somehow, being alone with God doesn't seem as embarrassing
as facing up to another person. Until we actually sit down
and talk aloud about what we have so long hidden, our
willingness to clean house is still largely theoretical.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p 60
It wasn't unusual for me to talk to God, and myself, about
my character defects. But to sit down, face to face, and
openly discuss these intimacies with another person was
much more difficult. I recognized in the experience,
however, a similar relief to the one I had experienced
when I first admitted I was an alcoholic. I began to
appreciate the spiritual significance of the program and
that this Step was just an introduction to what was yet
to come in the remaining seven Steps.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
A.A. teaches us to take it easy. We learn how to relax and
to stop worrying about the past or the future, to give up
our resentments and hates and tempers, to stop being
critical of people, and to try to help them instead.
That's what "Easy Does It" means. So in the time that's
left to me to live, I'm going to try to take it easy, to
relax and not to worry, to try to be helpful to others,
and to trust God. For what's left of my life, is my motto
going to be "Easy Does It"?
Meditation For The Day
I must overcome myself before I can truly forgive other
people for injuries done to me. The self in me cannot
forgive injuries. The very thought of wrongs means that
my self is in the foreground. Since the self cannot forgive,
I must overcome my selfishness. I must cease trying to
forgive those who fretted and wronged me. It is a mistake
for me even to think about these injuries. I must aim at
overcoming myself in my daily life and then I will find
there is nothing in me that remembers injury, because the
only thing injured, my selfishness, is gone.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may hold no resentments. I pray that my mind
may be washed clean of all past hates and fears.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Perception of Humility, p. 156
An improved perception of humility starts a revolutionary change in
our outlook. Our eyes begin to open to the immense values which
have come straight out of painful ego-puncturing. Until now, our lives
have been largely devoted to running from pain and problems.
Escape via the bottle was always our solution.
Then, in A.A., we looked and listened. Everywhere we saw failure
and misery transformed by humility into priceless assets.
<< << << >> >> >>
To those who have made progress in A.A., humility amounts to a clear
recognition of what and who we really are, followed by a sincere
attempt to become what we could be.
12 & 12
1. pp. 74-75
2. p. 58
************************************************** *********
Walk in Dry Places
Knowing a new freedom
Spiritual growth
Most of us place a high value on freedom without always knowing what it really is, or ought to be. "Freedom" in the drinking world is often merely license to indulge ourselves without concern about consequences. This false freedom usually forces us into dependency or the need to rely on others to get us out of trouble.
The "new freedom" that comes out of the 12 Steps is a higher order. It means that by following principles in living we find choices and experiences that were never possible in the old life. We are free from the destructive behavior that always ended in pain and defeat.
This freedom is more of the spirit than of worldly things. It is knowing the truth about ourselves and life. As the Bible says, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." In this new freedom, we no longer pursue activities that are ruinous and wasteful. We no longer deceive ourselves with painful illusions and false hopes, because we've learned to live and think on higher levels. Knowing the truth, we're free from alcohol and from the bad thinking that poisoned our lives and relationships.
Today I'll be grateful for the new freedom I have found in the program. I am free from the compulsions that caused me to hurt myself and others. I am free to choose new opportunities for service and self-expression.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
When I have listened to my mistakes, I have grown.---Hugh Prather
Everyone makes mistakes. We all know that. So why is it so hard to admit our own? We seem to think we have to be prefect. We have a hard time looking at our mistakes. But our mistakes can be very good teachers. Our Twelve Step program helps us learn and grow from our mistakes. In Step Four, half of our work is to think of our mistakes. In step Five, we admit our mistakes to God, ourselves, and another person. We learn, we grow and become whole. All by coming to know our mistakes The gift of recovery is not being free from mistakes. Instead, we do the Steps to claim our mistakes and talk about them. We find the gift of recovery when we learn from our mistakes.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to see my mistakes as changes to get to know myself better.
Action for the Day: Today Ill talk to a friend about what my mistakes taught me. Today I'll feel less shame.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
A LATE START - "It's been ten years since I retired, seven years since I joined A.A. Now I can truly say that I am a grateful alcoholic."
Some months later I invited my daughter and son-in-law for dinner to celebrate her birthday. They found me sprawled across the living room floor, passed out cold. What a mournful birthday present! It took very little persuasion to convince me to go into the detoxification program at the local hospital. I knew I was in trouble; I was ashamed and heartbroken that I had caused her such hurt. Seven days in detox and eight weeks of really good help from a psychologist, and I was dry, sober, and ready to face the world again. The doctor strongly suggested that I participate in the local A.A. program, but I would have none of it. I was cured--I needed no further help.
p. 538
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
As we work the first nine Steps, we prepare ourselves for the adventure of a new life. But when we approach Step Ten we commence to put our A.A. way of living to practical use, day by day, in fair weather or foul. Then comes the acid test: can we stay sober, keep in emotional balance, and live to good purpose under all conditions?
p. 88
************************************************** *********
"No matter how much you talk to your plant, if you don't water it, it's
going to die."
--Mike Perry
"Some things you have to do every day. Eating seven apples on Saturday
night instead of one a day just isn't going to get the job done."
--Jim Rohn
Everyone has creative ability. What you choose to do with it is entirely
up to you.
--Unknown
Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary storm. No
matter how raging the billows are today, remind yourself: "This too
shall pass!"
--T. D. Jakes
No matter what we have done, God always offers us the chance to begin
anew. Knowing that God grants us a new beginning, we, too, can look
at our parents, our children, our partner or our friends, anyone with
whom we've had some distance, and say, "Let's have a new
beginning." Love is greater than any of our mistakes.
--Mary Manin Morrissey
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
UNIQUENESS
"God sees nothing average."
--Anonymous
God created every human being from the dust and yet He bestowed
within all of us His image. This means that we are divine. We are
creatures created to create. We share God's life for the universe. We
are anything but average!
And yet for years we thought we were not good enough. We needed
drugs, food or people to make us okay. We considered ourselves
"less-than", inferior or freaks.
But today we awake to a new message. The spiritual message tells us
that we are forever holding the hand of God. He needs you and me to
work in His vineyard. In us He makes miracles. Today I know that I am
beautiful. I am important. I am unique.
Master, part of Your beauty is in Your healing power. Help me to be
healed daily by beholding my beauty that is forever within and without.
************************************************** *********
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall
stand for ever.
Isaiah 40:8
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one
another in honor.
Romans 12:10
"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. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:19-21
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Patience grows with practice and elevates the hearts of those who benefit from it as well as your own. Lord, may my actions show love and speak loudly of Your presence within me.
Most of us never set our sights as high as Jesus intended we should. Lord, may the celebration of Your birth serve as a rebirth within me of my sense of commitment, consecration and purpose.
CLEANING HOUSE
Somehow, being alone with God doesn't seem as embarrassing
as facing up to another person. Until we actually sit down
and talk aloud about what we have so long hidden, our
willingness to clean house is still largely theoretical.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p 60
It wasn't unusual for me to talk to God, and myself, about
my character defects. But to sit down, face to face, and
openly discuss these intimacies with another person was
much more difficult. I recognized in the experience,
however, a similar relief to the one I had experienced
when I first admitted I was an alcoholic. I began to
appreciate the spiritual significance of the program and
that this Step was just an introduction to what was yet
to come in the remaining seven Steps.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
A.A. teaches us to take it easy. We learn how to relax and
to stop worrying about the past or the future, to give up
our resentments and hates and tempers, to stop being
critical of people, and to try to help them instead.
That's what "Easy Does It" means. So in the time that's
left to me to live, I'm going to try to take it easy, to
relax and not to worry, to try to be helpful to others,
and to trust God. For what's left of my life, is my motto
going to be "Easy Does It"?
Meditation For The Day
I must overcome myself before I can truly forgive other
people for injuries done to me. The self in me cannot
forgive injuries. The very thought of wrongs means that
my self is in the foreground. Since the self cannot forgive,
I must overcome my selfishness. I must cease trying to
forgive those who fretted and wronged me. It is a mistake
for me even to think about these injuries. I must aim at
overcoming myself in my daily life and then I will find
there is nothing in me that remembers injury, because the
only thing injured, my selfishness, is gone.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may hold no resentments. I pray that my mind
may be washed clean of all past hates and fears.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Perception of Humility, p. 156
An improved perception of humility starts a revolutionary change in
our outlook. Our eyes begin to open to the immense values which
have come straight out of painful ego-puncturing. Until now, our lives
have been largely devoted to running from pain and problems.
Escape via the bottle was always our solution.
Then, in A.A., we looked and listened. Everywhere we saw failure
and misery transformed by humility into priceless assets.
<< << << >> >> >>
To those who have made progress in A.A., humility amounts to a clear
recognition of what and who we really are, followed by a sincere
attempt to become what we could be.
12 & 12
1. pp. 74-75
2. p. 58
************************************************** *********
Walk in Dry Places
Knowing a new freedom
Spiritual growth
Most of us place a high value on freedom without always knowing what it really is, or ought to be. "Freedom" in the drinking world is often merely license to indulge ourselves without concern about consequences. This false freedom usually forces us into dependency or the need to rely on others to get us out of trouble.
The "new freedom" that comes out of the 12 Steps is a higher order. It means that by following principles in living we find choices and experiences that were never possible in the old life. We are free from the destructive behavior that always ended in pain and defeat.
This freedom is more of the spirit than of worldly things. It is knowing the truth about ourselves and life. As the Bible says, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." In this new freedom, we no longer pursue activities that are ruinous and wasteful. We no longer deceive ourselves with painful illusions and false hopes, because we've learned to live and think on higher levels. Knowing the truth, we're free from alcohol and from the bad thinking that poisoned our lives and relationships.
Today I'll be grateful for the new freedom I have found in the program. I am free from the compulsions that caused me to hurt myself and others. I am free to choose new opportunities for service and self-expression.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
When I have listened to my mistakes, I have grown.---Hugh Prather
Everyone makes mistakes. We all know that. So why is it so hard to admit our own? We seem to think we have to be prefect. We have a hard time looking at our mistakes. But our mistakes can be very good teachers. Our Twelve Step program helps us learn and grow from our mistakes. In Step Four, half of our work is to think of our mistakes. In step Five, we admit our mistakes to God, ourselves, and another person. We learn, we grow and become whole. All by coming to know our mistakes The gift of recovery is not being free from mistakes. Instead, we do the Steps to claim our mistakes and talk about them. We find the gift of recovery when we learn from our mistakes.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to see my mistakes as changes to get to know myself better.
Action for the Day: Today Ill talk to a friend about what my mistakes taught me. Today I'll feel less shame.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
A LATE START - "It's been ten years since I retired, seven years since I joined A.A. Now I can truly say that I am a grateful alcoholic."
Some months later I invited my daughter and son-in-law for dinner to celebrate her birthday. They found me sprawled across the living room floor, passed out cold. What a mournful birthday present! It took very little persuasion to convince me to go into the detoxification program at the local hospital. I knew I was in trouble; I was ashamed and heartbroken that I had caused her such hurt. Seven days in detox and eight weeks of really good help from a psychologist, and I was dry, sober, and ready to face the world again. The doctor strongly suggested that I participate in the local A.A. program, but I would have none of it. I was cured--I needed no further help.
p. 538
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."
As we work the first nine Steps, we prepare ourselves for the adventure of a new life. But when we approach Step Ten we commence to put our A.A. way of living to practical use, day by day, in fair weather or foul. Then comes the acid test: can we stay sober, keep in emotional balance, and live to good purpose under all conditions?
p. 88
************************************************** *********
"No matter how much you talk to your plant, if you don't water it, it's
going to die."
--Mike Perry
"Some things you have to do every day. Eating seven apples on Saturday
night instead of one a day just isn't going to get the job done."
--Jim Rohn
Everyone has creative ability. What you choose to do with it is entirely
up to you.
--Unknown
Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary storm. No
matter how raging the billows are today, remind yourself: "This too
shall pass!"
--T. D. Jakes
No matter what we have done, God always offers us the chance to begin
anew. Knowing that God grants us a new beginning, we, too, can look
at our parents, our children, our partner or our friends, anyone with
whom we've had some distance, and say, "Let's have a new
beginning." Love is greater than any of our mistakes.
--Mary Manin Morrissey
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
UNIQUENESS
"God sees nothing average."
--Anonymous
God created every human being from the dust and yet He bestowed
within all of us His image. This means that we are divine. We are
creatures created to create. We share God's life for the universe. We
are anything but average!
And yet for years we thought we were not good enough. We needed
drugs, food or people to make us okay. We considered ourselves
"less-than", inferior or freaks.
But today we awake to a new message. The spiritual message tells us
that we are forever holding the hand of God. He needs you and me to
work in His vineyard. In us He makes miracles. Today I know that I am
beautiful. I am important. I am unique.
Master, part of Your beauty is in Your healing power. Help me to be
healed daily by beholding my beauty that is forever within and without.
************************************************** *********
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall
stand for ever.
Isaiah 40:8
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one
another in honor.
Romans 12:10
"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. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:19-21
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Patience grows with practice and elevates the hearts of those who benefit from it as well as your own. Lord, may my actions show love and speak loudly of Your presence within me.
Most of us never set our sights as high as Jesus intended we should. Lord, may the celebration of Your birth serve as a rebirth within me of my sense of commitment, consecration and purpose.