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09-22-2008, 09:39 PM
Daily Reflections
"I WAS AN EXCEPTION"
He [Bill W.] said to me, gently and simply, "Do you
think that you are one of us?"
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 413
During my drinking life I was convinced I was an exception.
I thought I was beyond petty requirements and had the right
to be excused. I never realized that the dark counterbalance
of my attitude was the constant feeling that I did not
"belong." At first, in A.A., I identified with others only
as an alcoholic. What a wonderful awakening for me it has
been to realize that, if human beings were doing the best
they could, then so was I! All of the pains, confusions and
joys they feel are not exceptional, but part of my life,
just as much as anybody's.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Step Twelve is, "Having had a spiritual awakening as
the result of these steps, we tried to carry this
message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles
in all our affairs." Note that the basis of our
effectiveness in carrying the message to others is the
reality of our own spiritual awakening. If we have not
changed, we cannot be used to change others. To keep
this program, we must pass it on to others. We cannot
keep it for ourselves. We may lose it unless we give it
away. It cannot flow into us and stop; it must continue
to flow into us as it flows out to others.
Meditation For The Day
"Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you."
When you are faced with a problem beyond your strength,
you must turn to God by an act of faith. It is that turning
to God in each trying situation that you must cultivate.
The turning may be one of glad thankfulness for God's grace
in you life. Or your appeal to God may be a prayerful
claiming of His strength to face a situation and finding
that you have it when the time comes. Not only the power to
face trials, but also the comfort and joy of God's nearness
and companionship are yours for the asking.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to draw near to God each day in prayer.
I pray that I may feel His nearness and His strength in my life.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
The Shared Gift, p. 13
A.A. is more than a set of principles; it is a society of alcoholics in
action. We must carry the message, else we ourselves can wither and
those who haven't been given the truth may die.
<< << << >> >> >>
Faith is more than our greatest gift; its sharing with others is our
greatest responsibility. May we of A.A. continually seek the wisdom
and the willingness by which we may well fulfill that immense trust
which the Giver of all perfect gifts has placed in our hands.
1. Service Manual, p. 5
2. Grapevine, April 1961
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
When resentment Returns
Inventory
It’s surprising and even humiliating to find an old resentment flaring up, sometimes years after we thought it had been put to rest. When that happens, we wonder how thorough we really were in releasing the resentment in the first place.
The secret of handling this problem is to turn the old resentment over to our Higher Power without wasting time wondering why it came up again. We need to deal with it as if it were a brand-new problem; and in a sense, it is.
As for questioning our past sincerity, that too is a waste of time. We are always trying to do our best with the understanding we have for each day. Being too hard on us does not make it easier to practice our program. Resentments can and do return, but they don't have to destroy us.
I'll realize today that I'm always susceptible to any of my ongoing problems, including resentment. Fortunately, I have my program for dealing with them when they occur.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
. . . he who finds himself loses his misery. Matthew Arnold
We have lost a lot of misery. In it’s place inside us, a spirit grows. . .as love is added.
Especially self-love. In our illness, we came to hate ourselves. It was really our illness we hated. We couldn’t find ourselves. All we saw was what others saw---our illness.
In recovery, we’ve found ourselves again. We’ve found we’re good people. We’ve also come to love the world around us. We see we have something to offer this world---ourselves.
Why? Because we have found ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: I’m so glad to be alive. At times life hurts, but, in living, I found You. Thank-you Higher Power. I pray that we may always be close.
Action for the Day: I will list ten great things I’ve discovered about myself in recovery.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Foreward To Third Edition
In spite of the great increase in the size and the span of this Fellowship, at its core it remains simple and personal. Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength, and hope.
p. xxii
************************************************** *********
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."
It occurred to us that we could take what we had into the factories and cause laborers and capitalists to love each other. Our uncompromising honesty might soon clean up politics. With one arm around the shoulder of medicine, we'd resolve their differences. Having learned to live so happily, we'd show everybody else how. Why, we thought, our Society of Alcoholics Anonymous might prove to be the spearhead of a new spiritual advance! We might transform the world.
p. 156
************************************************** *********
Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of
its strength.
--Soberbyker
"He who would have fruit must climb the tree."
--Thomas Fuller
"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend."
--Theophrastus
"The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well."
--Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
"If one could only learn to appreciate the little things...
A song that takes you away, for there are those who cannot hear.
The beauty of a sunset, for there are those who cannot see.
The warmth and safety of your home, for there are those who are homeless.
Time spent with good friends for there are those who are lonely.
A walk along the beach for there are those who cannot walk.
The little things are what life is all about.
Search your soul and learn to appreciate."
--Shadi Souferian
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LOVE
"Take away love and our earth
is a tomb."
-- Robert Browning
Spirituality is essentially love. It is the love that suffers and grows in
the acceptance of my compulsive and obsessive behavior. It is the love
that requires a knowledge of "self" in order to give understanding and
respect to others. Spirituality is that loving vulnerability that creates
healing in recovery. It provides meaning to life and relationships.
The world is a creative place, and we will only find happiness when we
begin to create. God has created us to take and make -- give and
receive. With the suffering, loneliness, struggle and acceptance comes
a love that is real and alive.
Teach me to live in life and not merely exist.
************************************************** *********
Let us go to His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool.
Psalm 132:7
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things
there is no law."
Galatians 5:22-23
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Your happiness is happening right now unless you chose not to see it. Lord, I trust in Your presene and therefore I am always able to see You work in my life.
Everything we need to deal with life's problems lies within us. Our trials are tests to see if we can discover the solution. Lord, I call out Your name when I face my difficulties and together we will overcome them.
"I WAS AN EXCEPTION"
He [Bill W.] said to me, gently and simply, "Do you
think that you are one of us?"
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 413
During my drinking life I was convinced I was an exception.
I thought I was beyond petty requirements and had the right
to be excused. I never realized that the dark counterbalance
of my attitude was the constant feeling that I did not
"belong." At first, in A.A., I identified with others only
as an alcoholic. What a wonderful awakening for me it has
been to realize that, if human beings were doing the best
they could, then so was I! All of the pains, confusions and
joys they feel are not exceptional, but part of my life,
just as much as anybody's.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Step Twelve is, "Having had a spiritual awakening as
the result of these steps, we tried to carry this
message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles
in all our affairs." Note that the basis of our
effectiveness in carrying the message to others is the
reality of our own spiritual awakening. If we have not
changed, we cannot be used to change others. To keep
this program, we must pass it on to others. We cannot
keep it for ourselves. We may lose it unless we give it
away. It cannot flow into us and stop; it must continue
to flow into us as it flows out to others.
Meditation For The Day
"Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you."
When you are faced with a problem beyond your strength,
you must turn to God by an act of faith. It is that turning
to God in each trying situation that you must cultivate.
The turning may be one of glad thankfulness for God's grace
in you life. Or your appeal to God may be a prayerful
claiming of His strength to face a situation and finding
that you have it when the time comes. Not only the power to
face trials, but also the comfort and joy of God's nearness
and companionship are yours for the asking.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to draw near to God each day in prayer.
I pray that I may feel His nearness and His strength in my life.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
The Shared Gift, p. 13
A.A. is more than a set of principles; it is a society of alcoholics in
action. We must carry the message, else we ourselves can wither and
those who haven't been given the truth may die.
<< << << >> >> >>
Faith is more than our greatest gift; its sharing with others is our
greatest responsibility. May we of A.A. continually seek the wisdom
and the willingness by which we may well fulfill that immense trust
which the Giver of all perfect gifts has placed in our hands.
1. Service Manual, p. 5
2. Grapevine, April 1961
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
When resentment Returns
Inventory
It’s surprising and even humiliating to find an old resentment flaring up, sometimes years after we thought it had been put to rest. When that happens, we wonder how thorough we really were in releasing the resentment in the first place.
The secret of handling this problem is to turn the old resentment over to our Higher Power without wasting time wondering why it came up again. We need to deal with it as if it were a brand-new problem; and in a sense, it is.
As for questioning our past sincerity, that too is a waste of time. We are always trying to do our best with the understanding we have for each day. Being too hard on us does not make it easier to practice our program. Resentments can and do return, but they don't have to destroy us.
I'll realize today that I'm always susceptible to any of my ongoing problems, including resentment. Fortunately, I have my program for dealing with them when they occur.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
. . . he who finds himself loses his misery. Matthew Arnold
We have lost a lot of misery. In it’s place inside us, a spirit grows. . .as love is added.
Especially self-love. In our illness, we came to hate ourselves. It was really our illness we hated. We couldn’t find ourselves. All we saw was what others saw---our illness.
In recovery, we’ve found ourselves again. We’ve found we’re good people. We’ve also come to love the world around us. We see we have something to offer this world---ourselves.
Why? Because we have found ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: I’m so glad to be alive. At times life hurts, but, in living, I found You. Thank-you Higher Power. I pray that we may always be close.
Action for the Day: I will list ten great things I’ve discovered about myself in recovery.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Foreward To Third Edition
In spite of the great increase in the size and the span of this Fellowship, at its core it remains simple and personal. Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength, and hope.
p. xxii
************************************************** *********
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."
It occurred to us that we could take what we had into the factories and cause laborers and capitalists to love each other. Our uncompromising honesty might soon clean up politics. With one arm around the shoulder of medicine, we'd resolve their differences. Having learned to live so happily, we'd show everybody else how. Why, we thought, our Society of Alcoholics Anonymous might prove to be the spearhead of a new spiritual advance! We might transform the world.
p. 156
************************************************** *********
Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of
its strength.
--Soberbyker
"He who would have fruit must climb the tree."
--Thomas Fuller
"Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend."
--Theophrastus
"The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well."
--Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
"If one could only learn to appreciate the little things...
A song that takes you away, for there are those who cannot hear.
The beauty of a sunset, for there are those who cannot see.
The warmth and safety of your home, for there are those who are homeless.
Time spent with good friends for there are those who are lonely.
A walk along the beach for there are those who cannot walk.
The little things are what life is all about.
Search your soul and learn to appreciate."
--Shadi Souferian
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
LOVE
"Take away love and our earth
is a tomb."
-- Robert Browning
Spirituality is essentially love. It is the love that suffers and grows in
the acceptance of my compulsive and obsessive behavior. It is the love
that requires a knowledge of "self" in order to give understanding and
respect to others. Spirituality is that loving vulnerability that creates
healing in recovery. It provides meaning to life and relationships.
The world is a creative place, and we will only find happiness when we
begin to create. God has created us to take and make -- give and
receive. With the suffering, loneliness, struggle and acceptance comes
a love that is real and alive.
Teach me to live in life and not merely exist.
************************************************** *********
Let us go to His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool.
Psalm 132:7
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things
there is no law."
Galatians 5:22-23
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Your happiness is happening right now unless you chose not to see it. Lord, I trust in Your presene and therefore I am always able to see You work in my life.
Everything we need to deal with life's problems lies within us. Our trials are tests to see if we can discover the solution. Lord, I call out Your name when I face my difficulties and together we will overcome them.