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09-26-2008, 04:04 PM
Daily Reflections
WITHOUT RESERVATION
When brimming with gratitude, one's heartbeat must surely
result in outgoing love, . . . .
AS BILL SEES IT, p.37
While practicing service to others, if my successes give
rise to grandiosity, I must reflect on what brought me to
this point. What has been given joyfully, with love, must
be passed on without reservation and without expectation.
For as I grow, I find that no matter how much I give with
love, I receive much more in spirit.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Continuing the consideration of the term "spiritual experience":
"What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been
accomplished by years of self-discipline. With few exceptions,
our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner
resource which they presently identify with their own conception
of a Power greater than themselves. Most of us think this
awareness of a Power greater than ourselves the essence of
spiritual experience. Some of us call it God-consciousness.
In any case, willingness, honesty, and open-mindedness are
the essentials of recovery." Have I tapped that inner resource
which can change my life?
Meditation For The Day
God's power in your life increases as your ability to understand
His grace increases. The power of God's grace is only limited by
the understanding and will of each individual. God's miracle-working
power is only limited in each individual soul by the lack of
spiritual vision of the soul. God respects free will, the right
of each person to accept or reject His miracle-working power.
Only the sincere desire of the soul gives Him the opportunity
to bestow it.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may not limit God's power by my lack of vision.
I pray that I may keep my mind open today to His influence.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Group and World-Wide Community, p. 9
The moment Twelfth Step work forms a group, a discovery is
made--that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group.
Realization dawns on each member that he is but a small part of a
great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of
the Fellowship. He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions
within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group.
It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not.
<< << << >> >> >>
"The Lone member at sea, the A.A. at war in a far land--all these
members know that they belong to A.A.'s world-wide community, that
theirs is only a physical separation, that their fellows may be as near
as the next port of call. Ever so importantly, they are certain that God's
grace is just as much with them on the high seas or the lonely outpost
as it is with them at home."
1. 12 & 12, p. 130
2. Letter, 1966
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
The Test Of My Ideas
Change
Early in its existence, the AA fellowship tended to resist new ideas, yet did accept many good purpose, because it screened out practices that could have destroyed the fellowship.
But other, new ideas have been accepted and have benefited the fellowship. How can we test a new idea before we decide to accept it?
Whatever the idea, it should be beneficial in promoting personal recovery. If it is somehow harmful to those seeking recovery, it should not be accepted.
If this simple test is applied honestly and with fairness, new ideas can be considered on their own merits and can usually be discussed in an atmosphere of reason and understanding. The AA traditions will support most sound ideas.
Knowing that God is the source of new ideas, we can be open to additional guides that can help us along the way. I'll be on the lookout today for any helpful ideas.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Honesty is the backbone of our recovery program. Honesty opens us up. It breaks down the walls we had built around our secret world. Those walls made a prison for us. But all of that is now changed. We are free.
Honesty has made us wise. We aren’t sneaking drinks anymore. We don’t have a stash to protect.
People who didn’t trust us now depend on our honesty. People who worked hard to avoid us, now seek us out. Self-honesty is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You are truth. I pray that I may not turn away from truth. I will not lie. My life depends on honesty.
Action For the Day: For twenty or thirty minutes, I will think about how learning to be honest has changed my life.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Foreward To Fourth Edition
While our literature has preserved the integrity of the A.A. message, sweeping changes in society as a whole are reflected in new customs and practices within the Fellowship. Taking advantage of technological advances, for example, A.A. members with computers can participate in meetings online, sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country or around the world. In any meeting, anywhere, A.A.’s share experience, strength, and hope with each other, in order to stay sober and help other alcoholics. Modem-to-modem or face-to-face, A.A.’s speak the language of the heart in all its power and simplicity.
p. xxiv
************************************************** *********
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."
Years ago this principle of "no endorsement" was put to a vital test. Some of the great distilling companies proposed to go into the field of alcohol education. It would be a good thing, they believed, for the liquor trade to show a sense of public responsibility. They wanted to say that liquor should be enjoyed, not misused; hard drinkers ought to slow down, and problem drinkers--alcoholics--should not drink at all.
p. 157
************************************************** *********
Come, let us give a little time to folly... and even in a melancholy
day let us find time for an hour of pleasure.
--Saint Bonaventura
"Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding."
--Harvey Mackay
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is
invisible to the eye.
--Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Real success requires respect for and faithfulness to the highest
human values - honesty, integrity, self-discipline, dignity, compassion,
humility, courage, personal responsibility, courtesy, and human service.
--Michael DeBakey, M.D.
Hope never abandons you, you abandon it.
--George Weinberg
Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which
discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.
--May Sarton
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ACHIEVEMENT
"Do not mistake activity for
achievement."
-- Mabel Newcomber
Often I am running in circles and not getting anywhere. I spend
forever "doing" things and yet I know I am not achieving anything. I
am going nowhere in my life!
"Be still and know that I am God." I need to stop. I need to listen to
the pain that is within. I need to relax in my gratitude. I need to rest in
myself. Tomorrow has not yet come -- today I take time for me.
Lord, I hear Your still small voice. Today I rest in me and discover
Thee.
************************************************** *********
"We ought to obey God rather than men."
Acts 5:29
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools
shall be destroyed.
Proverbs, 13:20
"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he
considered me faithful, appointing me to his service."
I Timothy 1:12
"To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and
happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing
up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is
meaningless, a chasing after the wind."
Ecclesiastes 2:26
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Get rid of the excuses for not doing those things that make you happy. Lord, Your peace within me calms my spirit and opens my heart to recognize the joy of this day.
Forget the useless and unhealthy things of your past that clutter your mind so that you can live a life that is alive and vibrant. Lord, help me to discard all that clouds my day so that I am able to live the life that You intend me to live.
WITHOUT RESERVATION
When brimming with gratitude, one's heartbeat must surely
result in outgoing love, . . . .
AS BILL SEES IT, p.37
While practicing service to others, if my successes give
rise to grandiosity, I must reflect on what brought me to
this point. What has been given joyfully, with love, must
be passed on without reservation and without expectation.
For as I grow, I find that no matter how much I give with
love, I receive much more in spirit.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
Continuing the consideration of the term "spiritual experience":
"What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been
accomplished by years of self-discipline. With few exceptions,
our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner
resource which they presently identify with their own conception
of a Power greater than themselves. Most of us think this
awareness of a Power greater than ourselves the essence of
spiritual experience. Some of us call it God-consciousness.
In any case, willingness, honesty, and open-mindedness are
the essentials of recovery." Have I tapped that inner resource
which can change my life?
Meditation For The Day
God's power in your life increases as your ability to understand
His grace increases. The power of God's grace is only limited by
the understanding and will of each individual. God's miracle-working
power is only limited in each individual soul by the lack of
spiritual vision of the soul. God respects free will, the right
of each person to accept or reject His miracle-working power.
Only the sincere desire of the soul gives Him the opportunity
to bestow it.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may not limit God's power by my lack of vision.
I pray that I may keep my mind open today to His influence.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Group and World-Wide Community, p. 9
The moment Twelfth Step work forms a group, a discovery is
made--that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group.
Realization dawns on each member that he is but a small part of a
great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of
the Fellowship. He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions
within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group.
It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not.
<< << << >> >> >>
"The Lone member at sea, the A.A. at war in a far land--all these
members know that they belong to A.A.'s world-wide community, that
theirs is only a physical separation, that their fellows may be as near
as the next port of call. Ever so importantly, they are certain that God's
grace is just as much with them on the high seas or the lonely outpost
as it is with them at home."
1. 12 & 12, p. 130
2. Letter, 1966
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
The Test Of My Ideas
Change
Early in its existence, the AA fellowship tended to resist new ideas, yet did accept many good purpose, because it screened out practices that could have destroyed the fellowship.
But other, new ideas have been accepted and have benefited the fellowship. How can we test a new idea before we decide to accept it?
Whatever the idea, it should be beneficial in promoting personal recovery. If it is somehow harmful to those seeking recovery, it should not be accepted.
If this simple test is applied honestly and with fairness, new ideas can be considered on their own merits and can usually be discussed in an atmosphere of reason and understanding. The AA traditions will support most sound ideas.
Knowing that God is the source of new ideas, we can be open to additional guides that can help us along the way. I'll be on the lookout today for any helpful ideas.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Honesty is the backbone of our recovery program. Honesty opens us up. It breaks down the walls we had built around our secret world. Those walls made a prison for us. But all of that is now changed. We are free.
Honesty has made us wise. We aren’t sneaking drinks anymore. We don’t have a stash to protect.
People who didn’t trust us now depend on our honesty. People who worked hard to avoid us, now seek us out. Self-honesty is the greatest gift we can give ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You are truth. I pray that I may not turn away from truth. I will not lie. My life depends on honesty.
Action For the Day: For twenty or thirty minutes, I will think about how learning to be honest has changed my life.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Foreward To Fourth Edition
While our literature has preserved the integrity of the A.A. message, sweeping changes in society as a whole are reflected in new customs and practices within the Fellowship. Taking advantage of technological advances, for example, A.A. members with computers can participate in meetings online, sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country or around the world. In any meeting, anywhere, A.A.’s share experience, strength, and hope with each other, in order to stay sober and help other alcoholics. Modem-to-modem or face-to-face, A.A.’s speak the language of the heart in all its power and simplicity.
p. xxiv
************************************************** *********
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."
Years ago this principle of "no endorsement" was put to a vital test. Some of the great distilling companies proposed to go into the field of alcohol education. It would be a good thing, they believed, for the liquor trade to show a sense of public responsibility. They wanted to say that liquor should be enjoyed, not misused; hard drinkers ought to slow down, and problem drinkers--alcoholics--should not drink at all.
p. 157
************************************************** *********
Come, let us give a little time to folly... and even in a melancholy
day let us find time for an hour of pleasure.
--Saint Bonaventura
"Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding."
--Harvey Mackay
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is
invisible to the eye.
--Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Real success requires respect for and faithfulness to the highest
human values - honesty, integrity, self-discipline, dignity, compassion,
humility, courage, personal responsibility, courtesy, and human service.
--Michael DeBakey, M.D.
Hope never abandons you, you abandon it.
--George Weinberg
Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which
discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.
--May Sarton
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ACHIEVEMENT
"Do not mistake activity for
achievement."
-- Mabel Newcomber
Often I am running in circles and not getting anywhere. I spend
forever "doing" things and yet I know I am not achieving anything. I
am going nowhere in my life!
"Be still and know that I am God." I need to stop. I need to listen to
the pain that is within. I need to relax in my gratitude. I need to rest in
myself. Tomorrow has not yet come -- today I take time for me.
Lord, I hear Your still small voice. Today I rest in me and discover
Thee.
************************************************** *********
"We ought to obey God rather than men."
Acts 5:29
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools
shall be destroyed.
Proverbs, 13:20
"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he
considered me faithful, appointing me to his service."
I Timothy 1:12
"To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and
happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing
up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is
meaningless, a chasing after the wind."
Ecclesiastes 2:26
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Get rid of the excuses for not doing those things that make you happy. Lord, Your peace within me calms my spirit and opens my heart to recognize the joy of this day.
Forget the useless and unhealthy things of your past that clutter your mind so that you can live a life that is alive and vibrant. Lord, help me to discard all that clouds my day so that I am able to live the life that You intend me to live.