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10-10-2008, 08:26 PM
Daily Reflections
SELF--RESTRAINT
Our first objective will be the development of self-restraint.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 91
My drive to work provides me with an opportunity for self-examination.
One day while making this trip, I began to review my progress in
sobriety, and was not happy with what I saw. I hoped that, as the
work day progressed, I would forget these troublesome thoughts,
but as one disappointment after another kept coming, my discontent
only increased, and the pressures within me kept mounting. I
retreated to an isolated table in the lounge, and asked myself
how I could make the most of the rest of the day. In the past,
when things went wrong, I instinctively wanted to fight back.
But during the short time I had been trying to live the A.A.
program I had learned to step back and take a look at myself.
I recognized that, although I was not the person I wanted to be,
I had learned to not react in my old ways. Those old patterns of
behavior only brought sorrow and hurt, to me and to others. I
returned to my work station, determined to make the day a
productive one, thanking God for the chance to make progress
that day.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
How good a sponsor am I? When I bring new members to a meeting,
do I feel that my responsibility has ended? Or do I make it my
job to stay with them until they have either become good members
of A.A. or have found another sponsor? If they don't show up for
a meeting, do I say to myself: "Well they've had it put up to
them, so if they don't want it, there's nothing more I can do? "
Or do I look them up and find out whether there is a reason for
their absences or that they don't want A.A.? Do I go out of my
way to find out if there is anything more I can do to help? Am I a good sponsor?
Meditation For The Day
"First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer
your gift to God." First I must get right with other people and
then I can get right with God. If I hold a resentment against
someone, which I find it very difficult to overcome, I should
try to put something else constructive into my mind. I should
pray for the one against whom I hold the resentment. I should
put that person in God's hands and let God show him or her the
way to live. "If a man say: 'I love God' and hateth his brother,
he is a liar, for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath
seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may see something good in every person, even one I
dislike, and that I may let God develop the good in that person.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Three Choices, p. 327
The immediate object of our quest is sobriety--freedom from alcohol
and from all its baleful consequences. Without this freedom, we have
nothing at all.
Paradoxically, though, we can achieve no liberation from the alcohol
obsession until we become willing to deal with those character defects
which have landed us in that helpless condition. In this freedom quest,
we are always given three choices.
A rebellious refusal to work upon our glaring defects can be an almost
certain ticket to destruction. Or, perhaps for a time, we can stay
sober with a minimum of self-improvement and settle ourselves into a
comfortable but often dangerous mediocrity. Or, finally, we can
continuously try hard for those sterling qualities that can add up to
fineness of spirit and action--true and lasting freedom under God.
Grapevine, November 1960
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Keeping anger in safe limits
Dealing with anger
"The most heated bit of letter-writing can be a wonderful safety valve," AA co-founder, Bill W. said, "providing the wastebasket is somewhere nearby."
This is a delightful bit of advice about the right way to handle anger. Writing an angry letter is at least a way of bringing our feelings out so that we can see them. This is far healthier than the peculiar method of "Stuffing" one's feelings and pretending that there was no hurt or offense.
But an angry letter, once mailed, can be more destructive than a bullet. We may live to regret ever having mailed it. It could have unintended consequences of the worst kind.
That's why the wastebasket becomes the second hand way to deal with our anger. We throw the letter away and let time and wisdom heal the matter. What usually happen under the guidance of our Higher Power is that we find a much more satisfactory way of settling whatever has happened.
If I become angry today, I'll admit it to myself. Perhaps I'll even put my feelings on paper. But I'll have the good sense not to go further with such outbursts.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
May you live all the days of your life. ---Jonathan Swift
The truth is, life hard. Accepting this fact will make it easier. Remember how well it worked in Step One? Once we admitted and that we were powerless over alcohol and other drugs, we were given the power to recover. It works the same with life’s problems.
We can spend a lot of energy trying to avoid life’s hardships. But our program teaches us to use the same energy to solve our problems. Problems are chances to better ourselves and become more spiritual. We have a choice: we can either use our energy to avoid problems, or we can face them. When we stop wasting energy, we start to feel more sure of ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, life is to be lived, both the easy and the hard parts. Help me face and learn from it all.
Action for the Day: I’ll work at not complaining about how hard life is. I’ll take the same energy and us it to solve problems I may face.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Doctor's Opinion
I do not hold with those who believe that alcoholism is entirely a problem of mental control. I have had many men who had, for example, worked a period of months on some problem or business deal which was to be settled on a certain date, favorably to them. They took a drink a day or so prior to the date, and then the phenomenon of craving at once became paramount to all other interests so that the important appointment was not met. These men were not drinking to escape; they were drinking to overcome a craving beyond their mental control.
There are many situations which arise out of the phenomenon of craving which cause men to make the supreme sacrifice rather than continue to fight.
pp. xxix-xxx
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Seven - "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."
"Then I woke up. I who had boasted my generosity that morning was treating my own club worse than the distant alcoholics who had forgotten to send the Foundation their dollars. I realized that my five-dollar gift to the slippee was an ego-feeding proposition, bad for him and bad for me. There was a place in A.A. where spirituality and money would mix, and that was in the hat!"
p. 163
************************************************** *********
A clear conscience is a good pillow.
--American Proverb
"It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up." --Vince Lombardi
There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range
risks and costs of comfortable inaction.
--John F. Kennedy
The first service one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as
love of God begins in listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is
learning to listen to them. It is God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but
lends us His ear. So it is His work that we do for our brother when we learn to
listen to him.
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together
"Often we seek to grow or change ourselves by adjusting the external aspects of our lives. ... We all too often forget that permanent or real change only comes when the center of our being, our inner drives and motivations, undergoes transformation."
--Errol Strider
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ART
"Art is not a thing; it is a way."
-- Elbert Hubbard
In the spiritual twelve-step program it talks about "...a God as you understand Him."
This is a liberating concept that teaches us to risk and think "big". God is not only found
in churches, temples and rituals --- God can be found in the myriad of art forms. God is
always to be found in the creative. Because art is always concerned with life and truth,
God is always involved.
Today I am able to look for God in His or Her World.
In my recovery from the disease of addiction I need to discover the wonder and splendor
of life that got damaged in my drinking days. Art can help me to feel again. It helps me to
think and be concerned again. Art teaches me to be involved in life.
Thank You for the artist --- another aspect of priesthood.
************************************************** *********
I will praise you O lord with all my heart.
Psalm 138 : 1
"Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their
trust in Him."
Proverbs 30:5
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Weeds grow easily, but flowers need care and nurturing to bloom. Lord, may I turn away from evil and tenderly encourage the goodness that comes my way so that I, too, may blossom.
Never doubt the power, the wisdom and the love that God has for you. Lord, thank You for Your constant care and the certainty of Your love for me.
SELF--RESTRAINT
Our first objective will be the development of self-restraint.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 91
My drive to work provides me with an opportunity for self-examination.
One day while making this trip, I began to review my progress in
sobriety, and was not happy with what I saw. I hoped that, as the
work day progressed, I would forget these troublesome thoughts,
but as one disappointment after another kept coming, my discontent
only increased, and the pressures within me kept mounting. I
retreated to an isolated table in the lounge, and asked myself
how I could make the most of the rest of the day. In the past,
when things went wrong, I instinctively wanted to fight back.
But during the short time I had been trying to live the A.A.
program I had learned to step back and take a look at myself.
I recognized that, although I was not the person I wanted to be,
I had learned to not react in my old ways. Those old patterns of
behavior only brought sorrow and hurt, to me and to others. I
returned to my work station, determined to make the day a
productive one, thanking God for the chance to make progress
that day.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
How good a sponsor am I? When I bring new members to a meeting,
do I feel that my responsibility has ended? Or do I make it my
job to stay with them until they have either become good members
of A.A. or have found another sponsor? If they don't show up for
a meeting, do I say to myself: "Well they've had it put up to
them, so if they don't want it, there's nothing more I can do? "
Or do I look them up and find out whether there is a reason for
their absences or that they don't want A.A.? Do I go out of my
way to find out if there is anything more I can do to help? Am I a good sponsor?
Meditation For The Day
"First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer
your gift to God." First I must get right with other people and
then I can get right with God. If I hold a resentment against
someone, which I find it very difficult to overcome, I should
try to put something else constructive into my mind. I should
pray for the one against whom I hold the resentment. I should
put that person in God's hands and let God show him or her the
way to live. "If a man say: 'I love God' and hateth his brother,
he is a liar, for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath
seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may see something good in every person, even one I
dislike, and that I may let God develop the good in that person.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Three Choices, p. 327
The immediate object of our quest is sobriety--freedom from alcohol
and from all its baleful consequences. Without this freedom, we have
nothing at all.
Paradoxically, though, we can achieve no liberation from the alcohol
obsession until we become willing to deal with those character defects
which have landed us in that helpless condition. In this freedom quest,
we are always given three choices.
A rebellious refusal to work upon our glaring defects can be an almost
certain ticket to destruction. Or, perhaps for a time, we can stay
sober with a minimum of self-improvement and settle ourselves into a
comfortable but often dangerous mediocrity. Or, finally, we can
continuously try hard for those sterling qualities that can add up to
fineness of spirit and action--true and lasting freedom under God.
Grapevine, November 1960
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Keeping anger in safe limits
Dealing with anger
"The most heated bit of letter-writing can be a wonderful safety valve," AA co-founder, Bill W. said, "providing the wastebasket is somewhere nearby."
This is a delightful bit of advice about the right way to handle anger. Writing an angry letter is at least a way of bringing our feelings out so that we can see them. This is far healthier than the peculiar method of "Stuffing" one's feelings and pretending that there was no hurt or offense.
But an angry letter, once mailed, can be more destructive than a bullet. We may live to regret ever having mailed it. It could have unintended consequences of the worst kind.
That's why the wastebasket becomes the second hand way to deal with our anger. We throw the letter away and let time and wisdom heal the matter. What usually happen under the guidance of our Higher Power is that we find a much more satisfactory way of settling whatever has happened.
If I become angry today, I'll admit it to myself. Perhaps I'll even put my feelings on paper. But I'll have the good sense not to go further with such outbursts.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
May you live all the days of your life. ---Jonathan Swift
The truth is, life hard. Accepting this fact will make it easier. Remember how well it worked in Step One? Once we admitted and that we were powerless over alcohol and other drugs, we were given the power to recover. It works the same with life’s problems.
We can spend a lot of energy trying to avoid life’s hardships. But our program teaches us to use the same energy to solve our problems. Problems are chances to better ourselves and become more spiritual. We have a choice: we can either use our energy to avoid problems, or we can face them. When we stop wasting energy, we start to feel more sure of ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, life is to be lived, both the easy and the hard parts. Help me face and learn from it all.
Action for the Day: I’ll work at not complaining about how hard life is. I’ll take the same energy and us it to solve problems I may face.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
The Doctor's Opinion
I do not hold with those who believe that alcoholism is entirely a problem of mental control. I have had many men who had, for example, worked a period of months on some problem or business deal which was to be settled on a certain date, favorably to them. They took a drink a day or so prior to the date, and then the phenomenon of craving at once became paramount to all other interests so that the important appointment was not met. These men were not drinking to escape; they were drinking to overcome a craving beyond their mental control.
There are many situations which arise out of the phenomenon of craving which cause men to make the supreme sacrifice rather than continue to fight.
pp. xxix-xxx
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Seven - "Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions."
"Then I woke up. I who had boasted my generosity that morning was treating my own club worse than the distant alcoholics who had forgotten to send the Foundation their dollars. I realized that my five-dollar gift to the slippee was an ego-feeding proposition, bad for him and bad for me. There was a place in A.A. where spirituality and money would mix, and that was in the hat!"
p. 163
************************************************** *********
A clear conscience is a good pillow.
--American Proverb
"It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up." --Vince Lombardi
There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range
risks and costs of comfortable inaction.
--John F. Kennedy
The first service one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as
love of God begins in listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is
learning to listen to them. It is God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but
lends us His ear. So it is His work that we do for our brother when we learn to
listen to him.
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together
"Often we seek to grow or change ourselves by adjusting the external aspects of our lives. ... We all too often forget that permanent or real change only comes when the center of our being, our inner drives and motivations, undergoes transformation."
--Errol Strider
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
ART
"Art is not a thing; it is a way."
-- Elbert Hubbard
In the spiritual twelve-step program it talks about "...a God as you understand Him."
This is a liberating concept that teaches us to risk and think "big". God is not only found
in churches, temples and rituals --- God can be found in the myriad of art forms. God is
always to be found in the creative. Because art is always concerned with life and truth,
God is always involved.
Today I am able to look for God in His or Her World.
In my recovery from the disease of addiction I need to discover the wonder and splendor
of life that got damaged in my drinking days. Art can help me to feel again. It helps me to
think and be concerned again. Art teaches me to be involved in life.
Thank You for the artist --- another aspect of priesthood.
************************************************** *********
I will praise you O lord with all my heart.
Psalm 138 : 1
"Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their
trust in Him."
Proverbs 30:5
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Weeds grow easily, but flowers need care and nurturing to bloom. Lord, may I turn away from evil and tenderly encourage the goodness that comes my way so that I, too, may blossom.
Never doubt the power, the wisdom and the love that God has for you. Lord, thank You for Your constant care and the certainty of Your love for me.