Daily Recovery Readings - 12/21

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Daily Reflections

LISTEN, SHARE AND PRAY

When working with a man and his family, you should take
care not to participate in their quarrels. You may
spoil your chance of being helpful if you do.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 100

When trying to help a fellow alcoholic, I've given in
to an impulse to give advice, and perhaps that's
inevitable. But allowing others the right to be wrong
reaps its own benefits. The best I can do - and it
sounds easier than it is to put into practice - is to
listen, share personal experience, and pray for others.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Have I ceased being inwardly defeated, at war with
myself? Have I given myself freely to A.A. and to the
Higher Power? Have I got over being sick inside? Am I
still wandering mentally or am I "on the beam?" I can
face anything, if I am sure I am on the way. When I am
sure, I should bet my life on A.A. I have learned how
the program works. Now will I follow it with all I
have, with all I can give, with all my might, with all
my life? Am I going to let A.A. principles guide the rest
of my life?

Meditation For The Day

In this time of quiet meditation, follow the pressure of
the Lord's leading. In all decisions to be made today,
yield to the gentle pressure of your conscience. Stay or
go as that pressure indicates. Take the events of today
as part of God's planning and ordering. He may lead you
to a right decision. Wait quietly until you have an inner
urge, a leading, a feeling that a thing is right, a
pressure on your will by the spirit of God.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that today I may try to follow the inner pressure
of God's leading. I pray that I may try to follow my
conscience and do what seems right today.

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As Bill Sees It

Groping Toward God, p. 323

"More than most people, I think, alcoholics want to know who they
are, what this life is about, whether they have a divine origin and an
appointed destiny, and whether there is a system of cosmic justice and
love.

"It is the experience of many of us in the early stages of drinking to
feel that we have had glimpses of the Absolute and a heightened
feeling of identification with the cosmos. While these glimpses and
feelings doubtless have a validity, they are deformed and finally swept
away in the chemical, spiritual, and emotional damage wrought by the
alcohol itself.

"In A.A., and in many religious approaches, alcoholics find a great deal
more of what they merely glimpse and felt while trying to grope their
way toward God in alcohol."

Letter, 1960

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Walk In Dry Places

Keeping the Faith with Guidance
Good Orderly Direction
Does guidance from our Higher Power always come through? We must believe that it does, even when we don't seem to receive a visible answer.
Spiritual guidance usually doesn't come as we think it should. What we're likely to find instead is that over time, a number of unrelated events come together for a good purpose. Although this appears to be chance or coincidence, very important outcomes often develop from simple happenings___ maybe just from meeting someone on the street.
We can never really determine how any chain of events will play out. The best we can do is to continue seeking guidance while following the highest principles in our program. Many chance happenings will be recognized as guidance when we look back at an entire chain of events.
My best way to seek guidance is simply to remember today that my life and affairs are in God's care and keeping. The highest good will come from this.

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Keep It Simple

Don't give your advice before you are called upon. Desiderius Erasmus
If someone wants your advice, the person will ask for it. That's one reason why in Twelve Step programs we don't go around trying to talk people into joining. But people will ask us for advice. They'll see how we've changed, and they'll want what we have. All we have to do is tell them where we found it--in AA, NA or another Twelve Step group. We don't tell them what to do. We tell them our own story--what it was like, what happened, and where we are now. And we invite them to join us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me carry the healing message of the program to these who ask for advice.
Action for the Day: I'll make a decision to spend time with the next person who ask for my help.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

TIGHTROPE
Trying to separate worlds was a lonely charade that ended when this gay alcoholic finally landed in A.A.

Drinking was always a part of my family background. All the men in my family drank; my father--and later, my brothers--were heavy drinkers. As long as a person held down a job, didn't embarrass his family or friends too frequently, and kept out of trouble, he was entitled to get drunk on a regular basis. Drinking was an adult thing to do, a part of growing up. I don't believe it ever crossed my mind that I shouldn't drink.

p. 359

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

But that is not all of the danger. Every time a person imposes his instincts unreasonably upon others, unhappiness follows. If the pursuit of wealth tramples upon people who happen to be in the way, then anger, jealousy, and revenge are likely to be aroused. If sex runs riot, there is a similar uproar. Demands made upon other people for too much attention, protection, and love can only invite domination or revulsion in the protectors themselves--two emotions quite as unhealthy as the demands which evoked them. When an individual's desire for prestige becomes uncontrollable, whether in the sewing circle or at the international conference table, other people suffer and often revolt. This collision of instincts can produce anything from a cold snub to a blazing revolution. In these ways we are set in conflict not only with ourselves, but with other people who have instincts, too.

p. 44

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Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When
you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
--Arnold Schwarzenegger

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
--Buddha

In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes
the circle and comes back to us.
--Flora Edwards

As long as I am willing, God will always provide the answers. No one said I would like
them, but I accept them.
--Shelley

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of
supporting it."
--Thomas Paine

Sobriety is a journey of joyful discovery.

Recovery is not a race.

Every recovery from alcoholism began with one sober hour.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

ORIGINALITY

"Originality exists in every
individual because each of us
differ from the others. We are all
primary
--numbers divisible only by
ourselves."
Jean Guitton

For too many years I tried to be "the same" as other people; matched their styles,
repeated their words, did what they wanted, lived to please a crowd of people I did
not really know and they certainly did not know me! I said other people's prayers,
quoted other people's opinions and memorized the ideas of others and I felt
empty.

Today I value the lives of others but I am slowly beginning to explore my place in this
universe. Today I accept the "specialness" that is me; that uniqueness makes me
God's miracle. Now others are listening and benefiting from my life.

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For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out
what pleases the Lord.
Ephesians 5:8-10

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what
must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you
read it?" He answered: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, `Love your neighbor as
yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
Luke 10:25-28

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Daily Inspiration

Growth is not easy. It comes from fully experiencing each situation and mastering it with understanding. Lord, Your presence in my life dispels my fears and guides me through all of life's circumstances.

Today be cheerful when it is difficult and patient when that, too, is difficult. Lord, I will let Your love for me flow through me and touch those around me.

[admin]

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
I came to see the damage that was done and the treasures that prevail. --Adrienne Rich
It takes great courage to face ourselves--to look honestly and fearlessly at our behavior, especially if we have done and said things we are not proud of. We may have caused a lot of sadness in our own and others' lives. It's not easy to look at.
But let's remember, too, that what we do and say is not all of who we are. And let's also look at the treasures in ourselves--those things we have said and done that have brought great comfort, joy, and love into the lives of others.
Beneath the negative parts of ourselves, deep within us, is a kernel of good. Let's look for that as well, and water it so it can grow--so we can grow into the persons we are meant to be.
What is the best part of me, and how can I share it today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
He not busy being born is busy dying. --Bob Dylan
An old story has been told of men in the program asking an alcoholic who had a slip, "What Step were you working on at the time?" The man who slipped was not working on any Step, and that is part of how he lost his sobriety. The message of the story is that when we are not busy being born spiritually, we are losing ground. It is essential to always be focusing our attention on one of the Steps. Each time we work a Step again, we are at a new place in life, and the Step will inspire something new in us just as it did the first time.
Although we may know the program well, keeping it as our center protects us from being reactive to the events and pressures in our lives. We are less likely to feel overwhelmed by situations or react with shame or anger. As long as we live, we are in need of being renewed.
Today, I will choose one of the Steps and think about its meaning for me.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Every person is responsible for all the good within the scope of her abilities, and no more . . . --Gail Hamilton
We have been given the gift of life. Our recovery validates that fact. Our pleasure with that gift is best expressed by the fullness with which we greet and live life. We need not back off from the invitations our experiences offer. Each one of them gives us a chance, a bit different from all other chances, to fulfill part of our purpose in the lives of others.
It has been said that the most prayerful life is the one most actively lived. Full encounter with each moment is evidence of our trust in the now and thus our trust in our higher power. When we fear what may come or worry over what has gone before, we're not trusting in God. Growth in the program will help us remember that fact, thus releasing us to participate more actively in the special circumstances of our lives.
When we look around us today, we know that the persons in our midst need our best, and they're not there by accident but by Divine appointment. We can offer them the best we have--acceptance, love, support, our prayers, and we can know that is God's plan for our lives and theirs,
I will celebrate my opportunities for goodness today. They'll bless me in turn.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Balance
Strive for balanced expectations of others. Strive for healthy tolerance.
In the past, we may have tolerated too much or too little. We may have expected too much or too little.
We may swing from tolerating abuse, mistreatment, and deception to refusing to tolerate normal, human, imperfect behaviors from people. Although it's preferable not to remain in either extreme too long, that is how people change - real people who struggle imperfectly toward better lives, improved relationships, and more effective relationship behaviors.
But if we are open to ourselves and to the recovery process, we will, at some time, begin another transition: it becomes time to move away from extremes, toward balance.
We can trust ourselves and the recovery process to bring us to a balanced place of tolerance, giving, understanding, and expectations - of others and ourselves.
We can each find our own path to balance as we begin and continue recovery.
Today, I will practice acceptance with others and myself for the way we change. If I have had to swing to the other extreme of a behavior, I will accept that as appropriate, for a time. But I will make my goal one of balanced tolerance and expectations of others and myself.


Today I seek spiritual understanding beyond everything else. I choose peace and love and joy as my goals. --Ruth Fishel

[admin]

You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

Paradoxes

Our program contains some surprising paradoxes. When we admit that we are powerless, we can receive Power. When we accept what we do not like, it begins to change. As long as we remember we are sick, we can continue to recover.

The key to these paradoxes is our willingness to believe in a Higher Power. By ourselves, we are weak, ineffectual, and sick. When operating in accordance with the will of the Power greater than ourselves, our potential is limitless.

Until we admit defeat, we will not succeed with the OA program. The biggest defeat is the one that is dealt to our illusions of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. As long as we insist on trying to control our lives by ourselves, we will be confused. It is by relinquishing control that we gain strength and are freed from our compulsion and obsession. We save our lives by giving them away.

May I accept the paradoxes that I do not understand.

[admin]

Wisdom for Today
In the world of addiction I became a slave. I sold my own soul into captivity. There I was, chained up in the bowels of a ship, journeying into the world of self-destruction. Day after day passed, and I continued to live in bondage to my alcohol and drugs. I was not alone, for there were other slaves there in the belly of the ship. I watched as one after another was beaten. I, too, was beaten. I watched, and I saw the destruction of this disease take away all that was important to me. I watched as others died. I feared for my own life.
I look back and am amazed that somehow I was freed. The chains of addiction were loosened, and I was able to get a second chance in life. There is no doubt that I was scarred by the trauma of slavery. Just because I was freed did not mean that I was able to function normally. It would take some time for that to occur. The scars of my disease, those character defects, needed time to heal; but like all serious scars, a mark remains. I no longer bleed dishonesty, grandiosity, fear, unrealistic expectations, carelessness or self-centeredness. But each of these personality flaws is still a part of me, just like the marks left by a serious wound. So, I need to be on watch to make sure that these defects do not begin to ooze again. If and when they do, I must again do the things necessary to stop these defects from infecting my life again. I must ask for help from God and from my friends in recovery again and again to find the needed healing. Do I watch for my character defects to re-emerge?
Meditations for the Heart
Standing watch requires self-discipline. I need to be on guard and not fall asleep on my watch. I cannot afford to fall prey to a sneak attack or yield one point of what I have gained. Hatred, resentment, pride, lust, jealousy are but a few of the armies that can attack my camp. I need to remain a good soldier with self-discipline to stay alert. When I do see an attacker, I must sound the alarm by telling on my disease. By telling on my disease and by trusting my army for help, I can defeat any attacker. I cannot fight these battles on my own. I need help from my Higher Power and my support system. I must talk with my sponsor and at meetings and in prayer to find the best method to defeat these attackers. Am I working at self-discipline and remaining alert?
Petitions to My Higher Power
God,
Today I will stand watch for my character defects that come back to attack me again. Help me to be a good soldier with self-discipline and to remain alert. Let me sound the alarm if it is needed, and prevent me from selling my soul back into slavery.
Amen.