Daily Recovery Readings - 1/21

[admin]

Daily Reflections

SERVING MY BROTHER

The member talks to the newcomer not in a spirit of power but in a
spirit of humility and weakness.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS COMES OF AGE p. 279

As the days pass in A.A., I ask God to guide my thoughts and the words
that I speak. In this labor of continuous participation in the Fellowship,
I have numerous opportunities to speak. So I frequently ask God to
help me watch over my thoughts and my words, that they may be the
true and proper reflections of our program; to focus my aspirations
once again to seek His guidance; to help me be truly kind and loving,
helpful and healing, yet always filled with humility, and free from any
trace of arrogance.

Today I may very well have to deal with disagreeable attitudes or
utterances -- the typical stock-in-trade attitude of the still-suffering
alcoholic. If this should happen, I will take a moment to center myself
in God, so that I will be able to respond from a perspective of
composure, strength and sensibility.

************************************************** *********

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

To grasp the A.A. program, we have to think things out. Saint Paul
said: "They are transformed by the renewing of their minds." We have
to learn to think straight. We have to change from alcoholic thinking
to sober thinking. We must build up a new way of looking at things.
Before we came into A.A., we wanted an artificial life of excitement
and everything that goes with drinking. That kind of life looked normal
to us then. But as we look back now, that life looks the exact
opposite of normal. In fact, it looks most abnormal. We must reeducate
our minds. Am I changing from an abnormal thinker to a normal
thinker?

Meditation For The Day

I will take the most crowded day without fear. I believe that God is
with me and controlling all. I will let confidence be the motif running
through all the crowded day. I will not get worried, because I know
that God is my helper. Underneath are the everlasting arms. I will
rest in them, even though the day be full of things crowded in upon
me.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be calm and let nothing upset me. I pray that I may
not let material things control me and choke out spiritual things.

************************************************** *********

As Bill Sees It

Toward Partnership, p. 292

When the distortion of family life through alcohol has been great, a
long period of patient striving may be necessary. After the husband
joins A.A., the wife may become discontented, even highly resentful
that A.A. has done the very thing that all her years of devotion had
failed to do. Her husband may become so wrapped up in A.A. and his
new friends that he is inconsiderately away from home more than
when he drank. Each then blames the other.

But eventually the alcoholic, now fully understanding how much he did
to hurt his wife and children, nearly always takes up his marriage
responsibilities with a willingness to repair what he can and accept
what he can't. He persistently tries all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps in his
home, often with fine results. He firmly but lovingly commences to
behave like a partner instead of like a bad boy.

12 & 12, pp. 118-119

************************************************** *********

Walk in Dry Places

Giving Wisely is Safe___ Helping others.
Most of us admit that we were selfish people when we drank. Even when we brought drinks for others, we did so either to seek their approval or in the expectancy that they would return the favor.
Our need in sobriety is to become unselfish by giving freely and cheerfully of ourselves. This, too, has its pitfalls. Feeling guilty about past selfish-ness, we may go overboard in helping others do things that they need to do for themselves. This can only lead to failure and disillusionment. It is common to hear AA members complain about people who are not in recovery despite help extended to them in finding a job, a place to live, and other necessities.
But in giving, it is not always right tolook for a "guid pro quo"… something in return….or even for the others person's recovery and well-being. It's best to let the giving itself be its own reward. If we fel good about what we have done, we probably are doing the right things. Later on, when additional and unexpected rewards come to us, we can accept them as bonuses.
I can make progress in overcoming selfishness and self-centeredness if I give selflessly to others and take an honest interest in their problems.

************************************************** *********

Keep It Simple

What is defeat?...Nothing but the first step to something better.------- Wendell Phillips
A man walks into a meeting. He says," I surrender. I can't drink like other folks." We smile and welcome him. We know that feeling. All of us in the program must admit defeat. Our illness is more powerful than we are. We begin recovery when we surrender. Admitting defeat is our first step into a beautiful world. Like all first steps, it's hard. But what a world we find ourselves in! A world where we count. A world where all are really equal! This first step brings us into God's world of care. We get love. We give love. We stay sober because daily we admit defeat.
Prayer for the Day: In surrender, I can't drink and use other drugs. I'm different. Higher Power, help me surrender daily.
Action for the Day: Every so often, I need to admit defeat and talk about what it was like, what happened, and where I am now.

************************************************** *********

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

FLOODED WITH FEELING - When a barrier to God collapsed, this self-described agnostic was at Step Three.

I had a great time that summer between high school and college. It revolved around drinking; drinking and football, drinking and hunting, drinking and playing pool, drinking and driving. Nothing really bad happened, but it could have. I nearly got arrested. A friend just missed being shot. The car I was riding in stopped just before it crashed.

pp. 369-370

************************************************** *********

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Five - "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."

This practice of admitting one's defects to another person is, of course, very ancient. It has been validated in every century, and it characterizes the lives of all spiritually centered and truly religious people. But today religion is by no means the sole advocate of this saving principle. Psychiatrists and psychologists point out the deep need every human being has for practical insight and knowledge of his own personality flaws and for a discussion of them with an understanding and trustworthy person. So far as alcoholics are concerned, A.A. would go even further. Most of us would declare that without a fearless admission of our defects to another human being we could not stay sober. It seems plain that the grace of God will not enter to expel our destructive obsessions until we are willing to try this.

pp. 56-57

************************************************** *********

When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm. --Sherrie R.

God claims by grace those who have no claim to grace.

"In any moment of decision, The best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing." --President Theodore Roosevelt

"Forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one." --Henry Ward Beecher

Someone once said that it's bad to suppress laughter; it goes back down and spreads to your hips! So, keep laughing, everyone! --unknown

The best way to get the last word is to apologize.

************************************************** *********

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

TOLERANCE

"The price of freedom of
religion or of speech or of the
press is that we must put up
with, and even pay for, a good
deal of rubbish."
-- Justice Robert Jackson

I need to be tolerant in my sobriety. I need to allow others to say what
they feel and live according to their standards.

I was intolerant towards people who were different from myself. Much
of what I criticized yesterday, I accept today; some things I still reject.

To love a person should not require "sameness"; equally, I can accept
a person without agreeing with what they say or how they behave.
Disagreements and conflicts lead to growth; change requires a variety
of forces.

Not everything I say to do is "pure" --- and that has become the key to
the acceptance of others. My history teaches me that I benefit from the
variety of opinions that are represented in mankind.

Lord, You have created many ways to Truth, may I appreciate them
through the experiences of others.

************************************************** *********

"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock." Matthew 7:24

"Beloved, we are God's children now." 1 John 3:2

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field God's building.
1 Corinthians 3:7-9

************************************************** *********

Daily Inspiration

When your burdens seem heavier than usual, know that your blessings are more than usual. Lord, I call on You for the strength, the wisdom and the confidence that I will need today.

God values us so much that He gave us all that He has; His Son Jesus. Show that you value Him, too, by putting Him first in all aspects of your life. Lord, when I put You first in my life, order and peace follow.

[admin]

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
If you realize you aren't so wise today as you thought you were yesterday, you're wiser today. --Olin Miller
Smug was a kitten who thought she knew everything. She knew how to clean herself with her sandpaper tongue, how to sleep, eat, and keep warm, and how to sharpen her tiny claws. One day, her mother wanted to teach Smug to climb trees. I don't need to learn this, thought Smug, I already know everything I need to know. Without much interest, Smug watched her mother climb a tall tree and come down again. When it was Smug's turn, she said, "I'll stay on the ground where it's safe." Just then, a large black dog came trotting around the corner. Aren't we often like Smug, certain that we know all we need to know, or that we really don't need to know something another is trying to teach us? When we rid ourselves of the pride that keeps us from learning these things, we'll feel a little safer if any big black dogs come around the corner. And we will have grown smarter by recognizing our need to know more.
Am I smart enough to admit my need to learn more today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
There are things for which an uncompromising stand is worthwhile. --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
For many of us, a time came when we said; "I'm not going to live this way anymore!" This was a deep, internal decision for change, even though we didn't know how it would come about. Somehow we had reached bottom, and we no longer debated about whose fault our problems were. We quit negotiating over what we would change and what we would not change. We were willing to put all our energy into finding a better life, no matter what it would require. That is the kind of inner readiness that finally made real change possible.
Such willingness to take an uncompromising stand and give ourselves totally to a worthwhile cause is a model for our lives. It's the beginning of deep change. Many men and women have taken similar heroic stands for other causes, like world peace, compassion for the poor and hungry, human rights, and protection of the environment.
On this day, I will take a stand for what is worthwhile.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Too many activities, and people, and things. Too many worthy activities, valuable things, and interesting people. For it is not merely the trivial which clutters our lives but the important as well. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
We need interaction with others, and we need activities. We have many gifts to offer those who cross our paths, and we need the many gifts they have to offer us. But we soon have little to share, to give to others, if we neglect the special times, the empty spaces needed for nurturing the soul.
Some time away from people, activities, and things, some time away to commune with God, to seek guidance, to seek security in the fullest sense, will prepare us to better give our gifts to others. That time alone will also ready us to accept others' gifts to us.
It is true we find God's message in others. But the time alone with God lowers the barriers that too often prevent us from hearing another of God's messages as expressed through the friends and even foes who cross our paths.
My gift to myself is some time alone. I deserve that gift today and every day.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Wants and Needs
Part of taking responsibility for us means taking responsibility for what we want and need, and knowing that's okay to do.
Learning to tune in to us, learning to listen to ourselves, is an art. It takes practice. We can use our ability to guess what others want and need/ and apply that skill to ourselves.
What does it sound like we might want and need? What would we guess would help us feel better? What are our feelings telling us? Our body? Our mind? Our intuition?
If we ask, then listen closely; well hear the answer.
We are wiser than we think, and we can be trusted.
What we want and need counts. It's important, and it's valid. It's okay to learn to participate in meeting our own needs.
We can learn to identify what we want and need and be patient with ourselves while we're learning.
Today, I will pay attention to what I want and need. I will not discount myself.


As I continue to grow on my spiritual path to recovery, I bask in the miracles of transformation and healing that are taking place in my life today. --Ruth Fishel

[admin]

You are reading from the book Food for Thought.

Service

We compulsive overeaters have often spent our lifetimes being most concerned with getting, taking in, and consuming. Nourishing ourselves is necessary, but it is also necessary that we give. To stay alive, one must breathe out as well as in.

As we recover, we become stronger each day and better able to serve others. When we stop eating compulsively, we are amazed at the amount of time and energy we have available for useful activities. For one thing, we feel much better physically, since we are eating the amount and type of food, which our bodies need for optimum functioning. For another, we become stronger emotionally and spiritually as we work the Twelve Steps.

Each day, we can be open to opportunities to serve our OA groups, families, and friends. As we give out more and take in less, we gain new satisfaction and self-respect.

Show me where I may serve, Lord.

[admin]

Wisdom for Today
Often times I am pleasantly surprised to hear from someone in the fellowship that something I said helped him or her. It is one sign that one of my past character defects has improved. There was a time when my selfishness and self-centeredness would not allow me to even care about others. I was so wrapped up in my disease and myself that I didn’t even bother to think of others and what I might do to be charitable.
Being charitable means that I genuinely want to help others. Sometimes, I reach out and offer what I can to help other addicts and alcoholics. Frequently I have no idea whether my help was of any benefit or not. This is not important, because even when it looks like I have failed, I know that a seed has been planted. God will determine what happens to that seed. What happens to the seed is not important; what is important is the fact that I have grown in my attempts to help others. I benefit from this. Still it is nice to hear from others, once in a while, that something I said or did helped them. Am I developing a charitable heart?
Meditations for the Heart
Early in recovery I had a very closed mind. My thinking was rigid, and I always seemed to want to be right. My mind and my thinking were both locked into a box. As I began to open my heart and mind up in the recovery process, I began to wonder what was outside of the box. My ways did not work. I needed to begin to think outside of the box in order to find the answers I needed. This thinking outside of the box helped me to see a Higher Intelligence in the universe. I did not have all the answers. None of the people in the program did either. But each of us in unison and harmony with a Higher Intelligence has found answers we could not have found on our own. Do I think outside of the box?
Petitions to my Higher Power
God,
One day at a time is how You help me to grow spiritually. Help me this day to use the rain you provide in my life for growth. Let me use the sunshine You provide to warm my heart. Help me to be of a charitable mind today. Let me seek Your Higher Intelligence.
Amen.