Daily Recovery Readings - May

[bluidkiti]

May 1

HEALING HEART AND MIND

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being
the exact nature of our wrongs.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 55

Since it is true that God comes to me through people, I can
see that by keeping people at a distance I also keep God at
a distance. God is nearer to me than I think and I can
experience Him by loving people and allowing people to love
me. But I can neither love nor be loved if I allow my secrets
to get in the way.
It's the side of myself that I refuse to look at that rules
me. I must be willing to look at the dark side in order to
heal my mind and heart because that is the road to freedom.
I must walk into darkness to find the light and walk into fear
to find peace.
By revealing my secrets - and thereby ridding myself of guilt
- I can actually change my thinking; by altering my thinking,
I can change myself. My thoughts create my future. What I will
be tomorrow is determined by what I think today.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

The A.A. program is one of charity because the real meaning of
the word charity is to care enough about other people to really
want to help them. To get the full benefit of the program, we
must try to help other alcoholics. We may try to help somebody
and think we have failed, but the seed we have planted may bear
fruit some time. We never know the results even a word of ours
might have. But the main thing is to have charity for others,
a real desire to help them, whether we succeed or not. Do I
have real charity?

Meditation For The Day

All material things, the universe, the world, even our bodies,
may be Eternal Thought expressed in time and space. The more
the physicists and astronomers reduce matter, the more it becomes
a mathematical formula, which is thought. In the final analysis,
matter is thought. When Eternal Thought expresses itself within
the framework of space and time, it becomes matter. Our thoughts,
within the box of space and time, cannot know anything firsthand,
except material things. But we can deduce that outside the box of
space and time is Eternal Thought, which we can call God.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be a true expression of Eternal Thought.
I pray that God's thoughts may work through my thoughts.

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As Bill Sees It

We Are Not Fighting, p. 121

We have ceased fighting anything or anyone--even alcohol. For by this
time sanity has returned. We can now react sanely and normally, and
we find that this has happened almost automatically. We see that this
new attitude toward liquor is really a gift of God.

That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding
temptation. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has
been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor
afraid.

That is how we react--so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.

Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 84-85

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Walk in Dry Places

Accepting Equal Treatment
Growing Spiritually
One of our AA friends was a district judge in a northern community. On his way to speak at our meeting, he was given a speeding ticket by a state policeman.
"Didn't you tell him you are a judge?" we wanted to know. Smiling sheepishly, he shook his head. It occurred to us, then, that acceptance of the speeding ticket without argument was also an exercise in principles for him. First, he was accepting the same laws he administered to others. Additionally, accepting the ticket was a working of the Tenth Step---". . . and when we were wrong promptly admitted it." Finally, he realized that the ticket may have been a disguised blessing to help him correct a tendency to speed.
As recovering alcoholic, we always function better when we accept such principles in our own lives. Every person is special, yet as part of the human race in general, we must accept the same treatment that is given to others. We can grow spiritually when we accept such equality without resentment or demands for special treatment.
As a human being, I know that today I'm subject to all the things that can happen to human beings. I will not demand or expect privileges that are not available on an equal basis to others.

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Keep It Simple

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.--Step Five
Step Five can be scary. we're to take the wrongs we listed in our Fourth Srep and share them with God, ourselves, and another person. We may look for an easier, softer way. But Step Five stops us.
We're to share the exact nature of our wrong. Why? So we can take a load off ourselves. So we won't use again. By totally sharing our past wrongs, we can belong once more. We can heal. We start to forgive ourselves. We become more humble. When you share your Fifth Step, holding nothing back. You deserve the peace this Step will bring you.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, give me courage to tell it all. Give me courage to admit just how wrong I had become.
Action for the Day: Step Five teaches me that sharing is important. I will find a friend and share my wrongs with that friend. I will hold nothing back.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Insight is cheap. --Martha Roth
For years we kept ourselves in a split condition: With one part of our minds we looked at ourselves and said, "I do some self-destructive things because I don't believe I deserve love." When we became involved with unsuitable people or abused our bodies, we said, "I am punishing myself--I am expecting too much--I neglect my own needs."
We may see clearly how and why we get in our own way. But unless we have faith in a power greater than ourselves, we won't step aside. We won't let go. We'll do the same thing and "understand" ourselves in the same ways. We may even use our "insight" to keep ourselves stuck--to protect ourselves from the risk of change.
Now, having had a spiritual awakening, having come to believe that a higher power can restore us, we possess a gift more powerful than the keenest insight--faith in our ability to grow and change. We are children of God. All the creative power of the universe streams through us, if we don't block it.
Today, I will have faith, and all will be well.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards

Though the family does not fully agree with dad’s spiritual activities, they should let him have his head. Even if he displays a certain amount of neglect and irresponsibility towards the family, it is well to let him go as far as he like in helping other alcoholics. During those first days of convalescence, this will do more to insure his sobriety than anything else. Though some of his manifestations are alarming and disagreeable, we think dad will be on a firmer foundation than the man who is placing business or professional success ahead of spiritual development. He will be less likely to drink again, and anything is preferable to that.

pp. 129-130

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

Now let's take the guy full of faith, but still reeking of alcohol. He believes he is devout. His religious observance is scrupulous. He's sure he still believes in God, but suspects that God doesn't believe in him. He takes pledges and more pledges. Following each, he not only drinks again, but acts worse than the last time. Valiantly he tries to fight alcohol, imploring God's help, but the help doesn't come. What, then, can be the matter?

pp. 31-32

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"Pay no attention to what the critics say; no statue has ever been put up
to a critic."
--Jean Sibelius

Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much
as we speak.
--Epictetus

One of the most valuable things we can do to heal one another is listen
to each other's stories.
--Rebecca Falls

"Sometimes you have to make music with what you got."
--Izhak Perlman

"Don't just do something, sit there! Sit there long enough each morning to decide what is really important during the day ahead."
--Richard Eyre

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

SCRIPTURE

"Nobody ever outgrows
Scriptures; the book widens and
deepens with our years."
--Charles Haddan Spurgeon

Not so long ago I had a narrow and rigid religious outlook that was
based solely on my narrow belief system. I was addicted to my religious
approach and any alternative or variation was condemned before
investigation. I was a religious bigot. I was a hypocrite. I hid behind my
dogma and practiced ritual.

Today I have a comprehensive view of religion and God, thanks to the
influence of recovering alcoholics and the discovery of a spiritual
program. Today I am able to see the depth and richness of scripture, a
living library of books and experiences. Today I am able to see beyond
the printed word to the message of healing and love that comes with
honesty and acceptance. Now I know that the bigoted side of me was
fearful and afraid of change. I needed rules to keep people from
discovering what a lonely and spiritually bereft person I was. The rules
and dogmas formed my prison bars. I was drowning in religiosity. Today
I am free to be different. Today I am free to be me.

O wind of Truth, continue to blow and inspire us through our
differences.

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"O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name,
for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are
faithfulness and truth."
Isaiah 25:1

Forgive your brother from your heart.
Matthew 18:35 NIV

"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and
surround me with songs of deliverance."
Psalm 32:7

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Daily Inspiration

Do not allow yourself to be disappointed by any thing or any person, but rather have faith that in all things God is leading you to your ultimate good.

Shine brighter than the sun and liken your heart to the flight of a butterfly. Attitude makes a big difference. Lord, help me to change that which I can and appreciate the blessings which I already have received.

[bluidkiti]

May 2

Daily Reflections

LIGHTING THE DARK PAST

Cling to the thought that, in God's hands, the dark past
is the greatest possession you have - the key to life and
happiness for others. With it you can avert death and
misery for them.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p 124

No longer is my past an autobiography; it is a reference
book to be taken down, opened and shared. Today as I report
for duty, the most wonderful picture comes through. For,
though this day be dark - as some days must be - the stars
will shine even brighter later. My witness that they do
shine will be called for in the very near future. All my
past will this day be a part of me, because it is the key,
not the lock.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

In A.A. we often hear the slogan "Easy Does It." Alcoholics
always do everything to excess. They drink too much. They
worry too much. They have too many resentments. They hurt
themselves physically and mentally by too much of everything.
So when they come into A.A., they have to learn to take it
easy. None of us knows how much longer we have to live. Its
probable that we wouldn't have lived very long if we had
continued to drink the way we used to. By stopping drinking,
we have increased our chances of living for a while longer.
Have I learned to take it easy?

Meditation For The Day

You must be before you can do. To accomplish much, be much.
In all cases, the doing must be the expression of the being.
It is foolish to think that we can accomplish much in personal
relationships without first preparing ourselves by being honest,
pure, unselfish, and loving. We must choose the good and keep
choosing it, before we are ready to be used by God to accomplish
anything worthwhile. We will not be given the opportunities
until we are ready for them. Quiet times of communion with the
Higher Power are good preparation for creative action.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may constantly prepare myself for better things
to come. I pray that I may only have opportunities when I am
ready for them.

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As Bill Sees It

Willingness Is The Key, p. 122

No matter how much one wishes to try, exactly how can he turn his
own will and his own life over to the care of whatever God he thinks
there is?

A beginning, even the smallest, is all that is needed. Once we have
placed the key of willingness in the lock and have the door ever so
slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more.

Though self-will may slam it shut again, as it frequently does, it will
always respond the moment we again pick up the key of willingness.

12 & 12, p. 35

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Walk in Dry Places

Look out for the power trips
Understanding hidden motives
We can often use a lofty reason to disguise a hidden motive behind our actions. We might be seeking power over people's lives, for example, while claiming that "we're only out to help them." We may argue for a point of view only to establish a position of power. Such power trips are destructive, and others usually see them for what they really are.
If we've really accepted the principles of the Twelve Steps, we have no need for power trips. The logic of Step Eleven, for example, is that we'll always have the power needed to carry out what's in line with God's will for us. We do not have to jostle and manipulate others to establish our importance or our authority.
When we really come to terms with our own tendencies to take power trips, we'll be able to deal with others who come on strong with their power trips. We'll soon perceive that such threats usually fade when we refuse to resist them or be upset by them.
I'll undoubtedly meet people today who are maneuvering for power in different situations. I will neither criticize nor oppose them.My responsibility today is to avoid any of my own tendencies to take such power trips.

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Keep It Simple

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.---Eleanor Roosevelt
Most of us want to be happy. We just don't know how. We aren't sure what happiness is. We've learned the hard way that some things we wanted didn't make us happy. We're learning that happiness comes when we live the way our Higher Power wants us to live. That's when we’re honest. When we do our best work. When we are a true friend. We make happiness; we don't find it. Sometimes we don't even know we're happy. We're too busy with our work, our recovery program, our friends and family. We need to slow down and know that when we do what we need to, happiness comes.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know that I'm most happy when I listen to You and do Your will. You know better than I do what makes me happy.
Action for the Day: What parts of my program am I most happy about? Today I'll think of these and enjoy myself.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Insight is cheap. --Martha Roth
For years we kept ourselves in a split condition: With one part of our minds we looked at ourselves and said, "I do some self-destructive things because I don't believe I deserve love." When we became involved with unsuitable people or abused our bodies, we said, "I am punishing myself--I am expecting too much--I neglect my own needs."
We may see clearly how and why we get in our own way. But unless we have faith in a power greater than ourselves, we won't step aside. We won't let go. We'll do the same thing and "understand" ourselves in the same ways. We may even use our "insight" to keep ourselves stuck--to protect ourselves from the risk of change.
Now, having had a spiritual awakening, having come to believe that a higher power can restore us, we possess a gift more powerful than the keenest insight--faith in our ability to grow and change. We are children of God. All the creative power of the universe streams through us, if we don't block it.
Today, I will have faith, and all will be well.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

Those of us who have spent much time in the world of spiritual make-believe have eventually seen the childishness of it. This dream world has been replaced by a great sense of purpose, accompanied by a growing consciousness of the power of God in our lives. We have come to believe He would like us to keep our heads in the clouds with Him, but that our feet ought to be firmly planted on earth. That is where our fellow travelers are, and that is where our work must be done. These are the realities for us. We have found nothing incompatible between a powerful spiritual experience and a life of sane and happy usefulness.

p. 130

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

To clergymen, doctors, friends, and families, the alcoholic who means well and tries hard is a heartbreaking riddle. To most A.A.'s, he is not. There are too many of us who have been just like him, and have found the riddle's answer. This answer has to do with the quality of faith rather than its quantity. This has been our blind spot. We supposed we had humility when really we hadn't. We supposed we had been serious about religious practices when, upon honest appraisal, we found we had been only superficial. Or, going to the other extreme, we had wallowed in emotionalism and had mistaken it for true religious feeling. In both cases, we had been asking something for nothing. The fact was we really hadn't cleaned house so that the grace of God could enter us and expel the obsession. In no deep or meaningful sense had we ever taken stock of ourselves, made amends to those we had harmed, or freely given to any other human being without any demand for reward. We had not even prayed rightly. We had always said, "Grant me my wishes" instead of "Thy will be done." The love of God and man we understood not at all. Therefore we remained self-deceived, and so incapable of receiving enough grace to restore us to sanity.

p. 32

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My experience has been that putting the program into practice in my
life is not just turning things over to my Higher Power, but turning
them over and then taking my hands off!
--Nancy S.

God has got us covered today!!
--Anonymous

When self-will is running riot, hit the brakes, take time out, talk to God.
Reconnect with God to refresh, renew, restore yourself with Him.
--Tammy B.

You can learn many things from children. How much patience you
have, for instance.
--Franklin P. Adams

I bask in the sunshine of God's love.
--SweetyZee

When the pace of change seems overwhelming, we find stability in
God.
--Sherry Holloway

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

FACTS

"Facts do not cease to exist
because they are ignored."
--Aldous Huxley

Reality is not dependent upon our acceptance. Addiction does not have
to be accepted to be real. Alcoholism was killing people long before it
had a name!

I need to remember this in the recovery program for my life. A big
part of my life was spent denying that I had a problem. My
manipulative art was exercised in discovering more acceptable
excuses for my drunkenness, rather than looking at the problem. I
danced toward death with God and denial on my lips. Belief in the God
of Truth did not stop my dishonesty.

The process of self-love and acceptance began in my cry for help.
Surrender brought me sanity. God was working His purpose out in my
life because I was getting out of my way; I was facing the facts.
Spirituality is making the words fit the feelings, and the feelings make
the action.

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"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in
love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God."
Ephesians 5:1-2

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the
eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at
peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave
room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will
repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry,
feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this,
you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good."
Romans 12:17-21

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Daily Inspiration

Do not allow yourself to be disappointed by any thing or any person, but rather have faith that in all things God is leading you to your ultimate good.

Not one day passes without receiving wonderful blessings from our loving and generous God. Lord, may I forget the irritations that distract me from Your happiness.

[bluidkiti]

May 3

Daily Reflections

CLEANING HOUSE

Somehow, being alone with God doesn't seem as embarrassing
as facing up to another person. Until we actually sit down
and talk aloud about what we have so long hidden, our
willingness to clean house is still largely theoretical.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p 60

It wasn't unusual for me to talk to God, and myself, about
my character defects. But to sit down, face to face, and
openly discuss these intimacies with another person was
much more difficult. I recognized in the experience,
however, a similar relief to the one I had experienced
when I first admitted I was an alcoholic. I began to
appreciate the spiritual significance of the program and
that this Step was just an introduction to what was yet
to come in the remaining seven Steps.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

A.A. teaches us to take it easy. We learn how to relax and
to stop worrying about the past or the future, to give up
our resentments and hates and tempers, to stop being
critical of people, and to try to help them instead.
That's what "Easy Does It" means. So in the time that's
left to me to live, I'm going to try to take it easy, to
relax and not to worry, to try to be helpful to others,
and to trust God. For what's left of my life, is my motto
going to be "Easy Does It"?

Meditation For The Day

I must overcome myself before I can truly forgive other
people for injuries done to me. The self in me cannot
forgive injuries. The very thought of wrongs means that
my self is in the foreground. Since the self cannot forgive,
I must overcome my selfishness. I must cease trying to
forgive those who fretted and wronged me. It is a mistake
for me even to think about these injuries. I must aim at
overcoming myself in my daily life and then I will find
there is nothing in me that remembers injury, because the
only thing injured, my selfishness, is gone.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may hold no resentments. I pray that my mind
may be washed clean of all past hates and fears.

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As Bill Sees It

The New A.A. and His Family, p. 123

When alcoholism strikes, very unnatural situations may develop which
work against marriage partnership and compatible union. If the man is
affected, the wife must become the head of the house, often the
breadwinner. As matters get worse, the husband becomes a sick and
irresponsible child who needs to be looked after and extricated from
endless scrapes and impasses. Very gradually, usually without any
realization of the fact, the wife is forced to become the mother of an
erring boy, and the alcoholic alternately loves and hates her maternal
care.

Under the influence of A.A.'s Twelve Steps, these situations are often
set right.

<< << << >> >> >>

Whether the family goes on a spiritual basis or not, the alcoholic
member has to if he would recover. The others must be convinced of
his new status beyond the shadow of a doubt. Seeing is believing to
most families who have lived with a drinker.

1. 12 & 12, pp. 117-118
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 135

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Walk in Dry Places

Knowing a new freedom
Spiritual growth
Most of us place a high value on freedom without always knowing what it really is, or ought to be. "Freedom" in the drinking world is often merely license to indulge ourselves without concern about consequences. This false freedom usually forces us into dependency or the need to rely on others to get us out of trouble.
The "new freedom" that comes out of the 12 Steps is a higher order. It means that by following principles in living we find choices and experiences that were never possible in the old life. We are free from the destructive behavior that always ended in pain and defeat.
This freedom is more of the spirit than of worldly things. It is knowing the truth about ourselves and life. As the Bible says, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." In this new freedom, we no longer pursue activities that are ruinous and wasteful. We no longer deceive ourselves with painful illusions and false hopes, because we've learned to live and think on higher levels. Knowing the truth, we're free from alcohol and from the bad thinking that poisoned our lives and relationships.
Today I'll be grateful for the new freedom I have found in the program. I am free from the compulsions that caused me to hurt myself and others. I am free to choose new opportunities for service and self-expression.

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Keep It Simple

When I have listened to my mistakes, I have grown.---Hugh Prather
Everyone makes mistakes. We all know that. So why is it so hard to admit our own? We seem to think we have to be prefect. We have a hard time looking at our mistakes. But our mistakes can be very good teachers. Our Twelve Step program helps us learn and grow from our mistakes. In Step Four, half of our work is to think of our mistakes. In step Five, we admit our mistakes to God, ourselves, and another person. We learn, we grow and become whole. All by coming to know our mistakes The gift of recovery is not being free from mistakes. Instead, we do the Steps to claim our mistakes and talk about them. We find the gift of recovery when we learn from our mistakes.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to see my mistakes as changes to get to know myself better.
Action for the Day: Today Ill talk to a friend about what my mistakes taught me. Today I'll feel less shame.

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Each Day a New Beginning

. . . love is a great beautifier. --Louisa May Alcott
Meeting life head-on, with a smile, attracts to us people and situations. Our attitudes shape our world--which is not to deny that problems do occur. However, problems can be viewed as special opportunities for personal growth. As gifts, more or less, that we are ready to receive. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. The stumbling blocks we encounter push us beyond our present awareness. They teach us that we are stronger and more creative than we'd thought. Problem-solving is esteem-building.
Negatively confronting the day is sure to complicate any experiences. A simple misunderstanding can be exaggerated into a grave situation, requiring the energy of many people to handle it. On the other hand, a patient, trusting, loving attitude can turn a grave situation into a positive learning experience for all affected.
We can beautify the day by smiling, at it and throughout all the experiences it offers us. The expression of love to everyone we meet guarantees to make us more lovable in return.
How great is my influence today! I can go forth feeling love, if I choose to--guaranteeing an enjoyable day for me and everyone I meet.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

One more suggestion: Whether the family has spiritual convictions or not, they may do well to examine the principles by which the alcoholic member is trying to live. They can hardly fail to approve these simple principles, though the head of the house still fails somewhat in practicing them. Nothing will help the man who is off on a spiritual tangent so much as the wife who adopts a sane spiritual program, making a better practical use of it.

p. 130

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

Few indeed are the practicing alcoholics who have any idea how irrational they are, or seeing their irrationality, can bear to face it. Some will be willing to term themselves "problem drinkers," but cannot endure the suggestion that they are in fact mentally ill. They are abetted in this blindness by a world which does not understand the difference between sane drinking and alcoholism. "Sanity" is defined as "soundness of mind." Yet no alcoholic, soberly analyzing his destructive behavior, whether the destruction fell on the dining-room furniture or his own moral fiber, can claim "soundness of mind" for himself.

pp. 32-33

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"No matter how much you talk to your plant, if you don't water it, it's
going to die."
--Mike Perry

"Some things you have to do every day. Eating seven apples on Saturday
night instead of one a day just isn't going to get the job done."
--Jim Rohn

Everyone has creative ability. What you choose to do with it is entirely
up to you.
--Unknown

Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary storm. No
matter how raging the billows are today, remind yourself: "This too
shall pass!"
--T. D. Jakes

No matter what we have done, God always offers us the chance to begin
anew. Knowing that God grants us a new beginning, we, too, can look
at our parents, our children, our partner or our friends, anyone with
whom we've had some distance, and say, "Let's have a new
beginning." Love is greater than any of our mistakes.
--Mary Manin Morrissey

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

UNIQUENESS

"God sees nothing average."
--Anonymous

God created every human being from the dust and yet He bestowed
within all of us His image. This means that we are divine. We are
creatures created to create. We share God's life for the universe. We
are anything but average!

And yet for years we thought we were not good enough. We needed
drugs, food or people to make us okay. We considered ourselves
"less-than", inferior or freaks.

But today we awake to a new message. The spiritual message tells us
that we are forever holding the hand of God. He needs you and me to
work in His vineyard. In us He makes miracles. Today I know that I am
beautiful. I am important. I am unique.

Master, part of Your beauty is in Your healing power. Help me to be
healed daily by beholding my beauty that is forever within and without.

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The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall
stand for ever.
Isaiah 40:8

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one
another in honor.
Romans 12:10

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and
where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:19-21

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Daily Inspiration

Patience grows with practice and elevates the hearts of those who benefit from it as well as your own. Lord, may my actions show love and speak loudly of Your presence within me.

Most of us never set our sights as high as Jesus intended we should. Lord, may the celebration of Your birth serve as a rebirth within me of my sense of commitment, consecration and purpose.

[bluidkiti]

May 4

Daily Reflections

"ENTIRELY HONEST"

We must be entirely honest with somebody if we expect to live long or
happily in this world.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 73-74

Honesty, like all virtues, is to be shared. It began after I shared ". . .
[my] whole life's story with someone . . . " in order to find my place in
the Fellowship. Later I shared my life in order to help the newcomer
find his place with us. This sharing helps me to learn honesty in all my
dealings and to know that God's plan for me comes true through honest
openness and willingness.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When I was drinking, I always tried to build myself up. I used to tell tall
stories about myself. I told them so often that I half believe some of them
now, even though I know they aren't true. I used to hang around the
lowbrow barrooms so I could feel superior to the other customers. The
reason I always tried to build myself up was that I knew deep down
in my heart that I really didn't amount to anything. It was a kind of
defense against my feeling of inferiority. Do I still build myself up?

Meditation For The Day

God thought about the universe and brought it into being. His thought
brought me into being. I must think God's thought after Him. I must
often keep my mind occupied with thoughts about God and meditate on
the way He wants me to live. I must train my mind constantly in quiet
times of communion with God. It is the work of a lifetime to develop to
full stature spiritually. This is what I am on earth for. it gives meaning to
my life.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may think God's thoughts after Him. I pray that I may live
as He wants me to live.

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

As Bill Sees It

Freedom to Choose, p. 124

Looking back, we see that our freedom to choose badly was not,
after all, a very real freedom.

When we chose because we "must," this was not a free choice,
either. But it got us started in the right direction.

When we chose because we "ought to," we were really doing better.
This time we were earning some freedom, making ourselves ready
for more.

But when, now and then, we could gladly make right choices without
rebellion, hold-out, or conflict, then we had our first view of what
perfect freedom under God's will could be like.

Grapevine, May 1960

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

Walk in Dry Places

Secrets of the New Happiness____ Success in living.
Most of us know whether other people are truly happy. What's odd, however, is that we don't often try to practice the things that bring happiness to others. Often, the happiness we're striving for is really a form of excitement____ trying to be continuously stimulated so as not to be bored or depressed.
Excitement does not create happiness. We find true happiness when we learn to serve others in right ways; that is, without demanding their gratitude or some other recognition. We also find true happiness in self-acceptance___ being generally satisfied with our lot in life and grateful for the self-improvement we've found. We find happiness, too, in keeping occupied with useful activities that place demands on our energies and abilities.
There is no such thing as a happy alcoholic who is still drinking. There are also recovering people who have not yet found happiness. But the program unlocks the happiness, and we do have members whose happiness is an example to others.
I can be happy one day at a time. I will make the choice to be happy today, and to let tomorrow come in its own time. Nothing can interfere with today's happiness.

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

Keep It Simple

I am the greatest.---Muhammad Ali
We need to believe in ourselves. we're sober. We're honest. We're trustworthy. We're not making so many problems for other people anymore We do our share. We can even help others sometimes.
We're glad that others help us. We thank our Higher Power every day. But we also give ourselves credit. We're working our program. We can handle life as best we can. And as long as we ask our Higher Power to work through us, we are the greatest.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me feel proud of the changes in my life.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll talk with my sponsor about pride. What is good pride? What should I watch out for?

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

Each Day a New Beginning

The rare and beautiful experiences of divine revelation are moments of special gifts. Each of us, however, lives each day with special gifts which are a part of our very being, and life is a process of discovering and developing these God-given gifts within each one of us. --Jeane Dixon
Have we discovered what our gifts are? We assuredly have them, and now that we are abstinent we have opportunities, daily, to share them with others. Sharing them knowingly will bring joy to us, but more than that, we will grow in appreciation of ourselves. And we do need to realize how very important we are to others.
Many of us came into this program nearly feet first. Most of us were filled with rage, shame, or both. Life had dumped on us. We had survived only minimally. The knowledge that we had something to offer the human race was not ours, then. It may still be knowledge that escapes us, from time to time. But we can learn to acknowledge it.
We have many talents that are ours alone to offer the world. Perhaps we express ourselves adroitly; maybe we write particularly well. Listening when it's most needed by a friend may be our finest talent today. We might have gifts as a musician or a manager. Our inner self knows our strengths. We can listen for that voice.
God is trying to get my attention today, to direct my energies to make the most of my special talents. I will be aware.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

There will be other profound changes in the household. Liquor incapacitated father for so many years that mother became head of the house. She met these responsibilities gallantly. By force of circumstances, she was often obliged to treat father as a sick or wayward child. Even when he wanted to assert himself he could not, for his drinking placed him constantly in the wrong. Mother made all the plans and gave the directions. When sober, father usually obeyed. Thus mother, through no fault of her own, became accustomed to wearing the family trousers. Father, coming suddenly to life again, often begins to assert himself. This means trouble, unless the family watches for these tendencies in each other and comes to a friendly agreement about them.

pp. 130-131

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

Therefore, Step Two is the rallying point for all of us. Whether agnostic, atheist, or former believer, we can stand together on this Step. True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith, and every A.A. meeting is an assurance that God will restore us to sanity if we rightly relate ourselves to Him.

p. 33

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

It's easy to feel grateful when we receive a raise, meet the love of our life
or watch our children succeed, but spiritual gratitude is not
circumstantial. It arises from a true knowing that God is our Source.
We can feel thankful for every day, even in the middle of life's
challenges.
--Mary Manin Morrissey

"Life Is A Challenge - Meet it!
Life Is A Song - Sing It!
Life Is A Dream - Realize It!
Life Is A Game - Play It!
Life Is Love - Enjoy It!" --
--Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

God's love freely gives me, blessings, wonders, joys.
--SweetyZee

Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.
--Henry David Thoreau

Praise the young and they will flourish.
--Irish Proverb

"Action eradicates fear. No matter what you fear, positive,
self-affirming action can diminish or completely cancel that which you
are fearful of."
--Mark Victor Hansen

"All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical
rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are
blooming outside our windows today."
--Dale Carnegie

"You had better live your best and act your best and think your best
today; for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other
tomorrows that follow."
--Harriet Martineau

My drunkalog can be summed up very simply . . . "Nothing went the way
I planned."
--unknown

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

WAR

"War is only a cowardly escape
from the problems of peace."
--Thomas Mann

Sometimes it is easier to attack than it is to discuss and seek harmony. It
is easier to lash out, hurt, maim or destroy than it is to listen, forgive,
understand and reconcile. Violence is so often the cowardly way out.

The sadness for our society is that war and violence are often presented
as manly or heroic. Our modern heroes so often carry weapons rather
than the olive branch. Surrender is seen as cowardice. Gentleness is
seen as weakness. The diplomat is seen as the schemer.

My recovery teaches me that nothing is gained by acts of violence,
whereas in the atmosphere of peace, God and man can be reconciled.

Give me the courage to surrender on a daily basis and bring harmony
into my world.

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

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD
require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with
your God."
Micah 6:8

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
Proverbs 15:1

"This is the day which the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in
it."
Psalms, 118:24

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
Ephesians 6:12 -13

The steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting.
Psalm 103:17

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

Daily Inspiration

It takes far less effort to concentrate on one thought at a time and usually eliminates the confusion we often create for ourselves. Lord, I pray for clarity of thought and the wisdom that it brings.

When we become aware that we possess all the spiritual treasures necessary for a productive and happy life, we will never want for anything. Lord, You are a limitless source of abundance and love.

[bluidkiti]

May 5

Daily Reflections

THE FOREST AND THE TREES

. . . . what comes to us alone may be garbled by our own
rationalization and wishful thinking. The benefit of talking
to another person is that we can get his direct comment and
counsel on our situation. . . . .
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 60

I cannot count the times when I have been angry and frustrated
and said to myself, "I can't see the forest for the trees!" I
finally realized that what I needed when I was in such pain was
someone who could guide me in separating the forest and the
trees; who could suggest a better path to follow; who could
assist me in putting out fires; and help me avoid the rocks and
pitfalls.
I ask God, when I'm in the forest, to give me the courage to
call upon a member of A.A.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I had to show off and boast so that people would think I
amounted to something, when, of course, both they and I knew
that I really didn't amount to anything. I didn't fool anybody.
Although I've been sober for quite a while, the old habit of
building myself up is still with me. I still have a tendency to
think too well of myself and to pretend to be more than I really
am. Am I always in danger of becoming conceited just because
I'm sober?

Meditation For The Day

I cannot ascertain the spiritual with my intellect. I can only
do it by my own faith and spiritual faculties. I must think of
God more with my heart than with my head. I can breathe in God's
very spirit in the life around me. I can keep my eyes turned
toward the good things in the world. I am shut up in a box of
space and time, but I can open a window in that box by faith.
I can empty my mind of all the limitations of material things.
I can sense the Eternal.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that whatever is good I may have. I pray that I may
leave to God the choice of what good will come to me.

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

As Bill Sees It

Look Beyond The Horizon, p. 125

My workshop stands on a hill back of our home. Looking over the
valley, I see the village community house where our local group
meets. Beyond the circle of my horizon lies the whole world of A.A.

<< << << >> >> >>

The unity of A.A. is the most cherished quality our Society has. Our
lives, the lives of all to come, depend squarely upon it. Without unity,
the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; our world arteries would no
longer carry the life-giving grace of God.

1. A.A. Today, p. 7
2. 12 & 12, p. 129

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

Walk in Dry Places

Tough Honesty? Honesty
The term tough love came into use to describe an attitude that aims to correct bad behavior by refusing to indulge or enable it. In the same way, we must recognize that there's such a thing as tough honesty when situations require us to deal with unpleasant facts.
One employer liked to compliment his subordinates even for work that he actually considered substandard. Later on, however, he would express his real opinions to an intermediate supervisor, who would then be forced to convey the bad news to the workers involved. The employer thought he was being kind, when he was actually being deceptive and treacherous simply because he wanted to be liked.
We have a moral obligation to practice though honesty whenever it is required, if something unacceptable needs to be dealt with, we must do so in a timely manner..... Taking care to be as reasonable and fair as possible in stating our case.
Being honest in this way with others is also a reminder that we should always be honest with ourselves.
Today I'll face the need for real honest whenever it's required. I'll be upfront with myself and others about anything that must be faced and dealt with. I will not use supposed kindness as an excuse for bearing false witness.

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

Keep It Simple

Forgiveness is all-powerful. Forgiveness heals all ills.---Catherine Ponder
We need to forgive so we can heal. Forgiveness means not wanting to get even. Forgiveness means letting go of self-will. Anger and hate are forms of self-will take up room in our heart. Yet, a still, small voice inside of us wants to forgive. Just as others have forgiven us, we need to forgive them. When we forgive, we give our will to our Higher Power. When we forgive, we make room in our heart for our Higher Power. By giving up our anger and our hate, we let that still, small voice come through a little louder. This is how we heal. This is why forgiving is so powerful for us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me let go of self-will. Help me forgive people.
Action for the Day: I will list any anger or hate I have. I will think about how this gets in my way, and I'll pray to have this removed.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

. . . it is a peaceful thing to be one succeeding. --Gertrude Stein
Success is at hand. While we read these words, we are experiencing it. At this very instant, our commitment to recovery is a sign of success, and we feel peace each time we let go of our struggle, turning to another for help, for direction. Because we strive only for perfection, we recognize nothing less; we block our awareness of the ordinary successes that are ours again and again. Thus, the serenity the program promises us eludes us. But we are succeeding. Every day that we are abstinent, we succeed.
We can think of the times--perhaps only yesterday--when we listened to a friend in need, or finished a task that was nagging at us. Maybe we made an appointment to begin a project we've been putting off. Success is taking positive action, nothing more.
Many of us, in our youth, were taught that success only came in certain shapes and sizes. And we felt like failures. We need new definitions; it's time to discard the old. Luckily for us, the program offers us new ones.
Every person, every situation, can add to my success today. My attitude can help someone else succeed, too.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

Drinking isolates most homes from the outside world. Father may have laid aside for years all normal activities—clubs, civic duties, sports. When he renews interest in such things, a feeling of jealousy may arise. The family may feel they hold a mortgage on dad, so big that no equity should be left for outsiders. Instead of developing new channels of activity for themselves, mother and children demand that he stay home and make up the deficiency.

p. 131

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

Practicing Step Three is like the opening of a door which to all appearances is still closed and locked. All we need is a key, and the decision to swing the door open. There is only one key, and it is called willingness. Once unlocked by willingness, the door opens almost of itself, and looking through it, we shall see a pathway beside which is an inscription. It reads: "This is the way to a faith that works." In the first two Steps we were engaged in reflection. We saw that we were powerless over alcohol, but we also perceived that faith of some kind, if only in A.A. itself, is possible to anyone. These conclusions did not require action; they required only acceptance.

p. 34

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

"'I always remember the friendliness and kindness and closeness we all
felt. Later, I could go anyplace in the whole United States and find a
friend in A.A.'"
--Henrietta D.

"Gratitude is the heart's memory."
--French Proverb

For all my good intentions, there are days when things go wrong or I fall
into old habits. When things are not going well, when I'm grumpy or
mad, I'll realize that I've not been paying attention to my soul and I've
not been following my best routine.
--Robert Fulghum

The best gifts to give:
To your friend - loyalty;
To your enemy - forgiveness;
To your boss - service;
To a child - a good example;
To your parents - gratitude and devotion;
To your mate - love and faithfulness;
To all men and women - love;
To God - your life.
--Author Unknown

"Everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time, but
unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we
are not a complete person."

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

HOPE

"Hope is the pillar that holds up
the world. Hope is the dream of
the working man."
--Pliny the Elder

I look at the world and I discover an order, a pattern to life, a balance
within the system. I do not believe in a God of chaos. I find a spiritual
stability in creation. Night follows day; people, regardless of culture or
creed, are remarkably similar in feelings and needs; death makes way
for life. The God who created this world has given the seeds of hope
within the living of life. I am the key to the understanding of the
universe.

In this observation I find hope. If I continue to go with the flow of life, I
will find peace and stability. It is only when I fight the system that I
experience pain.

May the God of order and stability continue to bring balance into my life
by the spiritual changes I continue to make.

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

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I
press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called
me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:13-14

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Philippians 4:4

"Come near to God and he will come near to you."
James 4:8a

"To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; Let me
not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me."
Psalm 25:1-2

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in
me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

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

Daily Inspiration

To become more efficient and happier, daily spend some quiet time with God and with yourself. Lord, what joy it is to know that You will listen.

What we endure in this life is nothing compared to the glory that God has in store for us in heaven. Lord, take every moment of my life as a prayer to praise and glorify Your holy name.

[bluidkiti]

May 6

Daily Reflections

"HOLD BACK NOTHING"

The real tests of the situation are your own willingness to
confide and your full confidence in the one with whom you
you share your first accurate self-survey. . . . Provided
you hold back nothing, your sense of relief will mount from
minute to minute. The dammed-up emotions of years break
out of their confinement, and miraculously vanish as soon
as they are exposed. As the pain subsides, a healing
tranquility takes its place.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS p. 61-62,

A tiny kernel of locked-in feelings began to unfold when I
first attended A.A. meetings and self-knowledge then became
a learning task for me. This new self-understanding brought
about a change in my responses to life's situations. I
realized I had the right to make choices in my life, and
the inner dictatorship of habits slowly lost its grip.
I believe that if I seek God I can find a better way to
live and I ask Him daily to assist me in living a sober
life.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I've noticed that the ones who do the most for A.A. are not
in the habit of boasting about it. The danger of building
myself up too much is that, if I do, I'm in danger of having
a fall. That pattern of thought goes with drinking. If one
side of a boat gets too far up out of the water, it's liable
to tip over. Building myself up and drinking go together.
One leads to the other. So if I'm going to stay sober, I've
got to keep small. Have I got the right perspective on myself?

Meditation For The Day

The way sometimes seems long and weary. So many people today
are weary. The weariness of others must often be shared by me.
The weary and the heavy laden, when they come to me, should
be helped to find the rest that I have found. There is only
one sure cure for world-weariness and that is turning to
spiritual things. In order to help bring about the turning
of the weary world to God, I must dare to suffer, dare to
conquer selfishness in myself, and dare to be filled with
spiritual peace in the face of all the weariness of the
world.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be a help to discouraged people. I pray
that I may have the courage to help bring about what the
weary world needs but does not know how to get.

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

As Bill Sees It

"Admitted to God . . .", p. 126

Provided you hold back nothing in taking the Fifth Step, your sense of
relief will mount from minute to minute. The dammed-up emotions of
years break out of their confinement, and miraculously vanish as soon
as they are exposed. As the pain subsides, a healing tranquility takes
its place. And when humility and serenity are so combined, something
else of great moment is apt to occur.

Many an A.A., once agnostic or atheist, tells us that it was during this
stage of Step Five that he first actually felt the presence of God.
And even those who already had faith often become conscious of God
as they never were before.

12 & 12, p. 62

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

Walk in Dry Places

Dealing with Fear____ Challenges
Some of us suffer from a free-floating anxiety that is like a general fear, while others have specific fears that cause distress. Sometimes the specific fears are easier to face, because they can at least be identified. Most of us dread that other kind--- a sort of general apprehension that things are not well or that something very bad is about to happen.
It's reasonable to have some fear when facing trouble or risk. It's unreasonable, however, to let fear keep us from acting in our own best interests. A review of the past may show that may of us did that while drinking-- and brought even more calamities upon ourselves.
Whatever the fear, the answer is always the same. We must apply our principles to the problem, take ay reasonable action and then place the outcome in God's hands. No person can do more than this.
This will not bring permanent victory over fear. It will however, give us confidence in the program as a tool for dealing with fears that arise in the future.
I may have to deal with fear today, but I will accept it as part of the human condition. I know that I have great spiritual resources to deal with any fear that might arise, and this gives me confidence and reassurance.

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

Keep It Simple

Anyone who follows a middle course is called a sage.--- Maimonides
Much of the wisdom of our program is about how to live in the middle. We learn how to pause and think before we act. We ask, "What is the best way to handle this?" We look for the smooth part of the road. Our actions tell us who we are. We listen to our actions, and we think about them. This listening and thinking takes time. This slows us down. It's good for us. It gives us time to talk with our Higher Power. After all, we want our actions to come from the new values our Higher Power has given us. Thus, over time we act and feel wiser. The wisdom of the program becomes part of who we are.
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I I don't get caught up in the rush of the day. Higher Power, teach me to stop and think, to seek Your wisdom.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll set aside time to think, meditate, and be alone. I will listen to what's inside me.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

I stand before you as a tower of strength, the weight of the world on my shoulders. As you pass through my life, look, but not too close, for I fear I will expose the vulnerable me. --Deidra Sarault
Vulnerability is as much a part of being human as is strength. Our vulnerability prevents our strength from becoming hard, brittle, self-serving. Our soft edges invite others' openness and their expressions of love.
We learned long ago to be "strong." We were encouraged to need no help, to need nobody. Now, we struggle to ask for help. As we grow in understanding of our human needs, and as we become more aware of the spiritual help available, the difficulty of reaching out to others is eased.
No longer need we look to pills, booze, food, or lovers for strength. All the strength we'll ever need is as close as our thoughts. At this moment, we are a tower of strength, not one weighted with burdens. Rather, our strength is a gift of our connection to a spiritual power that can free us from all the troubles we shoulder. Our vulnerable selves will open our souls to the flood of strength just waiting for our prayers.
I will be as strong as I need to be, when I tap the spiritual source that awaits my call. I will risk my vulnerable self today.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

At the very beginning, the couple ought to frankly face the fact that each will have to yield here and there if the family is going to play an effective part in the new life. Father will necessarily spend much time with other alcoholics, but this activity should be balanced. New acquaintances who know nothing of alcoholism might be made and thoughtful considerations given their needs. The problems of the community might engage attention. Though the family has no religious connections, they may wish to make contact with or take membership in a religious body.

p. 131

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

Like all the remaining Steps, Step Three calls for affirmative action, for it is only by action that we can cut away the self-will which has always blocked the entry of God--or, if you like, a Higher Power--into our lives. Faith, to be sure, is necessary, but faith alone can avail nothing. We can have faith, yet keep God out of our lives. Therefore our problem now becomes just how and by what specific means shall we be able to let Him in? Step Three represents our first attempt to do this. In fact, the effectiveness of the whole A.A. program will rest upon how well and earnestly we have tried to come to "a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

pp. 34-35

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

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not
sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."
--Anne Bradstreet

We can find no better insurance policy, than working a diligent
program.
--SweetyZee

Today, I will come back to balance with any need or want that seems
to be controlling my life. Instead of dwelling on it, I'll give it to God
and focus on taking care of myself.
--Melody Beattie

God is the only constant.
--Ruth Casey

At times fear grips me and I can concentrate only on the anxiety.
Then I realize I am in God's care and I need only trust and the fear
subsides.
--Michele Fedderly

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

CHILDLIKE

"In every real man a child is
hidden that wants to play."
--Friedrich Nietzsche

My spiritual program means that I can play and have fun in my life. I
am forty years old and I can still enjoy going on the swings in the park.
But more importantly I have a daily sense of adventure. My eyes light
up as I ask: How? When? Where? These words still dominate my life.

I can still get excited about life; I can still get excited about my life.

God is forever present in His world of color, movement and change.
But for me God is most clearly seen in people. They are a constant
fascination for me. Part of my play involves people-watching and as I
gaze my mouth still opens in amazement. The child in me still enjoys
the world in which I play.

Thank You for toys, people and "difference" because they add color
to my life.

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

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,
and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Galatians 5:1

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use
liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one
another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You
shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour
one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Galatians 5:13-15

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

Daily Inspiration

Each day offers many situations for accomplishment, joy, change and personal growth. Lord, grant me the ability to recognize these moments and the energy to benefit from these daily opportunities.

God knows what is best for you in all matters of your life. Rely on His wisdom. Lord, I place my trust in You because You answer every prayer.

[bluidkiti]

May 7

Daily Reflections

RESPECT FOR OTHERS

Such parts of our story we tell to someone who will understand, yet be
unaffected. The rule is we must be hard on our self, but always
considerate of others.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 74

Respect for others is the lesson that I take out of this passage. I must go
to any lengths to free myself if I wish to find that peace of mind that I
have sought for so long. However, none of this must be done at
another's expense. Selfishness has no place in the A.A. way of life.
When I take the Fifth Step it's wiser to choose a person with whom I
share common aims because if that person does not understand me, my
spiritual progress may be delayed and I could be in danger of a relapse.
So I ask for divine guidance before choosing the man or woman whom I
take into my confidence.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

It's very important to keep in a grateful frame of mind, if we want to
stay sober. We should be grateful that we're living in a day and age
when alcoholics aren't treated as they often used to be treated before
Alcoholics Anonymous was started. In the old days, every town had its
town drunk who was regarded with scorn and ridiculed by the rest of
the townspeople. We have come into A.A. and found all the sympathy,
understanding, and fellowship that we could ask for. There's no other
group like A.A. in the world. Am I grateful?

Meditation For The Day

God takes our efforts for good and blesses them. God needs our efforts.
We need God's blessing. Together, they mean spiritual success. Our
efforts are necessary. We cannot merely relax and drift with the tide.
We must often direct our efforts against the tide of materialism around
us. When difficulties come, our efforts are needed to surmount them. But
God directs our efforts into the right channels and God's power is
necessary to help us choose the right.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may choose the right. I pray that I may have God's blessing
and direction in all my efforts for good.

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

As Bill Sees It

Persistence in Prayer, p. 127

We often tend to slight serious meditation and prayer as something
not really necessary. To be sure, we feel it is something that might
help us to meet an occasional emergency, but at first many of us are
apt to regard it as a somewhat mysterious skill of clergymen, from
which we may hope to get a secondhand benefit.

<< << << >> >> >>

In A.A. we have found that the actual good results of prayer are
beyond question. They are matters of knowledge and experience.
All those who have persisted have found strength not ordinarily their
own. They have found wisdom beyond their usual capability. And
they have increasingly found a peace of mind which can stand firm in
the face of difficult circumstances.

12 & 12
1. p. 96
2. p. 104

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

Walk in Dry Places

Did I have a dysfunctional family?
Healing the Past.
We hear much about the long-term effects of growing up in a dysfunctional family. Many alcoholics, in fact, have bitter memories of their own parents' drinking, and may feel this caused needless deprivation and misery.
Whether our families were dysfunctional or not, we must agree that most of our parents did the best they could. We cannot bring back the past---- nor can they, ----and it is best released, forgiven, and forgotten. Our wisest course is to use the tools of the program to reach the maturity and well-being that will bring happiness into our own lives. This will not happen, however, if we believe that growing up in a dysfunctional home has left us permanently impaired.
In our fellowship, we can find endless examples of people who used the Twelve Steps to overcome all kinds of emotional and physical disabilities. Just when we start thinking something in our past is a permanent handicap, we meet other people who survived the same bitter experiences and are living life to the fullest. They've cleared away the wreckage of their past in order to build wisely for the future.
I'll remember today that I am not bound or limited by anything that was ever done or said to me. I face the day with self-confidence and a sense of expectancy, knowing that I am really a fortunate person with many reasons to be grateful.

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

Keep It Simple

So live that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.---Will Rogers
Secrets help keep us sick. In our drinking and using days, we did things we weren't proud of. We lived in a secret world we were ashamed of. This part of the power of addiction. Our behavior and our secrets kept us trapped. Recovery offers us a way out of this secret world. In our groups, we share our secrets, and they lose their power over us. There may be things we're too ashamed to talk about in our groups. When we share these things in our Fifth Step, they lose their power over us.
We have a new life that we're not ashamed to talk about. When shame leaves, pride enters our hearts. We know we're good people!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me live a good life.
Action for the Day: Do I have any secrets that get in my way? Do I need to do a Fifth Step? If so, I'll pick a date---today.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

We tend to think of the rational as a higher order, but it is the emotional that marks our lives. One often learns more from ten days of agony than from ten years of contentment. --Merle Shain
Pain stretches us. It pushes us toward others. It encourages us to pray. It invites us to rely on many resources, particularly those within.
We develop our character while handling painful times. Pain offers wisdom. It prepares us to help other women whose experiences repeat our own. Our own pain offers us the stories that help another who is lost and needs our guidance.
When we reflect on our past for a moment, we can recall the pain we felt last month or last year; the pain of a lost love, or the pain of no job and many bills; perhaps the pain of children leaving home, or the death of a near and dear friend. It might have seemed to us that we couldn't cope. But we did, somehow, and it felt good. Coping strengthened us.
What we forget, even now, is that we need never experience a painful time alone. The agony that accompanies a wrenching situation is dissipated as quickly and as silently as the entrance of our higher power, when called upon.
I long for contentment. And I deserve those times. But without life's pain I would fail to recognize the value of contentment.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

Alcoholics who have derided religious people will be helped by such contacts. Being possessed of a spiritual experience, the alcoholic will find he has much in common with these people, though he may differ with them on many matters. If he does not argue about religion, he will make new friends and is sure to find new avenues of usefulness and pleasure. He and his family can be a bright spot in such congregations. He may bring new hope and new courage to many a priest, minister, or rabbi, who gives his all to minister to our troubled world. We intend the foregoing as a helpful suggestion only. So far as we are concerned, there is nothing obligatory about it. As non-denominational people, we cannot make up others’ minds for them. Each individual should consult his own conscience.

pp. 131-132

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

To every worldly and practical-minded beginner, this Step looks hard, even impossible. No matter how much one wishes to try, exactly how can he turn his own will and his own life over to the care of whatever God he thinks there is? Fortunately, we who have tried it, and with equal misgivings, can testify that anyone, anyone at all, can begin to
do it. We can further add that a beginning, even the smallest, is all that is needed. Once we have placed the key of willingness in the lock and have the door ever so slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more. Though self-will may slam it shut again, as it frequently does, it will always respond the moment we again pick up the key of willingness.

p. 35

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

Whoever seeks God . . . has already found God.

"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age,
which means never losing your enthusiasm."
--Aldous Huxley

"A happy life is made up of little things . . . a gift sent, a letter written, a
call made, a recommendation given, transportation provided, a cake
made, a book lent, a check sent."
--Carol Holmes

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by
the attitude you bring to life."
--John Homer Miller

We need to let the old go, so the new can emerge.
--Peggy Bassett

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

SUCCESS

"There is no failure except in no
longer trying."
--Elbert Hubbard

I produced the failure in my life. For years I would blame everything and
everyone - my parents, the job, my health, low income, a cruel world,
thoughtless friends, the weather! Today I am able to own my failures
because they are mine.

Today I am also able to see my successes - and this makes me a winner.
I am able to see the things that I have achieved, the character defects I
have confronted, the happiness that comes with an acceptance of self.

I may not be perfect but I am certainly not worthless. I may make
mistakes but I am not evil. I have a heart that needs to love and also
needs to be loved. Today I am able to reveal my vulnerability and
discover its strength.

This underling is learning how to fly.

Master, may I continue to seek Your power and glory in my life.

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

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light
shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting
away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what
is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

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

Daily Inspiration

Right now is a good time to free yourself of the burden of that which needs to be done, but has been put off. Lord, little by little, help me remove my procrastinations so that I can fully live in the present.

Live a God-filled life and it will be only natural that you will express enthusiasm for life, joy, laughter and happiness. Lord, may the way I live always express my love for You.

[bluidkiti]

May 8

Daily Reflections

A RESTING PLACE

All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural
desires . . . they all deflate our egos. When it comes to ego
deflation, few Steps are harder to take than Five. But scarcely
any Step is more necessary to longtime sobriety and peace of
mind than this one.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 55

After writing down my character defects, I was unwilling to
talk about them, and decided it was time to stop carrying this
burden alone. I needed to confess those defects to someone else.
I had read - and been told - I could not stay sober unless I
did. Step Five provided me with a feeling of belonging, with
humility and serenity when I practiced it in my daily living.
It was important to admit my defects of character in the order
presented in Step Five: "to God, to ourselves and to another
human being." Admitting to God first paved the way for admission
to myself and to another person . As the taking of the Step is
described, a feeling of being at one with God and my fellow man
brought me to a resting place where I could prepare myself for
the remaining Steps toward a full and meaningful sobriety.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I'm grateful that I found a program in A.A. that could keep me
sober. I'm grateful that A.A. has shown me the way to faith in
a Higher Power, because the renewing of that faith has changed
my way of life. And I've found a happiness and contentment that
I had forgotten existed, by simply believing in God and trying
to live the kind of a life that I know He wants me to live. As
long as I stay grateful, I'll stay sober. Am I in a grateful
frame of mind?

Meditation For The Day

God can work through you better when you are not hurrying. Go
very slowly, very quietly, from one duty to the next, taking
time to rest and pray between. Do not be too busy. Take
everything in order. Venture often into the rest of God and
you will find peace. At work that results from resting with
God is good work. Claim the power to work miracles in human
lives. Know that you can do many things through the Higher
Power. Know that you can do good things through God who rests
you and gives you strength. Partake regularly of rest and
prayer.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not be in too much of a hurry. I pray that
I may take time out often to rest with God.

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

As Bill Sees It

Back To Work, p. 128

It is possible for us to use the alleged dishonesty of other people as a
plausible excuse for not meeting our own obligations.

Once, some prejudiced friends exhorted me never to go back to Wall
Street. They were sure that the rampant materialism and
double-dealing down there would stunt my spiritual growth. Because
this sounded so high-minded, I continued to stay away from the only
business that I knew.

When, finally, my household went broke, I realized I hadn't been able
to face the prospect of going back to work. So I returned to Wall
Street, and I have ever since been glad that I did. I needed to
rediscover that there are many fine people in New York's financial
district. Then, too, I needed the experience of staying sober in the
very surroundings where alcohol had cut me down.

A Wall Street business trip to Akron, Ohio, first brought me face to
face with Dr. Bob. So the birth of A.A. hinged on my effort to meet
my bread-and-butter responsibilities.

Grapevine, August 1961

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

Walk in Dry Places

Regrets over roads not taken
Releasing the past.
Looking back, every one of us can point to moment when we made choices that helped set the course of our lives. It’s easy to waste time and energy wondering what our lives would have been like if other choices had been made at these critical points.
Such thinking is mostly a waste of time and may reflect dissatisfaction with our lives today. Whatever our past mistakes, the decisions we made that brought us sobriety were the correct ones. Realizing this, many of us even come to feel gratitude for the problem that brought us into the program.
We are never able to say with certainty that different choices made earlier in life would have been better in the long run. Bill W., an AA co-founder, said that a business setback moved him to make the calls that led him to Dr. Bob, the other co-founder. Had his business venture succeeded, it’s doubtful that Bill would have been thinking about helping another alcoholic.
The best choice any of us can make is to turn such maters and questions over to our Higher Power. We have a duty to do the best we can with today’s opportunities and conditions.
I'll live today in the present. The good experiences from the past are always with me, and I can benefit from any lessons learned by my mistakes.

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

Keep It Simple

The only way to speak truth is to speak lovingly.---Thoreau
Recovery teaches us to tell the truth. We must be honest if we want to save our lives. We must learn to speak with care---care for ourselves and for others. To be honest means to speak in a fair and truthful way. To be honest and loving means learning when to speak, and how to speak, in a caring way. We can help others by honestly telling them what we think and feel and see---but only when we do this with love. We must be careful when we speak. Speaking the truth is like using a sharp knife---it can be used for good, or it can be used to hurt others. We should never handle it carelessly of use it to hurt someone.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know the truth. Help me speak the truth to others with love.
Action for the Day: I'll make a list of three times I've hurt someone be being honest, but not with love. I'll also list three times I've helped someone by being truthful, with love.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

The battle to keep up appearances unnecessarily, the mask--whatever name you give creeping perfectionism--robs us of our energies. --Robin Worthington
How familiar we are with trying to be women other than ourselves; ones more exciting, we think, or sexier, or smarter. We have probably devoted a great deal of energy to this over the years. It's likely that we are growing more content with ourselves now. However, aren't there still situations in which we squirm, both because we want to project a different image, and because we resent our desire to do so?
We each have been blessed with unique qualities. There is no other woman just like ourselves. We each have special features that are projected in only one way, the way we alone project them.
Knowing that we are perfect as we are is knowledge that accompanies recovery. How much easier life is, how much more can be gained from each moment, when we meet each experience in the comfort of our real selves. The added gift of simply being ourselves is that we'll really hear, see, and understand others for the first time in our lives.
I can only fully focus on one thing, one person at a time. I will free my focus from myself today and be filled up by my experiences with others.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

We have been speaking to you of serious, sometimes tragic things. We have been dealing with alcohol in its worst aspect. But we aren’t a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor do we carry the world’s troubles on our shoulders. When we see a man sinking into the mire that is alcoholism, we give him first aid and place what we have at his disposal. For his sake, we do recount and almost relive the horrors of our past. But those of us who have tried to shoulder the entire burden and trouble of others find we are soon overcome by them.

p. 132

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

Maybe this all sounds mysterious and remote, something like Einstein's theory of relativity or a proposition in nuclear physics. It isn't at all. Let's look at how practical it actually is. Every man and woman who has joined A.A. and intends to stick has, without realizing it, made a beginning on Step Three. Isn't it true that in all matters touching upon alcohol, each of them has decided to turn his or her life over to the care, protection, and guidance of Alcoholics Anonymous? Already a willingness has been achieved to cast out one's own will and one's own ideas about the alcohol problem in favor of those suggested by A.A. Any willing newcomer feels sure A.A. is the only safe harbor for the foundering vessel he has become. Now if this is not turning one's will and life over to a newfound Providence, then what is it?

p. 35

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

Remember To Live Your Life Today
Today is a beautiful day to be alive, to be the person you are. A beautiful
day, simply, to be. Don't waste energy trying to possess or control. Don't
let yourself be burdened by things that have happened in the past. Don't
worry about being "right," or about impressing anyone.
Focus instead on creating things that have never before existed. On
adding value to the lives of others. On finding ways to express the unique
person that you are. Feel good by simply deciding to, rather than by
abusing yourself or others. Look at everything that happens as an
opportunity for growth.
Accept and be thankful for the abundance that is yours. Dust off your
dreams and find a way to follow them. Life is precious and beautiful.
Every breath you take is an opportunity to live life to the fullest.
--Ralph S. Marston, Jr.

"Today, I will relax. I am being prepared. I can let go of timing. I can stop manipulating outcomes. Good things will happen when the time is right, and they will happen naturally."
--Melody Beattie

"We find comfort among those who agree with us; growth among those who don't."
--Frank A. Clark

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

HONESTY

"Where is there dignity unless
there is honesty?"
--Marcus Cicero

The cornerstone of my life today is honesty. It is the quality I most desire
in my life because I believe that with honesty comes a knowledge of God,
self and relationships. It is the key to my recovery from addiction. It is
the key to the meaning of spirituality. Honesty affords me hope for
tomorrow.

As an alcoholic I was a dishonest man. I was not just dishonest because
I told lies and manipulated the truth, I was dishonest because I refused
to risk the journey into self. My dishonesty was not about what I said but
what I did not say! Not so much about what I did but what I did not do.
My dishonesty stopped me from discovering my God-given dignity.

Today I risk the journey into self and I am discovering more about God
"as I understand Him". My level of honesty helps me to be happy and
relaxed with who I am today.

"Be still and know that I am God." In the silence of self-honesty may I
know myself.

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

O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.
Psalm 30:2

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God.
Philippians 4:6

. . .the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace."
Romans 8:6

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

Daily Inspiration

When we want things around us to change, the best place to start in within ourselves. Lord, grant that my frustrations can be a motivation to better myself and my environment.

Tragedy and suffering often opens the soul to the heights of spiritual growth. Lord, let the hardships of my life be my prayer and work to draw You closer and closer.

[bluidkiti]

May 9

Daily Reflections

WALKING THROUGH FEAR

If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us
be willing.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76

When I had taken my Fifth Step, I became aware that all my defects
of character stemmed from my need to feel secure and loved. To use
my will alone to work on them would have been trying obsessively to
solve the problem. In the Sixth Step I intensified the action I had
taken in the first three Steps -- meditating on the Step by saying it over and
over, going to meetings, following my sponsor's suggestions, reading
and searching within myself. During the first three years of sobriety I
had a fear of entering an elevator alone. One day I decided I must
walk through this fear. I asked for God's help, entered the elevator, and
there in the corner was a lady crying. She said that since her husband
had died she was deathly afraid of elevators. I forgot my fear and
comforted her. This spiritual experience helped me to see how
willingness was the key to working the rest of the Twelve Steps to
recovery. God helps those who help themselves.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

We alcoholics used so little self-control when we were drinking, we
were so absolutely selfish, that it does us good to give up something
once in a while. Using self-discipline and denying ourselves a few
things is good for us. At first, giving up liquor is a big enough job for
all of us, even with God's help. But later on, we can practice
self-discipline in other ways to keep a firm grip on our minds so that
we don't start any wishful thinking. If we daydream too much, we'll be
in danger of slipping. Am I practicing enough self-discipline?

Meditation For The Day

In material things, you must rely on your own wisdom and that of
others. In spiritual things, you cannot rely so much on your own
wisdom as on God's guidance. In dealing with personalities, it is a
mistake to step out too much on your own. You must try to be guided
by God in all human relationships. You cannot accomplish much of
value in dealing with people until God knows you are ready. You alone
do not have the power or wisdom to put things right between people.
You must rely on God to help you in these vital matters.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may rely on God in dealing with people's problems. I pray
that I may try to follow His guidance in all personal relationships.

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

As Bill Sees It

The Way Of Strength, p. 129

We need not apologize to anyone for depending upon the Creator.
We have good reason to disbelieve those who think spirituality is the
way of weakness. For us, it is the way of strength.

The verdict of the ages is that men of faith seldom lack courage.
They trust their God. So we never apologize for our belief in Him.
Instead, we try to let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 68

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

Walk in Dry Places

The Importance of Hope
Maintaining Optimism.
As a great virtue, hope is ranked with faith and love. But those of us caught in the thicket of alcoholism and other addictions had much experience with hopes that turned out to be merely cruel illusions. In recovery, however, hope has a sound purpose. It is really a form of optimism, an underlying belief that things will work out in spite of the obstacles and problems we face. This helps provide the strength and energy we need to succeed in the face of opposition and setbacks.
We also own much of our recovery to the capacity for hope that was in our friends and family members. Henrietta D... wife of AA member Number three, told an interviewer that she had never lost hope that her husband would eventually recover. She saw it as the answer to her hope and prayers when Bill W. and Dr. Bob arrived at her husband's bedside in Akron's City Hospital... an when he left, he never drank again.
Hope is the optimism that keeps us moving toward our highest good. Let's keep it alive.
I'll face my day with the underlying belief that things will work out in the long run. I'll refuse to be overwhelmed by temporary setbacks.

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

Keep It Simple

The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.---Frank Lloyd Wright
For many for us, life was a burden while using alcohol and other drugs. As our illness went on, life was more ugly. We grew further from our friends, family, and Higher Power. In recovery, our eyes and hearts open a little more each day. We see the beauty that life holds. We now see the beauty that life holds. We now see that before recovery, we weren’t living---we were dying. In recovery, we again feel happy when we hold a baby. We again may feel joy when we see a sunset. This happens mainly because we've chosen to be with people who love life, people who've been given a second chance. Once we've almost lost something important, it becomes more precious. We almost lost our lives. Now our lives are special.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thank-you for a second chance. Thank-you for opening my eyes and heart. Give me the strength to keep them open.
Action for the Day: I'll list the most beautiful parts of my life. I'll open my heart today to the joy in store for me.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

To expect too much is to have a sentimental view of life, and this is a softness that ends in bitterness. --Flannery O'Connor
Having too high expectations is a set-up for disappointment. Expectations that are high lend themselves to a fantasy life, and reality can never match our fantasies. When we get hooked on the fantasies, somehow thinking they are reality, or should be reality, we are vulnerable to the hurt that accompanies the emergence of "the real." Then we feel cheated--bitter: "Why did this have to happen to me?"
Having too high expectations was a familiar feeling before recovery. And it remains familiar to us, even now. Dreams and aspirations aren't wrong. In fact, they beckon us on to better and greater things. But dreams of what we can become through responsible choices are quite different from idle expectations of what will or should be.
Every moment of every day opens the way to my aspirations that enhance reality. I will be open and receptive to reality and its gifts.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

So we think cheerfulness and laughter make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes shocked when we bust into merriment over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn’t we laugh? We have recovered, and have been given the power to help others.

p. 132

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

But suppose that instinct still cries out, as it certainly will, "Yes, respecting alcohol, I guess I have to be dependent upon A.A., but in all other matters I must still maintain my independence. Nothing is going to turn me into a nonentity. If I keep on turning my life and my will over to the care of Something or Somebody else, what will become of me? I'll look like the hole in the doughnut." This, of course, is the process by which instinct and logic always seek to bolster egotism, and so frustrate spiritual development. The trouble is that this kind of thinking takes no real account of the facts. And the facts seem to be these: The more we become willing to depend upon a Higher Power, the more independent we actually are. Therefore dependence, as A.A. practices it, is really a means of gaining true independence of the spirit.

pp. 35-36

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

Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.
--Mary McLeod Bethune

"God's strength behind you, His concern for you, His love within you,
and His arms beneath you are more than sufficient for the job ahead
of you."
--William Arthur Ward

True happiness is not in having everything you want, but in wanting
everything you have.

"Some days I trudge. Some days I trot. But most days I enjoy the
journey."

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.
Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to
keep your mind young."
--Henry Ford

"I know some good marriages - marriages where both people are just
trying to get through their days by helping each other, being good to
each other."
--Erica Jong

Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store nor under a tree,
but in the hearts of true friends.
--Cindy Lew

All yesterdays are canceled, and tomorrow is but a speculation, today
is the day God has made.
--SweetyZee

Practicing being in service takes the focus off ourselves and looks for
how we might help others. When we feel grateful, we naturally want
to share ourselves and our good fortune. Then we find that being in
service only increases our gratitude and joy.
--Mary Manin Morrissey

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

POETRY

"Poetry is the rhythmical
creation of beauty in words."
--Edgar Allan Poe

Language helps us to understand and communicate. Poetry adds the
dimension of "shape" and "movement". Poetry seems to go beyond
words and ideas to the very essence of what life is about; it hints at
divinity!

When I was drinking, I never understood the art of poetry. Today I
use poetry as part of my adventure into meaning and self-knowledge.

So much more is open to me in sobriety, and I am able to appreciate
things I never used to comprehend. Poetry is part of "it gets better".

Help me to seek You through all aspects of art.

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

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

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
this he will also reap.
Galatians 6:7

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

Daily Inspiration

You can become more peaceful and a more interesting person by having a healthy attitude and accepting your responsibilities. Lord, help me to remember that life is what we make of it.

Take less for granted and you will become very busy enjoying all that you have. Lord, thank you for my blessings and for all those that I am able to share them with.

[bluidkiti]

May 10

Daily Reflections

FREE AT LAST

Another great dividend we may expect from confiding our defects
to another human being is humility - a word often
misunderstood. . . . it amounts to a clear recognition of
what and who we really are, followed by a sincere attempt to
become what we could be.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 58

I knew deep inside that if I were ever to be joyous, happy and
free, I had to share my past life with some other individual.
The joy and relief I experienced after doing so were beyond
description. Almost immediately after taking the Fifth Step,
I felt free from the bondage of self and the bondage of
alcohol. That freedom remains after 36 years, a day at a
time. I found that God could do for me what I couldn't do
for myself.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

One thing that keeps me sober is a feeling of loyalty to the
other members of the group. I know I'd be letting them down
if I ever took a drink. When I was drinking, I wasn't loyal
to anybody. I should have been loyal to my family, but I
wasn't. I let them down by my drinking. When I came into
A.A., I found a group of people who were not only helping
each other to stay sober, but who were loyal to each other
by staying sober themselves. Am I loyal to my group?

Meditation For The Day

Calmness is constructive of good. Agitation is destructive
of good. I should not rush into action. I should first "be
still and know that He is God." Then I should act only as
God directs me through my conscience. Only trust, perfect
trust in God, can keep me calm when all around me are
agitated. Calmness is trust in action. I should seek all
things that can help me to cultivate calmness. To attain
material things, the world learns to attain speed. To
attain spiritual things, I have to learn to attain a state
of calm.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may learn how to have inner peace. I pray that
I may be calm, so that God can work through me.

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

As Bill Sees It

Our Problem Centers In The Mind, p. 130

We know that as long as the alcoholic keeps away from drink, he
usually reacts much like other men. We are equally positive that
once he takes any alcohol whatever into his system, something
happens, in both the bodily and the mental sense, which makes it
virtually impossible for him to stop. The experience of any alcoholic
will abundantly confirm this.

These observations would be academic and pointless if our friend
never took the first drink, thereby setting the terrible cycle in
motion. Therefore, the main problem of the alcoholic centers in his
mind, rather than in his body.

Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 22-23

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

Walk In Dry Places

Doing the impossible things
Achievements.
One of our friends became critical of our AA group, suggesting that we were limiting ourselves by focusing solely on recovery when so many other accomplishments waited on the horizon. After all, isn't it written that "with God, all things are possible?"
It is indeed true that we should place no limits at all on our Higher Power. Even nonbelievers will admit that nature and the universe show power and intelligence that are far beyond our understanding.
What limits us is our own ability to receive and use our Higher Power in proper ways. Even if our journey in the program gives us boundless self-confidence, we must always deal with our own selfish tendencies and the temptation to seek personal gain rather than personal improvement. Certain kinds of success can be fully as toxic as any drug. Some of us, in fact, can deal with disappointments more effectively than we can with too much success.
The Idea of "doing impossible things" is fully covered in the Steps. We seek knowledge of "God's will for us and the Power to carry that out." This means that we'll find the where-withdrawal to do anything that belongs in our lives. Anything else is needless and perhaps even dangerous.
I'll not feel that I lack faith simply because I haven't been able to reach certain goals. My Higher Power will show me how to balance my life so I can accept what is rightfully mine. There is no need to do the seemingly "impossible" unless it is in the order of things.

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

Keep It Simple

As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.---Andrew Carnegie
Doing something with our lives, not just talking about it, is important. When we were sick with our addiction, what we did was drink or use other drugs. We only talked about what we wanted to do. Now that we are sober, we can really live our lives.
We've already done a lot. we've gotten help for our chemical dependency. We've facing the harm we did to our families. We've let other people into our lives.
Before recovery, we didn't have to tell people we were alcoholics and addicts. Our actions showed it, if people knew what to look for. Now we don't have to tell people we were recovering, because our actions will show it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, let my actions show that I am getting better every day.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll let my actions speak louder than words. I'll do one thing that I have been saying I want to do.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

To wait for someone else, or to expect someone else to make my life richer, or fuller, or more satisfying, puts me in a constant state of suspension; and I miss all those moments that pass. They never come back to be experienced again. --Kathleen Tierney Crilly
The steps we are taking today will never again be taken in exactly the same way. The thoughts we are thinking are fresh, never to be repeated. All that these moments offer will never pass our way again.
We each have to grab our own happiness, create our own richness through experiences. We may share what we capture with loved ones, but like us, they too must search their own avenues for the satisfaction that lasts. We can neither give happiness to another, like a gift, nor expect it in return.
The fullness of life we all long for is the natural byproduct of living every moment as fully as possible. Our higher power will never direct us into waters too deep. When we have willingly turned our lives and our wills over, we'll find an abundance of the rich, the full, the satisfying. Faith in God answers all questions, solves all problems.
I will cherish every moment today. Each one is special and will not visit me again.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

Everybody knows that those in bad health, and those who seldom play, do not laugh much. So let each family play together or separately as much as their circumstances warrant. We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free. We cannot subscribe to the belief that his life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it is clear that we made our own misery. God didn’t do it. Avoid then, the deliberate manufacture of misery, but if trouble comes, cheerfully capitalize it as an opportunity to demonstrate His omnipotence.

pp. 132-133

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

Let's examine for a moment this idea of dependence at the level of everyday living. In this area it is startling to discover how dependent we really are, and how unconscious of that dependence. Every modern house has electric wiring carrying power and light to its interior. We are delighted with this dependence; our main hope is that nothing will ever cut off the supply of current. By so accepting our dependence upon this marvel of science, we find ourselves more independent personally. Not only are we more independent, we are even more comfortable and secure. Power flows just where it is needed. Silently and surely, electricity, that strange energy so few people understand, meets our simplest daily needs, and our most desperate ones, too. Ask the polio sufferer confined to an iron lung who depends with complete trust upon a motor to keep the breath of life in him.

p. 36

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

The bonds of matrimony aren't worth much unless the interest is kept up.
--Cited in Even More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES

No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.
--Eleanor Roosevelt

If I had my life to live over, I'd try to make more mistakes next time. I
would relax, I would limber up, I would be crazier than I've been on this
trip. I know very few things I'd take seriously any more. I'd certainly be
less hygienic... I would take more chances, I would take more trips, I
would scale more mountains, I would swim more rivers, and I would
watch more sunsets. I would eat more ice cream and fewer beans. I
would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones. Oh, I've had
my moments, and if I had to do it all over again, I'd have many more of
them, in fact I'd try not to have anything else, just moments, one after
another, instead of living so many years ahead of my day. If I had it to do
all over again, I'd travel lighter, much lighter than I have. I would start
barefoot earlier in the spring, and I'd stay that way later in the fall. and I
would ride more merry-go-rounds, and catch more gold rings, and greet
more people and pick more flowers and dance more often...
--Jose Luis Borges

"Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift
whatever the day brings forth."
--Horace

Today, I will have some fun with life, with recovery, with people, and
with my day.
--The Language Of Letting Go

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

CREATIVITY

"When one is painting, one does
not think."
--Raphael Sanzio

An artist is predominantly a person who feels rather than thinks; he is
molding his most inner experiences into the finished product.

I am doing the same in my sobriety. Today I am molding something good
and wholesome from a life that was negative and destructive. I am
rediscovering God, not just in thoughts and ideas, but in the daily
happenings of my life. God is not only an idea but He is alive in my
relationships, behavior and daily acts of kindness.

God is a process in which I am involved. He is at the center of my life,
regardless of the ordinariness of the event. Art is part of my life because
I am a creative human being.

Teach me to look beyond the painting into myself.

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

Do everything without complaining or arguing. . .
Phillipians 2:14

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Colossians 4:2

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to
uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time
to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time
to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to
embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a
time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to
mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to
hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

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

Daily Inspiration

If you find only defects when you look into a mirror, you are definitely missing something. Lord, may I take comfort in my good points and use them as a foundation to grow.

God did not talk about how much He loves us. He showed us by sending us His Son. Lord, may I learn to love selflessly and speak through my actions.

[bluidkiti]

May 11

Daily Reflections

A NEW SENSE OF BELONGING

Until we had talked with complete candor of our conflicts, and had
listened to someone else do the same thing, we still didn't belong.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 57

After four years in A.A. I was able to discover the freedom from the
burden of buried emotions that had caused me so much pain. With the
help of A.A., and extra counseling, the pain was released and I felt a
complete sense of belonging and peace. I also felt a joy and a love of
God that I had never experienced before. I am in awe of the power of
Step Five.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

We can depend on those members of any group who have gone all out
for the program. They come to meetings. They work with other
alcoholics. We don't have to worry about their slipping. They're loyal
members of the group. I'm trying to be a loyal member of the group.
When I'm tempted to take a drink, I tell myself that if I did I'd be letting
down the other members who are the best friends I have. Am I going to
let them down, if I can help it?

Meditation For The Day

Wherever there is true fellowship and love between people, God's spirit
is always there as the Divine Third. In all human relationships, the
Divine Spirit is what brings them together. When a life is changed
through the channel of another person, it is God, the Divine Third, who
always makes the change, using the person as a means. The moving
power behind all spiritual things, all personal relationships between
people is God, the Divine Third, who is always there. No personal
relationships can be entirely right without the presence of God's spirit.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be used as a channel by God's spirit. I pray that I may
feel that the Divine Third is always there to help me.

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

As Bill Sees It

Obstacles in Our Path, p. 131

We live in a world riddled with envy. To a greater or lesser degree,
everybody is infected with it. From this defect we must surely get a
warped yet definite satisfaction. Else why would we consume so
much time wishing for what we have not, rather than working for it,
or angrily looking for attributes we shall never have, instead of
adjusting to the fact, and accepting it?

<< << << >> >> >>

Each of us would like to live at peace with himself and with his
fellows. We would like to be assured that the grace of God can do
for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

We have seen that character defects based upon shortsighted or
unworthy desires are the obstacles that block our path toward these
objectives. We now see clearly that we have been making
unreasonable demands upon ourselves, upon others, and upon God.

12 & 12
1. p. 67
2. p. 76

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

Walk in Dry Places

Unfair People
Relations
Now and then, we encounter people who are almost blatant in their unfairness to others. We may make a 200-mile drive to a customer who is completely unprepared to see us, despite having had advanced notice. Or we may have a friend who is openly critical of our shortcomings while completely overlooking his or her own.
Unfair though these people may be, they give us the opportunity to exercise spiritual muscles. We can improve ourselves and the world by refusing to retaliate when such unfairness occurs.
The long-term benefit is that many of these unfair people change or fade out of our lives. As we handle such things spiritually, we recall times when we too were unfair, and we realize that such faults are part of the human condition. We are lucky people because we're being given the opportunity to raise the human condition to a higher level. We also hear that "life's isn't fair", it's just there" Not understanding life completely , we're not sure about its fairness. What we are sure about is that we value fairness and can show more of it now that we're sober.
I will not seek out unfair treatment today, but neither will I be upset if it occurs. If it does, I'll deal with it as another lesson in my spiritual growth.

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

Keep It Simple

An honest man's the noblest work of God.--- Alexander Pope
Step five says," Admitted to God, to ourselves, and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs." When we did this Step, the person we admitted our wrongs to didn't run away or reject us. That person stuck with us. Chances are, we were told that we are quite human. And working Step Five helped us to see that we can change, now that we're sober.
The most important part of Step five is the act of being totally honest about ourselves. Then we know that relationships---with our Higher Power, ourselves, and others---can be built. We have faced the truth. Now we know we never have to lie.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I know no Fifth Step is perfect. Please help me be as honest as I can in doing my Fifth Step and at other times.
Action for the Day: If I’ve avoided doing a Fifth Step, I'll talk to my sponsor about it today.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

Bad moments, like good ones, tend to be grouped together. --Edna O'Brien
Rough times may be pouring in on us at the moment, and they may seem unending. Difficulties appear to attract more difficulties, problems with loved ones, problems at work, problems with our appearance. A negative attitude, something that we all struggle with at times (some of us more than others), is the culprit.
When the good times come, as they always do, they are accompanied by a positive attitude. We do find what we look for.
Our attitude is crucial. It determines our experiences. A trying situation can be tolerated with relative ease when we have a positive, trusting attitude. We forget, generally, that we have an inner source of strength to meet every situation. We forget the simple truth--all is well, at this moment, and at every moment. When the moments feel good, our presence is light, cheery. When the moments are heavy, so are we.
I can turn my day around. I can change the flavor of today's experiences. I can lift my spirits and know all is well.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

Now about health: A body badly burned by alcohol does not often recover overnight nor do twisted thinking and depression vanish in a twinkling. We are convinced that a spiritual mode of living is a most powerful health restorative. We, who have recovered from serious drinking, are miracles of mental health. But we have seen remarkable transformations in our bodies. Hardly one of our crowd now shows any dissipation.

p. 133

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

But the moment our mental or emotional independence is in question, how differently we behave. How persistently we claim the right to decide all by ourselves just what we shall think and just how we shall act. Oh yes, we'll weigh the pros and cons of every problem. We'll listen politely to those who would advise us, but all the decisions are to be ours
alone. Nobody is going to meddle with our personal independence in such matters. Besides, we think, there is no one we can surely trust. We are certain that our intelligence, backed by willpower, can rightly control our inner lives and guarantee us success in the world we live in. This brave philosophy, wherein each man plays God, sounds good in the speaking, but it still has to meet the acid test: how well does it actually work? One good look in the mirror ought to be answer enough for any alcoholic.

p. 37

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

"The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keep out the
joy."
--Jim Rohn

What men and women need is encouragement. . . Instead of always
harping on a man's faults, tell him of his virtues. Try to pull him out
of his rut of bad habits.
--Eleanor H. Porter

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred
days of sorrow.
--Chinese Proverb

An airport is where you go to waste time waiting that you're going to
save flying.
--Cited in BITS & PIECES

I know that what comes to me today is a tiny part of God's big plan for
my life. I am not alone.
--A Woman's Spirit

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

PROCRASTINATION

"Procrastination - the art of
keeping up with yesterday."
--Don Marquis

Today I try to do all that I have set myself to do in a given day. I make a
list of things that I need to do and a list of those things that I want to do -
the things I "need" to do usually take priority.

This was not always the case. As a drinking alcoholic my life was
littered with promises that were never kept, intentions that were never
honored, appointments and meetings that did not happen. I pushed
everything into tomorrow - and tomorrow never came.

My understanding of spirituality involves a responsibility for those things
that I need to do. When I awake, I thank God for my sleep and I make a
silent intention not to drink today; then I face my responsibilities. I
separate my "needs" from my "wants" and I remember that I have a
responsibility to other people: family, friends and colleagues. Today I am
learning to live in my day.

Lord, may I do the things I should do and may I find time for those
things I want to do.

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

"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have
love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic
powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and I if I
have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am
nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body
so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is
patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or
rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or
resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the
truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will
come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it
will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophecy only in
part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I
reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to
childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see
face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as
I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these
three; and the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13

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

Daily Inspiration

Stand tall and smile often and it will be very difficult to be unhappy. Lord, may my disposition reflect the joy and peace that is Your Will.

When we give in to fears and worries they will take charge of our lives. Lord, I place my trust in You so that I may experience every opportunity and not miss in life that which is meant for me.

[bluidkiti]

May 12

Daily Reflections

THE PAST IS OVER

A.A. experience has taught us we cannot live alone with our pressing
problems and the character defects which cause or aggravate them. If
. . . Step Four . . . has revealed in stark relief those experiences we'd
rather not remember . . . then the need to quit living by ourselves
with those tormenting ghosts of yesterday gets more urgent than
ever. We have to talk to somebody about them.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 55

Whatever is done is over. It cannot be changed. But my attitude
about it can be changed through talking with those who have gone
before and with sponsors. I can wish the past never was, but if I
change my actions in regard to what I have done, my attitude will
change. I won't have to wish the past away. I can change my feelings
and attitudes, but only through my actions and the help of my fellow
alcoholics.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When we come into A.A., looking for a way out of drinking, we really
need a lot more than that. We need fellowship. We need to get the
things that are troubling us out into the open. We need a new outlet
for our energies and we need a new strength beyond ourselves that
will help us face life instead of running away from it. In A.A. we find
these things that we need. Have I found the things that I need?

Meditation For The Day

Turn out all thoughts of doubt and fear and resentment. Never
tolerate them if you can help it. Bar the windows and doors of your
mind against them, as you would bar your home against a thief who would
steal in to take away your treasures. What greater treasures can you have
than faith and courage and love? All these are stolen from you by doubt and
fear and resentment. Face each day with peace and hope. They are
results of true faith in God. Faith gives you a feeling of protection and
safety that you can get in no other way.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may feel protected and safe, but not only when I am in the
harbor. I pray that I may have protection and safety even in the midst
of the storms of life.

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

As Bill Sees It

Spot-Checking, p. 132

A spot-check inventory taken in the midst of disturbances can be of
very great help in quieting stormy emotions. Today's spot check
finds its chief application to situations which arise in each day's
march. The consideration of long-standing difficulties had better be
postponed, when possible, to times deliberately set aside for that
purpose.

The quick inventory is aimed at our daily ups and downs, especially
those where people or new events throw us off balance and tempt us
to make mistakes.

12 & 12, pp. 90-91

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

Walk in Dry Places

Repeating the old hurts
Serenity
It's been pointed out that the real meaning of resentment is to "re-feel" an old injury. This means that we let ourselves feel again the pain we had when we were previously wronged.
Common sense tells us that this is a foolish practice. But with emotions like resentment, common sense can be crowded out. It is a rare person who can avoid resentment about matters that caused deep injury. Resentment is so much a part of everyday life. In fact, that it's considered abnormal not to resent a real wrong.
We've also been conditioned to believe that we're being spineless and wimpy if we don't become outraged by certain injustices and wrongs. There's a difference, however, between feeling strongly that something is wrong and being sullen and resentful about it. The first kind of feeling helps us remedy the problem; the second feeling simply intensifies our hurt. Under no circumstances can we afford resentment.
I'll make this day resentment-free, despite the currents of feeling and bitterness around me. "Re-feeling" old injuries is not the way to the happier life I seek.

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

Keep It Simple

You can observe a lot just by watching. Yogi Berra
When we watch others, we learn how to "act as if." We watch a patient person, and then we "act as if we're a patient person. The result? Over time, we'll become a patient person. We watch how good listeners listen, and we "act as if" we know how to listen. Then one day, we realize we're really listening! We watch people who have faith, and we "act as if" we have it. Then over time, we become spiritual people!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me find You in the people and events of my day.
Action for the Day: I will "act as if" my Higher Power is standing next to me all through the Day.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

Every human being has, like Socrates, an attendant spirit; and wise are they who obey its signals. If it does not always tell us what to do, it always cautions us what not to do. --Lydia M. Child
Our Spirit is our inner guide. And our Spirit never, never, gives us wrong directions. Because we're human, it's all too easy to deny the voice from within. Some call it conscience. And our behavior, maybe frequently, maybe occasionally, belies what our conscience knows is right. We suffer for it.
We are trying to be healthy, emotionally, spiritually, physically. Each day we can make progress. With each action we take, we have a choice. Our Spirit, our conscience, should be consulted. Right choices make for right actions that will emotionally and spiritually benefit us and the other persons close to us.
It's comforting to rely on the inner voice. It assures us we're never alone. No decision has to be made alone. No wrong action need ever be taken. A sense of security accompanies the partnership between each of us and our Spirit.
I will let the partnership work for me today.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

But this does not mean that we disregard human health measures. God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds. Do not hesitated to take your health problems to such persons. Most of them give freely of themselves, that their fellows may enjoy sound minds and bodies. Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are often indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterward.

p. 133

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

Should his own image in the mirror be too awful to contemplate (and it usually is), he might first take a look at the results normal people are getting from self-sufficiency. Everywhere he sees people filled with anger and fear, society breaking up into warring fragments. Each fragment says to the others, "We are right and you are wrong." Every such pressure group, if it is strong enough, self-righteously imposes its will upon the rest. And everywhere the same thing is being done on an individual basis. The sum of all this mighty effort is less peace and less brotherhood than before. The philosophy of self-sufficiency is not paying off. Plainly enough, it is a bone-crushing juggernaut whose final achievement is ruin.

p. 37

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

Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps a-ticking whether you are
getting somewhere or just standing still.
--Lou Erickson

"Stop worrying. The bridges you cross before you come to them are
almost always over rivers that aren't there."

A person desperately searching for God is like a fish desperately
searching for water.

Principles of the Twelve Concepts
1. Responsibility
2. Reliance
3. Trust
4. Participation
5. Democracy
6. Accountability
7. Balance
8. Consistency
9. Vision
10. Clarity
11. Respect
12. Spirituality

"The way to develop the best that is in a man is by appreciation and
encouragement."
--Charles Schwab

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

RESPONSIBILITY

"Man must cease attributing his
problems to his environment and
learn again to exercise his will, his
personal responsibility in the
realm of faith and morals."
--Albert Schweitzer

God has created me to be a responsible human being and that means
that I must seriously consider the choices and decisions that could
affect my life and the lives of others. Today I understand that true
freedom can only be experienced within the restraints of a responsible
life.

For years I blamed other people for my drunken behavior - family,
bishops, job, world situations - even God! But the truth was that I
lived an irresponsible life around alcohol. I ignored the facts that
surrounded my drinking.

Today I make a responsible decision not to drink, and I also take
responsibility for my life. I cannot blame other people for the mistakes
that I made. My real freedom is experienced in my responsibility.

Give me the freedom to impose my own constraints.

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

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His
might."
Ephesians 6:10

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside
still waters. He restoreth my soul: He guideth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake.
Psalm 23:2-3

Truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to
this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it shall move; and
nothing shall be impossible to you.
Matthew 17:20

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt
you.
James 4:10

"Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your
wings."
Psalm 17:8

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

Daily Inspiration

Today do what you can and expect no more of yourself. Lord, I will feel joy in my accomplishments today and gratitude for the things I have to do tomorrow.

Praise accomplishes great things. Lord, let me be your instrument in touching lives and changing hearts.

[bluidkiti]

May 13

Daily Reflections

THE EASIER, SOFTER WAY

If we skip this vital step, we may not overcome drinking.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 72

I certainly didn't leap at the opportunity to face who I was, especially
when the pains of my drinking days hung over me like a dark cloud.
But I soon heard at the meetings about the fellow member who just
didn't want to take Step Five and kept coming back to meetings,
trembling from the horrors of reliving his past. The easier, softer way
is to take these Steps to freedom from our fatal disease, and to put our
faith in the Fellowship and our Higher Power.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

In A.A. we find fellowship and release and strength. And having found
these things, the real reasons for our drinking are taken away. Then
drinking has no more justification in our minds. We no longer need to
fight against drink. Drink just naturally leaves us. At first, we are
sorry that we can't drink, but we get so that we are glad that we don't
have to drink. Am I glad that I don't have to drink?

Meditation For The Day

Try never to judge. The human mind is so delicate and so complete
that only its Maker can know it wholly. Each mind is so different,
actuated by such different motives, controlled by such different
circumstance, influenced by such different sufferings, you cannot know
all the influences that have gone to make up a personality. Therefore,
it is impossible for you to judge wholly that personality. But God
knows that person wholly and He can change it. Leave to God the
unraveling of the puzzles of personality. And leave it to God to teach
you the proper understanding.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not judge other people. I pray that I may be certain
that God can set right what is wrong in every personality.

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

As Bill Sees It

"Privileged People", p. 133

I saw that I had been living too much alone, too much aloof from my
fellows, and too deaf to that voice within. Instead of seeing myself as
a simple agent bearing the message of experience, I had thought of
myself as a founder of A.A.

How much better it would have been had I felt gratitude rather than
self-satisfaction--gratitude that I had once suffered the pains of
alcoholism, gratitude that a miracle of recovery had been worked
upon me from above, gratitude for the privilege of serving my fellow
alcoholics, and gratitude for those fraternal ties which bound me ever
closer to them in a comradeship such as few societies of men have
ever known.

Truly did a clergyman say to me, "Your misfortune has become your
good fortune. You A.A.'s are privileged people."

Grapevine, July 1946

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

Walk in Dry Places

Who's to blame?
Personal responsibility.
Unless we're unusual, we've probably accepted the widespread practice of blaming certain individuals and groups when trouble occurs. Most likely, we'll also have people whom we blame for our own difficulties: unloving parents, careless teachers, unfair bosses, and others on an endless list.
However accurate it may be, such blame-placing does nothing constructive. It really serves only to reinforce our bitterness and resentment, thus assuring that more of the same "injustices" will come to us.
The real truth is that we have no complete explanation for the world's individual and social wrongs. While certain individuals are admittedly guilty of wrongdoing, it often turns out that they've also been victims of cruelty or neglect. Our goal, as people committed to a spiritual way of life, is to reise above all blame placing while striving for improvement in our own treatment of others.
Though I may read and hear much to the contrary, I'll resist the notion that certain people or groups must be held accountable for the world's problems. I'll focus my attention, this day, on improvement in my own life.

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

Keep It Simple

Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.---Harry Emerson Fosdick
Hate is like an illness. It steals our hope, our love, our relationships. Hate puts distance between people. Hate can give us a false sense of power. Do I use hate to make myself feel important?
Our program tells us to let go of hate. Hate and sobriety don't mix. Hate doesn't let us connect with our Higher Power.
Ours is a program of love and respect. We're taught that if someone treats us wrong, we still should be respectful in our response. Why? Because we're changed by our actions. If we act with hate, we become hateful. If we act in a respectful way, we become respectable.
Prayer for the Day: Hate is the drug of those who are afraid. Higher Power, help me to be free from hate today.
Action for the Day: It's self-centered to hate. Today, I'll read pages 60-62 of Alcoholics Anonymous(Third Edition) about being self-centered.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

Your sense of what will bring happiness is so crude and blundering. Try something else as a compass. Maybe the moralists are right and happiness doesn't come from seeking pleasure and ease. --Joanna Field
We think we know what will make us happy. Seldom do we readily accept that painful moments are often the price tags for peaceful, happy times. Nor do we appreciate that happiness lives within each of us; never is it intrinsic to the events we experience. Because we look for happiness "out there" and expect it gift-wrapped in a particular way, we miss the joy of being fully alive each passing moment. How distorted our sense of happiness was before finding our way to this program! How futile our search!
The way still isn't easy every Step we take, but those fleeting moments when we can get outside of ourselves long enough to be fully attentive to the people in our lives, we'll find happiness. We'll find it because it's been there all the time. It flows between us when we open our hearts to give and to receive compassion. Being truly there for another person is the key which unlocks the gate holding happiness back.
I will let someone in today and feel the rush of happiness.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

One of the many doctors who had the opportunity of reading this book in manuscript form told us that the use of sweets was often helpful, of course depending upon a doctor’s advice. He thought all alcoholics should constantly have chocolate available for its quick energy value at times of fatigue. He added that occasionally in the night a vague craving arose which would be satisfied by candy. Many of us have noticed a tendency to eat sweets and have found this practice beneficial.

pp. 133-134

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

Therefore, we who are alcoholics can consider ourselves fortunate indeed. Each of us has had his own near-fatal encounter with the juggernaut of self-will, and has suffered enough under its weight to be willing to look for something better. So it is by circumstance rather than by any virtue that we have been driven to A.A., have admitted defeat, have acquired the rudiments of faith, and now want to make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to a Higher Power.

pp. 37-38

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

"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers."
--Jewish Proverb

"When it comes to love, Mom's the word."
--unknown

"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have
trouble."

Laughter, like a drenching rain, settles the dust, cleans and brightens
the world around us, and changes our whole perspective.
--Jan Pishok

A big part of my "conversion" has been full acceptance of myself,
warts and all.
--Mary Zink

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

ARGUMENTS

"Argument is the worst sort of
conversation."
--Jonathan Swift

Why did I argue so much? Why do I argue so much? Usually it is
because I feel threatened, angry, discounted or I am wrong and I do
not want to admit it.

Today I need to remember that discussion is the better path to follow.
I need to hear and understand what the other person is saying and
from where they are coming. For too long I have argued, fought and
produced enemies - today I wish to embrace the spiritual path of
serenity and reconciliation. Also, I do not want to hurt anymore.
Arguments hurt me. Arguments hurt others. I should, push and scream but
inside afterwards, I hurt. My program today allow my ego to be balanced and
restrained. I try to think before I speak. I consider before I react.
However, when I do get into arguments and say hurtful and painful
things that I do not mean, I am brave enough to say I am sorry.

May the God of peace, love and acceptance be seen in my
relationships.

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

"The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD,
endures forever--do not abandon the works of your hands."
Psalm 138:8

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we
will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Galatians 6:9

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not
be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you
wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9

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

Daily Inspiration

Our goodness is one of God's many gifts to us. Lord, may I humbly appreciate my good qualities and give thanks to You through my actions.

The value of each gift God gives us is doubled when we share it with someone else. Lord, may I freely give without expectation of something in return even though I know Your constant generosity.

[bluidkiti]

May 14

Daily Reflections

IT'S OKAY TO BE ME

Time after time newcomers have tried to keep to themselves certain
facts about their lives. . . . they have turned to easier methods. . . .
But they had not learned enough humility. . . .
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 72-73

Humility sounds so much like humiliation, but it really is the ability to
look at myself -- and honestly accept what I find. I no longer need to
be the "smartest" or "dumbest" or any other "est." Finally, it is okay
to be me. It is easier for me to accept myself if I share my whole life.
If I cannot share in meetings, then I had better have a sponsor --
someone with whom I can share those "certain facts" that could lead
me back to a drunk, to death. I need to take all the Steps. I need the
Fifth Step to learn true humility. Easier methods do not work.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Having gotten over drinking, we have only just begun to
enjoy the benefits of A.A. We find new friends, so that
we are no longer lonely. We find new relationships with
our families, so that we are happy at home. We find
release from our troubles and worries through a new
way of looking at things. We find an outlet for our
energies in helping other people. Am I enjoying these
benefits of A.A.?

Meditation For The Day

The kingdom of heaven is within you. God sees, as no one
can see, what is within you. He sees you growing more and
more like Himself. That is our reason for existence, to grow
more and more like God, to develop more and more the spirit
of God within you. You can often see in others those
qualities and aspirations that you yourself possess. So also
can God recognize His own spirit in you. Your motives and
aspirations can only be understood by those who have
attained the same spiritual level as you have.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may not expect complete understanding from
others. I pray that I may only expect this from God, as I try
to grow more like Him.

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

As Bill Sees It

The Individual's Rights, p. 134

We believe that there isn't a fellowship on earth which devotes more
care to its individual members; surely there is none which more
jealously guards the individual's right to think, talk, and act as he
wishes. No A.A. can compel another to do anything; nobody can be
punished or expelled.

Our Twelve Steps to recovery are suggestions; the Twelve
Traditions which guarantee A.A.'s unity contain not a single
"Don't." They repeatedly say, "We ought . . ." but never "You
must!"

<< << << >> >> >>

"Though it is traditional that our Fellowship may not coerce anyone,
let us not suppose even for an instant that we are not under
constraint. Indeed, we are under enormous coercion--the kind that
comes in bottle. Our former tyrant, King Alcohol, always stands
ready again to clutch us to him.

"Therefore, freedom from alcohol is the great 'must' that has to be
achieved, else we go mad or die."

1. 12 & 12, p. 129
2. Letter, 1966

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

Walk in Dry Places

Making Laws For Ourselves
Attaining Freedom
Being human means that we're subject to all the laws and limitations that apply to human beings. We should not, however, put more limitations on ourselves than might be required by our situation.
Recovering People should be able to do anything within their capabilities. It's usually a mistake to think that our problem means forfeiture of opportunities. One person, for example, often told his friends that he could not return to his former profession in sales because "nobody want to hire an alcoholic salesman."
But it is not written anywhere that firms will not gladly welcome a capable sales associate who is recovering. Many alcoholics do return to their former employment upon recovery. Our friend was simply making a law for himself by believing he was blocked from this field.
Let's always remember that recovery is freedom, not bondage. And let's see ourselves doing anything that's reasonable and proper for others.
Having rejoined the human race, I'll enthusiastically accept all the advantages and opportunities others have.

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

Keep It Simple

Make yourself an honest [person], and then you may be sure that there is one rascal less in the world. ---Thomas Carlyle
Honesty does not mean saying all we think or feel. Many of our thoughts and feelings are only with us for a minute. They are not always the truth. For example, saying to someone you love, "I hate you!" in the middle of an argument can destroy things.
Honesty means living by what is true to us. Then we choose when and how to say things to others.
Think of honesty as the air we breathe; it's what keeps us alive, but it can get polluted and kill. It must be treated with respect and care.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know the power of honesty. Help me speak it with care and respect.
Action for the Day: Before I speak today I'll ask myself: "Is this true? Am I speaking because this needs to be said?"

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

Each Day a New Beginning

Miracles are instantaneous, they cannot be summoned, but come of themselves, usually at unlikely moments and to those who least expect them. --Katherine Anne Porter
Each of us has miraculously been summoned to the road to recovery. We no doubt felt hopeless many times. We no doubt pleaded, aimlessly and to no one in particular, for help. And then it came. Many of us probably do not know just how. But we can look around at one another and appreciate the miracle in our lives.
We still have days when the going is rough. Days when we feel twelve years old, unable to handle the responsibility of our lives, in need of a mother to nurture us and assure us that the pain will pass. We can look to a sponsor on those days. We can look for someone else to help. We can also reflect on how far we've come. Gratitude, in the midst of distress, for all the gifts of recovery eases the pain, the fear, the stress of the moment.
The miracles continue in my life. Every day offers me a miracle. Thankfulness today will help me see the miracles at work in my life and in the lives of other women on the road to recovery.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

A word about sex relations. Alcohol is so sexually stimulating to some men that they have over-indulged. Couples are occasionally dismayed to find that when drinking is stopped the man tends to be impotent. Unless the reason is understood, there may be an emotional upset. Some of us had this experience, only to enjoy, in a few months, a finer intimacy than ever. There should be no hesitancy in consulting a doctor or psychologist if the condition persists. We do not know of many cases where this difficulty lasted long.

p. 134

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

When World War II broke out, this spiritual principle had its first major test. A.A.'s entered the services and were scattered all over the world. Would they be able to take discipline, stand up under fire, and endure the monotony and misery of war? Would the kind of dependence they had learned in A.A. carry them through? Well, it did. They had even fewer alcoholic lapses or emotional binges than A.A.'s safe at home did. They were just as capable of endurance and valor as any other soldiers. Whether in Alaska or on the Salerno beachhead, their dependence upon a Higher Power worked. And far from being a weakness, this dependence was their chief source of strength.

pp. 38-39

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

Birds sing after a storm, why shouldn't we?
--Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (1890 - 1995)

"Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first
or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory."
--Betty Smith

"AA may or may not get me to heaven, but it surely got me out of
he!!."
--unknown

There is more to life than increasing its speed.
--Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)

When our faith is weak, God is still strong and present with us.
--Elaine S. Massey

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

SEX

"A little theory makes sex more
interesting, more comprehensive
and less scary. Too much is a
put-down especially as you're
likely to get it out of perspective
and become a spectator of your
own performance."
--Dr. Alex Comfort

We make too much of sex because we are afraid of it. We abuse God's
gift of sex by placing it out of context, removing it from the other
things that make it meaningful, e.g., gentleness, trust, sensitivity,
communication and commitment.

The performance becomes more important than the expression. The
meaning gets lost in the event. God's precious gift of sex is abused by
the sex act itself and it then begins to feed on itself. Compulsive sex is
only demonstrated loneliness!

Spirituality teaches me to see all things as part of God's gift of
"wholeness" and sex is an important part of this - but only a part.

God, in the awareness of my sexuality, may I discover a relationship
with myself, others and You.

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

"He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a
God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He."
Deuteronomy 32:4

For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us
into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over
our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a
place of abundance.
Psalm 66:10-12

The LORD says, "Do not fear, for I am with you . . . I will strengthen you, I will help you."
Isaiah 41:10

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

Daily Inspiration

Fill your time with that which is important to you and you will feel accomplished. Lord, help me to know my priorities and to be focused enough to avoid distraction.

When we have to justify our actions, it may be that our actions are not just. Lord, Your will is goodness. May I always have the strength and courage to choose Your way so that I can simplify my life and enjoy the peace of Your presence.

[bluidkiti]

May 15

Daily Reflections

KNOW GOD; KNOW PEACE

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads
only to futility and unhappiness. . . . But with the alcoholic,
whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual
experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p 66

Know God;
Know peace.

No God;
No peace.

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

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

In A.A. we find a new strength and peace from the realization
that there must be a Power greater than ourselves that is
running the universe and that is on our side when we live a
good life. So the A.A. program really never ends. You begin by
overcoming drink and you go on from there to many new
opportunities for happiness and usefulness. Am I really
enjoying the full benefits of A.A.?

Meditation For The Day

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all
these things shall be added unto you." We should not seek
material things first, but seek spiritual things first and
material things will come to us, as we honestly work for them.
Many people seek material things first and think they can then
grow into knowledge of spiritual things. You cannot serve God
and Mammon at the same time. The first requisites of an abundant
life are the spiritual things: honesty, purity, unselfishness, and
love. Until you have these qualities, quantities of material things
are of little real use to you.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may put much effort into acquiring spiritual things.
I pray that I may not expect good things until I am right
spiritually.

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

As Bill Sees It

Victory in Defeat, p. 135

Convinced I never could belong, and vowing I'd never settle for any
second-rate status, I felt I simply had to dominate in everything I
chose to do: work or play. As this attractive formula for the good
life began to succeed, according to my then specifications of success,
I became deliriously happy.

But when an undertaking occasionally did fail, I was filled with
resentment and depression that could be cured only by the next
triumph. Very early, therefore, I came to value everything in terms
of victory or defeat--"all or nothing." The only satisfaction I knew
was to win.

<< << << >> >> >>

Only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward
liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness
finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful
lives may be built.

1. Grapevine, January 1962
2. 12 & 12, p. 21

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

Walk in Dry Places

Trusting others
Personal Relationships
Some people trust others too much, while a few seem to have no trust at all. Either stance is wrong and leads to some kind of trouble.
As we grow in our Twelve Step program, we learn the truth about trust. We can trust others if our expectations aren't too high. We have to remember, however, that as human beings they can fail us. However, it's also unrealistic to be suspicious of everyone. The truth is that most people aren't out to get us or to hurt us. They are pursuing their own interests, just as we must do.
As we grow emotionally, we come to see that we have less difficulty trusting others. We no longer make outrageous demands on them or stretch their patience to the limits. We also realize that there are many times when we can work co-operatively with everybody's interest in mind.
I'll think realistically about others today, being careful not to expect either too much or too little from the. I'll certainly not expect more from them than I could reasonably expect from myself.

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

Keep It Simple

That day is lost on which one has not laughed.---French proverb
For a long time, we didn't really laugh. It's surprising when we think about it: we hadn't really laughed for so long. . .we almost forgot how good we could feel. It feels so good to laugh again!
Now, our spirits come more alive each day. Now, we feel what alcohol and other drugs stuffed deep inside us. Pain, fear, and anger come up. But so do happiness and joy, thankfulness and a sense of humor. In early recovery, we work through the hard feelings. As we grow in the program, we have more and more room for happiness.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, wake me up to the joy and laughter that today hold for me. Don't let me miss it!
Action for the Day: Today, I'll spread some laughter. I will learn a joke and tell it to three people.

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

Each Day a New Beginning

Difficulties, opposition, criticism--these things are meant to be overcome, and there is a special joy in facing them and in coming out on top. It is only when there is nothing but praise that life loses its charm, and I begin to wonder what I should do about it. --Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
To be alive means to experience difficulties, conflicts, challenges from many directions. What we do with adverse conditions both determines and is determined by who we are. Resistance, most of us have learned, heightens the adversity. Acceptance of the condition, trusting all the while the lesson it offers us is for our benefit, ensures that we'll "come out on top."
Difficulties are opportunities for advancement, for increased self-awareness, for self-fulfillment. So often we hear and remind one another, that we grow through pain. We can face any situation knowing we have the strength of the program to shore us up. Strangely, we need challenges in order to grow; without growth we wither. Happiness is the bounty for facing the momentarily unhappy conditions.
Any difficulty I meet today offers me a chance for even greater happiness; it guarantees my growth.

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

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterward

The alcoholic may find it hard to re-establish friendly relations with his children. Their young minds were impressionable while he was drinking. Without saying so, they may cordially hate him for what he has done to them and to their mother. The children are sometimes dominated by a pathetic hardness and cynicism. They cannot seem to forgive and forget. This may hang on for months, long after their mother has accepted dad’s new way of living and thinking.

p. 134

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

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Three - "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

So how, exactly, can the willing person continue to turn his will and his life over to the Higher Power? He made a beginning, we have seen, when he commenced to rely upon A.A. for the solution of his alcohol problem. By now, though, the chances are that he has become convinced that he has more problems than alcohol, and that some of these refuse to be solved by all the sheer personal determination and courage he can muster. They simply will not budge; they make him desperately unhappy and threaten his newfound sobriety. Our friend is still victimized by remorse and guilt when he thinks of yesterday. Bitterness still overpowers him when he broods upon those he still envies or hates. His financial insecurity worries him sick, and panic takes over when he thinks of all the bridges to safety that alcohol burned behind him. And how shall he ever straighten out that awful jam that cost him the affection of his family and separated him from them? His lone courage and unaided will cannot do it. Surely he must now depend upon Somebody or Something else.

p. 39

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

Look past the body, past the personality, past the behavior, into the
window of one another's souls. There we make a connection. The God
in me recognizes and honors the God in you.
--Mary Manin Morrissey

"One of the biggest things I've learned is that I don't always have to
be right."
--Jeffrey B. Swartz

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all
of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical
rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are
blooming outside our windows today."
--Dale Carnegie

"The future is always beginning now."
--Mark Strand

"The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a
time."
--Abraham Lincoln

Enjoy God's handiwork all around you.
--Susan D. Petropulos

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

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

TEACHING

"To teach is to learn."
--Japanese Proverb

The more I learn the more I know that I do not understand. Life is full
of new and wonderful information; paradoxes and confusion abound;
every new idea leads to a further truth - and the journey seems
endless.

In a sense we are all disciples; we are all learning from each other and
the role of teacher and student is forever being exchanged. In my
sobriety I am able to see how many wonderful "things" exist in the
world - so many fascinating and interesting places to visit, so many
loving and insightful people. God has given me so much, I am so
grateful to be able to learn in His garden.

Teacher, may I never stop learning and being a student in Your world.

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

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction,
so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction,
with the Comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
II Corinthians 1:3-4

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I
in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5

"The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them
from all their troubles."
Psalm 34:17

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

Daily Inspiration

If you are waiting to be happy, you never will be. Lord, the only moment that I can count on and be in charge of is right now. Help me choose to be happy.

One of God's greatest gifts to us is eternal life. Lord, may I daily care for the needs of my soul, grow strong in my love for You, and be an extension of You during my time on earth.