Daily Recovery Readings - August

[bluidkiti]

August 31

Daily Reflections

A UNIQUE PROGRAM
Alcoholics Anonymous will never have a professional class. We
have gained some understanding of the ancient words "Freely ye
have received, freely give." We have discovered that at the point
of professionalism, money and spirituality do not mix.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 166

I believe that Alcoholics Anonymous stands alone in the treatment
of alcoholism because it is based solely on the principle of one
alcoholic sharing with another alcoholic. This is what makes the
program unique. When I decided that I wanted to stay sober, I called
a woman who I knew was a sober member of A.A., and she carried
the message of Alcoholics Anonymous to me. She received no
monetary compensation, but rather was paid by staying sober another
day herself. Today I could ask for no payment other than another day
free from alcohol, so in that respect, I am generously paid for my
labor.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

"Call on new prospects while they are still jittery. They may be
more receptive when depressed. See them alone if possible. Tell
them enough about your drinking habits and experiences to
encourage them to speak of themselves. If they wish to talk, let
them do so. If they are not communicative, talk about the troubles
liquor has caused you, being careful not to moralize or lecture.
When they see you know all about the drinking game, commence to
describe yourself as an alcoholic and tell them how you learned
you were sick." Am I ready to talk about myself to new prospects?

Meditation For The Day

Try not to give way to criticism, blame, scorn, or judgment of
others, when you are trying to help them. Effectiveness in helping
others depends on controlling yourself. You may be swept away by
a temporary natural urge to criticize or blame, unless you keep a
tight rein on your emotions. You should have a firm foundation of
spiritual living which makes you truly humble, if you are going to
really help other people. Go easy on them and be hard on yourself.
That is the way you can be used most to uplift a despairing spirit.
And seek no personal recognition for what you are used by God to
accomplish.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may try to avoid judgment and criticism. I pray that I
may always try to build up others instead of tearing them down.

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As Bill Sees It

Let Go Absolutely, p.242

After failure on my part to dry up any drunks, Dr. Silkworth
reminded me of Professor William James's observation that truly
transforming spiritual experiences are nearly always founded on
calamity and collapse. "Stop preaching at them," Dr. Silkworth
said, "and give them the hard medical facts first. This may soften
them up at depth so that they will be willing to do anything to get
well. Then they may accept those spiritual ideas of yours, and
even a Higher Power."

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We beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some
of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas, and the result was
nil--until we let go absolutely.

1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p.13
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p.58

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Walk In Dry Places

HONESTY IS NOT ENOUGH
Action AA tells us that we must be honest about our problems if we hope to overcome them.
Some people seem quite w11ling to do this. But an honest admission alone does not solve our problems. We have to go beyond honesty by taking needed action to correct what's wrong in our lives.
For example, we would not believe that any- thing had been corrected simply because a doctor diagnosed a physical problem. We know that such diagnosis is only a preliminary step that must lead to treatment to be effective. In the same way, an honest admission of our alcoholism does not lead to sobriety unless we take further action to ad- dress the problem.
We should also be careful about becoming prideful in announcing our shortcomings. If we are recovering from alcoholism but excuse a bad temper as one of our "alcoholic defects," are we attempting to correct our behavior? The more prideful we are about any fault, the more difficult it will be to change it.
Having become honest about my shortcomings, I'll look for opportunities today to make needed corrections in my behavior. If I find myself using my "alcoholic nature" as an excuse for unacceptable behavior, I'll take action to do something about it.

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Keep It Simple

One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back of life. ---Eleanor Roosevelt
We’re going to have tough times. Maybe we don’t get a pay raise. Maybe we get fired. Whatever happens, don’t use alcohol or other drugs. Whatever happens, keep working the program. Our program will never turn its back on us. When tough times come, we can always turn to our meetings and sponsors. We’re lucky because we don’t have to face hard times alone. We have no reason to give up because our program will never give up.
So, pull closer to your program when times get tough. Call a friend and talk about your problems. Take in an extra meeting. All of this keeps us from turning our backs on life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me believe that tough times are a chance to get closer to You.
Action for the Day: The program will always be there for me in tough times. Today, I’ll make a list of what to do to stay sober when tough times come. I’ll put the list in my Big Book.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Tears are like rain. They loosen up our soil so we can grow in different directions. --Virginia Casey
Full self-expression softens our being, while self-reservation makes us brittle. Our wholeness is enhanced each time we openly acknowledge our feelings and share our many secrets. The tears that often accompany self-disclosure, self-assessment, or the frustration of being "stuck" seem to shift whatever blocks we have put in our paths.
At each stage of our lives, we are preparing for yet another stage. Our growth patterns will vary, first in one direction, and then another. It's not easy to switch directions, but it's necessary. We can become vulnerable, accept the spiritual guidance offered by others and found within, and the transition from stage to stage will be smooth.
Tears shed on the rocky places of our lives can make tiny pebbles out of the boulders that block our paths. But we also need to let those tears wash away the blinders covering our eyes. Tears can help us see anew if we're willing to look straight ahead--clearly, openly, and with expectation of a better view.
Tears nurture the inner me. They soften my rootedness to old behavior. They lesson my resistance to new growth.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

My good wife became deeply interested and it was her interest that sustained mine, though I at no time sensed that it might be an answer to my liquor problem. How my wife kept her faith and courage during all those years, I'll never know, but she did. If she had not, I know I would have been dead a long time ago. For some reason, we alcoholics seem to have the gift of picking out the world's finest women. Why they should be subjected to the tortures we inflicted upon them, I cannot explain.

pp. 178-179

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eight - "Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all."

Such gross misbehavior is not by any means a full catalogue of the harms we do. Let us think of some of the subtler ones which can sometimes be quite as damaging. Suppose that in our family lives we happen to be miserly, irresponsible, callous, or cold. Suppose that we are irritable, critical, impatient, and humorless. Suppose we lavish attention upon one member of the family and neglect the others. What happens when we try to dominate the whole family, either by a rule of iron or by a constant outpouring of minute directions for just how their lives should be lived from hour to hour? What happens when we wallow in depression, self-pity oozing from every pore, and inflict that upon those about us? Such a roster of harms done others--the kind that make daily living with us as practicing alcoholics difficult and often unbearable could be extended almost indefinitely. When we take such personality traits as these into shop, office, and the society of our fellows, they can do damage almost as extensive as that we have caused at home.

p. 81

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Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice
melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to
evaporate.
--Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965)

Funny thing about kindness. The more it's used, the more you have of
it.
--unknown

Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: if
you're alive, it isn't.
--Richard Bach

Apologizing with words isn't the same thing as apologizing with
actions.
--Laura J.

You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.
--Oliver Goldsmith

"A hundredload of worry will not pay an ounce of debt."
--George Herbert

"Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another."
--Condorcet

"One had to take some action against fear when once it laid hold of
one."
--Rainer Maria Rilke

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

STYLE

"Style is the man himself."
-- Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon

Style is involved in Spirituality --- especially when it concerns the
recovering addict. Sobriety and serenity are not just seen in what we
say or do or in our ability to keep away from the first drink or pill ---
they are seen in our creative styles. How we feel about ourselves
should be seen in the confidence of our gait and the concern for
personal appearance. Personal hygiene is important because it
reflects a love of self. Physical health and exercise reveal a desire
and interest in life, fitness and energy.

Style may not make the man but it certainly reveals the man!

May I seek to reveal the beauty You gave me with my appearance
and style.

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Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 124 : 8

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all
circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
I Thessalonians 5:16-18

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever
humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven."
Matthew 18:3-4

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many
kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops
perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be
mature and complete, not lacking anything."
James 1:2-4

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Daily Inspiration

Worry gets in the way of getting what you really want. Lord, help me use my time in ways to enrich my life rather than focusing on things I can do nothing about anyway.

Great things happen when you believe and pray. Lord, grant me an amazing faith in life and the strength to meet its challenges.