Treatment
http://www.recoverycartoons.com/html/classics/treat.html

Please note, I will be in Florida on family vacation 2/10 through 2/19
I will be sending ALL my emails into a holding bin in Yahoogroups and
Googlegroups they will be dated and time stamped 2/10 and
might appear in your email box on 2/10 even though I will
be releasing them for bulk mailing on the day that is in
the subject line. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
PLEASE make sure to look through your inbox carefully and you
will find each days email with an 2/10 time stamp .
Please have patience.
Thanks for your understanding,
In loving service,
Scott

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*LAUGHTER Is HEALING*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The weekly meeting topic is:
How has your understanding of your higher power changed over time?
Describe what the God of your understanding looks like.

This is a DIFFERENT Yahoo Club you MUST join this club in order to
participate otherwise your emails will bounce

to share please visit
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit/
or email
twelvestepsoulfood4thespirit@yahoogroups.com

A Safe Place to Share , Discover and Recover.
This is a SLAMMING, STRONG support group with
a whole lot of EXPERIENCE, LOVE and HOPE that is available to you.
This a message bulletin board meeting, where people post on the
weekly topic. It takes only 1 minute to enter a password and
username. Please go this page on the upper right hand corner and click
the join club link, sign in and go to the left hand side and click
messages to read what others have shared and click on the post link,
now you can share on the topic of the week or whatever you would like.
There is a lot of good experience, strength and hope in here as well
as newcomers who need our support and love, PLEASE stop by,
we will leave the light on in the room and there is coffee in the
back :)
Thanks for your participation and support !!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Please Be There For The Newcomers*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

February 17
Even in moments of doubt I know that my Higher Power
is guiding me on my path today.
written by ~ Ruth Fishel
"Time for Joy"
Check out Ruth's collection of
light, nourishing and nurturing Books and Tapes
& some touching and embracing Greeting Cards
http://www.spirithaven.com/booksandtapes.htm
for inspirational messages email
spirithaven@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Just for Today*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Listen

I came to a meeting, all sad and alone,
So sick and tired, of the life I had known.
Aching and dying, deep down inside,
And feeling the pain, from the things I must hide.

They told me they Loved me, and were glad I was there,
Who are these people, and why should they care?
But the more that I listened, the more I could see,
This room full of addict's, were all just like me.

I started to share, trying hard not to cry,
And I no longer felt, like I wanted to die.
I wanted to live, but hadn't a clue,
Of what to say, feel or do.

These people were clean, and would show me the way,
So I listened some more, to what they had to say.
They spoke of a God, and Just For Today,
So I thought, "What the hell" and I started to pray.

They said "get a sponsor, and to keep coming back".
They said that a program, was all I did lack.
They said "Work the steps, or your going to die".
So I got me a sponsor, and I started to try.

I shared with my sponsor, who I had become,
The people I had hurt, the thing's I had done,
He told me he Loved me, and then shared with me,
The thing's he had done, and who he used to be.

That's when I knew, and could finally see,
That if I worked the step's, that I too could be free.
Free from using, and feeling that way,
Free from active addiction, JUST FOR TODAY.

So I still try to listen, to what you have to share,
Tell you I Love You, let you know that I care.
Let you know I have found, a much better way,
It's working a program, we call N.A.

It's sharing experience, strength and hope,
It's living a life, that is free from dope.
It's sharing with newcomer's, as they wander in,
And as they start to listen, they'll know they can win.

If we all really listen, to what's being said,
The thing's that are shared, the book that is read.
If we listen and learn, we will surely see,
How truly wonderful, Recovery can be.

written by an addict named derek

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Don't Use*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If anyone has any original recovery poetry that they
would like to share with us please copy and paste it into the body
of an email and send it to me, Thanks for your support and
contributions.
What I can't do alone, We do together.
In loving service, Scott ~ YOUnMEnHP@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*No Matter What*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Learn To Write In The Sand
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-FQWlRA0odLMC0svu1ovT3Tc-?cq=1&p=1129

Comics Of The Week
http://www.recoveryjonescartoons.com/comicsoftheweek.htm

The US Drug Rehab Centers directory...
http://www.usdrugrehabcenters.com

My Blog YOUnMEnHP Scott's Daily Blog
http://360.yahoo.com/younmenhp

Tommy D. GREAT MUSIC (one of my sponsees)
http://www.bluesbuddha.com/home.html

Recovery Gifts, Bracelets, T-Shirts, Mugs and other GREAT gifts
http://www.serenityquest.org/60.html

CHECK out Ruth Fishel's new book
Peace in our Hearts, Peace in the World
http://www.peaceinourhearts.net/

Spiritual Greeting Cards, Bookmarks & Spirit Stones
http://www.spirithaven.com/greeting_cards.htm

Ruth Fishel Books and Tapes
http://www.spirithaven.com/booksandtapes.htm

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Make A Meeting*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just For Today
February 17 Carrying The Message, Not The Addict

"They can be analyzed, counseled, reasoned with, prayed over,
threatened, beaten, or locked up, but they will not stop until they
want to stop." Basic Text, p. 62

Perhaps one of the most difficult truths we must face in our recovery
is that we are as powerless over another's addiction as we are over
our own. We may think that because we've had a spiritual awakening
in our own lives we should be able to persuade another addict to
find recovery. But there are limits to what we can do to help another
addict.

We cannot force them to stop using. We cannot give them the results
of the steps or grow for them. We cannot take away their loneliness or
their pain. There is nothing we can say to convince a scared addict to
surrender the familiar misery of addiction for the frightening
uncertainty of recovery. We cannot jump inside other peoples' skins,
shift their goals, or decide for them what is best for them.

However, if we refuse to try to exert this power over another's
addiction, we may help them. They may grow if we allow them to
face reality, painful though it may be. They may become more
productive, by their own definition, as long as we don't try and do it
for
them. They can become the authority on their own lives, provided we
are only authorities on our own. If we can accept all this, we can
become what we were meant to be -carriers of the message, not the
addict.

Just for today: I will accept that I am powerless not only over my
own addiction but also over everyone else's. I will carry the message,
not the addict.

Just For Today Daily Meditation is the property of Narcotics Anonymous ©
1991 by World Service Office Inc

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get Involved In Service*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you are enjoying this daily recovery email,
Please pass on 12 Step Soul Food For The Spirit to your online friends,
"We can only keep what we have by giving it away."
If you have received this as a forward
and would like to subscribe please email
me at YOUnMEnHP@...
Thanks, In loving service, Scott :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Get A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Food For Thought Meditation
http://www.hazelden.org/web/go/thought_food

Each Day a New Beginning (Women) Meditation
http://www.hazelden.org/web/go/thought_eachday

Touchtones (Men) Meditation
http://www.hazelden.org/web/go/thought_touchstone

Meditation of the Day
http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/thought.view

Viking Thought of the Day
http://www.gorm.com/cgi-local/daily.pl

Elder's Meditation of the Day
http://www.whitebison.org/meditation/index.php

Dr. Twerski's Sober Thought of the Day
http://www.gatewayrehab.org/February.html

Daily Zen
http://www.dailyzen.com/

Grapevine Story Today
http://www.aagrapevine.org/da/storyoday.php

Daily Motivator
http://www.greatday.com/

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Use Your Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A Path To Faith

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.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 33

My last drunk had landed me in the hospital, totally broken. It was
then
that I was able to see my past float in front of me. I realized that,
through drinking, I had lived every nightmare I had ever had. My own
self-will and obsession to drink had driven me into a dark pit of
hallucinations, blackouts and despair. Finally beaten, I asked for
God's
help. His presence told me to believe. My obsession for alcohol was
taken away and my paranoia has since been lifted. I am no longer
afraid. I know my life is healthy and sane.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
Daily Reflection In Loving Memory Of Scott Reeves

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Be A Sponsor*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Twenty-Four Hours A Day by Hazelden/ February 17th

A.A. Thought for the Day

Alcohol is poison to the alcoholic. Poison is not too
strong a word, because alcoholism leads eventually
to the death of the alcoholic. It may be a quick
death or a slow death. When we go by package
stores and see various kinds of liquor all dressed
up in fancy packages to make it look attractive, we
should always make it a point to say to ourselves so
we'll never forget it: "That stuffs all poison to me."
And it is. Alcohol poisoned our lives for a long time.
Do I know that since I'm an alcoholic all liquor is
poison to me?

Meditation for the Day

I must somehow find the means of coming nearer to
God. That is what really matters. I must somehow
seek the true bread of life, which is communion with
Him. I must grasp for the truth at the center of all
worship. This central truth is all that matters. All
forms of worship have this communion with God as
their purpose and goal.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may meet God in quiet communion. I pray
that I may partake of the soul-food that God has provided
for me.

"Twenty-Four Hours A Day" is a © Copyrighted book of
Hazelden Foundation. No portion of this publication may
be reproduced in any manner without the written
permission of Hazelden.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Work The Steps*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Today's Thought
FEBRUARY 17

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Melody Beattie ©

Acceptance

Our basic recovery concept that never loses its power to work
miracles is the concept called acceptance.

We do not achieve acceptance in a moment. We often have to
work through a mirage of feelings - sometimes anger, outrage,
shame, self-pity, or sadness. But if acceptance is our goal, we
will achieve it.

What is more freeing than to laugh at our weaknesses and to
be grateful for our strengths? To know the entire package
called "us" - with all our feelings, thoughts, tendencies, and
history - is worthy of acceptance and brings healing feelings.

To accept our circumstances is another miraculous cure. For
anything to change or anyone to change, we must first accept
others, the circumstance, and ourselves exactly as they are.
Then, we need to take it one step further. We need to become
grateful for our circumstances or ourselves. We add a touch of
faith by saying, "I know this is exactly the way it's supposed to
be for the moment."

No matter how complicated we get, the basics never lose their
power to restore us to sanity.

Today, God, help me practice the concept of acceptance in my
life. Help me accept others, my circumstances, and myself. Take
me one step further, and help me feel grateful.

©1990, Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved. No portion of this
publication may be reproduced in any manner without the written
permission of the publisher.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*You Are A Miracle*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Giving Yourself Permission To Make Changes
http://www.inlightimes.com/archives/2002/02/virtue.htm

A Relationship that Changed My Life
http://www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2000/February/0200-17.htm

Tao Te Ching, Chapter Five and Six
http://www.spiritsite.com/writing/taotec/part3.shtml

At The Heart Of Peace
http://www.heartmath.com/peace/

We Are The Same
http://www.consciousone.com/wisdomflash/WFView.cfm?PID=431

Remember The Child Within
http://www.consciousone.com/wisdomflash/WFView.cfm?PID=258

Finding Joy
http://www.findingjoymovie.com/

Inspirational movie, about 3 minutes long
http://www.lightmovie.com/

Inspirational Spiritual Flash Movies
http://www.inspiringthots.net/m-all.htm

Has Anyone Told You
http://www.hasanyonetoldyou.com/

Meditationroom
http://www.lime.com/meditation_room

Native American 10 Commandments
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=DY3ZEvOfD1w

The Secret
http://www.thesecret.tv

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep It Simple*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Awakening the Sacred Longing
by Jack Kornfield

What is it that draws a person to spiritual life? From as far back as
we can remember, we can each sense a mystery in being alive. When we
are present with an infant in the first moments after birth, or when
the death of a loved one brushes close to us, the mystery becomes
tangible. It is there when we witness a radiant sunset or find a
moment's silent stillness in the flowing seasons of our days.
Connecting to the sacred is perhaps our deepest need and longing.

Awakening calls to us in a thousand ways. As the poet Rumi sings,
"Grapes want to turn to wine." There is a pull to wholeness, to being
fully alive, even when we have forgotten. The Hindus tell us that the
child in the womb sings, "Do not let me forget who am," but that the
song after birth becomes, "Oh, I have forgotten already."

Still, as surely as there is a voyage away, there is a journey home.

Throughout the world we find stories of this journey, images of the
longing to awaken, the steps along the path that we all follow, the
voices that call, the intensity of the initiation we may meet, the
courage we need. At the heart of each is the original sincerity of the
seeker, who must honestly admit how small is our knowledge of the
universe, how great the unknown.

The honesty the spiritual quest requires of us is addressed in the
Russian initiation tales about Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga is an old woman
with a wild, haglike visage who stirs her pot and knows all things.
She lives deep in the forest. When we seek her out we are frightened,
for she requires us to go into the dark, to ask dangerous questions,
to step outside the world of logic and comfort.

When the first young seeker comes quaking up to the door of her hut,
Baba Yaga demands, "Are you on your own errand or are you sent by
another"" The young man, encouraged in his quest by his family,
answers, "I am sent by my father." Baba Yaga promptly throws him into
the pot and cooks him. The next to attempt this quest, a young woman,
sees the smoldering fire and hears the cackle of Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga
again demands, "Are you on your own errand or are you sent by
another?" This young woman has been pulled to the woods alone to seek
what she can find there. "I am on my own errand," she replies. Baba
Yaga throws her in the pot and cooks her too.

Later a third visitor, again a young woman, deeply confused by the
world, comes to Baba Yaga's house far into the forest. She sees the
smoke and knows it is dangerous. Baba Yaga confronts her, "Are you on
your own errand, or are you sent by another?" This young woman answers
truthfully. "In large part I'm on my own errand, but in large part I
also come because of others. And in large part I have come because you
are here, and because of the forest, and something I have forgotten,
and in large part I know not why I come." Baba Yaga regards her for a
moment and says, "You'll do," and shows her into the hut.
Into the Woods

We don't know all the reasons that propel us on a spiritual journey,
but somehow our life compels us to go. Something in us knows that we
are not just here to toil at our work. There is a mysterious pull to
remember. What takes us out of our homes and into the dark of Baba
Yaga's forest can be a combination of events. It can be a longing from
childhood, or an "accidental" encounter with a spiritual book or
figure. Sometimes something in us awakens when we travel to a foreign
culture and the exotic world of new rhythms, fragrances, colors, and
activity catapults us out of our usual sense of reality. Sometimes it
is as simple as walking in the blue-green mountains or hearing choral
music so beautiful it seems inspired by the gods. Sometimes it is that
mysterious transformation when we attend at the bedside of the dying
and a "person" vanishes from existence, leaving only a lifeless sack
of flesh awaiting burial. A thousand gates open to the spirit. Whether
in the brilliance of beauty or the dark woods of confusion and sorrow,
a force as sure as gravity brings us back to our heart. It happens to
every one of us.
The Messengers of Suffering

The most frequent entryway to the sacred is our own suffering and
dissatisfaction. Countless spiritual journeys have begun in an
encounter with the difficulties of life. For Western masters,
suffering in early family life is a common start: alcoholic or abusive
parents, grave family illness, loss of a loved relative, or cold
absentee parents and warring family members all recur in many of their
stories. For one wise and respected meditation master it started with
isolation and disconnection.

When I was a child, our family life had so much unhappiness.
Everyone was yelling and I felt I didn't belong there. I felt like an
alien. Then, about age nine I became really interested in flying
saucers. For years at night I would fantasize that a UFO was going to
pick me up, that I would be abducted and taken back to another planet.
I really wanted that to escape from my alienation and loneliness. I
guess that was the beginning of my four decades of spiritual search.

We all know how much the heart longs for spiritual sustenance in times
of difficulty. "Honor this longing," says Rumi. "Those that make you
return, for whatever reason, to the spirit, be grateful to them. Worry
about the others, who give you delicious comfort that keeps you from
prayer."

For another spiritual teacher, physician, and healer, thirty years of
inner work also began with family sorrows.

My parents fought terribly and then divorced quite violently when
I was young. I was sent to an awful boarding school. My family life
was so painful, it left me lonely, filled with grief, restlessness,
and discontent with everything. I didn't know how to live.

One day I saw a man in orange robes and shaved head chanting
"Hare Krishna" on the steps of the square. I naively thought he was
some wise Indian saint. He told me about karma, reincarnation,
meditation, and the possibility of freedom. It rang true in my whole
body. I was so excited, I phoned my mother and said, "I'm leaving
school. I want to be a Hare Krishna monk." She became quite
hysterical, so we compromised to where I would learn meditation. That
opened me to another world. I learned to let go of my past and to have
compassion for myself. Meditation saved my life.

Crisis is an invitation to the spirit not only in childhood, but
whenever our life passes through suffering. For many masters, the
gateway to the spiritual opened when loss or desperation, suffering or
confusion drove them to look for solace of the heart, for a hidden
wholeness. The long journey of one teacher began in adulthood, overseas.

I was in Hong Kong. My marriage was going badly, my youngest
daughter had died from sudden infant death syndrome two years earlier,
and in every way I was not happy. We returned to America and at
Stanford Business School I saw a sign for tai chi and signed up. That
began to calm my body, but my heart remained sorrowful and confused. I
separated from my wife and tried various forms of meditation to calm
myself. Then a girlfriend introduced me to her meditation master, who
invited me to a retreat. The room was formal and silent as we all sat
hour after hour. On the second morning, suddenly I saw myself standing
looking at my daughter's grave, with a shovelful of red earth being
thrown on it. Tears came and a wail rose from me. The other students
nearby hissed and whispered "Shut up," but the master came over and
told them to be still and held me for a time. And I wept and
blubbered, filled with grief all morning. That was how it began. Now,
thirty years later, I am the one holding those who weep.

The encounter with suffering that leads us to seek an answer is a
universal story. In the life story of the Buddha as Prince Siddhartha,
the Buddha-to-be was deliberately protected from the problems of the
world by his father, sequestered in beautiful palaces during his early
years. Finally the young prince insisted on going out to see the
world. As he rode through the kingdom with his charioteer Channa, he
saw four sights which stunned him deeply. First the Buddha saw a very
old person, tottering, bent over, and frail. Next he saw a man
grievously ill, cared for by his friends. Then he saw a dead body.
Each time he asked his charioteer, "To whom do these things happen?"
Each time Channa replied, "To everyone, my lord."

These sights are called "the Heavenly Messengers," for just as they
awakened the Buddha, so they remind us all to seek liberation, to seek
a spiritual freedom in this life.

Can you remember the first time you saw a dead body or a person
gravely ill? This first up-close encounter with sickness and death
sent a shock through Siddhartha's whole being. "How can we best live
in a life haunted by illness and death?" he wondered. The fourth
messenger came when he saw a monk standing at the edge of the forest,
a hermit who had devoted a life of simplicity to seek an end to the
sorrows of the world. At this sight the Buddha realized that he too
must follow this path, that he must face directly the sorrows of life
and attempt to find a way beyond their grasp.

Like a modern Siddhartha, one teacher tells how her journey in the
cities and countryside called her to her path.

After college I worked in a social service agency in Philadelphia
trying to help a series of desperate families. No work, lots of
children, squalid housing, drug problems. Some days I would come home
from the agency and weep. Then with a friend I went to work in Central
America -- El Salvador and Guatemala. It seemed like an ocean of
problems for the poor campesinos. They labored just to get enough food
and medicine for their kids, and had to suffer periodic military
raids. It was very hard. When I came back I entered the convent for
four years, not to run away, but to find myself, to learn what I could
really do to benefit this world.

The heavenly messengers come in some form to each of us, calling us to
seek a wholeness missing in our lives. They come not just as our own
struggles, but in the sorrows of the world. These have such a powerful
effect on our hearts that any day's news could break them open. The
perennial floods of Bangladesh; the hunger and warfare of Africa,
Europe, Asia; the ecological crisis worldwide; the racism, poverty,
and violence of our cities -- they too are the messengers. They are a
call. As they did for the Buddha, they demand that we awaken.
Return to Innocence

Lest it all sound difficult, there is another side to the forces that
draw so many of us into the woods. A beauty calls to us, a wholeness
that we know exists. The Sufis call this "the voice of the beloved."
We are born into this world with the song in our ears, yet we may
first come to know it by its absence.

When we live without connectedness, without an illumination of spirit,
we can feel in ourselves the deep longing of a lost child, a subtle
longing as though we know something essential is missing, something
that dances at the edge of our vision, always with us like the air we
forget until the wind blows. Yet it is this elusive spirit which holds
us completely, which nourishes the heart, summoning us toward our
search for what life is all about. We are pulled to return to our true
nature, to our wise and knowing heart.

This sacred longing can arise first in childhood, as it did for the
Zen master of a large community in Europe.

I remembered as a child having experiences of wonder and identity
with the world. I felt an identity with the hills, seeing them dance,
and the rivers in between. One day I imagined myself a part of a great
summer storm that swept through our town. At about twelve I recognized
how incredible the game of life is, how much bigger than anything I
knew. Then I would forget and go back to playing soccer and playing
with friends until the next time it happened, another moment of this
naive sweet opening. Later I heard an Indian swami talk at the
university about the world of nature and mystery, and he wept quite
openly. I was so touched, as if I was hearing Jesus talk, and I began
to remember again that innocent connection to my childhood. When you
realize how much you've lost, you have to go looking again for those
moments when your spirit first came alive.

Over the years, a practical and materialistic society can usurp the
original mystery of childhood. We are sent to school early to "grow
up," to "be serious," and if we don't let go of our childhood
innocence, all too often the world tries to knock it out of us. A
hundred years ago the American painter James McNeill Whistler
encountered this attitude in his engineering class at West Point
Military Academy. The students were instructed to draw a careful study
of a bridge, and Whistler submitted a beautifully detailed picturesque
stone arch with children fishing from its top. The lieutenant in
charge ordered, "This is a military exercise. Get those children off
the bridge." Whistler resubmitted the drawing with the two children
now fishing from the side of the river. "I said get those children
completely out of the picture," said the angry lieutenant. So
Whistler's last version had the river, the bridge, and two small
tombstones along its bank.

As the existentialist writer Albert Camus discovered:

A man's life is nothing but an extended trek through the detours
of art to recapture those one or two moments when his heart first
opened.

The Zen tradition describes this journey in its account of the sacred
ox. In ancient India, oxen were a symbol for the wondrous and powerful
qualities that reside within every being, that awaken as we discover
our true nature. The Zen ox-herding story begins with a scroll
painting of a man wandering into the mountain thickets. The image is
entitled "Seeking the Ox." Behind the man is a maze of crisscrossing
roads: the old highways of ambition and fear, confusion and loss,
praise and blame. For a long time this man has forgotten the flowing
rivers and mountain vistas. But on the day he finally remembers, he
sets out seeking the tracks of the sacred ox. In his heart he knows
that even in the deepest gorges and the topmost mountains, the ox
cannot be lost. In the beauty of the forest he stops to rest. And
looking down, he sees the first tracks.

For one meditation teacher in her sixties, ox-seeking began in middle
age, after raising three children.

When I was a girl I grew up in an intellectual environment where
spiritual life was never mentioned except maybe at Christmas. It's as
if my parents thought we were beyond that religion stuff. I was so
jealous of my friends who went to church. Starting at seven I cut the
pictures of Mary and angels and Jesus out of Christmas cards. I hid
them in the bottom of my dresser drawer and made a secret altar there.
I would take them out every Sunday and make up my own kind of service.

Then, at forty-three, I was traveling on business and had time to
visit a famous cathedral. I went into the vast cool interior and saw
the sunlight flaming through the stained glass. A choir began to sing
Gregorian chants for the late afternoon service, and the altar held a
beautiful Mary, just like my Christmas cards. I had to sit down. I
felt seven again, my eyes filled with tears and my heart about burst.
That poor little girl was spiritually starved. The next week I went to
a yoga class and then signed up for a meditation retreat.

Excerpted by permission of Bantam, a division of Random House, Inc.
Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be
reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the
publisher.

JACK KORNFIELD was trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, Burma, and
India, and has taught meditation worldwide since 1974. For many years
his work has been focused on integrating and bringing alive the great
Eastern spiritual teachings in an accessible way for Western students
and Western society. Jack also holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
He is a husband, father, psychotherapist, and founding teacher of the
Insight Meditation Society and the Spirit Rock Center. His books
include A Path With Heart, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, Buddha's
Little Instruction Book, Buddhism in the West, Seeking the Heart of
Wisdom, A Still Forest Pool, and Soul Food.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Day At A Time*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Endure

"Go through the darkness and come out the other side.
When you think 'I can't stand another minute of this,' know that you
can.
When you think 'I won't make it through another day,' know that you
will.
When you can't take another moment of the pain and the fear and the
feelings
of hopelessness, realize that you just have.

Endure the heartache and come out heartstrong. Endure the tremors and
the
grief and the isolation and come out sturdy and robust and ready for
another round. Like a diamond in the making, endure the heat and the
pressure for what seems like eternity, and emerge with a new
brilliance and clarity. When you think you've come to your end, dig
deep
and endure."

Katherine Hepburn

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*First Things First*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Beauty and confidence - deeper than the ocean -
reside in the soul of every person.
They are not reserved for a special few.
Some of us just don't know it.

Confidence born of possessions is tentative.
If the possessions are lost or taken away,
the confidence disappears along with them.

Beauty created from the glory of attention is a finite form of
loveliness.
The physical reality of aging reaches beyond
the attention span of those who hail its youthful look.
Their flattery fades away.

Confidence is not cocky.
It is the self-assured knowledge you were born to live in love,
to give and receive, to share and care.
It is knowing the world is a better place
because of your presence on this planet.

Beauty is not arrogant.
It is the radiant knowledge you are a complete human being.
It is knowing that nothing can make you more beautiful
than the way you were created.

If you are not a living expression of true confidence and beauty,
you haven't lost them.
You've simply forgotten you have them.
Dig deep, look back and remember.

Living in love and loving life,

Terri McPherson
tmcphers@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Easy Does It*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Reveal Your True Colours

Why is it so hard to live from the heart?
Getting to the point of being
who you are meant to be
is a long slow process, with spurts of rapid progress
scattered here and there and in between

The only sure journey
we each must undertake
begins slowly as we listen to our heart's unique calling
and defy all expectations others may have of us

Go within and touch the child of your past:
Listen to what needs listening to
And mourn what needs to be left behind
Tears promote the healing of raw issues

Rewrite your core beliefs so they
become attuned to reality
Go further within and embrace your personal power
Find your Grown-Up's courage, passion and confidence

Define the meanings that infuse
your life with regeneration
Walk your own path with humility, honesty
and highest truth

Lastly, bring your true colours to the world
Integrate your calling ~ your life's meaning ~
into the tapestry that is our common goal

This is our undeniable relatedness to each other
Your contribution forms a brilliant addition
Never forget that
Form your unique combination and
Live your heart in all its passionate colours!

©2004 Stella Raymonde Savoie Johnson
stellaraymonde@...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Live And Let Live*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There are many ways to measure success;
not the least of which is the way your child
describes you when talking to a friend.
Unknown

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep The Focus On You*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The minute you settle for less than you deserve,
you get even less than you settled for.
Maureen Dowd

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Let God and Let Go*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The real measure of your wealth is how much
you'd be worth if you lost all your money.
Anonymous

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Prayer work is a constant and consistent conversation with Him.
God listens, and He answers.
His answer is the experience of peace.
Marianne Williamson

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Do not withhold your gift from others.
Do not make the mistake of
thinking that you have no gift to give.
Everyone has a gift.
But don't compare your gift to the gifts of others,
or you may not value it sufficiently.
Paul Ferrini

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Come To Believe*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If someone listens, or stretches out a hand,
or whispers a kind word of encouragement,
or attempts to understand a lonely person,
extraordinary things begin to happen
Loretta Girzatlis

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Look For The Beauty*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you give this disease an inch it will take your life.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Today Is A Gift*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This is not the Flu that we have,
It is the disease of addiction.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Keep Stepping*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Addiction is not a disgrace it's a disease.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Stay In The Light*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This disease does not give up.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Take A Moment To GIVE (NO COST)*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

FREE Rice
http://www.freerice.com/

Click to GIVE @ the STOP HIV Site
http://www.thestophivsite.com/

Click to GIVE @ the Hunger Site
http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1

Click to GIVE @ the Breast Cancer Site
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

Click to GIVE @ the Rain Forest Site
http://www.therainforestsite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=4

Click to GIVE @ the Animal Rescue Site
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3

Track Your Impact in GIVING
http://www.care2.com/click2donate/

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Promise, Many Gifts*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Adult Children of Alcoholics
http://www.AdultChildren.org

Al-Anon/Alateen
http://www.al-anon.org

Alcoholics Anonymous
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org

Alcoholics Anonymous Deaf and Hard of Hearing
http://www.dhh12s.com/

Artists Recovering through the Twelve Steps
http://www.artsanonymous.org

Clutterer’s Anonymous
http://www.clutterersanonymous.net

Cocaine Anonymous World Services
http://www.ca.org

Co-Dependents Anonymous Home Page
http://www.codependents.org

Crystal Meth Anonymous
http://www.crystalmeth.org

Criminal and Gangs Anonymous
http://www.angelfire.com/id/CGAnonymous

Debtors Anonymous: A Twelve Step Fellowship for…
http://www.debtorsanonymous.org

Depressed Anonymous
http://www.depressedanon.com

Dual Recovery Anonymous - a 12 Step program
http://www.draonline.org

Eating Disorders Anonymous
http://www.eatingdisordersanonymous.org

Emotions Anonymous
http://www.emotionsanonymous.org

Families Anonymous
http://www.familiesanonymous.org

Gamblers Anonymous Official Home Page
http://www.gamblersanonymous.org

Hepatitis C Anonymous
http://www.hcvanonymous.com

HIV Anonymous
http://www.hivanonymous.com

The Marijuana Anonymous
http://www.marijuana-anonymous.org

Methadone Anonymous
http://www.afirmfwc.org/methanon.htm

Narcotics Anonymous Official Homepage
http://www.na.org

Earth Group N.A. online meetings
http://www.earthgroupna.org

Nar-Anon is a family support group
http://www.naranon.com

Nicotine Anonymous (WWW Home Page) NA Home Page
http://www.nicotine-anonymous.org

Overeaters Anonymous
http://www.oa.org

Parents Anonymous
http://www.parentsanonymous.org/paIndex1.htm

Rape Survivors Anonymous
http://www.rsaws.org

Recovering Couples Anonymous
http://www.recovering-couples.org

Sexaholics Anonymous
http://www.sa.org

Sex Addicts Anonymous
http://www.saa-recovery.org

Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous
http://www.slaafws.org/

Shoplifters Anonymous
http://www.shopliftersanonymous.org

Spenders Anonymous
http://www.spenders.org/home.html

Survivors Of Incest Anonymous
http://www.siawso.org

Workaholics Anonymous
http://www.workaholics-anonymous.org

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*@¿@*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Created in 1997 , "12 Step Soul Food for the Spirit" is intended to give
readers , inspiring and thoughtful messages. To help fulfill our primary
purpose which is to carry the message to the alcoholic/addict
who still suffers. A spiritual adventure, a journey inwards this
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We invite you to share the writings by forwarding today's
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Stay in the Light,

In loving service,
Scott H. from N.Y. ~ cleandate 10/27/88
YOUnMEnHP@...

== == "we are each of us angels
<^\()/\()/^> with but one wing,
\/ \/ \/ and can only fly by
/ \/ \ embracing each other"
`""``""`

Scott’s Daily Blog
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