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Daily
Recovery
Readings
God grant me the
Serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
and Wisdom to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine, be done.
June 15, 2009
Daily
Reflections
MAKING A. A. YOUR HIGHER POWER
". . . . . You can . . . make A. A. itself your 'higher power.'
Here's a very large group of people who have solved their
alcohol problem. . . . .many members . . . . have crossed the
threshold just this way. . . . .their faith broadened and
deepened. . . . transformed, they came to believe in a
Higher Power. . . . ."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 27-28
No one was greater than I, at least in my eyes, when I was
drinking. Nevertheless, I couldn't smile at myself in the
mirror, so I came to A.A. where, with others, I heard talk
of a Higher Power. I couldn't accept the concept of a Higher
Power because I believed God was cruel and unloving. In
desperation I chose a table, a tree, then my A.A. group,
as my Higher Power. Time passed, my life improved, and I
began to wonder about this Higher Power. Gradually, with
patience, humility and a lot of questions, I came to believe
in God. Now my relationship with my Higher Power gives me
the strength to live a happy, sober life.
***********************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
In A.A. we have three things: fellowship, faith, and service.
Fellowship is wonderful, but its wonder lasts just so long.
Then some gossip, disillusionment, and boredom may come in.
Worry and fear come back at times and we find that fellowship
is not the whole story. Then we need faith. When we're alone,
with nobody to pat us on the back, we must turn to God for
help. Can I say "Thy will be done" - and mean it?
Meditation For The Day
There is beauty in a God-guided life. There is wonder in the
feeling of being led by God. Try to realize God's bounty and
goodness more and more. God is planning for you. Wonderful are
His ways - they are beyond your knowledge. But God's leading
will enter your consciousness more and more and bring you ever
more peace and joy. Your life is being planned and blessed by
God. You may count all material things as losses if they
prevent your winning your way to the consciousness of God's
guidance.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may earn the rewards of God's power and peace.
I pray that I may develop the feeling of being led by God.
***********************************************************
As Bill Sees It
Fear No Evil, p. 166
Though we of A.A. find ourselves living in a world characterized by destructive fears
as never before in history, we see great areas of faith, and tremendous aspirations
toward justice and brotherhood. Yet no prophet can presume to say whether the
world outcome will be blazing destruction or the beginning, under God's intention, of
the brightest era yet known to mankind.
I am sure we A.A.'s will comprehend this scene. In microcosm, we have experienced
this identical state of terrifying uncertainty, each in his own life. In no sense pridefully,
we can say that we do not fear the world outcome, whichever course it may take.
This is because we have been established to deeply feel and say, "We shall fear no
evil--Thy will, not ours, be done."
Grapevine, January 1962
***********************************************************
Keep It Simple
He who laughs, last.---Mary Pettibone Poole
It feels good to laugh again! Our disease took away our sense of humor. Recovery gives it back. That's why there's so much laughter at our meetings. By seeing the funny side of things, we ease up.
A person in treatment was talking about the Higher Power he had come to believe in. The counselor asked, “Does God have a sense of humor?" The group had fun talking about this idea for a while. The next day, the counselor came to work and found a note on her door. It read: “Of course God has a sense of humor. He made you, didn't He? Laughter helps us heal.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me ease up today. Let me see the funny side of things.
Action for the Day: I'll let myself laugh today.
***********************************************************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION
If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in morning meditation. If we belong to a religious denomination which requires a definite morning devotion, we attend to that also. If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing. There are many helpful books also. Suggestions about these may be obtained from one’s priest, minister, or rabbi. Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer.
p. 87
***********************************************************
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."
Prayer and meditation are our principal means of conscious contact with God.
We A.A.'s are active folk, enjoying the satisfactions of dealing with the realities of life, usually for the first time in our lives, and strenuously trying to help the next alcoholic who comes along. So it isn't surprising that 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. Or perhaps we don't believe in these things at all.
p. 96
***********************************************************
Adventure is not outside a man. It is within.
--David Grayson
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and
not giving it."
--William Arthur Ward
"When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade."
--Dale Carnegie
Very little is needed to make a happy life. It is all within yourself, in
your way of thinking.
--Marcus Aurelius
Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have
the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it
shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just
one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."
--Groucho Marx
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
FEAR
"Nothing is so much to be feared
as fear. "
--Henry David Thoreau
Fear is a killer. It stops the God-given spirituality in our lives from
taking shape and making life enjoyable. Fear is connected with doubt -
doubt of self. Low self-esteem develops along with fear and in order
for confidence to develop, the fear must be faced, confronted and
talked about.
Fear is not going to go away because we wish it away or hope it sway
or even pray it away. Fear needs to be identified, located and seen for
what it is - or, as in most cases, what it isn't. Fear of people, things,
tomorrow or life itself grows so long as we forge that we are creatures
of God. There is nothing that cannot be faced or overcome - as long as
we remain drug-free. God is on our side - but we need also to be on
our side. Fear is never stronger than our spirituality. We need to bring
our fear into the light; then it can be overcome.
I ask to stay in the light of sobriety, not the darkness of alcoholism.
***********************************************************
"The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great
in mercy."
Psalms 145:8
"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die
to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been
healed."
I Peter 2:24
***********************************************************
Daily Inspiration
Ask yourself if what you are spending your thoughts and energy on will matter in a week, a month, or a year. Lord, help me select my priorities wisely and use my time in ways that will make my life and those around me better and happier.
The more cheer you give, the more that remains. Lord, may I show my love for You through a happy face and may my presence be a joyful experience to all that I encounter.
MAKING A. A. YOUR HIGHER POWER
". . . . . You can . . . make A. A. itself your 'higher power.'
Here's a very large group of people who have solved their
alcohol problem. . . . .many members . . . . have crossed the
threshold just this way. . . . .their faith broadened and
deepened. . . . transformed, they came to believe in a
Higher Power. . . . ."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 27-28
No one was greater than I, at least in my eyes, when I was
drinking. Nevertheless, I couldn't smile at myself in the
mirror, so I came to A.A. where, with others, I heard talk
of a Higher Power. I couldn't accept the concept of a Higher
Power because I believed God was cruel and unloving. In
desperation I chose a table, a tree, then my A.A. group,
as my Higher Power. Time passed, my life improved, and I
began to wonder about this Higher Power. Gradually, with
patience, humility and a lot of questions, I came to believe
in God. Now my relationship with my Higher Power gives me
the strength to live a happy, sober life.
***********************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
In A.A. we have three things: fellowship, faith, and service.
Fellowship is wonderful, but its wonder lasts just so long.
Then some gossip, disillusionment, and boredom may come in.
Worry and fear come back at times and we find that fellowship
is not the whole story. Then we need faith. When we're alone,
with nobody to pat us on the back, we must turn to God for
help. Can I say "Thy will be done" - and mean it?
Meditation For The Day
There is beauty in a God-guided life. There is wonder in the
feeling of being led by God. Try to realize God's bounty and
goodness more and more. God is planning for you. Wonderful are
His ways - they are beyond your knowledge. But God's leading
will enter your consciousness more and more and bring you ever
more peace and joy. Your life is being planned and blessed by
God. You may count all material things as losses if they
prevent your winning your way to the consciousness of God's
guidance.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may earn the rewards of God's power and peace.
I pray that I may develop the feeling of being led by God.
***********************************************************
As Bill Sees It
Fear No Evil, p. 166
Though we of A.A. find ourselves living in a world characterized by destructive fears
as never before in history, we see great areas of faith, and tremendous aspirations
toward justice and brotherhood. Yet no prophet can presume to say whether the
world outcome will be blazing destruction or the beginning, under God's intention, of
the brightest era yet known to mankind.
I am sure we A.A.'s will comprehend this scene. In microcosm, we have experienced
this identical state of terrifying uncertainty, each in his own life. In no sense pridefully,
we can say that we do not fear the world outcome, whichever course it may take.
This is because we have been established to deeply feel and say, "We shall fear no
evil--Thy will, not ours, be done."
Grapevine, January 1962
***********************************************************
Keep It Simple
He who laughs, last.---Mary Pettibone Poole
It feels good to laugh again! Our disease took away our sense of humor. Recovery gives it back. That's why there's so much laughter at our meetings. By seeing the funny side of things, we ease up.
A person in treatment was talking about the Higher Power he had come to believe in. The counselor asked, “Does God have a sense of humor?" The group had fun talking about this idea for a while. The next day, the counselor came to work and found a note on her door. It read: “Of course God has a sense of humor. He made you, didn't He? Laughter helps us heal.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me ease up today. Let me see the funny side of things.
Action for the Day: I'll let myself laugh today.
***********************************************************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION
If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in morning meditation. If we belong to a religious denomination which requires a definite morning devotion, we attend to that also. If not members of religious bodies, we sometimes select and memorize a few set prayers which emphasize the principles we have been discussing. There are many helpful books also. Suggestions about these may be obtained from one’s priest, minister, or rabbi. Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer.
p. 87
***********************************************************
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."
Prayer and meditation are our principal means of conscious contact with God.
We A.A.'s are active folk, enjoying the satisfactions of dealing with the realities of life, usually for the first time in our lives, and strenuously trying to help the next alcoholic who comes along. So it isn't surprising that 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. Or perhaps we don't believe in these things at all.
p. 96
***********************************************************
Adventure is not outside a man. It is within.
--David Grayson
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and
not giving it."
--William Arthur Ward
"When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade."
--Dale Carnegie
Very little is needed to make a happy life. It is all within yourself, in
your way of thinking.
--Marcus Aurelius
Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have
the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it
shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just
one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."
--Groucho Marx
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
FEAR
"Nothing is so much to be feared
as fear. "
--Henry David Thoreau
Fear is a killer. It stops the God-given spirituality in our lives from
taking shape and making life enjoyable. Fear is connected with doubt -
doubt of self. Low self-esteem develops along with fear and in order
for confidence to develop, the fear must be faced, confronted and
talked about.
Fear is not going to go away because we wish it away or hope it sway
or even pray it away. Fear needs to be identified, located and seen for
what it is - or, as in most cases, what it isn't. Fear of people, things,
tomorrow or life itself grows so long as we forge that we are creatures
of God. There is nothing that cannot be faced or overcome - as long as
we remain drug-free. God is on our side - but we need also to be on
our side. Fear is never stronger than our spirituality. We need to bring
our fear into the light; then it can be overcome.
I ask to stay in the light of sobriety, not the darkness of alcoholism.
***********************************************************
"The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great
in mercy."
Psalms 145:8
"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die
to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been
healed."
I Peter 2:24
***********************************************************
Daily Inspiration
Ask yourself if what you are spending your thoughts and energy on will matter in a week, a month, or a year. Lord, help me select my priorities wisely and use my time in ways that will make my life and those around me better and happier.
The more cheer you give, the more that remains. Lord, may I show my love for You through a happy face and may my presence be a joyful experience to all that I encounter.
Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7
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