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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 28, 2009
Daily
Reflections
THE
DETERMINATION OF OUR FOUNDERS
A year and six months later these three had succeeded with seven
more.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 159
If it had not been for the fierce determination of our founders, A.A.
would have quickly faded like so many other so-called good causes. I
look at the hundreds of meetings weekly in the city where I live and I
know A.A. is available twenty-four hours a day. If I had had to hang on
with nothing but hope and a desire not to drink, experiencing rejection
wherever I went, I would have sought the easier, softer way and
returned to my previous way of life.
***********************************************************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
You can prove to yourself that life is basically and fundamentally an
inner attitude. Just try to remember what troubled you most a week
ago. You probably will find it difficult to remember. Why then should
you unduly worry or fret over the problems that arise today? Your
attitude toward them can be changed by putting yourself and your
problems in God's hands and trusting Him to see that everything will
turn out all right, provided you are trying to do the right thing. Your
changed mental attitude toward your problems relieves you of their
burden and you can face them without fear. Has my mental attitude
changed?
Meditation For The Day
You cannot see the future. It's a blessing that you cannot. You could
not bear to know all the future. That is why God only reveals it to you
day by day. The first step is to lay your will before God as an
offering, ready for God to do what is best for you. Be sure that, if
you trust God, what He does for you will be for the best. The second
step is to be confident that God is powerful enough to do anything He
wills, and that no miracle in human lives is impossible with Him. Then
leave the future to God.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may gladly leave my future in God's hands. I pray that I
may be confident that good things will happen, as long as I am on the
right path.
***********************************************************
As Bill Sees It
Coping With Anger, p. 179
Few people have been more victimized by resentments than have we alcoholics. A burst
of temper could spoil a day, and a well-nursed grudge could make us miserably
ineffective. Nor were we ever skillful in separating justified from unjustified anger. As
we saw it, our wrath was always justified. Anger, that occasional luxury of more balanced
people, could keep us on an emotional jag indefinitely. These "dry benders' often led
straight to the bottle.
<< << << >> >> >>
Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen. We must avoid quick-tempered
criticism, furious power-driven argument, sulking, and silent scorn. These are emotional
booby traps baited with pride and vengefulness. When we are tempted by the bait, we
should train ourselves to step back and think. We can neither think nor act to good
purpose until the habit of self-restraint has become automatic.
12 & 12
1. p. 90
2. p. 91
***********************************************************
Walk In Dry Places
Why it works.
Confidence.
Twelve Step meetings often begin with a reading from a famous Fifth chapter, "How it works." We know that the program does work, but why? Is there a secret or magic to it?
The real reason the program works is neither secret nor magic. The program actually relies on ancient principles that always amaze people when they are employed: Help Others, and you help yourself. Clean up your own house. Put your trust in God, not frail human beings or shaky institutions. Remove false gods, such as alcohol and other drugs.
There may be additional reasons for the program's success, but these are enough for a start. The Twelve Step program does work.
I'll take comfort today in knowing that I'm walking in a way that has been tested and proven. The program works if I let it work.
***********************************************************
Keep It Simple
The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form. --Stanley J. Randall
Trying to be perfect get us into trouble. Trying to be perfect means we're trying to control things.
We may be trying to cover up something. Maybe we aren't facing our pain. Maybe we've hurt
someone and we need to make amends.
We need to practice being human. Humans aren't perfect. In Steps Six and Seven, we face our human limits and our shortcomings. We then start the lifelong job of letting them go. To accept our human limits leads us to our Higher Power. We see how we need a guide in life. Our Higher Power makes a perfect guide.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me accept that I can't be perfect. Help me be a good human being.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list my shortcoming. I'll talk with a friend about them. I'll ask my friend to tell me what my good qualities are.
***********************************************************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS
If you are satisfied that he is a real alcoholic, begin to dwell on the hopeless feature of the malady. Show him, from your own experience, how the queer mental condition surrounding that first drink prevents normal functioning of the will power. Don’t, at this stage, refer to this book, unless he has seen it and wishes to discuss it. And be careful not to brand him as an alcoholic. Let him draw his own conclusion. If he sticks to the idea that he can still control his drinking, tell him that possibly he can—if he is not too alcoholic. But insist that if he is severely afflicted, there may be little chance he can recover by himself.
p. 92
***********************************************************
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."
As the day goes on, we can pause where situations must be met and decisions made, and renew the simple request: "Thy will, not mine, be done." If at these points our emotional disturbance happens to be great, we will more surely keep our balance, provided we remember, and repeat to ourselves, a particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to us in our reading or meditation. Just saying it over and over will often enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of all--our search for God's will, not our own, in the moment of stress. At these critical moments, if we remind ourselves that "it is better to comfort than to be comforted, to understand than to be understood, to love than to be loved," we will be following the intent of Step Eleven.
pp. 102-103
***********************************************************
I can get more out of God by believing Him for one minute than
by shouting at Him all night.
--Smith Wigglesworth
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming
conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go.
--Abraham Lincoln
LORD, Let me want what I have.
--Anonymous
"A positive attitude is like a fire - Unless you continue to add fuel, it
goes out."
--Alexander Lockhart
What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
--John Lubbock
All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not
seen.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
When life seems just a dreary grind; and things seem fated to annoy;
say something nice to someone else and watch the world light up with
joy.
--Unknown
Appreciative words are the most powerful force for good on earth!
--George W. Crane
***********************************************
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
WINE
"One of the disadvantages of wine
is that it makes a man mistake
words for thoughts."
--Samuel Johnson
Alcohol produced problems in my life. I was unable to control my
drinking and the result was catastrophe. I hurt people. I
endangered my health. I ruin my productivity. I became lonely. I
felt isolated. I was forever getting into arguments. The police were
often involved. People who loved me had to walk away from me
for their own sanity. Alcohol made my life a mess!
Today I can see this and I am glad I made the spiritual decision to
refuse the first drink. Today I am getting my life together. I am
becoming a productive citizen. I have friends and relationships again.
But I need to remember what I must never forget:
Alcohol + Me = Problems.
Lord, alcohol is a gift I can refuse.
***********************************************************
"I
assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent
me have eternal life."
John 5:24
Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will
set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon
Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver
him and honor him.
Psalm 91:14-15
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."
Proverbs 25:11
And your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk
in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
Isaiah 30:21
***********************************************************
Daily Inspiration
Be easier on yourself and more forgiving so that you can begin to recognize the depth of the wisdom you already possess. Lord, help me look beyond my shortcomings so that I am better able to get through my difficult moments and am able to spend more time enjoying who I am.
One of life's greatest rewards is not what we get, but what we become. Lord, teach me as I am able to learn and give me the courage to be all that I can.
A year and six months later these three had succeeded with seven
more.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 159
If it had not been for the fierce determination of our founders, A.A.
would have quickly faded like so many other so-called good causes. I
look at the hundreds of meetings weekly in the city where I live and I
know A.A. is available twenty-four hours a day. If I had had to hang on
with nothing but hope and a desire not to drink, experiencing rejection
wherever I went, I would have sought the easier, softer way and
returned to my previous way of life.
************
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
You can prove to yourself that life is basically and fundamentally an
inner attitude. Just try to remember what troubled you most a week
ago. You probably will find it difficult to remember. Why then should
you unduly worry or fret over the problems that arise today? Your
attitude toward them can be changed by putting yourself and your
problems in God's hands and trusting Him to see that everything will
turn out all right, provided you are trying to do the right thing. Your
changed mental attitude toward your problems relieves you of their
burden and you can face them without fear. Has my mental attitude
changed?
Meditation For The Day
You cannot see the future. It's a blessing that you cannot. You could
not bear to know all the future. That is why God only reveals it to you
day by day. The first step is to lay your will before God as an
offering, ready for God to do what is best for you. Be sure that, if
you trust God, what He does for you will be for the best. The second
step is to be confident that God is powerful enough to do anything He
wills, and that no miracle in human lives is impossible with Him. Then
leave the future to God.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may gladly leave my future in God's hands. I pray that I
may be confident that good things will happen, as long as I am on the
right path.
************
As Bill Sees It
Coping With Anger, p. 179
Few people have been more victimized by resentments than have we alcoholics. A burst
of temper could spoil a day, and a well-nursed grudge could make us miserably
ineffective. Nor were we ever skillful in separating justified from unjustified anger. As
we saw it, our wrath was always justified. Anger, that occasional luxury of more balanced
people, could keep us on an emotional jag indefinitely. These "dry benders' often led
straight to the bottle.
<< << << >> >> >>
Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen. We must avoid quick-tempered
criticism, furious power-driven argument, sulking, and silent scorn. These are emotional
booby traps baited with pride and vengefulness. When we are tempted by the bait, we
should train ourselves to step back and think. We can neither think nor act to good
purpose until the habit of self-restraint has become automatic.
12 & 12
1. p. 90
2. p. 91
************
Why it works.
Confidence.
Twelve Step meetings often begin with a reading from a famous Fifth chapter, "How it works." We know that the program does work, but why? Is there a secret or magic to it?
The real reason the program works is neither secret nor magic. The program actually relies on ancient principles that always amaze people when they are employed: Help Others, and you help yourself. Clean up your own house. Put your trust in God, not frail human beings or shaky institutions. Remove false gods, such as alcohol and other drugs.
There may be additional reasons for the program's success, but these are enough for a start. The Twelve Step program does work.
I'll take comfort today in knowing that I'm walking in a way that has been tested and proven. The program works if I let it work.
************
The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form. --Stanley J. Randall
Trying to be perfect get us into trouble. Trying to be perfect means we're trying to control things.
We may be trying to cover up something. Maybe we aren't facing our pain. Maybe we've hurt
someone and we need to make amends.
We need to practice being human. Humans aren't perfect. In Steps Six and Seven, we face our human limits and our shortcomings. We then start the lifelong job of letting them go. To accept our human limits leads us to our Higher Power. We see how we need a guide in life. Our Higher Power makes a perfect guide.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me accept that I can't be perfect. Help me be a good human being.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list my shortcoming. I'll talk with a friend about them. I'll ask my friend to tell me what my good qualities are.
************
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS
If you are satisfied that he is a real alcoholic, begin to dwell on the hopeless feature of the malady. Show him, from your own experience, how the queer mental condition surrounding that first drink prevents normal functioning of the will power. Don’t, at this stage, refer to this book, unless he has seen it and wishes to discuss it. And be careful not to brand him as an alcoholic. Let him draw his own conclusion. If he sticks to the idea that he can still control his drinking, tell him that possibly he can—if he is not too alcoholic. But insist that if he is severely afflicted, there may be little chance he can recover by himself.
p. 92
************
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."
As the day goes on, we can pause where situations must be met and decisions made, and renew the simple request: "Thy will, not mine, be done." If at these points our emotional disturbance happens to be great, we will more surely keep our balance, provided we remember, and repeat to ourselves, a particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to us in our reading or meditation. Just saying it over and over will often enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of all--our search for God's will, not our own, in the moment of stress. At these critical moments, if we remind ourselves that "it is better to comfort than to be comforted, to understand than to be understood, to love than to be loved," we will be following the intent of Step Eleven.
pp. 102-103
************
by shouting at Him all night.
--Smith Wigglesworth
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming
conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go.
--Abraham Lincoln
LORD, Let me want what I have.
--Anonymous
"A positive attitude is like a fire - Unless you continue to add fuel, it
goes out."
--Alexander Lockhart
What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
--John Lubbock
All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not
seen.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
When life seems just a dreary grind; and things seem fated to annoy;
say something nice to someone else and watch the world light up with
joy.
--Unknown
Appreciative words are the most powerful force for good on earth!
--George W. Crane
************
WINE
"One of the disadvantages of wine
is that it makes a man mistake
words for thoughts."
--Samuel Johnson
Alcohol produced problems in my life. I was unable to control my
drinking and the result was catastrophe. I hurt people. I
endangered my health. I ruin my productivity. I became lonely. I
felt isolated. I was forever getting into arguments. The police were
often involved. People who loved me had to walk away from me
for their own sanity. Alcohol made my life a mess!
Today I can see this and I am glad I made the spiritual decision to
refuse the first drink. Today I am getting my life together. I am
becoming a productive citizen. I have friends and relationships again.
But I need to remember what I must never forget:
Alcohol + Me = Problems.
Lord, alcohol is a gift I can refuse.
************
John 5:24
Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will
set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon
Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver
him and honor him.
Psalm 91:14-15
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."
Proverbs 25:11
And your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk
in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
Isaiah 30:21
************
Be easier on yourself and more forgiving so that you can begin to recognize the depth of the wisdom you already possess. Lord, help me look beyond my shortcomings so that I am better able to get through my difficult moments and am able to spend more time enjoying who I am.
One of life's greatest rewards is not what we get, but what we become. Lord, teach me as I am able to learn and give me the courage to be all that I can.
Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7
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