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September 11
Daily Reflections MAKING AMENDS Above all, we should try to be absolutely sure that we are not delaying because we are afraid. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 87 To have courage, to be unafraid, are gifts of my recovery. They empower me to ask for help and to go forth in making my amends with a sense of dignity and humility. Making amends may require a certain amount of honesty that I feel I lack, yet with the help of God and the wisdom of others, I can reach within and find the strength to act. My amends may be accepted, or they may not, but after they are completed I can walk with a sense of freedom and know that, for today, I am responsible. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Continuing the answers to the question of how a person can live without liquor and be happy, we say: "You will be bound to the other A.A.s with new and wonderful ties, for you and they will escape disaster together and all will commence shoulder to shoulder the common journey to a better and more satisfactory life. You will know what it means to give of yourself that others may survive and rediscover life. You will become happy, respected, and useful once more. Since these things have happened to us, they can happen to you." Have these things happened to me? Meditation For The Day God manifests Himself in human lives as strength to overcome evil and power to resist temptation. The grace of God is that power which enables a human being to change from a useless, hopeless individual to a useful, normal person. God also manifests Himself as love--love for other people, compassion for their problems, and a real willingness to help them. The grace of God also manifests itself as peace of mind and serenity of character. We can have plenty of power, love, and serenity in our lives if we are willing to ask God for these things each day. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may see God's grace in the strength I receive, the love I know, and the peace I have. I pray that I may be grateful for the things I have received through the grace of God. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It "Look Before You Leap"?, p.253 "Wise men and women rightly give a top rating to the virtue of prudence. They know that without this all important attribute little wisdom is to be had. "Mere 'looking before we leap' is not enough. If our looking is charged with fear, suspicion, or anger, we had better not have looked or acted at all." ******************************** "We lose the fear of making decisions, great and small, as we realize that should our choice prove wrong we can, if we will, learn from the experience. Should our decision be the right one, we can thank God for giving us the courage and the grace that caused us so to act." Letters, 1966 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places With Whom are we Honest? Honesty "When you're up before a judge, you can't be honest with the court," an AA member said, with some regret. "If you are, the judge will throw the book at you." This member was right in the sense that court-room disclosures must always be made with prudence. What's more important is that we are always completely honest with ourselves and the close friends who serve as our sponsors. As for what is disclosed in a court situation, for example, we follow sound professional advice. Under no circumstances, of course, should we tell an outright lie, however. Our practice of honesty also does not require us to tell every person we know about our alcoholism. We are entitled to our privacy as well as anonymity. Others, in turn, need not be burdened with complete knowledge about our lives. Our Higher Power will guide us along honest paths once we're committed to the program. We will know when and how to make the right disclosures about ourselves. I'll practice rigorous honest today. At the same time, I will be prudent in the way I disclose personal information. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple This above all: To thine own self be true. ---William Shakespeare What does this saying mean: “To thine own self be true”? Hadn’t we thought only of ourselves before recovery? The answer is no. That wasn’t the real us. Each of us lost touch with our real self because of our addiction. We lost our goals, our feelings, our values. We chased the high. In this way, we lost our spirit. We became addicts. With sobriety, we find ourselves again---and it feels great! We stop playing a role and become ourselves---and it’s wonderful. We follow our dreams and beliefs, not some addictive wild goose chase. We are again free to be ourselves. Thank you. Higher Power. Prayer for the Day: Today, I pray to be myself, to know all of me. I can trust myself because my spirit is good. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll pray: “thine own self be true.” ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning I used to think I'd never know the difference between serenity and depression because depression subdued me. --S.H. Depression is familiar to us all, and less incapacitating than it used to be. We have made progress, we can be assured. "This too shall pass" is not an empty slogan. Each of us can recall, with ease probably, a period we thought we'd never survive. Maybe our problem was family-related, or a tough on-the-job situation. Or maybe we felt inadequate and lacking in strength to cope with all situations. But we managed. Here we are today, taking charge of our lives and moving forward in search of serenity. Serenity no doubt eludes us, again and again, throughout the day. But we can let our minds rest. We can give our thoughts to the wind, and serenity will find us. Serenity's peace nurtures us, strengthens us to withstand the turmoil ahead. There is always turmoil ahead. Life's lessons are found there. The irony is that a life with no problems doesn't offer the opportunities we must have if we are to grow. I will let the serene moments wash over me. I will cherish them. They soften me. And the blows of today's tumultuous storm will be lessened. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS In our personal stories you will find a wide variation in the way each teller approaches and conceives of the Power which is greater than himself. Whether we agree with a particular approach or conception seems to make little difference. Experience has taught us that these are matters about which, for our purpose, we need not be worried. They are questions for each individual to settle for himself. p. 50 ************************************************** ********* 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 ************************************************** ********* Few is the number of those who think with their own mind and feel with their own heart. --Albert Einstein "I think everybody has to experience a certain amount of pain on the way to maturity." --Ruth Casey "The great mind knows the power of gentleness." --Robert Browning God is guiding me in all my thoughts and plans and actions. I have given up all my struggling and self-defeating messages and have turned over all my thoughts to the power and energy of goodness and love. --Ruth Fishel Today, I will not run from myself, my circumstances, or feelings. I will be open to myself, others, my Higher Power, and life. I will trust that by facing today to the best of my ability, I will acquire the skills I need to face tomorrow. --Melody Beattie We do not possess our home, our children, or even our own body. They are only given to us for a short while to treat with care and respect. --Jack Kornfield "Two things are hard on the heart - running upstairs and running down people." --Unknown *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation THOUGHT "To be able to be caught up in a world of thought -- that is being educated." -- Edith Hamilton For years I didn't think I reacted. Things happened and I felt I had to respond -- but rarely was it a considered response. I had no program for my life. I was like a boat without a sail. Today I think before I speak. I talk things over with a sponsor or friends before I make an important decision. I listen to the opinions of others before I make a choice. Today I am caught up in a world of thought and it isn't simply my own. God knows my best thinking nearly killed me! The world only makes sense because people share. It is the giving and receiving that makes life worthwhile. To be an island unto myself is isolation. I know what it was to be lonely. Today I desire a relationship of mind, body and feelings. Let me find You in my neighbor and be sustained by the stranger. ************************************************** ********* "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Ephesians 4:29 "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." John 12:24 If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving "large or small" it will be used to measure what is given back to you. Luke 6:38 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration The little moments of the day are as important in building our foundation as the impact of great events. Lord, thank You for my blessings and my crosses. Graciously bless me with the courage to grow closer to You with all that fills my day. Never doubt the power, the wisdom and the love that God has for you. Lord, thank You for Your constant care and the certainty of Your love for me. |
September 12
Daily Reflections I AM RESPONSIBLE For the readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 87 In recovery, and through the help of Alcoholics Anonymous, I learn that the very thing I fear is my freedom. It comes from my tendency to recoil from taking responsibility for anything: I deny, I ignore, I blame, I avoid. Then one day, I look, I admit, I accept. The freedom, the healing and the recovery I experience is in the looking, admitting and accepting. I learn to say, "Yes, I am responsible." When I can speak those words with honesty and sincerity, then I am free. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day "What draws newcomers to A.A. and gives them hope? They hear the stories of men and women whose experiences tally with their own. The expressions on the faces of the women, that undefinable something in the eyes of the men, the stimulating atmosphere of the A.A. clubroom, conspire to let them know that there is haven at last. The very practical approach to their problems, the absence of intolerance of any kind, the informality, the genuine democracy, the uncanny understanding that these people in A.A. have is irresistible." Have I found a real haven in A.A.? Meditation For The Day "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." The eye of the soul is the will. if your will is to do the will of God, to serve Him with your life, to serve Him by helping others, then truly shall your whole body be full of light. The important thing is to strive to attune your will to the will of God, a single eye to God's purpose, desiring nothing less than that His purposes be fulfilled. Try to seek in all things the advance of His kingdom, seek the spiritual values of honesty and purity, unselfishness and love, and earnestly desire spiritual growth. Then your life will emerge from the darkness of futility into the light of victory. Prayer For The Day I pray that my eye may be single. I pray that my life may be lived in the light of the best that I know. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Satisfactions of Right Living, p.254 How wonderful is the feeling that we do not have to be specially distinguished among our fellows in order to be useful and profoundly happy. Not many of us can be leaders of prominence, nor do we wish to be. Service gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with God's help, the knowledge that at home or in the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the fact that in God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that love freely given brings a full return, the certainty that we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we can fit and belong in God's scheme of things--these are the satisfactions of right living for which no pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes. 12 & 12, p.124 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Handle the Old tapes with care. Releasing the Past. A large number of recovering people have a tough time coming to terms with the abuse and abandonment of childhood days. Sometimes we play those "old tapes" while reliving the past in a mood of self-pity and resentment. This is destructive. We cannot completely erase the past, but we can turn it over to our friends and our Higher power. Our goal should be to transform past experiences into constructive examples. We can start by reminding ourselves that all unhappy experience is a product of the world's sickness and ignorance. Far from being unusual, our misery was a common thing that we're only now beginning to overcome. We can also practice God's forgiveness, remembering that real forgiveness is humanly impossible. We should resist the temptation to tell others about our past sufferings in order to gain sympathy. At all times, the old tapes must be handled with care. Whatever happened in the past cannot affect me today unless I let it. I'll play the old tapes only when it can be done constructively. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple When angry, count to ten before you speak: if very angry, a hundred. ---Thomas Jefferson Sometimes we just want to yell. Maybe a family member or a friend messed up, and we want to “set them straight.” Start counting. Maybe we got chewed out at work and we want “to get even.” Start counting. We get drunk on anger. We may feel powerful when we “set someone straight.” But like an alcohol high, an anger high last only a short time and can hurt others. We must control our anger. This is why we count. Cool down. Think out what you need or want to say. Use words that you’ll not be ashamed of later. Learning how to respect others when we’re angry is a sign of recovery. Prayer for the Day : Higher Power, teach me to respect others when I’m angry. Action for the Day: Today, when I feel angry I’ll count. I’ll work at not controlling other with my anger. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning No person is your enemy, no person is your friend, and every person is your teacher. --Florence Scovel Shinn We can open ourselves to opportunities today. They abound in our lives. No circumstance we find ourselves in is detrimental to our progress. No relationship with someone at work or at home is superfluous to our development. Teachers are everywhere. And as we become ready for a new lesson, one will appear. We can marvel at the wonder of our lives today. We can reflect on our yesterdays and be grateful for the lessons they taught. We can look with hopeful anticipation at the days ahead--gifts, all of them. We are on a special journey, serving a special purpose, uniquely our own. No barrier, no difficult person, no tumultuous time is designed to interrupt our progress. All experiences are simply to teach us what we have yet to learn. Trusting in the goodness of all people, all situations, all paths to progress will release whatever our fears, freeing us to go forth with a quicker step and an assurance that eases all moments. The Twelve Steps help us to recognize the teachers in our lives. They help us clear away the baggage of the past and free us to accept and trust the will of God, made known to us by the teachers as they appear. I am a student of life. I can learn only if I open my mind to my teachers. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS On one proposition, however, these men and women are strikingly agreed. Every one of them has gained access to, and believe in, a Power greater than himself. This Power has in each case accomplished the miraculous, the humanly impossible. As a celebrated American statesman put it, “Let’s look at the record.” p. 50 ************************************************** ********* 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." To certain newcomers and to those one-time agnostics who still cling to the A.A. group as their higher power, claims for the power of prayer may, despite all the logic and experience in proof of it, still be unconvincing or quite objectionable. Those of us who once felt this way can certainly understand and sympathize. We well remember how something deep inside us kept rebelling against the idea of bowing before any God. Many of us had strong logic, too, which "proved" there was no God whatever. What about all the accidents, sickness, cruelty, and injustice in the world? What about all those unhappy lives which were the direct result of unfortunate birth and uncontrollable circumstances? Surely there could be no justice in this scheme of things, and therefore no God at all. pp. 96-97 ************************************************** ********* "Pray to God, but keep rowing to the shore." --Russian Proverb The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. --Flora Whittemore One never knows what each day is going to bring. The important thing is to be open and ready for it. --Henry Moore "Lord, make me a channel of thy peace--that where there is hatred, I may bring love--that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness--that where there is discord, I may bring harmony--that where there is error, I may bring truth--that where there is doubt, I may bring faith--that where there is despair, I may bring hope--that where there are shadows, I may bring light--that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted--to understand, than to be understood--to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen." --12 & 12, p. 99 *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation SELF-LOVE "To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance." -- Oscar Wilde Today I am able to say that I love myself. To love myself is to love God and the world in which I live. I cannot befriend, hug, help or create without first having a relationship with myself. Without me, there is no meaning to my life. I am the most important thing in my life. This is not said to be conceited but is an aspect of self-love. It reveals a healthy pride and respect for my life. And it feels good. For years I thought that to love "self" was wrong and sinful, a misuse of energy and time. What people thought about me was so important; what people said about me was a constant worry. And the more I looked out of myself for meaning, the more lost, isolated and confused I became. Then I heard that God loved me and he wanted me to love me. Today I live and love through me. O God who created me to love, let me begin with me. ************************************************** ********* The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration No one has the power to take your happiness or keep you from being happy and at peace unless you allow it. Lord, help me remember that I am sustained and supported by Your love for me who wants only for my safety and goodness. Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing. Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day. |
September 13
Daily Reflections REPAIRING THE DAMAGE Good judgment, careful sense of timing, courage and prudence - these are the qualities we shall need when we take Step Nine. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 83 To make amends can be viewed two ways: first, that of repairing damage, for if I have damaged my neighbor's fence, I "make a mend," and that is a direct amend; the second way is by modifying my behavior, for if my actions have harmed someone. I make a daily effort to cause no further harm. I "mend my ways," and that is an indirect amend. Which is the best approach? The only right approach, provided that I am causing no further harm in so doing, is to do both. If harm is done, then I simply "mend my ways." To take action in this manner assures me of making honest amends. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day "No one is too discredited, nor has sunk too low, to be welcomed cordially into A.A., if he or she means business. Social distinctions, petty rivalries and jealousies are laughed out of countenance. Being wrecked in the same vessel, being restored and united under one God, with hearts and minds attuned to the welfare of others, the things which matter so much to some people no longer signify much to us. In A.A., we have true democracy and true brotherhood." Meditation For The Day When you call on God in prayer to help you overcome weakness, sorrow, pain, discord, and conflict, God never fails in some way to answer the appeal. When you are in need of strength for yourself or for the help of some other person, call on God in prayer. The power you need will come simply, naturally, and forcefully. Pray to God not only when you need help, but also just to commune with Him. The spirit of prayer can alter an atmosphere from one of discord to one of reconciliation. It will raise the quality of thought and word and bring order out of chaos. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may bring peace where these is discord. I pray that I may bring conciliation where these is conflict. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Wider Understanding, p.255 To reach more alcoholics, understanding of A.A. and public good will towards A.A. must go on growing everywhere. We need to be on still better terms with medicine, courts, prisons, mental hospitals, and all enterprises in the alcoholism field. We need the increasing good will of editors, writers, television and radio channels. These publicity outlets need to be opened ever wider. ******************************** Nothing matters more to A.A.'s future welfare than the manner in which we use the colossus of modern communication. Used unselfishly and well, it can produce results surpassing our present imagination. Should we handle this great instrument badly, we shall be shattered by the ego manifestations of our own people. Against this peril, A.A. members' anonymity before the general public is our shield and our buckler. 1. Twelve Concepts, p.51 2. Grapevine, November 1960 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Learning to Cut my Losses Honesty Business people speak of “cutting their losses” when it becomes clear that a venture is going sour. As recovering alcoholics, we need to practice the same principle when we’re obviously on the wrong track. If a resentment is developing, for example, the sooner we spot it and clear it out, the less damage we suffer. In the same way, we may be engaging in selfish but destructive behavior, or perhaps something that borders on being illicit or dishonest. We minimize our losses by admitting the wrong and getting back to our basic principles of living. In cutting our losses, the usual barriers are pride and self-deception. While these shortcomings will probably always dog us, we at least have experience in dealing with them, or we wouldn't have made any progress in sobriety. If a course of thought or action isn't working out well, perhaps it’s time today to cut my loses in order to get back on the right track. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple People seldom improve when they have no model but themselves to copy.---Oliver Goldsmith If we had to get well by ourselves, we’d be in trouble. We’ve already tried this route. We need to learn a new way to live, not the old way we already know. That’s why we have sponsors in Twelve Step programs. Sponsors are one of the best things about our recovery. We pick people who are happy and doing well in recovery. Then we copy them. We copy them because sponsors are special people who have what we want. They have sobriety. They have happiness. They have common sense. They have peace and serenity. And they will help us get those things too. We learn a new way to live from them. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me pick good models. Help me copy what works for them. Action for the Day: If I don’t have a sponsor now, I’ll work today on getting one. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Nobody told me how hard and lonely change is. --Joan Gilbertson Pain, repeatedly experienced, indicates a need for self-assessment, an inventory of our behavior. Honest self-appraisal may well call for change, a change in attitude perhaps, a change in specific behavior in some instances, or maybe a change in direction. We get off the right path occasionally, but go merrily on our way until barriers surface, doors close, and experiences become painful. Most of us willingly wallow in our pain a while, not because we like it, but because its familiarity offers security. We find some comfort in our pain because at least it holds no surprises. When our trust in God is high, we are more willing to change. And we open ourselves to the indications for movement in a new direction. Each of us must find our own willingness. Each of us must develop attentiveness to the signs that repeatedly invite changes in our behavior. But most of all, each of us has to travel the road to change, singly. Changes we must find the courage to make will never be exactly like someone else's changes. Courage to change accompanies faith. My fears are telling me to look within to the spiritual source of strength, ever present but often forgotten. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS Here are thousands of men and women, worldly indeed. They flatly declare that since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves, to take a certain attitude toward that Power, and to do certain simple things. There has been a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking. In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them. This happened soon after they wholeheartedly met a few simple requirements. Once confused and baffled by the seeming futility of existence, they show the underlying reasons why they were making heavy going of life. Leaving aside the drink question, they tell why living was so unsatisfactory. They show how the change came over them. When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of the Presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith. pp. 50-51 ************************************************** ********* 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." Sometimes we took a slightly different tack. Sure, we said to ourselves, the hen probably did come before the egg. No doubt the universe had a "first cause" of some sort, the God of the Atom, maybe, hot and cold by turns. But certainly there wasn't any evidence of a God who knew or cared about human beings. We liked A.A. all right, and were quick to say that it had done miracles. But we recoiled from meditation and prayer as obstinately as the scientist who refused to perform a certain experiment lest it prove his pet theory wrong. Of course we finally did experiment, and when unexpected results followed, we felt different; in fact we knew different; and so we were sold on meditation and prayer. And that, we have found, can happen to anybody who tries. It has been well said that "almost the only scoffers at prayer are those who never tried it enough." p. 97 ************************************************** ********* None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up from our own bootstraps. We got here because somebody bent down and helped us. --Thurgood Marshall Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. --Henry James "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." --Albert Einstein (1879-1955) "Listen or Thy tongue will keep Thee deaf." --American Indian Proverb Rather than regretting that I wasted half of my life drinking, I am just grateful that God has given me the rare opportunity to live two lives in one lifetime. *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation MINORITY "The greatest good of a minority of our generation may be the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the long run." -- Oliver Wendell Homes, Jr. I belong to a minority. I am a recovering alcoholic. I use a spiritual program that keeps me sober a day at a time. I have a God that I can understand today. I do a daily inventory and make amends when appropriate, and I feel good about myself. This spiritual program is reaching out to the world: gamblers, overeaters, cocaine addicts, the families of addicts, the children of compulsive people; obsessive people can all be helped by this daily program of acceptance. Perhaps the recovering drunk has stumbled upon a miracle that can bring the world back to God! Lord, the more I talk about my "difference" with people, the more they and I feel the same. ************************************************** ********* "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path." Psalm 143:10 "You have let me sink down deep in desperate problems. But you will bring me back to life again, up from the depths of the earth!" Psalms 71:20 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Talent is the ability to do easily that which others find difficult. Lord, help me to recognize and value the abilities that I have been given and use them gratefully. Simple trust in God is all that is required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Lord, I love You. I trust in You. I am Your child. |
September 14
Daily Reflections PEACE OF MIND Do we lay the matter before our sponsor or spiritual adviser, earnestly asking God's help and guidance--meanwhile resolving to do the right thing when it becomes clear, cost what it may? TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p p. 86-87 My belief in a Higher Power is an essential part of my work on Step Nine; forgiveness, timing, and right motives are the other ingredients. My willingness to do the Step is a growing experience that opens the door for new and honest relationships with the people I have harmed. My responsible action brings me closer to the spiritual principles of the program -- love and service. Peace of mind, serenity, and a stronger faith are sure to follow. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day "How does A.A. grow? Some of us sell A.A. as we go about. Little clusters of twos and threes and fives keep springing up in different communities, through contact with the larger centers. Those of us who travel drop in at other groups as often as we can. This practice enables us to lend a hand to new groups which are springing up all over the land. New groups are being started each month. A.A. is even spreading outside the United States and is slowly becoming world-wide. Thus we grow." Am I doing all I can to spread A.A. wherever I go? Meditation For The Day "Lord we believe. Help Thou our unbelief." This cry of the human heart is an expression of human frailty. It signifies the soul's sincere desire for progress. As a person feels the existence of God and His power, that person believes in Him more and more. At the same time, a person is more conscious of his falling short of absolute trust in God. The soul's progress is an increasing belief, then a cry for more faith, a plea to conquer all unbelief, all lack of trust. We can believe that that cry is heard by God and that prayer is answered in due time. And so our faith grows, little by little, day by day. Prayer For The Day I pray that with more power in my life will come more faith. I pray that I may come to trust God more each day. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It A "Special" Experience?, p.256 I was the recipient of a tremendous mystic experience or "illumination," and at first it was very natural for me to feel that this experience staked me out as somebody very special. But as I look now back upon this tremendous event, I can only feel very grateful. It now seems clear that the only special features of my experience were its suddenness and the overwhelming and immediate conviction that it carried. In all other respects, however, I am sure that my own experience was essentially like that received by any A.A. member who has strenuously practiced our recovery program. Surely, the grace he receives is also of God; the only difference is that he becomes aware of his gift more gradually. Grapevine, July 1962 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Am I getting too busy? Time Management. It's always risky when a recovering person gets too busy for meetings. It's also dangerous when business and personal concerns crowd out interest in the program. We should never deceive ourselves by thinking that we're somehow safe just because our time is filled with useful and interesting work. Many of us have a tendency to become addicted to "busy-ness". Though less destructive than drinking, this serves as an escape, just as alcohol did. The danger is that when the work no longer satisfies us, we'll find our lives becoming empty again. We could then be very vulnerable to taking a drink. We should never be too busy for the wonderful, constructive work of the program. Far from taking time away from our other actives, work in the program will enhance everything we do. I'll try to balance my activities today, making sure that I have time for the program. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple You must look into people, as well as at them. ---Lord Chesterfield When we were using alcohol and other drugs, we only looked at people. We treated them like objects. Often, we could only see how they helped us get high, or how they got in our way. Now we can see others as people. We look into them. We learn about their feelings and thoughts. We care about them. What a wonderful change! We are fully human again. We can have relationships. When we look into others, we see life. We see beauty, courage, hope and love. We see bits of ourselves and our Higher Power. What a miracle life is. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be fully human today. Help me see You in others. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll look into someone. I’ll do this by having a talk with a friend. And I’ll really listen. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning What a strange pattern the shuttle of life can weave. --Frances Marion How shortsighted is our judgment about today's experiences! We'll see with clarity where they may lead us only after we've reached our destination. Of one thing we can be certain: Today's experiences, in concert with yesterday's and all that's gone before, are combining to weave an intricate life design, unique, purposeful, and for our ultimate good. We need not feel remorse over lost chances or unproductive behavior in the past. Our destination remains the same, and our arrival is guaranteed. Our actions and decisions are never wrong. We may veer off course for a time, but the design for our lives will pull us back on the track. The program is part of the design for our lives. It's helping us to stay on course. In fact, when we're working the Steps, we're at ease with our direction, and we trust the outcome of our efforts to the power of the program. We will add to the richness of our design, today, just as we have every day of our lives. We can anticipate today's experiences with an excited heart. There is something special going on in my life today. I will give everybody and every event my full attention. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS This world of ours has made more material progress in the last century than in all the millenniums which went before. Almost everyone knows the reason. Students of ancient history tell us that the intellect of men in those days was equal to the best of today. Yet in ancient times, material progress was painfully slow. The spirit of modern scientific inquiry, research and invention was almost unknown. In the realm of the material, men’s minds were fettered by superstition, tradition, and all sort of fixed ideas. Some of the contemporaries of Columbus thought a round earth preposterous. Others came near putting Galileo to death for his astronomical heresies. p. 51 ************************************************** ********* 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." Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we would refuse air, food, or sunshine. And for the same reason. When we refuse air, light, or food, the body suffers. And when we turn away from meditation and prayer, we likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support. As the body can fail its purpose for lack of nourishment, so can the soul. We all need the light of God's reality, the nourishment of His strength, and the atmosphere of His grace. To an amazing extent the facts of A.A. life confirm this ageless truth. pp. 97-98 ************************************************** ********* "What helps me to go forward is that I stay receptive. I feel that anything can happen." --Anouk Aimee "No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched." --George Jean Nathan To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. --Herni Bergson "Happiness is an attitude of mind, born of the simple determination to be happy under all outward circumstances." -- J. Donald Walters "A good laugh is sunshine in the house." -- William Makepeace Thackeray *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation MIDDLE-AGE "Middle-age is when you begin to smile at things that used to cause you to laugh." -- Anonymous Today I feel so young at heart. I love to laugh, I mean really laugh; I love to play and act silly in my life; I love discovering my "child" that comes out to give balance to my life. This was not always the case. Not too many yesterdays ago I was serious, depressed, affecting a smile that did not come from within. Alcoholism made me an unhappy man. Before I got sober my so called "high" had changed into a boring "low"! I was middle-aged before I was thirty. Today I feel younger than I did twenty years ago -- and it shows. You are what you drink. Today I am sober! Thank You for the gift of "play" in my life. ************************************************** ********* "Only believe." Mark 5:36 "For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration It is nice to have the things money can buy, but be sure that you don't lose the things money can't buy in the process. Lord, never let me forget who I am and that which truly means the most. When you have faith in yourself and God, you will know that you are loved and safe and never alone. Lord, I am these things because You are always with me. |
September 15
Daily Reflections A NEW LIFE Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous . . . . Life will mean something at last. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 152 Life is better without alcohol. A.A. and the presence of a Higher Power keeps me sober, but the grace of God does even better; it brings service into my life. Contact with the A.A. program teaches me a new and greater understanding of what Alcoholics Anonymous is and what it does, but most importantly, it helps to show me who I am: an alcoholic who needs the constant experience of the Alcoholics Anonymous program so that I may live a life given to me by my Higher Power. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day "We all realize that we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to all of us. Ask Him in your morning meditations what you can do today for the person who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. See to it that your relationship with God is right and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. Give freely of what you find in A.A. But, obviously, you cannot transmit something which you haven't got. So make a life-study of A.A." Am I always looking for ways of presenting the A.A. Program? Meditation For The Day "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.: Confidence means to have faith in something. We could not live without confidence in others. When you have confidence in God's grace, you can face whatever comes. When you have confidence in God's love, you can be serene and at peace. You can rest in the faith that God will take care of you. Try to rest in God's presence until His life-power flows through you. Be still and in that stillness the still, small Voice will come. It speaks in quietness to the human mind that is attuned to its influence. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may find strength today in quietness. I pray that I may be content today that God will take care of me. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Key to Sobriety, p.257 The unique ability of each A.A. to identify himself with, and bring recovery to, the newcomer in no way depends upon his learning, his eloquence, or any special individual skills. The only thing that matters is that he is an alcoholic who has found a key to sobriety. ******************************** In my first conversation with Dr. Bob, I bore down heavily on the medical hopelessness of his case, freely using Dr. Silkworth's words of describing the alcoholic's dilemma, the "obsession plus allergy" theme. Though Bob was a doctor, this was news to him, bad news. And the fact that I was an alcoholic and knew what I was talking about from personal experience made the blow a shattering one. You see, our talk was a completely mutual thing. I had quit preaching. I knew that I needed this alcoholic as much as he needed me. 1. 12 & 12, pp. 150-151 2. A.A. Comes Of Age, pp. 69-70 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Seeking Our Own Harmony Our feelings will often serve as good guides in determining what course of action we ought to follow. If there is a persistent feeling of discomfort about any situation, we should ask ourselves why we are feeling this way. Perhaps it’s because we are involved with people or activities that are not right for us. In the same way, we will feel drawn to certain people and activities. This is undoubtedly because we’re in tune with these people or activities. In such circumstances, we can say that we are “seeking our own.” With our unique temperaments and abilities, we fit better in certain places and with certain groups of people than others. We are indeed fortunate if we find that recovery in a Twelve Step program is a case of seeking and finding our own. This must certainly strengthen and enhance our program. I'll seek out only the people and activities that seem to belong in my life. If I do not belong in one situation, this merely means that a better one is available somewhere. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Often the test of courage is not to die but to live.---Vittorio Alfiert What brave people we are! We have chosen life. Okay, maybe we had a little push, maybe a big push from our family, police, or the pain of our disease. But still, we’ve chosen recovery. We choose daily to let our Higher Power run our lives. What trust! What faith! What courage! We work hard at recovery. We do our meditate. We look for ways to serve others. Each one of us is building a miracle. We can be proud of this. Prayer for the Day: I pray that I’ll have the courage to love myself. High Power, teach me to pat myself on the back when I deserve it. Action for the Day: I will list three ways I am brave in recovery and share them with my group. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning When our myths, dreams, and ideals are shattered, our world topples. --Kathleen Casey Thiesen The act of "becoming" topples our world, and rightly so. We outgrow yesterday's ideals, and we have begun realizing, in our unfolding, the dreams of last year. Now new dreams call us. Recovery has toppled our world. Hallelujah! In our abstinence, each day offers us fresh opportunities to "create" new realities to replace the outworn, outgrown myths of the using days. But letting go of the old takes patience, persistence, and strength. The old comforted us, when there was little else. Perhaps we need reminding that were it not for the shattered myths of last year or last week, we'd not be progressing, unfolding, as the bigger picture calls us. We have a part to play in this life, as do our sisters, our friends, our children. New dreams and ideals will lead us on our way. Old dreams served us yesterday, and the past is gone. They can't direct our present. I will look with excitement at my toppling world. It signifies growth - intellectual, emotional and spiritual. Old ideals will bind me--I will dare to dream new dreams and go where they lead with confidence. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS We asked ourselves this: Are not some of us just as biased and unreasonable about the realm of the spirit as were the ancients about the realm of the material? Even in the present century, American newspapers were afraid to print an account of the Wright brothers’ first successful flight at Kitty Hawk. Had not all efforts at flight failed before? Did not Professor Langley’s flying machine go to the bottom of the Potomac River? Was it not true that the best mathematical minds had proved man could never fly? Had not people said God had reserved this privilege to the birds? Only thirty years later the conquest of the air was almost an old story and airplane travel was in full swing. pp. 51-52 ************************************************** ********* 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." There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation, and prayer. Taken separately, these practices can bring much relief and benefit. But when they are logically related and interwoven, the result is an unshakable foundation for life. Now and then we may be granted a glimpse of that ultimate reality which is God's kingdom. And we will be comforted and assured that our own destiny in that realm will be secure for so long as we try, however falteringly, to find and do the will of our own Creator. p. 98 ************************************************** ********* "When your life is filled with the desire to see the holiness in everyday life, something magical happens: ordinary life becomes extraordinary, and the very process of life begins to nourish your soul!" --Rabbi Harold Kushner "He who laughs, lasts." --Mary Pettibone Poole If there is any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it, and not deter or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. --William Penn A L C O H O L I C S = A Life Consisting Of Helping Others Live Is Called Sobriety. I have learned that my actions are far more important than my thoughts. "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." --Melody Beattie "The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have, the more things you will have to express gratitude for." --Zig Ziglar *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation NONSENSE "We find it hard to believe that other people's thoughts are as silly as our own, but they probably are." -- James Harvey Robinson Today I am able to laugh at myself. I even "think" funny things. I sit at airports and look at the faces, postures and mannerisms of the people passing by and I smile, giggle and laugh in my handkerchief. Then I think about what a funny man I am -- so ridiculously proud, so pompous about the silliest things, so preoccupied about my own importance -- and it is funny. Yes, today I am able to laugh at myself. I know that people are funny because I know I am. At meetings I hear people laughing about the day's insanities and I can always identify. Even my relationships are humorous. I try so hard to make a good impression while at the same time offering the effect of detachment -- trying to be "cool". God must have a sense of humor because He made you and me! Thank You for the gift of humor -- it allows true humility to develop. ************************************************** ********* "What is impossible with man is possible with God." Luke 18:27 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. James 1:19-20 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. Philippians 2:12-16 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Every day renew your purpose because without purpose your life will be empty. Lord, grant that I am able to truly see the worth and value of my existence and know that my presence does make a difference. 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. |
September 16
Daily Reflections WE STAND--OR FALL--TOGETHER . . . no society of men and women ever had a more urgent need for continuous effectiveness and permanent unity. We alcoholics see that we must work together and hang together, else most of us will finally die alone. Alcoholics Anonymous, p.563 Just as the Twelve Steps of A.A. are written in a specific sequence for a reason, so it is with the Twelve Traditions. The First Step and the First Tradition attempt to instill in me enough humility to allow me a chance at survival. Together they are the basic foundation upon which the Steps and Traditions that follow are built. It is a process of ego deflation which allows me to grow as an individual through the Steps, and as a contributing member of a group through the Traditions. Full acceptance of the First Tradition allows me to set aside personal ambitions, fears and anger when they are in conflict with the common good, thus permitting me to work with others for our mutual survival. Without Tradition One I stand little chance of maintaining the unity required to work with others effectively, and I also stand to lose the remaining Traditions, the Fellowship, and my life. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Today, let us begin a short study of The Twelve Suggested Steps of A.A. These Twelve Suggested Steps seem to embody five principles. The first step is the membership requirement step. The second, third, and eleventh steps are the spiritual steps of the program. The fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and tenth steps are the personal inventory steps. The eighth and ninth steps are the restitution steps. The twelfth step is the passing on of the program, or helping others, step. So the five principles are membership requirement, spiritual basis, personal inventory, restitution, and helping others. Have I made all these steps a part of me? Meditation For The Day We seem to live not only in time but also in eternity. If we abide with God and He abides with us, we may bring forth spiritual fruit which will last for eternity. If we live with God, our lives can flow as some calm river through the dry land of earth. It can cause the trees and flowers of the spiritual life--love and service--to spring forth and yield abundantly. Spiritual work may be done for eternity, not just for now. Even here on earth we can live as though our real lives were eternal. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may try to make my life like a cool river in a thirsty land. I pray that I may give freely to all who ask my help. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Beneath the Surface, p.258 Some will object to many of the questions that should be answered in a moral inventory, because they think their own character defects have not been so glaring. To these, it can be suggested that a conscientious examination is likely to reveal the very defects the objectionable questions are concerned with. Because our surface record hasn't looked too bad, we have frequently been abashed to find that this is so simply because we have buried these selfsame defects deep down in us under thick layers of self-justification. Those were the defects that finally ambushed us into alcoholism and misery. 12 & 12, pp. 53-54 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places The world will recover Belief If our recovery program is working properly, an amazing thing can happen. Instead of being the bad actors of society, we become people who can be considered solid citizens in every way.. So square that we might even have sharp corners. We might then start becoming critical of the world in general. "I've recovered, so why does the rest of the world have to be the way it is?" A person might say. "Why don't other people do something about their resentments and fears, just as I have?" In asking such a question, we're already in danger of becoming self-righteous. We can remember, however, that our Higher Power has the same concern for others that was shown to us. By the grace of God, and in God's own good time, the world can and will recover. I'll remember today that God is in charge of the world and will set all things straight, just as I was brought to recovery. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Here’s my Golden Rule: Be fair with others but then keep after them until they’re fair with you. ---Alan Alda Often in our illness we were ashamed, so we let people take advantage of us. We acted as if we had no rights. In recovery, we work hard to be fair with others. And we deserve to be treated with fairness too. If people are mean to us, we talk with them about it. If people cheat us, we ask them to set it right. In recovery, we live by our human rights. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to stand for fairness. Help me respect myself and others. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list people who have wronged me. I will make plans to talk to those with whom I feel will listen. I will let love, not shame or fear, control my actions. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning I long to speak out the intense inspiration that comes to me from lives of strong women. --Ruth Benedict Each day that we thoughtfully make choices about our behavior and our attitudes, we offer ourselves as examples to others--examples of strength. As women on recovery paths, we find encouragement from one another's successes. No one of us met our experiences very successfully before discovering this program. In most cases we lacked the structure that comes with the Steps. Direction was missing from our lives. Too often we passively bounced from man to man, job to job, drunk to drunk. When working the Steps, we are never in doubt about the manner for proceeding in any situation. The Steps provide the parameters that secure our growth. They help us to see where we've been and push us toward the goals, which crowd our dreams. We have changed. We will continue to grow. The past need haunt us no more. The future can be faced with confidence. Whatever strength is needed to fulfill our destinies will find us. And our forward steps will make the way easier for the women who follow. What a blessing these Steps are! They answer my every question. They fulfill my every need. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS But in most fields our generation has witnessed complete liberation in thinking. Show any longshoreman a Sunday supplement describing a proposal to explore the moon by means of a rocket and he will say, “I bet they do it—maybe not so long either.” Is not our age characterized by the ease with which we discard old ideas for new, by the complete readiness with which we throw away the theory or gadget which does not work for something new which does? p. 52 ************************************************** ********* 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 we have seen, self-searching is the means by which we bring new vision, action, and grace to bear upon the dark and negative side of our natures. It is a step in the development of that kind of humility that makes it possible for us to receive God's help. Yet it is only a step. We will want to go further. p. 98 ************************************************** ********* Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. --Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993) "Happiness is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it." "If you spend more time asking appropriate questions rather than giving answers or opinions, your listening skills will increase." --Brian Koslow "Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment." --Benjamin Franklin "You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water." --Rabindranath Tagore *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation DENIAL "The worst vice of the fanatic is his sincerity." -- Oscar Wilde The disease of alcoholism is "cunning, baffling and powerful", and it manipulates us to believe "the lie". There is a point that we reach in our disease where we believe that crazy behavior is acceptable. Insanity becomes the order of the day. And when friends or therapists try to give us a message, we discount them. How can we break down this wall of denial? Well, there is strength in numbers. If everybody we respect is disagreeing with us, then it is time that we change. If our isolation has become a source of martyrdom, then we need to reorganize our attitude for living. Insanity and isolation are often companions; they feed off each other. We need always to stay close to our recovering community. Strength and sobriety is in numbers. God, You gave me the message to become the message. Help me to live it in the recovering community. ************************************************** ********* O lord hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. Psalm 130:2 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 God...comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Never lose your laughter even in the face of trouble and your troubles will not be as heavy. Lord, I will remain cheerful and peaceful as proof of my faith in You. To love and be loved is the greatest of joys. Lord, inspire me with ways to show my love. |
Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to
doesn't mean they don't love you the best way they know how. Smiles are contagious. See if you can infect someone today. I can't do His will my way. "It is a sign of strength, not of weakness, to admit that you don't know all the answers." Miracles are not just extraordinary occurrences. They are also small simple things that are often overlooked. Take the time today to notice one. W.O.W 101 ;) |
September 17
Daily Reflections FREEDOM FROM FEAR When, with God's help, we calmly accepted our lot, then we found we could live at peace with ourselves and show others who still suffered the same fears that they could get over them, too. We found that freedom from fear was more important than freedom from want. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 122 Material values ruled my life for many years during my active alcoholism. I believed that all of my possessions would make me happy, yet I still felt bankrupt after I obtained them. When I first came into A. A., I found out about a new way of living. As a result of learning to trust others, I began to believe in a power greater than myself. Having faith freed me from the bondage of self. As material gains were replaced by the gifts of the spirit, my life became manageable. I then chose to share my experiences with other alcoholics. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Step One is, "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable." This step states the membership requirement of A.A. We must admit that our lives are disturbed. We must accept the fact that we are helpless before the power of alcohol. We must admit that we are licked as far as drinking is concerned and that we need help. We must be willing to accept the bitter fact that we cannot drink like normal people. And we must make, as gracefully as possible, a surrender to the inevitable fact that we just stop drinking. Is it difficult for me to admit that I am different from normal drinkers? Meditation For The Day "Show us the way, O Lord, and let us walk in Thy paths." There seems to be a right way to live and a wrong way. You can make a practical test. When you live the right way, things seem to work out well for you. When you live the wrong way, things seem to work out badly for you. You seem to take out of life about what you put into it. If you disobey the laws of nature, the chances are that you will be unhealthy. If you disobey the spiritual and moral laws, the chances are that you will be unhappy. By following the laws of nature, and the spiritual laws of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love, you can expect to be reasonably healthy and happy. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may try to live the right way. I pray that I may follow the path that leads to a better life. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Servant, Not Master, p.259 In A.A., we found that it did not matter too much what our material condition was, but it mattered greatly what our spiritual condition was. As we improved our spiritual outlook, money gradually became our servant and not our master. It became a means of exchanging love and services with those about us. ******************************** One of A.A.'s Loners is an Austrian sheepman who lives two thousand miles from the nearest town, where yearly he sells his wool. In order to be paid the best prices he has to get to town during a certain month. But when he heard that a big regional A.A. meeting was to be held at a later date when wool prices would have fallen, he gladly took heavy financial loss in order to make his journey then. That's how much an A.A. meeting means to him. 1. 12 & 12, p.122 2. A.A. Comes Of Age, p.31 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places The world will recover Belief If our recovery program is working properly, an amazing thing can happen. Instead of being the bad actors of society, we become people who can be considered solid citizens in every way.. So square that we might even have sharp corners. We might then start becoming critical of the world in general. "I've recovered, so why does the rest of the world have to be the way it is?" A person might say. "Why don't other people do something about their resentments and fears, just as I have?" In asking such a question, we're already in danger of becoming self-righteous. We can remember, however, that our Higher Power has the same concern for others that was shown to us. By the grace of God, and in God's own good time, the world can and will recover. I'll remember today that God is in charge of the world and will set all things straight, just as I was brought to recovery. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple It is better to be wanted too much than not a all.---Anonymous It may seem that so many people want our time and love. Parents say we don’t call often enough. Children demand our time. Our partners say we’re gone to much. Our sponsor tells us to check in more often. When we feel off balance by all these people, we need to stop and rest. We need to remember how lonely we were when we were using. No one wanted our time and love then! Now we’re important to others again. You can handle all this by giving people what they need and ask for, within reason---not what you think they need, which may be way too much. Maybe you need Al-Anon, to learn to love others while taking care of yourself. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me put my time and energy to best use today. Help me find the balance I need between work, play, loving others, and self-care. Action for the Day: When I feel I have to give too much today, I’ll stop and ask my Higher Power for guidance. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Desire and longing are the whips of God. --Anna Wickham Our dreams and desires inspire us to reach beyond our present stopping-place. That which we can achieve will draw our attention, and with certainty, a partner is on hand to help us chart the steps for realizing the goal. Before our introduction to the Twelve Steps, we experienced desires and set many goals. Some we attained. What we often lacked was confidence, and then our commitment wavered. The program is helping us realize that all pure desires are attainable when we invite the program's structure into our daily planning. Our lives are purposeful. Each of us is fulfilling a necessary role. The longings that tug at us, longings that bring no harm to others, or ourselves push us to realize our full potential. Courage and strength, ability and resourcefulness are never lacking when we follow the guidance within and trust in its direction. All the wisdom necessary for succeeding at any task, completing any goal, charting any desire, is as close as our attention is to God. I will pay heed to my desires today. I will pray for the wisdom to fulfill them. All doors will open and my steps will be guided, when the desire is spiritually sound. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS We had to ask ourselves why we shouldn’t apply to our human problems this same readiness to change our point of view. We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn’t control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn’t make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn’t seem to be of real help to other people—was not a basic solution of these bedevilments more important than whether we should see newsreels of lunar flight? Of course it was. p. 52 ************************************************** ********* 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." We will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us, to flower and to grow. Most certainly we shall need bracing air and an abundance of food. But first of all we shall want sunlight; nothing much can grow in the dark. Meditation is our step out into the sun. How, then, shall we meditate? p. 98 ************************************************** ********* "Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." --Kahlil Gibran Yesterday is a canceled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, today is cash in the bank. Yesterday is history, Tomorrow's a mystery, Live just for today. Today is a gift that is why they call it the present. When special feelings come your way, let them flow into your heart. When miracles try to find you, don't hide. When special people come along, let them know what a blessing they are. Let your smiles begin way down, deep inside. --Collin McCarthy "I can do nothing to change the past except stop repeating it in the present." --Courage to Change *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation PEOPLE-PLEASING "I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is try to please everybody." -- Herbert Bayard Swope Part of my recovery is not that I never "people-please" but that I know when I am doing it . . . and I am doing it less! My low self-esteem was revealed in the way I would say what I felt you wanted to hear, do what you wanted to do, go where you wanted to go -- and for years I missed me. For years I missed my life because I was preoccupied with other people. And I wasn't honest. I hated being that way but I wouldn't admit it. Now I see that my guilt around my addiction led me into this sick cycle, and recovery is taking me out of it. Today I say "I don't want to go." "I don't agree with what you are saying." "I refuse to do that." My dignity is being discovered in my straight forwardness. God, may I have the courage to share my true feelings. ************************************************** ********* "Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long." Psalm 25:5 "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: 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 3:12-14 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration When something threatens your peace, do not give it an importance it doesn't have by allowing it to fester in your mind. Lord, there is no situation beyond Your ability to correct. Use the power of positive images in your mind to bring about good experiences. Lord, I will let my faith in You nourish my thoughts so that I can develop a healthy and joyful reality. |
God, in your relentlessness in pursuing me is amazing and graceful! Thank you for bringing me home to you in spite of my willfulness. Teach me to trust that you do all things in your good time. Today as I lift before you people who I know need your help, use me to encourage and comfort them with your love. Amen.
From the book: Daily Texts 2013. W.O.W 101::195: |
September 18
Daily Reflections LOVED BACK TO RECOVERY Our whole treasured philosophy of self-sufficiency had to be cast aside. This had not been done with old-fashioned willpower; it was instead a matter of developing the willingness to accept these new facts of living. We neither ran nor fought. But accept we did. And then we were free. BEST OF THE GRAPEVINE, Vol. I, p. 198 I can be free of my old enslaving self. After a while I recognize, and believe in, the good within myself. I see that I have been loved back to recovery by my Higher Power, who envelops me. My Higher Power becomes that source of love and strength that is performing a continuing miracle in me. I am sober . . . . and I am grateful. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Step Two is: "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Step Three is: "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." Step Eleven is: "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for the knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." The fundamental basis of A.A. is the belief in a Power greater than ourselves. Let us not water this down. We cannot get the program without this venture of belief. Have I made the venture of belief in a Power greater than my own? Meditation For The Day "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Dwell for a moment each day in a secret place, the place of communion with God, apart from the world, and thence receive strength to face the world. Material things cannot intrude upon this secret place, they cannot ever find it, because it is outside the realm of material things. When you abide in this secret place, you are under the shadow of the Almighty. God is close to you in this quiet place of communion. Each day, dwell for a while in this secret place. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may renew my strength in quietness. I pray that I may find rest in quiet communion with God. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Inward Reality, p.260 It is being constantly revealed, as mankind studies the material world, that its outward appearance is not inward reality at all. The prosaic steel girder is a mass of electrons whirling around each other at incredible speed, and these tiny bodies are governed by precise laws. Science tells us so. We have no reason to doubt it. When, however, the perfectly logic assumption is suggested that, infinitely beyond the material world as we see it, there is an all powerful, guiding, creative Intelligence, our perverse streak comes to the surface and we set out to convince ourselves that this isn't so. Were our contention true, it would follow that life originated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds nowhere. ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places The role of humor Attitudes There's a lot of humor among recovery groups, which probably came out of the bizarre drinking stories told by speakers. It's also a reflection of our real personalities. The right kind of humor helps us achieve balance and not take ourselves too seriously. Meetings can be terribly suffocating when they have neither lightness or gaiety. There is also a wrong kind of humor that should be avoided. It's very easy to let joking and good-natured ribbing take the place of the honest discussions all of us need. It's too easy in AA for a member to become known and liked as a charming jokester, even though he or she may be quietly feeling lots of inner pain. People are often surprised when such a person runs into trouble, because they had accepted the humorous surface personality without knowing the real person. In such a case, humor can send the wrong message. Most of the time, however, humor helps keep us on the right track. Let's keep it in our picture, but also in the proper focus. I'll not be afraid to laugh at myself or about myself today. Perhaps my right-spirited laughter also reflects the laughter of God. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple We feel that the elimination of our drinking is but a beginning.---Alcoholics Anonymous Giving up alcohol or other drugs is just the start. Even if we give up chemicals, can we be happy if we have our old life back in every other way? We have to do more. We have to see how our illness has changed us. To do this, we turn to the Steps. Our program teaches us to become new persons. We will change. And the changes will make us happy. That’s the best part of recovery---change. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, make me open to changes that will heal me. Help see I’m not cured just because I stopped drinking or using drugs. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll chose one thing about myself I want to change. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning The future is made of the same stuff as the present. --Simone Weil The moment is eternal. It is unending. When we move with the moment, we experience all that life can offer. Being fully awake to right now, guarantees rapture even when there's pain, because we know we are evolving, and we thrill with the knowledge. We are one with all that's going on around us. Our existence is purposeful and part of the whole of creation, and we can sense our purpose. Nothing is--but now. And when we dwell on what was, or what may be, we are cut off from life--essentially dead. The only reality is the present, and it's only in the present that we are invited to make our special contribution to life; perhaps at this moment our special contribution is to reach out to another person, an act that will change two lives, ours and hers. We must cling to the present, or we'll miss its invitation to grow, to help a friend perhaps, to be part of the only reality there is. The present holds all we need and all we'll ever need to fulfill our lives. It provides every opportunity for our happiness--the only happiness there is. Abstinence offers me the gift of the present. I will cherish it, be grateful, and relish it. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did. p. 52 ************************************************** ********* 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." The actual experience of meditation and prayer across the centuries is, of course, immense. The world's libraries and places of worship are a treasure trove for all seekers. It is to be hoped that every A.A. who has a religious connection which emphasizes meditation will return to the practice of that devotion as never before. But what about the rest of us who, less fortunate, don't even know how to begin? Well, we might start like this. First let's look at a really good prayer. We won't have far to seek; the great men and women of all religions have left us a wonderful supply. Here let us consider one that is a classic. Its author was a man who for several hundred years now has been rated as a saint. We won't be biased or scared off by that fact, because although he was not an alcoholic he did, like us, go through the emotional wringer. And as he came out the other side of that painful experience, this prayer was his expression of what he could then see, feel, and wish to become: "Lord, make me a channel of thy peace--that where there is hatred, I may bring love--that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness--that where there is discord, I may bring harmony--that where there is error, I may bring truth--that where there is doubt, I may bring faith--that where there is despair, I may bring hope--that where there are shadows, I may bring light--that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted--to understand, than to be understood--to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen." As beginners in meditation, we might now reread this prayer several times very slowly, savoring every word and trying to take in the deep meaning of each phrase and idea. It will help if we can drop all resistance to what our friend says. For in meditation, debate has no place. We rest quietly with the thoughts of someone who knows, so that we may experience and learn. As though lying upon a sunlit beach, let us relax and breathe deeply of the spiritual atmosphere with which the grace of this prayer surrounds us. Let us become willing to partake and be strengthened and lifted up by the sheer spiritual power, beauty, and love of which these magnificent words are the carriers. Let us look now upon the sea and ponder what its mystery is; and let us lift our eyes to the far horizon, beyond which we shall seek all those wonders still unseen. pp. 98-100 ************************************************** ********* If you don't like what you're getting, change what you're doing. --Cited in BITS & PIECES Love grows best when watered daily with kind words. --Cited in BITS & PIECES If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. --Mark Twain "Peace is not something you wish for; it's something you make, something you do, something you are, something you give away." --Robert Fulghum "At the moment we are trying to put our lives in order. But this is not an end in itself. Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us." --c. 1976, Alcoholics Anonymous, page 77 "My life's purpose is much clearer when I just work to help, not to possess." --c. 1990, Daily Reflections, page 89 *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation OPEN-MINDEDNESS "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." -- Winston Churchill In my addiction I had a closed mind because I was afraid to be seen to be wrong. I had to be right, I had to be in control, and I had to be perfect. To say "I don't know the answer" would make me weak, vulnerable and human! So I developed a closed mind: my way, my thoughts, my ideas, my life, my God. And I was in pain. Then I had a moment of clarity. I heard that I was sick. I heard that if I really wanted help, I could receive it. I put away the alcohol and I became vulnerable. Slowly I faced the confusion of life and I discovered the human race. I was no longer alone. Today the spiritual life is more about living with the questions than providing the answers. I pray that I may continue to find Truth in variety. ************************************************** ********* "Love does no harm to its neighbor." Romans 13:10 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. Psalm 37:1-9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:9-10 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Great power comes from being able to appreciate your own goodness and anticipate goodness in others. Lord, help me to focus on that which will bring me peace and lift my spirit. Worry about nothing, pray for everything, and thank God for His answers. Lord, I ask You to handle my problems with me and care for my needs. |
September 19
Daily Reflections ACCEPTANCE We admitted we couldn't lick alcohol with our own remaining resources, and so we accepted the further fact that dependence upon a Higher Power (if only our A.A. group) could do this hitherto impossible job. The moment we were able to accept these facts fully, our release from the alcohol compulsion had begun. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 109 Freedom came to me only with my acceptance that I could turn my will and my life over to the care of my Higher Power, whom I call God. Serenity seeped into the chaos of my life when I accepted that what I was going through was life, and that God would help me through my difficulties--and much more, as well. Since then He has helped me through all of my difficulties! When I accept situations as they are, not as I wish them to be, then I can begin to grow and have serenity and peace of mind. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Let us continue with Steps Two, Three, and Eleven. We must turn to a Higher Power for help, because we are helpless ourselves. When we put our drink problem in God's hands and leave it there, we have made the most important decision of our lives. From then on, we trust God for the strength to keep sober. This takes us off the center of the universe and allows us to transfer our problems to a Power outside ourselves. By prayer and meditation, we seek to improve our conscious contract with God. We try to live each day the way we believe God wants us to live. Am I trusting God for the strength to stay sober? Meditation For The Day "These things have I spoken unto you, that your joy may be full." Even a partial realization of the spiritual life brings much joy. You feel at home in the world when you are in touch with the Divine Spirit of the universe. Spiritual experience brings a definite satisfaction. Search for the real meaning of life by following spiritual laws. God wants you to have spiritual success and He intends that you have it. If you live your life as much as possible according to spiritual laws, you can expect your share of joy and peace, satisfaction and success. Prayer For The Day I pray that I will find happiness in doing the right thing. I pray that I will find satisfaction in obeying spiritual laws. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It "Fearless and Searching", p.261 My self-analysis has frequently been faulty. Sometimes I've failed to share my defects with the right people; at other times, I've confessed their defects, rather than my own; and still other times, my confession of defects has been more in the nature of loud complaints about my circumstances and my problems. ******************************** When A.A. suggests a fearless moral inventory, it must seem to every newcomer that more is being asked of him than he can do. Every time he tries to look within himself, Pride says, "You need not pass this way," and Fear says, "You dare not look!" But pride and fear of this sort turn out to be bogymen, nothing else. Once we have a complete willingness to take inventory, and exert ourselves to do the job thoroughly, a wonderful light falls upon this foggy scene. As we persist, a brand-new kind of confidence is born, and the sense of relief at finally facing ourselves is indescribable. 1. Grapevine, June 1958 2. 12 & 12, pp.49-50 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Keep the common problem in view Maintaining It there's been one major change in AA, one old-timer observed, it's probably in group discussions. The focus today is far more on overcoming personal problems than in staying away form the first drink. "The early AA members were continuously concerned about the dangers of drinking," he said. "Members today are more concerned about their feelings and personal issues, such as relationships." This change has probably been an improvement, but it carries the risk that members will forget why they needed the program in the first place. For alcoholics, it is dangerous to let the problem with alcohol slide out of view. It is important to keep in mind at all times the life-or-death nature of our drinking problem. Even if we are not totally successful in dealing with our feelings or establishing harmonious relationships, it's always necessary to stay sober. Disaster is in that first drink, and let's keep that constantly in view. No matter how long I've been sober, I'll remind myself several times this day that I'm an alcoholic. I'll also remember that it's only sobriety that enables me to deal with my other problems. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple When we look back, we realize that the things which came to us when we put ourselves in God’s hands were better than anything we could have planned.---Alcoholics Anonymous We can’t control the present by looking into the future. We can only look back at the past. The past can teach us how to get more out of the present. But the past is to be learned from, not to be judged. As we look back, we see the troubles caused by addiction. But we also see recovery. We see how our lives are better. We see our Higher Power’s work in our lives. If we honestly look at our past, we learn. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me learn from the past. With Your help, I’ll stop judging my past, just as I wouldn’t judge those who have gone before me. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll remember my life before I got sober. Do I still hang on to attitudes or behaviors that might make me start to use alcohol and other drugs again? ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning ...concern should drive us into action and not into depression. --Karen Horney The role of victim is all too familiar to many of us. Life did us injustices --we thought. And we passively waited for circumstances to change. With the bottle we waited, or maybe the little white pills. Nothing was our fault. That we were willing participants to victimization is an awareness not easily accepted, but true nonetheless. Victims no more, we are actors, now. And since committing ourselves to this program, we have readily available a willing and very able director for our role in life. Every event invites an action, and we have opted for the responsible life. Depression may be on the fringes of our consciousness today. But it need not become our state of mind. The antidote is and always will be action, responsible action. Every concern, every experience wants our attention, our active attention. Today stretches before me, an unknown quantity. Concerns will crowd upon me, but guidance regarding the best action to take is always available to me. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS The Wright brothers’ almost childish faith that they could build a machine which would fly was the mainspring of their accomplishment. Without that, nothing could have happened. We agnostics and atheists were sticking to the idea that self-sufficiency would solve our problems. When others showed us that “God-sufficiency" worked with them, we began to feel like those who had insisted the Wrights would never fly. pp. 52-53 ************************************************** ********* 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." When, by such simple devices, we have placed ourselves in a mood in which we can focus undisturbed on constructive imagination, we might proceed like this: Once more we read our prayer, and again try to see what its inner essence is. We'll think now about the man who first uttered the prayer. First of all, he wanted to become a "channel." Then he asked for the grace to bring love, forgiveness, harmony, truth, faith, hope, light, and joy to every human being he could. pp. 100-101 ************************************************** ********* If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow, you have no today for which you can be thankful. --Anonymous Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well. --Josh Billings "I have a simple philosophy. Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. And scratch where it itches." --Alice Roosevelt Longworth In each of our lives, for whatever reason, there are times that we are faced with things that just don't make sense to us. And the more we struggle to understand our hardships, the less any of it makes sense. I have found that in every challenge and obstacle that we are faced with there *can* be good that can come from it! While it's almost never easy to identify, I assure you that it is there lying dormant just waiting for us to release it! I urge everyone to spend your days looking for positives in your life. --Josh Hinds from The Inspiration a Day! April 8, 1998 Whate'er we leave to God, God does and blesses us. --Henry David Thoreau *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation SUICIDE "Often the test of courage is not to die but to live." -- Conte Vittorio Alfieri There are many ways of committing suicide. The obvious way is to take your life -- the ultimate escape. One can reach that point in life when there seems no hope, no purpose in living and death is attractive. Many alcoholics and addicts reach this point of despair. However, there is a more subtle way of "suicide", which is to kill yourself slowly -- by a sick behavior and a negative attitude. I was "dying" in a lifestyle that revolved around alcohol. All I wanted to do was drink -- I didn't want to go anywhere, be with anyone or enjoy the thousand and one pleasures that life offers. I was dying in my life. I was becoming a "walking zombie". I was committing suicide by degrees! Today I can see this and I am glad I had the courage to live. My act of courage began with my "no" to alcohol. Let me continue to live in my life. ************************************************** ********* The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace. The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming. Psalm 37:10-13 "Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4-5 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." John 15:13-15 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Are you too busy wishing away your day to get what you really want? Lord, help me set goals and find the means to achieve what is important to me. God has given each of us many talents and abilities. To use them reflects our commitment to Him. Lord, help me find new ways to use the talents that You've given me. |
September 20
Daily Reflections H.P. AS GUIDE See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164 Having a right relationship with God seemed to be an impossible order. My chaotic past had left me filled with guilt and remorse and I wondered how this "God business" could work. A.A. told me that I must turn my will and my life life over to the care of God, as I understand Him. With nowhere else to turn, I went down on my knees and cried, "God, I can't do this. Please help me!" It was when I admitted my powerlessness that a glimmer of light began to touch my soul, and then a willingness emerged to let God control my life. With Him as my guide, great events began to happen, and I found the beginning of sobriety. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Step Four is, "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." Step Five is, " Admitted to God to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs." Step Six is, "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character." Step Seven is, "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings." Step Ten is, "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it." In taking a personal inventory, we have to be absolutely honest with ourselves and with other people. Have I taken an honest inventory of myself? Meditation For The Day God is good. You can often tell whether or not a thing is of God. If it is of God, it must be good. Honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love are all good, unselfish helpfulness is good, and these things all lead to the abundant life. Leave in God's hands the present and the future, knowing only that He is good. The hand that veils the future is the hand of God. He can bring order out of chaos, good out of evil, and peace out of turmoil. We can believe that everything really good comes from God and that He shares His goodness with us. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may reach out for the good. I pray that I may try to choose the best in life. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Individual Responsibilities, p.262 Let us emphasize that our reluctance to fight one another, or anybody else, is not counted as some special virtue which entitles us A.A.'s to feel superior to other people. Nor does this reluctance mean that the members of A.A. are going to back away from their individual responsibilities as citizens. Here they should feel free to act as they see the right upon the public issues of our times. But when it comes to A.A. as a whole, that's quite a different matter. As a group we do not enter into public controversy, because we are sure that our Society will perish if we do. 12 & 12, p.177 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places All we need to know. Maintaining Seen from today's perspective, the early AA members had rather narrow attitudes toward the study of alcoholism. They became restless and fidgety if member started discussing psychological aspects of the problem or gave other indications that they were trying to learn more about the disease. While we don't need to hold such narrow attitudes today, we should at least concede that we don't need complex information to stay sober. All we have to know is that we have a very compulsive problem that can be arrested by eliminating the first drink. Even today, nobody fully knows why the first drink is so deadly for people like us. Our experience and the experience of others tells us that it is. That knowledge alone can be an important building block in finding and maintaining sobriety. While being open-minded to new information, I'll remember today that a fairly simple idea.... that I'm an alcoholic and can't live with alcohol.... Is the main thing I need to know. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. ---Mark Twain Sometimes it does no good to try to “deal” with your feelings. For the moment, we’re stuck. We can only see things one way. No matter what anyone says, we’re closed up. For the moment. But this puts our sobriety at risk. How do we stop self-pity? Focus on someone else. When we really want to help someone else be happy, we'll ask our Higher Power’s help. Then things start to change, because our good deeds come back to us. Remember, service will always keep us sober. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, sometimes I get stuck in my old ways. Help me change my focus at those times. Help me stay sober. Action for the Day: I will think of a time when I was stuck in bad feelings. How did I get out of that spot. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning What difference does it make how I am treated by life? My real life is within. --Angela L. Wozniak It is said that we teach people how to treat us. How we treat others invites similar treatment. Our response to the external conditions of our lives can be greatly altered by our perceptions of those conditions. And we have control of that perception. No experience has to demoralize us. Each situation can be appreciated for its long-term contribution to our growth as happy, secure women. No outside circumstances will offer us full time and forever the security we all long for. And in like manner, none will adversely interfere with our well being, except briefly and on occasion. The program offers us the awareness that our security, happiness, and well being reside within. The uplifting moments of our lives may enhance our security, but they can't guarantee that it will last. Only the relationship we have with ourselves and God within can promise the gift of security. The ripples in my day are reminders to me to go within. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS Logic is great stuff. We like it. We still like it. It is not by chance we were given the power to reason, to examine the evidence of our sense, and to draw conclusions. That is one of man’s magnificent attributes. We agnostically inclined would not feel satisfied with a proposal which does not lend itself to reasonable approach and interpretation. Hence we are at pains to tell why we think our present faith is reasonable, why we think it more sane and logical to believe than not to believe, why we say our former thinking was soft and mushy when we threw up our hands in doubt and said, “We don’t know.” p. 53 ************************************************** ********* 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." Next came the expression of an aspiration and a hope for himself. He hoped, God willing, that he might be able to find some of these treasures, too. This he would try to do by what he called self-forgetting. What did he mean by "self forgetting," and how did he propose to accomplish that? He thought it better to give comfort than to receive it; better to understand than to be understood; better to forgive than to be forgiven. p. 101 ************************************************** ********* Those who created yesterday's pain do not control tomorrow's potential. --unknown The devil brings devastation; God offers restoration. --unknown "I do service in Alcoholics Anonymous because it reminds me of where I came from . . . it keeps me green. And green things grow!" --unknown Most people's confusion comes in the area of their desires, not their needs. Giving can be one of the greatest ways to receiving. If you want more love, give love. If you want more joy, be joyful. Look for the good in all things and situations, and you may be surprised at what you see. --John-Roger All we need to do is allow more joy and love into our experience. We need to really choose it, to allow ourselves to feel it, paying attention, choosing to be alive and to be kind; allowing ourselves to feel and to be nurtured by the natural order of the Spirit of God. When we choose and allow it, the dramas fall away and dissolve. --Patricia Sun Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. --Winston Churchill "Fear less, hope more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Hate less, love more; And all good things are yours." --Swedish Proverb *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation SHARING "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." -- Henry David Thoreau I thought that I was the only one who felt like I did. Nobody could possibly understand. I was different from everybody and needed to keep my life -- my true life -- a secret. I was living a life of quiet desperation! Then I went to a meeting for recovering alcoholics and heard somebody share my pain, my loneliness, my confusion, my addiction -- my life. I was lonely because I kept myself separate from people. I saw them as being different from myself, and so I remained the lonely and isolated victim. Strange how similar we are when we begin to share. When we get beneath culture, class and creed, we discover sensitive human beings trying to make sense of their lives. We need each other. May I risk rejection in my spiritual need to share and be known. ************************************************** ********* The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous. The days of the blameless are known to the LORD, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty. But the wicked will perish: The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish--vanish like smoke. Psalm 37:14-20 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration You make a difference every time you smile, speak kindly or give of yourself. Lord, You ask for nothing but goodness of me. What peace it brings to my soul. Listen carefully to the things you say. The advice we give to others is often the best advice for us to follow. Lord, help me to follow that which I know is right even when it is difficult. |
LORD I know you tell me to pray without ceasing...to pray continually
(I Thessalonians 5:17) to talk with You and to listen to You. How can I do that more...to pray always in all situations-good or bad? Just like Jesus' disciples in the first century, my prayer is "LORD teach me to pray." W.O.W 101:195: |
September 21
Daily Reflections THE LAST PROMISE We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84 The last Promise in the Big Book came true for me on the very first day of sobriety. God kept me sober that day, and on every other day I allowed Him to operate in my life. He gives me the strength, courage and guidance to meet my responsibilities in life so that I am then able to reach out and help others stay sober and grow. He manifests within me, making me a channel of His word, thought and deed. He works with my inner self, while I produce in the outer world, for He will not do for me what I can do for myself. I must be willing to do His work, so that He can function through me successfully. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Let us continue with Steps Four, Five, Six, Seven and Ten. In taking personal inventory of ourselves, we have to face facts as they really are. We have to stop running away. We must face reality. We must see ourselves as we really are. We must admit our faults openly and try to correct them. We must try to see where we have been dishonest, impure, selfish, and unloving. We do not do this once and forget it. We do it every day of our lives, as long as we live. We are never done with checking up on ourselves. Am I taking a daily inventory of myself? Meditation For The Day In improving our personal lives, we have Unseen help. We were not made so that we could see God. That would be too easy for us and there would be no merit in obeying Him. It takes an act of faith, a venture of belief, to realize the Unseen Power. Yet, we have much evidence of God's existence in the strength that many people have received from the act of faith, the venture of belief. We are in a box of space and time and we can see neither our souls nor God. God and the human spirit are both outside the limitations of space and time. Yet our Unseen help is effective here and now. That has been proved in thousands of changed lives. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may make the great venture of belief. I pray that my vision may not be blocked by intellectual pride. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It Fear And Faith, p.263 The achievement of freedom from fear is a lifetime undertaking, one that can never be wholly completed. When under heavy attack, acute illness, or in other conditions of serious insecurity, we shall all react to this emotion--well or badly, as the case may be. Only the self-deceived will claim perfect freedom from fear. ******************************** We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up. Sometimes we had to search persistently, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. 1. Grapevine, January 1962 2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p.55 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places The Good that I do____ Action Why do we hold back when we’re offered the opportunity to help others or to do something unusually kind? Why is it that many people are reluctant to give of themselves unless rewarded with recognition or praise? We may hold back because we do not understand that any good action always brings its own reward. Despite Shakespeare’s timeless saying, the good we do is not “interred with our bones”… it does survive, now and in the future. We’ve learned in Twelve Step programs that it’s not really satisfying to work only for recognition and praise. There also has to be a confident feeling that our efforts are contributing to a large good with a worthwhile purpose. That’s what makes AA so special to people who are completely devoted to it… we know that anything done for AA makes the world a better place. We should also know that those who can help others are fortunate, well-favored people. Others may want to help, but lack the tools. We have the tools to give the help that changes lives---- and the world. The good that I do today is a treasure I’ll always possess. ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple Love doesn’t make the world go around. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. ---Franklin Jones Before recovery, anger, self-pity, and sadness often filled our hearts. The world went on. We came to hate the ride. In recovery, love fills our hearts. We begin to love life. Love is really caring about what happens to other people. Love is what makes the ride worth it We find much love in our program. People really mater to us. We really matter to others. For many of us, we learn how to love in our meetings. The program teaches love because the program is love. Prayer for the Day: I pray that I’ll welcome love into my heart and others into my life. Love brings me closer to my Higher Power. Action for the Day: I’ll list all the people I love and why they matter to me. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Praise and an attitude of gratitude are unbeatable stimulators . . . we increase whatever we extol. --Sylvia Stitt Edwards What outlook are we carrying forth into the day ahead? Are we feeling fearful about the circumstances confronting us? Do we dread a planned meeting? Are we worried about the welfare of a friend or lover? Whatever our present outlook, its power over the outcome of our day is profound. Our attitude in regard to any situation attracting our attention influences the outcome. Sometimes to our favor, often to our disfavor if our attitude is negative. Thankfulness toward life guarantees the rewards we desire, the rewards we seek too often from an ungrateful stance. The feeling of gratitude is foreign to many of us. We came to this program feeling worthless, sometimes rejected, frequently depressed. It seemed life had heaped problems in our laps, and so it had. The more we lamented what life "gave us," the more reasons we were given to lament. We got just what we expected. We still get just what we expect. The difference is that the program has offered us the key to higher expectations. Gratitude for the good in our lives increases the good. I have the personal power to influence my day; I will make it a good one. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crises we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is or He isn’t. What was our choice to be? Arrived at this point, we were squarely confronted with the question of faith. We couldn’t duck the issue. Some of us had already walked far over the Bridge of Reason toward the desired shore of faith. The outlines and the promise of the New Land had brought lustre to tired eyes and fresh courage to flagging spirits. Friendly hands had stretched out in welcome. We were grateful that Reason had brought us so far. But somehow, we couldn’t quite step ashore. Perhaps we had been leaning too heavily on reason that last mile and we did not like to lose our support. p. 53 ************************************************** ********* 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." This much could be a fragment of what is called meditation, perhaps our very first attempt at a mood, a flier into the realm of spirit, if you like. It ought to be followed by a good look at where we stand now, and a further look at what might happen in our lives were we able to move closer to the ideal we have been trying to glimpse. Meditation is something which can always be further developed. It has no boundaries, either of width or height. Aided by such instruction and example as we can find, it is essentially an individual adventure, something which each one of us works out in his own way. But its object is always the same: to improve our conscious contact with God, with His grace, wisdom, and love. And let's always remember that meditation is in reality intensely practical. One of its first fruits is emotional balance. With it we can broaden and deepen the channel between ourselves and God as we understand Him. pp. 101-102 ************************************************** ********* Four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully. Prepare prayerfully. Proceed positively. Pursue persistently. --William A. Ward Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up. --Anne Lamott Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. --Martin Luther King Jr. Forget mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it. Today is your lucky day. --Will Durant Laughter is the sound of recovery. *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation ACTION "I shall pass through this world but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do, let me do it now; let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." -- Etienne de Grellet Today I know that God requires me to be involved in my recovery and sobriety. God has always wanted me to be sober but the miracle took place when I wanted it, too. His hands were always extended towards me, the miracle happened when I chose to embrace Him. My sobriety involves me. Today I understand that sobriety is more than "not picking up the first drink"; it involves quiet acts of kindness to myself and others. God works through me -- through my hands, my smile, my voice, my love and my acceptance. When an opportunity arises for me to be ordinarily kind, I intend to give it; God knows I have needed such kindnesses from others in the past. May I never avoid an opportunity for shared healing. ************************************************** ********* I wait for the Lord, my soul waits and in His word I put my hope. Psalm 130 : 5 "Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love." 2 John 1:3 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Spend less time on the dreams of life and more time on the joys of living. Lord, help me to view my troubles as smaller than they are until together we make them disappear. |
September 22
Daily Reflections A "LIMITLESS LODE" Like a gaunt prospector, belt drawn in over the last ounce of food, our pick struck gold. Joy at our release from a lifetime of frustration knew no bounds. Father feels he has struck something better than gold. For a time he may try to hug the new treasure to himself. He may not see at once that he has barely scratched a limitless lode which will pay dividends only if he mines it for the rest of his life and insists on giving away the entire product. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 128-29 When I talk with a newcomer to A.A., my past looks me straight in the face. I see the pain in those hopeful eyes, I extend my hand, and then the miracle happens: I become healed. My problems vanish as I reach out to his trembling soul. ************************************************** ********* Twenty-Four Hours A Day A.A. Thought For The Day Step Eight is, "Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all." Step Nine is, "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others." Making restitution for the wrongs we have done is often very difficult. It hurts our pride. But the rewards are great. When we go to a person and say we are sorry, the reaction we get is almost invariably good. It takes courage to make the plunge, but the results more than justify it. A load is off your chest and often an enemy has been turned into a friend. Have I done my best to make all the restitution possible? Meditation For The Day There should be joy in living the spiritual life. A faith without joy is not entirely genuine. If you are not happier as a result of your faith, there is probably something wrong with it. Faith in God should bring you a deep feeling of happiness and security, no matter what happens on the surface of your life. Each new day is another opportunity to serve God and improve your relationships with other people. This should bring joy. Life should be abundant and outreaching. It should be glowing and outgoing, in ever widening circles. Prayer For The Day I pray that my horizons may grow ever wider. I pray that I may keep reaching out for more service and companionship. ************************************************** ********* As Bill Sees It The Step That Keeps Us growing, p.264 Sometimes, when friends tell us how well we are doing, we know better inside. We know we aren't doing well enough. We still can't handle life, as life is. There must be a serious flaw somewhere in our spiritual practice and development. What, then, is it? The chances are better than even that we shall locate our trouble in our misunderstanding or neglect of A.A.'s Step Eleven--prayer, meditation, and the guidance of God. The other Steps can keep most of us sober and somehow functioning. But Step Eleven can keep us growing, if we try hard and work at it continually. Grapevine, June 1958 ************************************************** ********* Walk In Dry Places Making tough decisions Decision Making An AA member in a supervisor's position was faced with the need to terminate an unsatisfactory employee. Procrastinating about this unpleasant matter, she found herself wishing that the employee would suddenly find another job, thus making the termination ordeal unnecessary. But further reflection showed that the procrastination was related to the same problems that had dogged her in her drinking years. She was a people=pleaser; she felt guilty about inflicting pain on others. She was finally able to make the tough decision and call the employee in for termination. In the process, she discovered that a brief prayer time for preparation and a gentle manner removed some of the pain for her and the employee being terminated. She learned that the principles of the program could help her become more decisive without being brutal. I'll look over any tough decisions I;ve been putting off and determination why I'm behaving that way. Am I prolonging tough decisions just as I did when drinking? ************************************************** ********* Keep It Simple One Day at a Time. Program slogan This slogan means we are to take with us only the joys and problems of the present day. We don’t carry with us the mistakes of the days gone by. We have no room for them. We are to work at loving others today. Just today. It’s crazy for us to think we can handle more than one day at a time. During our illness, we lived everywhere but in the here and now. We looked to the future or punished ourselves with our past. One Day at a Time teaches us to go easy. It teaches us to focus on what really means anything to us: the here and now. Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me turn the slogans of my programs into a way of life. Help me to live life moment by moment, One Day at a Time. Action for the Day: Today, I’ll practice living in the present. When I find myself living in the past or in the future, I’ll bring myself back to today. ************************************************** ********* Each Day a New Beginning Anger conquers when unresolved. --Anonymous Emotions need recognition. But not only attention; they also need acceptance as powerful dimensions of who we are. Their influence over who we are capable of becoming is mighty. Respectful attention and willing acceptance of our emotions, whether fear or anger or hateful jealousy, takes away their sting. We can prevent them from growing larger than they are. Like a child who screams and misbehaves more and more fiercely until attention is won, our emotions grow larger and more intense the longer we deny their existence. Our emotions bless us, in reality. They enrich our experiences. They serve as guideposts on the road we're traveling. How we "feel" at any single moment flags the level of our security, how close we are to our higher power, the level of our commitment to the program. They serve us well when acknowledged. On the other hand, when ignored or denied, they can immobilize us, even defeat us. My feelings frequent my being, always. They steer my behavior. They reflect my attitudes. They hint at my closeness to God. ************************************************** ********* Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition WE AGNOSTICS That was natural, but let us think a little more closely. Without knowing it, had we not been brought to where we stood by a certain kind of faith? For did we not believe in our own reasoning? did we not have confidence in our ability to think? What was that but a sort of faith? Yes, we had been faithful, abjectly faithful to the God of Reason. So, in one way or another, we discovered that faith had been involved all the time! pp. 53-54 ************************************************** ********* 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." Now, what of prayer? Prayer is the raising of the heart and mind to God--and in this sense it includes meditation. How may we go about it? And how does it fit in with meditation? Prayer, as commonly understood, is a petition to God. Having opened our channel as best we can, we try to ask for those right things of which we and others are in the greatest need. And we think that the whole range of our needs is well defined by that part of Step Eleven which says: "...knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." A request for this fits in any part of our day. p. 102 ************************************************** ********* Without memory, there is no healing. Without forgiveness, there is no future." "A quiet hour is worth more to you than anything you can do in it." --Sara One Jewess "If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else" --Chinese Proverb A good exercise for the heart is to bend down and help another up. He who divides and shares is left with the best share. --Mexican Proverb "Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier." --Mother Theresa If your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset. --Krishnamurti *********************************************** Father Leo's Daily Meditation HEAVEN "If you're not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there." -- Martin Luther When I was a practicing alcoholic, I imagined heaven to be a dull formal place, rather like a never-ending cathedral. Beautiful, but serious. My pain and guilt were so great that I rarely laughed, and when I did it was usually inappropriate and violent: I laughed at others! Today heaven is associated with recovery. It is a place of joy, acceptance and forgiveness. A place where people can be themselves and where variety abounds. Christians play with people from other religions -- and the atheists make the music! The laughter of "peace" abounds. I am "at one" with my Father and all my brothers and sisters. I am home! God of Love, when I hear the sound of laughter here on earth, I think what joy awaits me in heaven. ************************************************** ********* "Happy are the people to whom such blessing fall; happy are the people whose God is the Lord." Psalm 144:15 "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it." Matthew 16:24-25 ************************************************** ********* Daily Inspiration Envision the joy of victory when you are faced with troubles and you will clearly see what direction you must take. Lord, with You my storm will pass and I will grow stronger as I grow closer to You. Take heart in the beauty of your life because God loves, helps, fights and wins. Lord, I will never fear because nothing can triumph over Your Will. |
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