[bluidkiti]

April 29

Daily Reflections

GROUP AUTONOMY

Some may think that we have carried the principle of group
autonomy to extremes. For example, in its original "long form,"
Tradition Four declares: "Any two or three gathered together
for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that
as a group they have no other affiliation." . . . . But this
ultra-liberty is not so risky as it looks.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, pp. 104-05

As an active alcoholic, I abused every liberty that life
afforded. How could A.A. expect me to respect the
"ultra-liberty" bestowed by Tradition Four? Learning respect
has become a lifetime job.
A.A. has made me fully accept the necessity of discipline
and that, if I do not assert it from within, then I will pay
for it. This applies to groups too. Tradition Four points me
in a spiritual direction, in spite of my alcoholic inclinations.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

The A.A. program is one of faith, hope, and charity. It's a
program of hope because when new members come into A.A., the
first thing they get is hope. They hear older members tell how
they had been through the same kind of he!! that they have and
how they found the way out through A.A. And this gives them hope
that if others can do it, they can do it. Is hope still strong
in me?

Meditation For The Day

The rule of God's kingdom is perfect order, perfect harmony,
perfect supply, perfect love, perfect honesty, perfect obedience.
There is no discord in God's kingdom, only some things still
unconquered in God's children. The difficulties of life are
caused by disharmony in the individual man or woman. People
lack power because they lack harmony with God and with each
other. They think that God fails because power is not manifested
in their lives. God does not fail. People fail because they are
out of harmony with Him.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be in harmony with God and with other people.
I pray that this harmony will result in strength and success.

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As Bill Sees It

On The Broad Highway, p. 119

"I now realize that my former prejudice against clergymen was blind
and wrong. They have kept alive through the centuries a faith which
might have been extinguished entirely. They pointed out the road to
me, but I did not even look up, I was so full of prejudice and
self-concern.

"When I did open my eyes, it was because I had to. And the man who
showed me the truth was a fellow sufferer and a layman. Through him,
I saw at last, and I stepped from the abyss to solid ground, knowing at
once that my feet were on the broad highway if I chose to walk."

Letter, 1940

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Walk in Dry Places

Remember the Past, but don't live in it.
Living today.
In some ways, the Twelve Step recovery process invites trouble in dealing with the past. We're supposed to forget the past and live for today. But the opening thoughts delivered at meetings often review the past in painful detail, thus reinforcing the tendency to relive it. How should we approach this problem?
Our need is to remember the past while releasing any bitterness, regrets, or hurts connected with it. We must never live in the past, which we are doing when we feel either resentment or remorse about actions of others or ourselves. It is, however, helpful to remember what happened in the past so that we will no longer repeat the same mistakes.
We should also remember the past as a means of keeping ourselves both humble and honest. It should help us feel gratitude that we no longer have to live as we once did.
Remembering the past in open "lead" meetings is sometimes called "qualifying" as an alcoholic. It is an aid to carrying the message of recovery and a way of building more strength and understanding for today and tomorrow.
I'll be pleased today that I can remember the past without living in it. I am free from the old hurts and problems that would keep me from directing all of my energies and attention to what I am doing here and now.

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Keep It Simple

I’m as pure as the driven slush.---Tallulad Bankhead
The Steps are filled with words and phrases like shortcomings, exact nature of our wrongs, persons we had harmed, and when we were wrong. The Steps help us accept all parts of who we are.
Our program asks us to share these parts of ourselves with others. We heal by doing this.
It’s hard to talk about how wrong we can be, but we must. It’s part of how we recover.
Remember, all of us have bad points. At times, we act like jerks. When we can talk about our mistakes, we end up having less shame inside of us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to love and accept myself---as You love and accept me. Give me the courage to share all my secret wrongs.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll review my Fourth Step. If I haven’t done this Step, I’ll start today.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Love between two people is such a precious thing. It is not a possession. I no longer need to possess to complete myself. True love becomes my freedom. --Angela L. Wozniak
Self-doubt fosters possessiveness. When we lack confidence in our own capabilities, when we fear we don't measure up as women, mothers, lovers, employees, we cling to old behavior, maybe to unhealthy habits, perhaps to another person. We can't find our completion in another person because that person changes and moves away from our center. Then we feel lost once again.
Completion of the self accompanies our spiritual progress. As our awareness of the reality of our higher power's caring role is heightened, we find peace. We trust that we are becoming all that we need to be. We need only have faith in our connection to that higher power. We can let that faith possess us, and we'll never need to possess someone else.
God's love is ours, every moment. Recognition is all that's asked of us. Acceptance of this ever-present love will make us whole, and self-doubt will diminish. Clinging to other people traps us as much as them, and all growth is hampered, ours and theirs.
Freedom to live, to grow, to experience my full capabilities is as close as my faith. I will cling only to that and discover the love that's truly in my heart and the hearts of my loved ones.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards

If the family cooperates, dad will soon see that he is suffering from a distortion of values. He will perceive that his spiritual growth is lopsided, that for an average man like himself, a spiritual life which does not include his family obligations may not be so perfect after all. If the family will appreciated that dad’s current behavior is but a phase of his development, all will be well. In the midst of an understanding and sympathetic family, these vagaries of dad’s spiritual infancy will quickly disappear.

p. 129

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

Now let's take the guy full of faith, but still reeking of alcohol. He believes he is devout. His religious observance is scrupulous. He's sure he still believes in God, but suspects that God doesn't believe in him. He takes pledges and more pledges. Following each, he not only drinks again, but acts worse than the last time. Valiantly he tries to fight alcohol, imploring God's help, but the help doesn't come. What, then, can be the matter?

pp. 31-32

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The mind is like a parachute; it works much better when it's open.
--Dpurpleldy

"A friend will see us at our worst, as well as our best.
A friend will not close his or her heart when we have made a mistake.
A friend will not condemn us but will compassionately support our
return to a state of grace."
--Marianne Williamson

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an
understanding of ourselves."
--Carl Jung

We must release the old to make room for the new.
--Alan Cohen

"People will come and go from my life. Today I'm trying to learn how to be the kind of person that I want to spend the rest of my life with."
--Unknown

"People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within."
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

ENJOYMENT

"Man, unlike the animals, has
never learned that the sole
purpose of life is to enjoy it."
--Samuel Butler

Spirituality enables me to enjoy my life. I enjoy my sobriety. I enjoy
the freedom of a "God as I understand Him". I enjoy the fellowship of
ideas and opinions that are based on love and honest sharing. The
world is to be enjoyed and not endured! God is fun.

For years I thought that God was a judge to be feared; angry, hostile
and revengeful. Strange how silly this all seems now, but for years I
was afraid of God and feared His presence. Then I was introduced to a
God who is beyond institutions and dogmas, free of creeds and
punishments, a loving and joyous God who created me to be happy.
Today I am enjoying my freedom.

God, the Father of the Universe, is also "Daddy" to us all.

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"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him
in truth."
Psalms 145:18

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as
God in Christ has also forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1

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Daily Inspiration

When someone makes you happy, let them know and you will both feel better. Lord, may Your love flow through me so that I can easily praise and encourage the goodness in others.

To have a great day isn't always doing what you like, but trying to like what you must do. Lord, today I will spruce up my attitude and have a great day no matter what my circumstances.