Daily Recovery Readings - September

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September 25

Daily Reflections

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth:
Job or no job -- wife or no wife -- we simply do not stop
drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people
ahead of dependence on God.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 98

Before coming to A.A., I always had excuses for taking a
drink: "She said . . . , " "He said . . . ," "I got fired
yesterday," "I got a great job today." No area of my life
could be good if I drank again. In sobriety my life gets
better each day. I must always remember not to drink, to
trust God, and to stay active in A.A. Am I putting anything
before my sobriety, God, and A.A. today?

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Let us consider the term "spiritual experience" as given
in Appendix II of the Big Book: "A spiritual experience
is something that brings about a personality change. By
surrendering our lives to God as we understand Him, we
are changed. The nature of this change is evident in
recovered alcoholics. This personality change is not
necessarily in the nature of a sudden and spectacular
upheaval. We do no need to acquire an immediate and
overwhelming God-consciousness followed at once by a vast
change in feeling and outlook. In most cases, the change
is gradual." Do I see a gradual and continuing change in
myself?

Meditation For The Day

"Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I
will give you rest." For rest from the care of life, you
can turn to God each day in prayer and communion. Real
relaxation and serenity comes from a deep sense of the
fundamental goodness of the universe. God's everlasting
arms are underneath all and will support you. Commune with
God, not so much for petitions to be granted as for the
rest that comes from relying on His will and His purposes
for your life. Be sure of God's strength available to you,
be conscious of His support, and wait quietly until that
true rest from God fills your being.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may be conscious of God's support today.
I pray that I may rest safe and sure therein.

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As Bill Sees It

Behind Our Excuses, p.267

As excuse-makers and rationalizers, we drunks are champions. It
is the business of the psychiatrist to find the deeper causes for
our conduct. Though uninstructed in psychiatry, we can, after a
little time in A.A., see that our motives have not been what we thought
they were, and that we have been motivated by forces previously
unknown to us. Therefore we ought to look, with the deepest respect,
interest, and profit, upon the example set us by psychiatry.

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"Spiritual growth through the practice of A.A.'s Twelve Steps,
plus the aid of a good sponsor, can usually reveal most of the
deeper reasons for our character defects, at least to a degree that
meets our practical needs. Nevertheless, we should be grateful that
our friends in psychiatry have so strongly emphasized the necessity to
search for false and often unconscious motivations."

1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p.236
2. Letter, 1966

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Walk In Dry Places

Willingness to listen
Willingness
Why is it that we'll accept information from some people but not from
others? Many people tried to advise us while we were drinking; why
would we listen only to recovering alcoholics?
We can't answer that question, except to say that most human beings
are willing to listen only to certain people at certain times. That's why
business organizations have to select sales people carefully; customers
will respond to some people, but not to others.
As we grow in sobriety, however, we develop the willingness to listen to
people we would have once avoided. We can find wonderful ideas in all
sorts of places and from all types of people. As we become more
open-minded and willing, we can listen more and learn more.
My prejudices and fears of the past kept me from listening to people
who would have helped me. I'll be more open-minded and willing today.

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Keep It Simple

Martyrs set bad examples---David Russell
Sometimes we call people “martyrs.” We sometimes think of them
as victims. They suffer, but sometimes not for a cause. They play
“poor me.” They want people to notice how much they suffer. They
are afraid to really live. These are the people who set bad examples.
True martyrs died for causes they believed in. We remember them
because they were so full of energy and spirit. Recovery helps us
live better. Let’s go for it!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks for giving me energy
and for healing my spirit. Help me live fully by putting my life in
Your care.
Action for the Day: What kind of example do I set? Does my life
reflect joy for life and recovery?

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Each Day a New Beginning

...we do not always like what is good for us in this world. --Eleanor Roosevelt
Most of us can look back and recall how we fought a particular change.
How certain we were that we wouldn't survive the upheaval! Perhaps we
lost a love or were forced to leave a home or a job. Retrospect allows
us to see the good of the change, and we can see the necessary part
each change has played in our development as recovering women.
We've had to change to cover the distances we've traveled. And
we'll have to continue changing.
The program and its structure, and our faith in that structure, can
ease the harsh consequences of change. Our higher power wants
only the best for us, of that we can be sure. However, the best may
not always "fit" when first we try it. Patience, trust, and prayer are a
winning combination when the time comes for us to accept a change.
We'll know when it's coming. Our present circumstances will begin to pinch.
Change means growth. It's a time for celebration, not dread. It means
I am ready to move ahead--that I have "passed" the current test.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Foreword to First Edition

This is the Foreword as it appeared in the first printing of the first edition in 1939

We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book. For them, we hope these pages will prove so convincing that no further authentication will be necessary. We think this account of our experiences will help everyone to better understand the alcoholic. Many do not comprehend that the alcoholic is a very sick person. And besides, we are sure that our way of living had its advantages for all.

p. xiii

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition - Stories

Alcoholic Anonymous Number Three

Pioneer member of Akron's Group No. 1, the first A.A. group in the world. He kept the faith; therefore, he and countless others found a new life.

One of the fellows, I think it was Doc, said, "Well, you want to quit?" I said, "Yes, Doc, I would like to quit, at least for five, six, or eight months, until I get things straightened up, and begin to get the respect of my wife and some other people back, and get my finances fixed up and so on." And they both laughed very heartily, and said, "That's better than you've been doing, isn't it?" Which of course was true. They said, "We've got some bad news for you. It was bad news for us, and it will probably be bad news for you. Weather you quit six days, months, or years, if you go out and take a drink or two you'll end up in the hospital tied down, just like you have been in these past six months. You are an alcoholic." As far as I know that was the first time I had ever paid any attention to that word. I figured I was a drunk. And they said, " No, you have a disease, and it doesn't make any difference how long you do without it, after a drink or two you'll end up just like you are now." That certainly was real disheartening news, at the time.

pp. 187-188

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."

Such a radical change in our outlook will take time, maybe a lot of time. Not many people can truthfully assert that they love everybody. Most of us must admit that we have loved but a few; that we have been quite indifferent to the many so long as none of them gave us trouble; and as for the remainder--well, we have really disliked or hated them. Although these attitudes are common enough, we A.A.'s find we need something much better in order to keep our balance. We can't stand it if we hate deeply. The idea that we can be possessively loving of a few, can ignore the many, and can continue to fear or hate anybody, has to be abandoned, if only a little at a time.

pp. 92-93

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One should not give up, neglect, or forget for a moment his inner life,
but he must learn to work in it, with it, and out of it, so that the unity
of his soul may break out in all his activities.
--Meister Eckhart

All people, have goodness in their hearts and greatness in their souls.
--Shelley

The more I let go of my own suffering and self-pity, I can see those
around me with the eyes of love and compassion. I am
becoming more aware of other people's pain and unhappiness today
and I will reach out to them in loving ways that
heal me while helping them to heal.
--Ruth Fishel

Today I am living in the moment, instead of living for a moment.

"Don't go through life, GROW through life."
--Eric Butterworth

If you hang out in a barber shop long enough, you are going to get a haircut.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

PRAYER

"Prayer is not asking. It is a
language of the soul."
-- Mohandas Gandhi

At school I was told that prayer is "talking to God". Then I discovered
that prayer is more than this -- prayer is a relationship with God. It is
a two-way system -- I talk to God but I must also listen to Him. Like
any relationship that is going to work and grow, it needs time. I must
spend time developing my relationship with God. I must create an
awareness of his presence in my life because I believe He is always
there for me.

But more than this, prayer is a yearning for truth within the center of
my being. In prayer I get in touch with that part of me that will be
forever restless until it finds rest, eternal rest, in Him.

O God, prayer is my journey into You.

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How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony.
Psalm 133:1

"Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called ...
bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Ephesians 4:1-3

"Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is
good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one
another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the
Spirit, serve the Lord."
Romans 12:9-11

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Daily Inspiration

Every decision we make is not critical nor is every mistake fatal.
Lord, help me keep things in perspective and avoid the panic such thinking creates.

Take time to learn from the mistakes of others. We don't have time
to make all of them ourselves. Lord, guide me onto paths that lead me to You.