Originally Posted by bluidkiti
December 5
Daily Reflections
A NEW STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
He has been granted a gift which amounts to a new state of consciousness and being.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p 107
Many of us in A.A. puzzle over what is a spiritual awakening. I tended to look for a
miracle, something dramatic and earth shattering. But what usually happens is that a
sense of well-being, a feeling of peace, transforms us into a new level of awareness.
That's what happened to me. My insanity and inner turmoil disappeared and I entered
into a new dimension of hope, love and peace. I think the degree to which I continue
to experience this new dimension is in direct proportion to the sincerity, depth and devotion
with which I practice the Twelve Steps of A.A.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
In spite of all we have learned in A.A., our old way of thinking comes back on us,
sometimes with overwhelming force, and occasionally some of us have slips. We forget
or refuse to call on the Higher Power for help. We seem to deliberately make our minds
a blank so far as A.A. training goes, and we take a drink. We eventually get drunk. We
are temporarily right back where we started from. Those who have had slips say
unanimously that they were no fun. They say A.A. had taken all the pleasure out of
drinking. They knew they were doing the wrong thing. The old mental conflict was back
in full force. They were disgusted with themselves. Am I convinced that I can never get
anything more out of drinking?
Meditation For The Day
Give something to those who are having trouble, to those whose thoughts are confused,
something of your sympathy, your prayers, your time, your love, your thought, your self.
Then give of your own confidence, as you have had it given to you by the grace of God.
Give of yourself and of your loving sympathy. Give your best to those who need it and
will accept it. Give according to need, never according to deserts. Remember that the
giving of advice can never take the place of giving of your self.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that as I have received, so may I give. I pray that I may have the right answer to
those who are confused.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Relapses--and the Group, p. 154
An early fear was that of slips or relapses. At first nearly every
alcoholic we approached began to slip, if indeed he sobered up at all.
Others would stay dry six months or maybe a year and then take a
skid. This was always a genuine catastrophe. We would all look at
each other and say, "Who next?"
Today, though slips are a very serious difficulty, as a group we take
them in stride. Fear has evaporated. Alcohol always threatens the
individual, but we know that it cannot destroy the common welfare.
<< << << >> >> >>
"It does not seem to pay to argue with 'slippers' about the proper
method of getting dry. After all, why should people who are drinking
tell people who are dry how it should be done?
"Just kid the boys along--ask them if they are having fun. If they are
too noisy or troublesome, amiably keep out of their way."
1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 97
2. Letter, 1942
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Holding hands and hugging
Sincerity
The custom of holding hands while saying the Lord's Prayer has been adopted by many AA groups. We have also seen more hugging than in the past, even between the most unlikely members.
Are these new practices good or bad? In accordance with AA tradition, we have to leave such questions to the group conscience.
One thought, however, is that such physical actions do not necessarily mean that any true spiritual bonding has taken place. The old-timers who never held hands or hugged still had a great closeness in spirit and in feeling.
We must also consider that we may be violating the privacy of the person who doesn't wish to hold hands or hug. If such a person chooses to stand outside the hand=holding circle, he or she maybe cast in the role of dissenter. Would that be fair?
Hand -holding and hugging may be here to stay, but let's not make them out to be more than mere physical expressions. The program of the heart is still first.
I'll remember today that true bonding is spiritual, not physical.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength, and hope. ---Alcoholics Anonymous
All over the world, recovering men and women use the same Twelve Steps to live their lives.
Our fellowship keeps growing. The bigger it gets, the faster it grows. Why? Because the program brings our spirits back to life. All over the world, many of us were dying, and now we’re full of life and love. We are bringing our world bake to life. As we share our experience, strength, and hope, we help others join us in coming back to life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me stay sober today. Guide me and all others who are doing Your will today.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll think of three things I can do to help spread the message of AA and NA.
************************************************** *********
Each Day a New Beginning
It is a long baptism into the seas of humankind, my daughter. Better immersion than to live untouched. --Tillie Olsen
We have each had days when we preferred hiding under the covers, avoiding life at all costs. And in times gone by, we did just that, sometimes too frequently. What we didn't always know, and what we still forget on occasion, is that we have a ready and willing partner who will join us in every pursuit.
The more fully we commit ourselves to one another and to all our experience, the closer we will come to the very serenity we long for. Serenity accompanies our increasing understanding of life's many mysteries. It's easy to cheat ourselves out of the prizes any day offers us. Fear fosters inertia, leaving us separate, alone, even more afraid. But we have an appointment with life. And our appointment will bring us to the place of full understanding, the place where we'll be certain, forever after, that all is well. And that life is good.
Today's appointments are part of the bigger plan for my life. I will face them, enjoy them, and reap their rewards.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION
This brings to mind a story about one of our friends. While drinking, he accepted a sum of money from a bitterly-hated business rival, giving him no receipt for it. He subsequently denied having received the money and used the incident as a basis for discrediting the man. He thus used his own wrong-doing as a means of destroying the reputation of another. In fact, his rival was ruined.
He felt that he had done a wrong he could not possibly make right. If he opened that old affair, he was afraid it would destroy the reputation of his partner, disgrace his family and take away his means of livelihood. What right had he to involve those dependent upon him? How could he possibly make a public statement exonerating his rival?
After consulting with his wife and partner he came to the conclusion that it was better to take those risks than to stand before his Creator guilty of such ruinous slander. He saw that he had to place the outcome in God’s hands or he would soon start drinking again, and all would be lost anyhow. He attended church for the first time in many years. After the sermon, he quietly got up and made an explanation. His action met widespread approval, and today he is one of the most trusted citizens of his town. This all happened years ago.
p. 80
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Tradition Three - "The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking."
How could we then guess that all those fears were to prove groundless? How could we know that thousands of these sometimes frightening people were to make astonishing recoveries and become our greatest workers and intimate friends? Was it credible that A.A. was to have a divorce rate far lower than average? Could we then foresee that troublesome people were to become our principle teachers of patience and tolerance? Could any then imagine a society which would include every conceivable kind of character, and cut across every barrier of race, creed, politics, and language with ease?
pp. 140-141
************************************************** *********
Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.
--William James
Money is not required to buy one necessity of the soul.
--Henry David Thoreau
If you want to accomplish the goals of your life, you have to begin with the Spirit.
--Oprah Winfrey
The steps did for me the very thing I kept hoping alcohol would do for me --- they gave me the
peace and serenity I had been looking for in a bottle.
--unknown
Today is full of miracles!
--Ruth Fishel
"The principles you live by create the world you live in; if you change the principles you
live by, you will change your world."
--Blaine Lee
"What we see depends mainly on what we look for."
--John Lubbock
The ultimate lesson all of us have is unconditional love, which includes not only others but
ourselves as well.
--Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
************************************************** *********
Father Leo's Daily Meditation
BEAUTY
"Not every woman in old
slippers can manage to look like
Cinderella."
-- Don Marquis
Beauty is not what you wear or look like; beauty is within. We begin to love ourselves
when we see the beauty that God has given to each and every one of us forever. God's
image and beauty is expressed through our attitudes and feelings, how we greet and
listen to each other and the gentle dignity we afford to another human being.
For years I saw myself as ugly, boring, useless and stupid. This message came from
parents who forever compared me with others and for years I believed their message.
I hid through my teen-age years and quietly tried to escape in food, alcohol and
drugs.
Then after a crisis I met people who had felt the same but were now feeling different.
They loved me until I could begin to love myself. Now I like me. Now I can love me.
Today I can like and love you.
Help me to see the beauty in the wrinkle; the power in the pain.
************************************************** *********
"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the
Almighty."
Psalm 91:1
"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This
then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in
his presence."
I John 3:18-19
"Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows
me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.'"
John 8:12
************************************************** *********
Daily Inspiration
Imagine joy and you will find it. Lord, I thank You for the people that need me and love me, for the ability to hope and especially for the ability to love.
One of life's greatest rewards is not what we get, but what we become. Lord, give me the courage to be all that I can.
|
12-05-2013, 01:07 PM
Similar Threads
Threaded Mode