Daily Reflections
February 23
MYSTERIOUS PARADOXES
Such is the paradox of A.A. regeneration: strength arising out of complete defeat and weakness, the loss of one’s old life as a condition for finding a new one.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 46
What glorious mysteries paradoxes are! They do not compute, yet when recognized and accepted, they reaffirm something in the universe beyond human logic. When I face a fear, I am given courage; when I support a brother or sister, my capacity to love myself is increased; when I accept a pain as part of the growing experience of life, I realize a greater happiness; when I look at my dark side, I am brought into new light; when I accept my vulnerabilities and surrender to a Higher Power, I am graced with unforeseen strength. I stumbled through the doors of A.A. in disgrace, expecting nothing from life, and I have been given hope and dignity. Miraculously, the only way to keep the gifts of the program is to pass them on.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
February 23
A.A. Thought For The Day
Besides our jobs, our families, our friends and our sobriety, we have something else which many of us found through A.A. That’s faith in a Power greater than ourselves, to which we can turn for help: faith in that Divine Principle in the universe which we call God and which is on our side as long as we do the right thing. There have been many days in the past when, if we had taken an inventory, we’d have found ourselves very much in the red, without sobriety and therefore without jobs, families, friends or faith in God. We now have these things because we’re sober. Do I make one resolution every day of my life–to stay sober?
Meditation For The Day
Love the busy life. It is a joy-filled life. Take your fill of joy in the Spring. Live outdoors whenever possible. Sun and air are nature’s great healing forces. That inward joy changes poisoned blood into pure, healthy, life-giving flow. But never forget that the real healing of the spirit comes from within, from the close, loving contact of your spirit with God’s spirit. Keep in close communion with God’s spirit day by day.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may learn to live the abundant life. I pray that I may enjoy a close contact with God this day and be glad in it.
Walk In Dry Places
February 23
We always have choices
Decision Making
Self-pity is often rooted in the strong feeling that people or conditions have victimized us. “I never had a chance” and “You deceived me!” are common complaints that reveal self-pity.
It is astonishing and humbling to learn that we always have choices, even when other people or bad conditions are grinding us down. One of the great discoveries of the Twelve Step movement is that alcoholics could begin to recover no matter how helpless they had become, no matter how far they had slid into defeat and despair. Once a decision was made to seek sobriety as a primary goal, other choices and decisions became possible.
We choose our attitudes and responses. We have neither the power nor the right to control others, but we can choose to soften our attitudes toward them, and we can forgive and release people we don’t like.
We can always choose how we want to think and feel. It may take effort to break the habit of feeling victimized and sorry for ourselves, but our higher power will show us the way if we decide that is what we really want.
Nobody can ruffle my feathers today or make me feel oppressed and victimized. I can always make choices that will enhance my sobriety and place me on a better footing for the days ahead.
Keep It Simple
February 23
Hitch your wagon to a star.—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Millions of people are sober and have peace of mind through the Twelve Steps. Like the stars, the Steps are always there. At times, clouds block our view of the stars, but we know they are still there. Let’s view the Twelve Steps the same way.
It is said that the stars are the gate to heaven, that we pass through their beauty to get ready to enter heaven. The Twelve Steps are the gate to spirituality here on earth. We travel through their beauty on our way to a spiritual awakening. Hitch your wagon to the Steps, and get ready for the ride of a lifetime.
Prayer for the Day: I pray to remember that the Steps keep me sober. I pray that I will follow where the Steps take me.
Action For the Day: I’ll look at the stars tonight. I’ll think of them as symbols of my life touched by the Twelve Steps.
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
February 23
THOUGHT
“I was a free-thinker before I knew how to think.”
— George Bernard Shaw
All of us are influenced by somebody. Not to be influenced is to remain an ignorant person. Most of us hinder our thinking, particularly around spiritual things, because of pride. We don’t like change. We find it hard to accept attitudes and opinions that differ from our own. Pride keeps us deaf and often stupid. However, the daily program of a lived spirituality encourages a variety of opinions and attitudes. We can learn from different customs, lifestyles and religions. We can be helped in our understanding of life by the stranger.
I know that I do not have all the answers. Perhaps you carry my answers. Today I am prepared to listen to you.
God, the sustainer of all religions and philosophies, help us to discover You in our differences.
Daily Inspiration
February 23
There is no better time than right now to do what we have been putting off. Lord, grant me motivation and focus that I may live so as to have no regrets about what I should have done.
If you feel the need to get even, try getting even with those that have helped you. Lord, free me from any thoughts of revenge because this only shuts the door to my own happiness.
Journey to the Heart
February 23
Let Power Come Gently
Let your powers emerge gradually, gently.
Go gently on your path and look around. See what you have learned to define as power. See with the eyes of your heart.
You used to think you were powerful when you resisted your emotions, when you held back and didn’t express yourself. You thought power came from being who you thought you should be, instead of who you are. Now you have learned that only when you are who you really are, can true power emerge.
The powers you’ve discovered are many. Your power to be decent, loving, and kind. Your power to heal, to be gentle, to comfort others. Your power to see and know the truth, and at times to see more than you can see with your eyes. Your power to take your place in the dance of universal love, and let the universe dance for you.
These powers have been gifts. You’ve seen them. You understand them. You know they’re real. The choice to embrace and use them is yours.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
February 23
“We’ve got to learn what’s going on today in the world, and we’ve got to get an education so we can survive.”
–Jimmy Jackson, OJIBWA
Indian people have the ability to adapt. In these modern times, we Native people must walk two roads. We must get educated so our people don’t lose. We need lawyers, doctors, nurses, foresters, scientists, educators, carpenters, welders. These skills are needed to help the people. While we are learning we need to remember to keep our culture, learn our dances, sing our songs, learn to speak our own language and maintain our culture for future generations.
Great Spirit, let my education never lack the meaning and value of Indian spirituality.
Today’s Gift
February 23
I want to dance always, to be good and not evil, and, when it is all over, not to have the feeling that I might have done better.
—Ruth St. Denis
Our wants in life may be simple, or they may be complex. They may yet be confused in our minds, but the clarity will come if we’re patient. God has a way of giving us an “inner tug” when a certain direction beckons. Our responsibility is to follow that tug and trust it, fully. Too often we look back on our lives with regret. What is done, is done. We learned lessons from those mistakes. Every day is a new beginning. And we can close every day with no regrets when we have followed our consciences, that “inner tug” that beckons.
The opportunities will come today. Opportunities to be good or evil. Opportunities for making choices over which we will feel good or full of regret at the day’s close. Many of our choices will bring us closer to the satisfaction, the contentment with life that we all search for as women, as human beings. We need not fear coming to life’s close, wishing we had done more or better. Living each day in good conscience, waiting for the tug and following it, will ensure a life well lived.
My ego can block out the tug, if I let it. Or I can trust.
Touchstones Meditation For Men
February 23
A man who studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green.
—Francis Bacon
Where do we direct our energy? Are we spending time and thought on how we have been wronged? on the unfairness of life? Those who consume their resources in this way have few left for growth and development. Their wounds stay open for years, and they block the healing.
What will we need to set aside our resentments and hateful attitudes? Perhaps we have been passively waiting for the other guy to make amends. That only puts our enemies in charge of us. It would be better if we could say, “I am going to move on. The change that is needed for me to heal will come from within me. I will not put my happiness in another’s hands.” More than revenge, we want a life worth living – for ourselves and the ones we love. We can give our energies to that.
Lift from me the desire for revenge. Replace it with the fullness of a healed life.
Daily TAO
February 23
ADVERSITY
A tree hemmed in by giants
Requires tenacity to survive.
Times of adversity inevitably confront us all. We are denied influence, people will not listen to what we have to say, and we are restricted by circumstance. In this situation, followers of Tao must rely on their determination. Without that, they cannot emerge successfully from the danger.
During times of adversity, vision and determination decide the outcome. Mere doggedness never served anyone well. Observe carefully, and try to act. If you find yourself tested by the situation, take comfort in the fact that adversity frequently forces one to consolidate one’s resources. You can often emerge from adversity stronger than before. Don’t be overcome by fear. Take calculated risks if you must, or face danger if you have to. If your mind is focused to the utmost, you will triumph.
Without the difficulty of being hemmed in, the tree in the forest would not be forced to marshal its power to grow toward the light. It must truly bring forth all its inner strength to spread its branches. If it becomes grand, it is in part because of its suffering. Thus the times of adversity can be crucial to the development of one’s inner personality.
Daily Zen
February 23
Within the Way there are no obstacles at all, not even a pinpoint of obstruction. There are, however, obstacles in training. These are all self-created and due to the grasping nature of our practice. The coarse obstacles we create are doubt, fear, and taking the Way to exist objectively. The more subtle are the concepts of attainment and various levels. The Way avoids nothing at all, so we may be grateful even for obstacles. Apart from obstacles, there is no training.
– Anon