Daily Reflections
June 6
ALL WE DO IS TRY
Can He now take them all—every one?
-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 76
In doing Step Six it helped me a lot to remember that I am striving for “spiritual progress.” Some of my character defects may be with me for the rest of my life, but most have been toned down or eliminated. All that Step Six asks of me is to become willing to name my defects, claim them as my own, and be willing to discard the ones I can, just for today. As I grow in the program, many of my defects become more objectionable to me than previously and, therefore, I need to repeat Step Six so that I can become happier with myself and maintain my serenity.
Twenty-Four Hours A
Day
June 6
A. A. Thought for the Day
Drinking is the way we alcoholics express our maladjustment’s to life. I believe that I was a potential alcoholic from the start. I had an inferiority complex. I didn’t make friends easily. There was a wall between me and other people. And I was lonely. I was not well adjusted to life. Did I drink to escape from myself?
Meditation for the Day
According to the varying needs of each person, so does each person think of God. It is not necessary that you think of God as others think of Him, but it is necessary that you think of Him as supplying what you personally need. The weak need God’s strength. The strong need God’s tenderness. The tempted and fallen need God’s saving grace. The righteous needs God’s pity for sinners. The lonely need God as a friend. The fighters for righteousness need a leader in God. You may think of God in any way you wish. We usually do not turn to God until we need Him.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may think of God as supplying my needs. I pray that I will bring all my problems to Him for help in meeting them.
Walk in Dry Places
June 6
My opportunities
are in change
Personal Growth.
It’s common to hear a recovering person voice apprehensions about an impending change. This apprehension only results from our fear that change will mean loss.
There can never be any permanent loss if we are solidly anchored in our spiritual program. Our Higher Power is the guiding force in all change and will make all things right as events unfold.
We should also remember that change brought us to our present situation. Any good we now enjoy came to us by a certain process. Even painful experiences have been valuable lessons.
There is no way we can avoid change; it is a built-in condition of life. We can accept it more gracefully if we view it as God’s way of bringing us opportunity.
Any change that I sense today is just a signal for the arrival of new opportunities. Even if changes seem uncomfortable, I’ll welcome all such change.
Keep It Simple
June 6
Fortunate are the people whose roots are deep.
-Agnes Meyer
A tree’s roots seek water and minerals. Though the roots can’t be seen easily seen, they are there.
The life of the tree depends on them. The stronger a tree’s roots, the higher a tree can grow.
We need to set deep roots into the soil of recovery. The soil of recovery is made up of the Twelve Steps, fellowship, and service to others. We’ll have to get through storms and high winds in our return to health. In so doing, we’ll become beautiful, strong, and spiritual. We’ll be able to live with both the gentle breezes and the heavy winds of life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me believe in what I can’t see. Just as I believe that the roots of a tree are there because I can see the leaves. I believe in a Higher Power because I can see the results.
Action for the Day: I will ask myself, “Which Step do I need to work on the most right now?” I will volunteer to give a meeting on that Step.
Live to learn and you will learn to live.
–Portuguese Proverb
It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.
–Sir Josiah Stamp
You cannot raise a man up by calling him down.
–William Boetcker
“Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.”
–Dennis Wholey
Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.
–Will Rogers
Anxiety separates us from experiencing a great life. So caught up are we in our worry, we may even cut ourselves off from giving and receiving love. God invites us into a fuller life in which we recognize that there is no anxiety that our Creator cannot handle, if we only remember to ask.
–Mary Manin Morrissey
Nothing can separate us from God’s love.
–Luis Aramayo
Father Leo’s Daily
Meditation
June 6
SCIENCE
“As long as men are free to ask what they must – free to say what they think – free to think what they will – freedom can never be lost and science can never regress.”
–J. Robert Oppenheimer
We need to press on in this wonderful journey of life because new discoveries await us in our tomorrows. Spirituality always brings joy in the journey. In the traveling is the fun for we will never reach our destination in this life.
The freedom to question is the discipline of science, and science is involved in the treatment and recovery of addiction. We must always be looking for better ways of treatment, more vivid ways of teaching and creative aids to recovery.
Science, and every other creative discipline, should be used in the treatment of addictions: God is to be found in the many.
Lord, let us remember that You gave mankind a scalpel and a prayer book.
Daily Inspiration
June 6
Even the most difficult of trials is God’s way of preparing us for something else. Lord, may I view my challenges as an opportunity to grow rather than as an opportunity to fail.
Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Lord, I pray, I believe, and I thank you even before it is fulfilled.
Elder’s Meditation
of the Day
June 6
“We need to save those Elders who cannot speak for themselves — the trees.”
–Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders
The trees are the Elders of the Earth. Go to the forest or to the mountains and find a young tree. Then find an old tree. Spend time with each. Sit by the young tree and listen to your thoughts. Then move to an old tree and listen to your thoughts again. Just being in the presence of an old tree, you will feel more calm. Your thoughts will contain wisdom and your answers will be deeper. Why is this so? These old trees know more, have heard more, and are the Elders of the Earth. We must ensure these trees live so we can learn from them.
My Creator, help me to protect the trees and listen to them.
Today’s Gift
June 6
A good anger acted upon is beautiful as lightning and swift with power. A good anger swallowed clots the blood like slime.
—Marge Piercy
How does it feel when someone tells us we should play basketball when we don’t want to? Often, it angers us that someone else is telling us what to do. After we have been told we should do something many times, we begin to believe it and forget how we really feel. Even though we have forgotten what we wanted to do, we feel angry, often without realizing it. Such hidden anger can leave us feeling bad without knowing why.
It is important to know when we are angry, and to say so. There are healthy ways of expressing anger without blaming others. Saying we are angry, and thereby claiming it as our own feeling and not something others force on us, is a way to express it, which also affirms our right to be angry.
If there is anger in me today, can I express it correctly?
Touchstones
Meditations For Men
June 6
Words and magic were, in the beginning, one and the same thing, and even today words retain much of their magical power.
—Sigmund Freud
We shape our experiences with the words we use to describe them. Word images create expectations and we naturally move toward them. When a man says, “I can’t!” he is commanding his unconscious self to be helpless. When he has a picture in his mind of moving toward his goal, he may say, “It’s hard, but I’m going to give it my best effort.” If, every time he makes a mistake, he mutters berating statements to himself like, “You idiot! You can’t do anything right,” he is teaching himself to be inadequate.
It’s our responsibility in recovery to use respectful, honest, health-giving words. We can no longer use defeating, shaming, or derogatory words. Our language has a hypnotic effect on us and the people around us. So let’s look at our resources today and name them. Let’s meet our difficulties with our strength, our patience, and the backing of our Higher Power.
Today, I will call forth images and use words to show I respect myself and others.
Daily TAO
June 6
Optimal
If you are best in the morning,
Cultivate Tao in the morning.
If you are best in the evening,
Cultivate Tao in the evening.
Whatever the optimal time of day is for you, you should devote it to the cultivation of Tao. For example, dawn, when it is quiet, the world is fresh, and the mind is untainted by the day’s events, is an ideal time to devote to study. Morning,the time of birth, should not be wasted on a quick breakfast, a hastily read newspaper, and a manic rush to work. It is far better to awake from peaceful sleep, wash yourself, drink clear water, and immerse yourself in the rising energy of the day.