Daily Reflections
July 3
EXPERIENCE: THE BEST TEACHER
Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times.
-ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS , p. 87
Some say that experience is the best teacher, but I believe that experience is the only teacher. I have been able to learn of God’s love for me only by the experience of my dependence on that love. At first I could not be sure of His direction in my life, but now I see that if I am to be bold enough to ask for His guidance, I must act as if He has provided it. I frequently ask God to help me remember that He has a path for me.
Twenty-Four Hours A
Day
July 3
A. A. Thought for the Day
In the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous there were only two persons. Now there are many groups and thousands of members. True, the surface has only been scratched. There are probably ten million or more persons in America alone who need our help. More and more people are making a start in A. A. each day. In the case of individual members, the beginning has been accomplished when they admit they are powerless and turn to a Power greater than themselves, admitting that their lives have become unmanageable. That Higher Power works for good in all things and helps us to accomplish much in individual growth and in the growth of A. A. groups. Am I doing my part in helping A. A. to grow?
Meditation for the Day
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Only in the fullness of faith can the heart-sick and faint and weary be satisfied, healed, and rested. Think of the wonderful spiritual revelations still to be found by those who are trying to live the spiritual life. Much of life is spiritually unexplored country. Only to the consecrated and loving people who walk with God in spirit can these great spiritual discoveries be revealed. Keep going forward and keep growing in righteousness.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not be held back by the material things of the world. I pray that I may let God lead me forward.
Keep It Simple
July 3
We are only as sick as the secrets we keep.
— Anonymous
It is dangerous for us to keep secrets. Shame builds, and we’ll want relief. We may turn to alcohol or other drugs. True relief comes by talking about our secrets, by sharing who we really are with others. Our program helps us live a life based on honesty. Our program helps us battle shame. We don’t keep secrets anymore. We start our meetings and share what we tried to keep secret before.
” Hi, my name is____________, and I’m am alcoholic.” ” Hi my name is_____________, and I’m a drug addict.” We keep telling our secret, and the shame gets less and less.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I pray to live an honest life.
Action for the Day: I’ll list any secrets I’ve been keeping. I’ll talk with my sponsor about them.
Alcoholics
Anonymous
July 3
The Vicious Cycle
How it finally broke a Southerner’s obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A. A. at Philadelphia.
This was the background that made me willing to listen on January 8. After being dry for two weeks and sticking close to Jackie, all of a sudden I found I had become the sponsor of my sponsor, for he was suddenly taken drunk. I was startled to learn he had only been off the booze a month or so himself when he brought me the message! However, I made as SOS call to the New York Group, whom I hadn’t met yet, and they suggested we both come there. This we did the next day, and what a trip! I really had a chance to see myself from a non-drinking point of view. We checked into the home of Hank, the man who had fired me eleven years before in Mississippi, and there I met Bill, our founder. Bill had then been dry three years and Hank, two. At the time, I thought them just a swell pair of screwballs, for they were not going to save all the drunks in the world but also all the so-called normal people! All they talked of that first weekend was God and how they were going to straighten out Jackie’s and my life. In those days we really took each other’s inventories firmly and often. Despite all this, I did like these new friends because, again, they were like me. They had also been periodic big shots who had goofed out repeatedly at the wrong time, and they also knew how to split one paper match into three separate matches. (This is very useful knowledge in places where matches are prohibited. ) They, too, had taken a train to one town and had wakened hundred of miles in the opposite direction, never knowing how they got there. The same old routines seemed to be common to us all. During that first weekend, I decided to stay in New York and take all they gave out with, except the “God stuff.” I knew they had to straighten out their thinking and habits, but I was all right; I just drank too much. Just give me a good front and a couple of bucks, and I’d be right back in the big time. I’d been dry three weeks, had the wrinkles out, and had sobered up my sponsor all by myself!
pp. 226-227
The world needs all of our power and love and energy, and each of us has something to give. The trick is to find it and use it, to find it and give it away so there will always be more. We can be lights for each other, and through each other’s illumination we will see the way. Each of us is a seed, a silent promise, and it is always spring.
–Merle Shain
Father Leo’s Daily
Meditation
July 3
CHOICES
“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be achieved.”
–William Jennings Bryan
It is so important for us to see that we create our destiny. We create our futures in the choices we initiate today. During my addiction I was like a ship without a sail. I drifted through life and was tossed in a thousand directions. Today I am able to point myself in the direction I want to go.
I do not believe that this attitude takes anything away from the power of God because He gave me freedom in the first place! He created me to be free and to have the gift of decision-making. He is not a dictator God, and I am not a puppet on a string. He loves me enough to allow me to learn from my mistakes and take personal pride in my achievements. Addiction made me powerless. Sobriety puts me in touch with my God-given power.
I am forever grateful and thankful for my involvement in my own life. I pray today that I might live responsibly a day at a time.
Daily Inspiration
July 3
Stay close to God because He is the solution to all problems. Lord, I will live in Your presence, protected by You and Your peace will be mine.
Our lives should be productive and useful and we should always make a difference because we are alive. Lord, You have brought me to this new day. Work with me so that I will have a successful day with many accomplishments whether they are great or small.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day – July 3
“When you are in the woods, you can-not ever be lost. You are surrounded by friends and surrounded by God.”
–Joe Coyhis, STOCKBRIDGE-MUNSEE
Every plant, every animal, every insect, every bird, every tree is made up of God. God is life and everything is alive.
When you are hunting, remember all nature is your friend. All nature has purpose. All nature participates in the life cycle. Nature communicates; Nature talks; Nature listens; Nature forgives; Nature respects; Nature loves.
Nature lives in harmony. Nature follows the law. Nature is kind. Nature is balance. The woods are alive and beautiful. She is our friend.
Great Spirit, let me honor and respect the forest and all the life it contains.
Today’s Gift
July 3
You are here for a purpose. There is not a duplicate of you in the whole wide world; there never has been, there never will be. You were brought here now to fill a certain need. Take time to think that over.
—Lou Austin
No other person is exactly like you or me. No one can do exactly what we can, or touch another person in exactly the way we can. Out of all the people who could have been created, we were chosen to be a part of this time and place.
We are needed to fulfill a plan, in our families as well as in our relationships. Knowing we have unique abilities, we will spend less time feeling jealous of what others can do.
Through our dreams and yearnings, God shows us who we can be. It is up to us to have the courage to follow that dream with action.
What unique gift can I offer the world today?
Touchstones
Meditations For Men
July 3
Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist but also in the ability to start over.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sitting in a stalled car on the railroad tracks with a train approaching, one needs to let go and start over. A man who persists in that situation will die. Many situations require fierce persistence, but in others we need to start over. Early in recovery, most of us haven’t had a good way of knowing the difference. Perhaps with every challenge we tried harder and held on tighter. Our codependent relationships and our addictions had been our escapes.
Often we long for some clear directions from God to tell us, “Now is the time to let go,” or “Now is the time to persist.” That is not how we hear from our Higher Power. We can practice being less automatic in rising to every challenge. We can learn to see the wisdom and vitality in starting over. Certainly our recovery is a good example. Gradually we develop our contact with our Higher Power to help discern the difference. As we do, we develop more options for leading healthier lives.
Today, I will not automatically persist with a challenge. I will notice when I have an opportunity to let go.
Daily TAO
July 3
Site
Desert: visions.
Tropics: possession.
Forests: alchemy.
Mountains: asceticism.
Throughout the world, the site where people practiced spirituality has been significant. In the deserts of the Middle East, holy people had visions. In the tropics, sorcerers used spirit possession. In the forests of Europe and Asia, alchemists perfected their arts. In the Himalayas, sages hid themselves away for ascetic practices. Of course, these were not the only places for such arts, but it is more than coincidental that certain practices are tied to the place. If you go to any of these lands, you can still feel the essence that inspired generations.
Thus it is that you should be sensitive to where you situate yourself in the world. Selecting a spiritual site requires subtlety. If you do not know the science of geomancy, it is better to go to a place known to be conducive to what you want to achieve. Then narrow your choice by what you see and feel. If you sense there is great well-being, that the plants and animals of the area are healthy, that the place is not subject to extremes of weather that would adversely affect your health, the that is the place for you. When you move there, you will be sustained.
No site is forever. If you find the flow of energy has gone elsewhere or that others begin to ruin an area, then search for a new place of vitality. That is why those who follow Tao seldom have fixed homes. They wander from site to site so as to constantly remain in the stream of Tao.