Daily Reflections
September 9
OPENING NEW DOORS
THEY [THE PROMISES] ARE BEING FULFILLED AMONG US – SOMETIMES QUICKLY, SOMETIMES SLOWLY.
-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 84
The Promises talked about in this passage are slowly coming to life for me. What has given me hope is putting Step Nine into action. The Step has allowed me to see and set goals for myself in recovery. Old habits and behaviors die hard. Working Step Nine enables me to close the door on the drunk I was, and to open new avenues for myself as a sober alcoholic. Making direct amends is crucial for me. As I repair relationships and behavior of the past, I am better able to live a sober life! Although I have some years of sobriety, there are times when the “old stuff” from the past needs to be taken care of, and Step Nine always works, when I work it.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
September 9
A.A. Thought For The Day
When an alcoholic is offered a life of sobriety by following the A.A. program, he will look at the prospect of living without alcohol and he will ask: “Am I to be consigned to a life where I shall be stupid, boring and glum, like some of the righteous people I see? I know I must get along without liquor, but how can I? Have you a sufficient substitute?” Have I found a more than sufficient substitute for drinking?
Meditation For The Day
In God’s strength you conquer life. Your conquering power is the grace of God. There can be no complete failure with God. Do you want to make the best of life? Then live as near as possible to God, the Master and Giver of all life. Your regard for depending on God’s strength will be sure. Sometimes the reward will be renewed power to face life, sometimes wrong thinking overcome, sometimes people brought to a new way of living. Whatever success comes will not be all your own doing, but largely the working out of the grace of God.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to rely more fully on the grace of God. I pray that I may live a victorious life.
Keep It Simple
September 9
ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO PERSUADE OTHERS IS WITH YOUR EARS—BY LISTENING TO THEM.
—DEAN RUSK
We hate being told what to think. We like to make up our own minds. It helps to talk things out with another person who, listens to us. Someone who care what we think.
We can give this respect to others. We can listen their point of view. We can try to understand them and care about what they think.
When we do this, others start to care what we think too. We share ideas. The ideas get a little more clear. They change a little. We get a little closer to agreement. We both feel good.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know when to listen and when to talk today. Work for me and though me. Thanks.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll look for chances to listen to others when I really want to talk. I’ll say, “Tell me more about that.” And I’ll listen.
Each Day a New Beginning
September 9
I DO NOT WANT TO DIE … UNTIL I HAVE FAITHFULLY MADE THE MOST OF MY TALENT AND CULTIVATED THE SEED THAT WAS PLACED IN ME UNTIL THE LAST SMALL TWIG HAS GROWN.
—KATHE KOLLWITZ
There’s so much to do before we rest … so much to do. We each are gifted with talents, similar in some respects to others’ talents, but unique in how we’ll be able to use them. Do we realize our talents? We need only to dare to dream, and there they’ll be.
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of self-pity, thinking we have no purpose, fearing we’ll take life nowhere, dreading others’ expectations of us. But we can turn our thinking around at any moment. The choice is ours. We can simply decide to discover our talents, and nurture them and enrich the lives of others. The benefits will be many. So will the joys.
We have a very important part to play, today, in the lives we touch. We can expect adventure, and we’ll find it. We can look for our purpose; it’s at hand. We can remember – we aren’t alone. We are in partnership every moment. Our talents are God-given, and guidance for their full use is part of the gift.
I will have a dream today. In my dream is my direction.
Xtra Thoughts
September 9
Today, help me, God, to let go of my resistance to change. Help me to be open to the process. Help me believe that the place I’ll be dropped off will be better than the place where I was picked up. Help me surrender, trust, and accept, even if I don’t understand.
–Melody BeattieWe must be the change we wish to see in the world.
–Mahatma GandhiToday I will spend some time putting my own needs aside to help someone else. It is so good to know that I can be filled with such good feelings and I get so much when I give of myself.
–Ruth FishelGod loves all of us, whether we walk away pain-free or not. Keep taking care of yourself, no matter what. God, transform my pain into compassion for others and myself.
–Melody BeattieNever look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up.
–Jesse JacksonMy philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.
–Oprah Winfrey“If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don’t, they never were.”
–Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet”Don’t wait for your ship to come in, swim out to meet it…
–unknownThe task before you is never greater than the power behind you…
–unknownAlways, He will watch over us and comfort us.
–Ernest Holmes
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
September 9
RELIGION
“SCIENCE WITHOUT RELIGION IS LAME, RELIGION WITHOUT SCIENCE IS BLIND.”
– ALBERT EINSTEIN
In the field of addiction we need to work together and listen to the professionalism we all bring: the answer will be in “the many”.
So often we divide ourselves up into “ghettos” of learning and miss what “the others” are saying — and the disease wins! This is reminiscent of the old days in the church when science was seen as the enemy, the world was flat and the earth was the center of the universe. Pride and ego kept people sick, isolated and afraid — and thousands suffered and died. However, people began to listen to each other and the world benefited from the shared wisdom.
As addictionologists and recovering people we need to listen to each other.
Help me to see You in the honest experience of every man.
A Day At A Time
September 9
Reflection For The Day
The longer I’m in The Program and the longer I try to practice its principles in all my affairs, the less frequently I become morose and depressed. Perhaps, too, there’s something to that cynical old saying, “Blessed is he that expect nothing, for he shall not be disappointment.” If such a person is in The Program, he or she shall not be disappointed, but instead will be delighted daily by new and fresh evidence of the love of God and the friendliness of men and women. Does someone, somewhere,need me today? Will I look for that person and try to share what I’ve been given in The Program?
Today I Pray
May I be utterly grateful for God for lifting my depression. May I know that my depression will always lighten if I do not expect too much. May I know that the warmth of friends can fill the cold hollow of despair. May I give my warmth to someone else.
Today I Will Remember
To look for someone to share with.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
September 9
“ … WISDOM COMES ONLY WHEN YOU STOP LOOKING FOR IT AND START TRULY LIVING THE LIFE THE CREATOR INTENDED FOR YOU.”
–LELIA FISHER, HOH
There are many things that block us from wisdom such as; selfishness, secrets, hate, anger, jealousy and judgments. Another thing that can block us from wisdom is trying too hard or wishing something would happen.
Wishing implies doubt and trying implies control. We need to let go of these things. We need to abandon ourselves to the Creator. As soon as we surrender everything, the wisdom starts to flow. The Elders know how to help us with this. Just ask them.
My Great Spirit, today I surrender my life and my will to Your care.
Touchstones Meditations For Men
September 9
DON’T LET LIFE DISCOURAGE YOU; EVERYONE WHO GOT WHERE HE IS HAD TO BEGIN WHERE HE WAS.
—R. L. EVANS
Feelings of discouragement are to be expected as part of life. We will have our times of greater energy and hope and our times of feeling depleted and lost. As we mature we learn to see many peaks and valleys across the landscape.
Giving ourselves over to feelings of discouragement is self-indulgent and saps our strength. We cannot see into the future. The dailiness of our lives isn’t always dramatic and doesn’t usually offer great changes. But we are part of an unfolding process. Looking back over just a week or a month, we can recall troubled times that now seem insignificant. We see other’ people and their progress, and we know they too grew just one day at a time and couldn’t see what the future would bring them. So we continue – knowing that our process is hopeful – even though we cannot foresee the details of our future.
I have the strength to live through the peaks and valleys and to stay faithful to my recovery.
Daily TAO
September 9
DESERVING
Prostrate before the altar.
Are you worthy of your deity?
Can you eliminate profanity,
And strive for constant adoration?
It is not easy to worship. Simply going to a temple once a week to have a priest intercede on your behalf is not enough. True worship is a daily act of humbling yourself before your deity and offering a pure heart and holy words.
A great holy leader came to my city once. He initiated 5,000 people into a simple practice of chanting. Since that time, it has been a struggle to keep up 108 chants a night. There is no prospect of stopping, no chance of “finishing.”
In the same way, all scriptures must be recited. That means daily devotion. Once you begin, you cannot stop for the rest of your life. There is no room for laziness. Your body and mouth must be clean, you must be in a good frame of mind, and you cannot have uttered or done profane things. We must be worthy of our deities.
It doesn’t matter if we are “getting anything out of it.” Whether there is a response is secondary. The mere act of devotion is its own reward. It brings transformation.
Daily Zen
September 9
Light from the moon of clear mind
Drinks up everything in the world.
When mind and light disappear,
What is this?
– Kyong Ho (1849-1912)