Daily Reflections
October 21
NOTHING GROWS IN THE DARK
“We will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us, to flower and to grow.”
–AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10
With the self-discipline and insight gained from practicing Step Ten, I begin to know the gratifications of sobriety — not as mere abstinence from alcohol, but as recovery in every department of my life.
I renew hope, regenerate faith, and regain the dignity of self-respect. I discover the word “and” in the phrase “and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.”Reassured that I am no longer always wrong, I learn to accept myself as I am, with a new sense of the miracles of sobriety and serenity.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
October 21
A.A. Thought For The Day
Now that we have considered the obligations of real, working members of A.A., let us examine what the rewards are that have come to us as a result of our new way of living. First, I understand myself more than I ever did before. I have learned what was the matter with me and I know now a lot of what makes me tick. I will never be alone again. I am just one of many who have the illness of alcoholism and one of many who have learned what to do about it. I am not an odd fish or a square peg in a round hole. I seem to have found my right place in the world. Am I beginning to understand myself?
Meditation For The Day
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will remain with him and him with me.” The knocking of God’s spirit, asking to come into your life, is due to no merit of yours, though it is in response to the longing of your heart. Keep a listening ear, an ear bent to catch the sound of the gentle knocking at the door of your heart by the spirit of God. Then open the door of your heart and let God’s spirit come in.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may let God’s spirit come into my heart. I pray that it may fill me with an abiding peace.
Keep It Simple
October 21
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
–Anonymous
Nobody’s always wrong. Nobody’s all bad. And that includes us.
Sometimes, we really get down on ourselves. When we do Step Four, we sometimes see only our faults. When we make our Step Ten checkup, we see only our mistakes. We can’t afford to do this. We need to see our strengths too. But even our faults have a good side. Are you stubborn? Good—be stubborn, you know how to hang on to feelings. So, hang on to the good feelings instead of the bad ones.
Each of us is good and wise. What’s good about us got twisted by our disease. But now we can get the kinks out. We are sober, and we have a program to help us.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to see the good in myself and others.
Action for the Day: I’ll take another look at my faults today. How can I use them in good ways?
“Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action.”
–Mother Teresa
“Joy increases as you give it, and diminishes as you try to keep it for yourself. In giving it, you will accumulate a deposit of joy greater than you ever believed possible.”
–Norman Vincent Peale, Positive Thinking Every Day
“God is singing and Creation is the melody.”
–David Palmer
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
October 21
CONSCIENCE
“In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.”
–Mahatma Gandhi
How I used to hate myself. So many times I caught myself pleasing the crowd, agreeing with people I did not understand or respect, laughing at jokes and opinions I loathed. How I used to hate myself!
Today I have a healthy respect for what the majority may feel but I also trust and follow my conscience. I know that to be in the minority is not necessarily to be in the wrong. My recovery insists that I listen to my conscience, that inner self that is based on a program of honesty, that spiritual cornerstone of my life that I have come to trust.
Now I can say to people, “I do not agree.” Today I give myself permission to disagree with family, friends and colleagues.
May I never follow the crowd because of the numbers: God is one.
Daily Inspiration
October 21
There are far more solutions than problems and knowing this is very empowering. Lord, in the encounters of my daily life, may I choose to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
No gift is so precious as love. Gratefully trust God and give Him your love. Lord, I give You my heart.
A Day At A Time
October 21
Reflection For The Day
There’s a world of difference between the idea of self-love and love of self. Self-love is a reflection of an inflated ego, around which — in our distorted view of our own self-importance– everything must revolve, Self-love is the breeding around for hostility, arrogance, and a host of other character defects which blind us to any points of view but our own. Love of self, in contrast, is an appreciation of our dignity and value as human beings. Love of self is an expression of self-realization, from which springs humility. Do I believe that I can love others best when I have gained love of self?
Today I Pray
May God, who loves me, teach me to love myself. May I notice that the most arrogant of officious humans are not so completely sure of themselves, after all. Instead, they are apt to have a painfully low self-image, and insecurity which they clock in pomp and princely trappings. May God show me that when I can like myself, I am duly crediting Him, since every living thing is a work of God.
Today I Will Remember
I will try to like myself.
One More Day
October 21
“Business runs after nobody; people cling to it of their own free will and think that to be busy is a proof of happiness.”
–Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Sometimes we need to keep busy just to fill time. After a loss or health change, we may have great amounts of time to fill. We may turn to busy work — working having no significance but marking time as we move toward yet another adjustment. Tool-shop organizing, closet cleaning, and other tasks might be ploys we need, emotionally, to perform in rote fashion.
When we are adjusting, we may need to be busy — to think, to decide on new plans of action, and to move forward. We won’t need busy work, and we’ll be able to make gains again. As we make our adjustments, very very slowly, the purpose of our lives will return.
I will put effort into my days to find meaning. It may be difficult to stay busy, but I can do it.
One Day At A Time
October 21
Ready
“If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.”
–Ivan Turgenev
This was one of my biggest obstacles in recovery: I wanted everything to be perfect. This type of thinking kept me stuck for many years in the disease. Instead of my program being One Day At A Time, it was always “one day later and I will do your will God.”
Now I know that today is all I have. I have no guarantees for tomorrow. So I let go and let God, and do the best I can. I have discovered that I do not have to work a perfect program. Not everything has to be just “right.”
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
October 21
“There is one God looking down on us all. We are children of the one God. God is listening to me. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we now say.”
–Geronimo, APACHE
The Old Ones before us knew things. Many of them were so spiritual that the Creator told them things through visions, ceremonies, and prayer. The Creator taught them about interconnectedness, balance and respect. The Old Ones experienced these things and told us we are all children of the same God. We all live under the same natural laws. Every human being, every animal, every plant, every insect, every bird, we are all the same in the eyes of God.
Great Mystery, teach me to respect all the things You have created.
Today’s Gift
October 21
“Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.”
–Queen Victoria
Isn’t that always the way? We cope with major events, like births and weddings, fairly well. It is the little things – so inconsequential in the long run – that upset us. If the kids don’t pick up their rooms, or dinner is late, or we can’t go to the movies because we haven’t done our homework, we become irritated and annoyed. Minor things like these upset us much more than they should.
Are they really so important? A messy room is not a terminal illness. A late dinner won’t affect our health unless we get so upset about it we make ourselves sick. We’ll survive.
If we think back to the last time we were angry or upset, does it seem important now? We probably can’t even remember why we reacted that way. How much better life is when we let go of the little irritations.
What irritation can I let go of today?
Touchstones Meditation For Men
October 21
“No man can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself.”
–James Russell Lowell
We are in the business of producing miracles. The renewal of life in us and others in this program is a great event and happens only after we establish an honest relationship with ourselves. No longer can we excuse our minimizing and little white lies that push aside the truth. No longer can we deny our private fears and self doubts. In our growing sincerity with ourselves, we can admit our weaknesses. Some of us feel inadequate at our work, many of us have feelings that we aren’t masculine enough, and many of us feel tempted to return to old destructive behaviors.
In this program we have a renewal based on truth. We build upon solid reality rather than upon fiction. Denying the truth to ourselves always made us weaker and sicker than the facts themselves ever could. Viewing the facts from a new position of acceptance shows they aren’t nearly as bad as we thought. Our sincerity with ourselves becomes a solid footing for growth.
My strength today is based upon a sincere relationship with myself.
Daily TAO
October 21
SITTING
Cat sits in the sun.
Dog sits in the grass.
Turtle sits on the rock.
Frog sits on the lily pad.
Why aren’t people so smart?
Those who follow Tao are fond of pointing out the wisdom of animals. When they see a cat sitting motionless in the sun or a turtle who stretches her head upward in a still pose, they say that these animals are meditating. They know how to be still and conserve their internal energy. They do not dissipate themselves in useless activity but instead withdraw into themselves to recharge.
It is only people who label meditation as some sort of odd religious activity. This is not the actual case. Something like meditation happens when we sleep, or when we are absorbed in reading a book, or when we “daydream” and become so lost in a thought or an image that we do not notice what is going on around us.