Daily Reflections
November 9
STEPPING INTO THE SUNLIGHT
But first of all we shall want sunlight; nothing much can grow in the dark. Meditation is our step out into the sun.
-AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10
Sometimes I think I don’t have time for prayer and meditation, forgetting that I always found the time to drink. It is possible to make time for anything I want to do if I want it badly enough. When I start the routine of prayer and meditation, it’s a good idea to plan to devote a small amount of time to it. I read a page from our Fellowship’s books in the morning, and say “Thank You, God.” when I go to bed at night. As prayer becomes a habit, I will increase the time spent on it, without even noticing the foray it makes into my busy day. If I have trouble praying, I just repeat the Lord’s Prayer because it really covers everything.
Then I think of what I can be grateful for and say a word of thanks. I don’t need to shut myself in a closet to pray. It can be done even in a room full of people. I just remove myself mentally for an instant. As the practice of prayer continues, I will find I don’t need words, for God can, and does, hear my thoughts through silence.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
November 9
A.A. Thought For The Day
I have learned to be less negative and more positive. I used to take a negative view of almost everything. Most people, in my estimation, were bluffing. There seemed to be very little good in the world, but lots of hypocrisy and sham. People could not be trusted. They would “take you ” if they could. All church-goers were partly hypocrites. It seemed I should take everything “with a grain of salt.” That was my general attitude toward life. Now I am more positive. I believe in people and in their capabilities. There is much love and truth and honesty in the world. I try not to run people down. Life now seems worthwhile and it is good to live. Am I less negative and more positive?
Meditation For The Day
Think of God as a Great Friend and try to realize the wonder of that friendship. When you give God not only worship, obedience, and allegiance, but also close companionship, then He can feel that He and you are working together. He can do things for you and you can do things for Him. Your prayers become more real to you when you feel that God counts on your friendship and you count on His.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may think of God as my Friend. I pray that I may feel that I am working for Him and with Him.
Walk In Dry Places
November 9
Compliance isn’t acceptance
Honesty
We are sometimes mystified when people come into AA program, respond to its message for months or years, and then disappear, seemingly without a trace. Later, we may be shocked to learn that they’re drinking again.
While we have no way of knowing the real reason, on possible explanation is that they were practicing compliance without really accepting the program. The danger of compliance is that it may simply be an outward show of working the program while leaving one’s real thoughts and feelings unchanged.
At the same time, we often urge people to practice what is really only a form of compliance. We tell them, for example, to “bring the body” to meetings in the belief that the heart will follow. This does little good if one’s heart does not follow!
The only solution is to continue the difficult but rewarding search for honesty in all things. When we examine ourselves honestly, we will recognize when we are truly accepting and when we are merely complying.
I’ll remember today that the real success of AA is not in the number of people who show up at meetings, but in how we truly accept the program.
Keep It Simple
November 9
He who can take advice is sometimes superior to he who can give it.
-Karl von Knebel
In recovery, we learn that we don’t know everything. We had stopped listening. Most of us had been asked by family, friends, doctors, and employers to stop drinking and using other drugs. But, we didn’t listen. If we had listened, we would’ve been in this program long ago. Addiction did something to how we listen. We heard only what we wanted to hear. Do I still hear only what I want?
In recovery, we learn to listen. We listen to our groups. We listen to our sponsor. We listen as we read. The better we listen, the better our recovery.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, open my ears and eyes to this new way of life. Allow me to hear Your wisdom in the Twelve Steps. Allow me to be someone who takes advice, not just gives it.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll try to listen. Today I’ll seek the advice to others. I’ll ask my sponsor how I may better my program.
“Jealousy is all the fun you think they had.”
-Erica Jong“To cure jealousy is to see it for what it is, a dissatisfaction with self.”
-Joan Didion“As a moth gnaws a garment, so doeth envy consume a man.”
-St. John ChrysostomA person’s worth is contingent upon who he is, not upon what he does, or how much he has. The worth of a person, or a thing, or an idea, is in being, not in doing, not in having.
-Alice Mary Hilton
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
November 9
ACCEPTANCE
“Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.”
-Henry Fielding
The acceptance of my disease has brought me into recovery. If I had not known and confronted the disease of addiction in my life, I would not know the joys of sobriety and serenity. Spirituality involves facing my disease.
Today I believe that had I not seen my dishonesty, I could not fully appreciate honesty. If I had not recognized the lies and games in my life, I could never have appreciated the “openness” and freedom of sobriety. Owning my violence brought me to peace and tolerance. Facing my hell gave me a glimpse of paradise.
The disease was not only my prison but when accepted, became the key to recovery. Spirituality, finding God in our lives, requires a “rigorous honesty” that uses the past pain to experience today’s gratitude.
God, it is through the acceptance of my failings that I can love the world.
Daily Inspiration
November 9
Everything in life is not logical, but we can enjoy the moment anyway. Lord, help me become spontaneous to the dreams that pass by.
Rise above the little things. Lord,may I overlook pettiness and jealousies and be secure in myself and my actions.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
November 9
“Language is a vehicle for carrying spirit, life, and family. Language, religion, and land base are three things that characterize culture.”
-Edmund Ladd, ZUNI PUEBLO
The Elders say we need to know the answers to three questions in order for us to be connected; the Earth, the Sky, the East, the West, the South, and the North.
The three questions are:
1. Why are we?
2. Who are we?
3. Where are we going?
If we know the language, if we have our spirituality, and if we can pray on sacred spots, then we are able to seek the answer to the questions. We must protect the language, religion, and land so our future generations can stay connected.
Great Spirit, help us maintain our language, spirit, family, religion and our Mother Earth.
Journey to the Heart
November 9
A Meditative Journey
Go deeper into the forest.
Walk among the trees, down the winding dirt path strewn with rocks and wood chips. See the salamander dart across your path. Listen to the birds chirp. Hear the rustling in the bushes. Walk down the path until you come to the quiet pond. Sit for a while and rest.
When you are ready, walk to the edge of the pond. Look down into the still waters. What do you see? At first, just water. Then gradually, a reflection emerges. It is you. It is your life. Gaze peacefully into the water, into the reflection of your life. See that it has been just as it should be, a lifetime of events causing ripples of love, peace, and healing in the universe.
See that it is now as it should be. The people who are gathering around you are there for a reason. The places you have visited were not without purpose. The lessons you have learned are yours forever. You are right where you need to be. Gaze into your reflection in the quiet, deep mirror of the pond until you see that, know that, feel that. Gaze long enough to see truth, peace, contentment, Divine order.
Sit down and again, look around the forest. Take in its beauty, its wonder, its shimmering emerald leaves, the tiny white wildflowers cropping up everywhere, delicate surprises that bring joy. Inhale the smells, the fresh growth, the musk, the smell of cedar and pine. Inhale, breathe deeply, until the breath of life fills you with wonder. Let it flow throughout you; let it saturate every cell. Peace. Contentment. Divine order.
You are safe. The forest is your friend. It tells you that all is well. Look around. See the tallest tree. See that it has weathered every storm, and millimeter by millimeter, ring by ring, continued its growth over centuries. Know that you have grown that way,too.
Rise slowly when it’s time. Find your path. Feel the earth beneath your feet, supporting you, giving you strength, filling you with grounded energy. Walk down the winding path through the glimmers of sunlight until you reach the edge of the forest.
Today’s Gift
November 9
Love is something if you give away, you end up having more.
—Malvina Reynolds
The other side of giving is taking. Many of us were brought up to believe that it’s not okay to take, so we diminish admiration that people give us. “Oh, this old rag, I got it at a garage sale for next to nothing.” This response to a compliment can take away the joy of giving it from the person who admired the way we looked.
Giving needs taking to complete it. We can keep the cycle of generosity going by taking gracefully. A world without those who take would be unbalanced. When someone gives us love, appreciation, or a gift, we can show our real pleasure with a simple thank you, and stop thinking we don’t deserve it.
Can I accept what’s given to me today in the spirit it’s offered?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
November 9
Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together.
—Thomas Carlyle
Silence does not draw attention to itself. It is the ultimate in letting go and letting be. It is the opposite of the great dramatic event, so we easily forget silence is a basic means by which we grow. We live in a “can do” society that applauds a man of action who gets a job done. Perhaps we learned to think that being alone in silence is empty time with nothing happening.
In truth, some great things happen only by decisive action, but other great things happen only when we get ourselves out of the way and simply allow them to occur. It would be foolish to believe only in action and miss the benefits that come from quiet moments. When we withdraw from the hubbub of the world around us and quiet our minds, we are making room for great things to fashion themselves together.
Today, I will remember the importance of silence in my growth. I will set aside some of my busyness and be still.
Daily TAO
November 9
CHAMELEON
If I don’t want to be known, I cannot be known.
The best actor can divide role from self.
The best liar can divide truth from falsity.
People think that they know you. Soon you begin to play the role that they place on you. Why should you act a certain way to please others? You should do things from your inner awareness and from your own feelings. If they do not accord with the herd, then so much the better.
You should change when it pleases you. Your life is flexible. If you let other people shape you, then you will never know independence.
The sages say that all life is illusory, and they usually lament this. The way of Tao is to use this fact and not let it oppress you. If you want to dodge others, then step behind one of the myriad illusions in this world. If you do not volunteer anything and you neither confirm nor deny, the opinions of others can never stick to you. Then you will be left in peace.
True sages never go by appearances. When it comes to introspection, they are not deceived by the appearances their own minds spew out. They know that if they want to get at the truth, then they must pierce to the very core.