Daily Reflections
November 26
THE “WORTH” OF SOBRIETY
Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
-TWELVE AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 160
When I go shopping I look at the prices and if I need what I see, I buy it and pay. Now that I am supposed to be in rehabilitation, I have to straighten out my life. When I go to a meeting, I take a coffee with sugar and milk, sometimes more than one. But at the collection time, I am either too bust to take money out of my purse, or I do not have enough, but I am there because I need this meeting. I heard someone suggest dropping the price of a beer into the basket, and I thought, that’s too much! I almost never give one dollar. Like many others, I rely on the more generous members to finance the Fellowship. I forget that it takes money to rent the meeting room, buy my milk, sugar and cups. I will pay, without hesitation, ninety cents for a cup of coffee at a restaurant after the meeting; I always have money for that. So, how much is my sobriety and my inner peace worth?
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
November 26
A.A. Thought For The Day
When we come to the end of our lives on earth, we will take no material thing with us. We will not take one cent in our cold, dead hands. The only things that we may take are the things we have given away. If we have helped others, we may take that with us; if we have given our time and money for the good of A.A., we may take that with us. Looking back over our lives, what are we proud of? Not what have we gained for ourselves, but what few good deeds we have done. Those are the things that really matter in the long run. What will I take with me when I go?
Meditation For The Day
“Hallowed be Thy Name.” What does that mean to us? Here “name” is used in the sense of “spirit.” The words mean praise to God for His spirit in the world, making us better. We should be especially grateful for God’s spirit, which gives us the strength to overcome all that is base in our lives. His spirit is powerful. It can help us to live a conquering, abundant life. So we praise and thank Him for His spirit in our lives and in the lives of others.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be grateful for God’s spirit in me. I pray that I may try to live in accordance with it.
Keep It Simple
November 26
I was never less alone when by myself.
—Edward Gibson
To stay in this program, we need to accept that we have an illness. We need to accept that we were out of control. And we need to accept that we need others and they need us. At times, we won’t want to accept these facts. We will want to deny we have an illness and our lives were out of control.
Many of us get into trouble when we don’t accept that we need others. This is why helping others is so important. It teaches us that we need others, and others need us. By helping others, we learn about the give-and-take of human relationships. There is no give-an-take in addiction. There is just take. Now, finally, we can give too!
Prayer for the Day: I pray to remember that I need other people.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll help out. I will make coffee at the next meeting or offer to do the Step next week. I will let a fellow addict know I’m glad he or she is sober.
The future starts today, not tomorrow.
–Pope John Paul IIDon’t live in the past…you have already been there.
–Cited in BITS & PIECESThe secret lies in how we handle today, not yesterday or tomorrow. Today…that special block of time holding the key that locks out yesterday’s nightmares and unlocks tomorrow’s dreams.
–Charles SwindollLet everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared.
–Mahatma Gandhi“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
–Robert BraultAs long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.
–Ralph Waldo EmersonThe paradox of control is simple. The more we try to control life, the less control we have.
–Joan Borysenko, Ph.D.
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
November 26
ADVERSITY
“Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it.”
–Horace
Today I believe that the only way to understand God, the world, my neighbor and myself is through some degree of suffering. Pain and suffering are humbling in the truest sense; they stop you from being arrogant, selfish and “prideful”.
I know this because I was a spoiled child. My family tried to give me everything. Whatever I wanted was given to me; my way or no way! This sick love robbed me of humility and separated me from humanity: it made me feel different, selfish and place me on a pity-pot. Being spoiled stopped me experiencing the real world and stopped me from growing.
Today adversity is part of life and part of being human. Not to grow through adversity is to die. To have everything is to experience nothing. To feel in life — to have emotion — demands adversity and pain.
Teach me to be grateful for the suffering that leads to growth.
Daily Inspiration
November 26
Avoid being self-conscious and you will have more time to have fun and enjoy the moment. Lord, help me take myself less seriously and place my focus on those around me.
Courage gives us the trust in God to follow our hearts no matter what obstacles seem to block our way. Lord, I love You.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
November 26
“These are our times and our responsibilities. Every human being has a sacred duty to protect the welfare of our Mother Earth, from whom all life comes. In order to do this, we must recognize the enemy – the one within us. We must begin with ourselves … ”
–Leon Shenandoah, ONONDAGA
The outside is merely a reflection of our insides. My mind is designed to tell me that I’m not crazy for thinking what I am thinking. Even if I have angry thought, my mind is giving me excuses and reasons why it is OK to think what I’m thinking. I need to be knowledgeable about the laws of harmony and balance. I cannot twist the laws to serve me but I can adjust my life to serve the laws. This is the law – I am here to serve the earth. The earth is not here for me to misuse and abuse.
Oh Great Spirit, allow me the insight and knowledge of how to live in harmony and balance with my surroundings. Grant me change from within.
Today’s Gift
November 26
Isn’t it great life is open-ended!
—Brigitte Frase
Elizabeth Lawton, known as “Grandma Layton,” is an American artist who never drew a picture until she was sixty-eight years old. She spent all the years before that time trying to cope with depression. She had gone through therapy, medications, and shock treatment and continued to be severely depressed. But then she signed up for an art class and the act of drawing cured her depression. She continues to make fabulous pictures.
What does she think about the critical acclaim her artwork has received? She says she wants others to know about her art so it may give hope to those who have also “suffered from feelings.”
Many of us have suffered from feelings. We must remember that we can each turn to our creativity – at any age – as a source for our well-being. All we need to do is have faith in the potential goodness within ourselves and those we love.
What creative activity can I look to for comfort today?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
November 26
The lust for power is not rooted in strength but in weakness.
—Erich Fromm
Many of us have felt so insecure, so poor, or so much the underdog that we made a fervent promise to ourselves that we’d come out on top later. We know how weak we felt, and that image continues to be our guiding force long after the weakness was overcome. We may have spiritual problems because we are blind to the reality of our present life. While grasping for more security, more love, more money, or trying to lose more weight or attract more friends, we fail to stop and realize the real rewards we already have today. We are driven by the memory of pain and insecurity, rather than rising above it and relating to the higher principles and people around us. Getting more control or more achievements does not solve our spiritual problems, but by making peace with the fact that life is insecure.
Today, I will let go of my grasping for more. I will let go of it again and again throughout the day so I am not ruled by this weakness.
Daily TAO
November 26
Evolution
Organic molecules from cosmic slot’s,
Millions of years in the midst of eternity.
We sprang from the primordial;
Our spirituality came in the evolution.
There is strong evidence that human beings evolved from basic early molecules. Those molecules were formed from the gases and birth processes of the stars and planets. Those stars and planets were in turn formed by the first movement of the universe. That first moment of the universe came from nothingness. So we are on the crest of a certain wave of evolution.
Narrowing it down to the human situation from the cosmic, our minds represent the ultimate expression of who we are. Further, spirituality is the ultimate expression of the mind. One might say, therefore, that spirituality is not a belief, mental construct, or opinion. Rather, it can be considered a function or outgrowth of evolution.
If spirituality is simply a function of life, the edge of a cosmic ripple, then where is it going? We don’t know. Like the universe, it is still expanding into unknown territory. We can decide to cooperate and go with that wave, or we can ignore our spirituality and thereby ignore one of the basic meanings of being human. If we choose to engage in the full process of being human, then we will truly fulfill our part in the universe’s evolution.
Day By Day
November 26
Avoiding pity
Coming into the fellowship, newcomers may see older members as unsympathetic, supportive, or even rude. Old-timers don’t mince words with newcomers who aren’t ready to stop using: “Go back out and try some more if you haven’t had enough.” Old-timers don’t pity newcomers. While they understand the fear and pain, they also know that pity will kill because pity leads to self-pity and eventually back to using.
So if old-timers seem harsh it’s out of loving, knowing hearts – it’s out of tough love.
Have I stopped pitying myself (and others)?
Higher Power, help me avoid self-pity so I can do what I need to do to recover.
Today I will avoid self-pity by …
Food for Thought
November 26
Doing God’s Will
For a long time, most of us tried to achieve happiness by serving our self-will. We figured out what we wanted from life and then went about trying to attain it. When our efforts were frustrated, we turned to food and overeating.
The idea of giving our self-will to God and following His direction makes us fearful. We fear that we will lose out and be unhappy. We are reluctant to give up our illusions of autonomy and power. We wonder if there really is a Higher Power who can direct our way. We pray for guidance and then forget to listen for the response.
When we are willing to trust a Higher Power in even one small area of our lives, we begin to see results. As our faith grows, we become confident enough to relinquish more and more of the concerns, which by ourselves we are unable to manage. The more we work this program, the more sure we are that our peace and happiness lie in serving God, rather than ourselves.
I pray for courage to follow Your will.
Daily Zen
November 26
By a green jade lake,
What a wonderful sight:
An old hermit fathoming Tao.
Aren’t they the lucky ones,
Humble and still,
Quietly humming the
Melodies of heaven?
– Loy Ching-Yuen