Daily Reflections
April 16
ANGER: A “DUBIOUS LUXURY”
If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of the normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison.
–ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 66
“Dubious luxury.” How often have I remembered those words. It’s not just anger that’s best left to non-alcoholics; I built a list including justifiable resentment, self-pity, judgmentalism, self-righteousness, false pride and false humility. I’m always surprised to read the actual quote. So well have the principles of the program been drummed into me that I keep thinking all of these defects are listed too. Thank God I can’t afford them–or I surely would indulge in them.
Twenty-Four Hours A
Day
April 16
A.A. Thought for the Day
In A.A. we have insurance. Our faith in God is a kind of insurance against the terrible things that might happen to us if we ever drink again. By putting our drink problem in the hands of God, we’ve taken out a sort of insurance policy, which insures us against the ravages of drink, as our homes are insured against destruction by fire. Am I paying my A.A. insurance premiums regularly?
Meditation for the Day
I must try to love all humanity. Love comes from thinking of every man or woman as your brother or sister, because they are children of God. This way of thinking makes me care enough about them to really want to help them. I must put this kind of love into action by serving others. Love means no severe judging, no resentments, no malicious gossip, and no destructive criticism. It means patience, understanding, compassion, and helpfulness.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may realize that God loves me, since He is the Father of us all. I pray that I in turn may have love for all of His children.
Walk in Dry Places
April 16
Fix the Need
Taking Inventory
Recovering users have a saying: “Need a fix? Fix the need” It’s great advice, if we combine it with our daily inventory.
In good behavior and bad, we’re always trying to meet our needs. As compulsive people, we have lots of experience with destructive ways of meeting them. Driven by nameless hungers, we tried desperately to combat boredom, to raise our low self-esteem, to find companionship. What we actually did was place more distance between ourselves and the true satisfying of our needs.
On the new path, one way of fixing needs is to come to terms with them. Maybe we had a need for success that was really a frantic effort to “show others” that we were all right. We should want to succeed, but let’s begin by exchanging any false goal for one that’s right for us. Maybe we have other needs that are based on defective principles and immature hopes.
What do we really need? All of us need self-honesty, self-worth, friendship, and purpose…. all available in the AA program as part of sober living. Finding these, we’ll gain insight that will enable to sort out and understand other needs, and perhaps find those that correspond to our heart’s desire and bring real happiness. It’s something we can turn over, because God knows our needs before we even ask.
I’ll remember today that my needs exist to serve my way of life, and that I must never be a slave to them.
Keep It Simple
April 16
No human creature can give order to love.
–George Sand
If we are trying to get others to love us, all we’re really doing is trying to be in control. Trying to control others can be a powerful drug. Remember, we can’t control others. We can’t make others love us. Our Higher Power has control, not us.
So, what do we need to do? Turn things over to our Higher Power and just be ourselves. Sure, it can scare us to just be ourselves. The truth is, not everyone will love us. But if we’re honest about who we are, others will respect us. We’ll like ourselves better. And we’ll have a better chance of loving others and being loved.
Prayer for the Day: I pray to have my need for control lifted from me. I pray to be rid of self-will.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list five ways my self-will–my need to control–has gotten me in trouble.
“One of the tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon, instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.”
–Dale Carnegie
The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.
–Oprah Winfrey
Deep, abiding joy is available to anyone who learns the secret of pursuing every task with energy and dedication, as though it were a calling.
–Thomas Kinkade
The value of life lies, not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them: a man may live long, yet live very little.
–Michel de Montaigne
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do not return hurt for hut.
–Jerry C. Whybrew
Father Leo’s Daily
Meditation
April 16
LAUGHTER
“You grow up the day you have the first real laugh – at yourself.”
–Ethel Barrymore
Today I can laugh at myself. I do not take myself too seriously and I am beginning to grow. I used to be so serious. Having the “poor me’s”, sitting on my pity pot demanding attention; I was so unhappy. And I was causing my unhappiness.
Then a friend listened to my complaints for half an hour and then began to laugh, giving out a real belly-laugh and at that point I began to laugh, too! My attitude was so stupid, selfish and futile that it demanded a laugh to shake me out of it – at that point I began to grow.
Today I laugh at my funny little ways, my funny little walk, my ridiculous pretensions, my grandiose behavior. Today with the laughter comes humility.
O Lord, let me experience the miracle of laughte
Daily Inspiration
April 16
Don’t spend a lot of time second guessing yourself because often times our first choice is the best choice and, if it isn’t, we are free to choose again. Lord, guide me through all of my decisions and help me to be flexible enough to change my mind when necessary.
Never let the abundance of gifts from God cause you to forget the Giver. Lord, may I start and end each day with a thank you to You for all of my blessings including those which I take for granted.
Elder’s Meditation
of the Day
April 16
“But one should pray in one’s heart during a sacred ceremony; this is the purpose of the ceremony, to purify the participants both inside and outside.”
–Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
How do you know if you are praying from your heart or from
your head? Pray from your head and you will feel nothing; pray from your heart
and you will feel feelings. You may feel sorrow, you may feel joy, you may want
to cry, depending on what you are praying for.
During the ceremony, the cleansing will take place. The Medicine Wheel teaches
the four directions of inner power: emotional, mental, physical and spiritual.
The prayer controls the emotional, mental and physical. When we ask for
purification of our feelings, our mental mind and our physical body, the
spiritual direction causes the cleansing to happen.
Great Spirit, create in me a clean heart.
Today’s Gift
April 16
… there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.
—Booker T. Washington
It’s not what we do for a job that counts, it’s how we do it. It’s not what our chores at home might be, it’s how we do them. And it’s not what grades we get in school, but rather how hard we try. Doing our best, whether it’s making a bed, writing a report, or listening to a friend tell about an experience gives us a good feeling about ourselves.
Each of us is special to one another. And we are special to this very moment. Because what is past can’t be repeated, let’s remember to enjoy every moment as it comes. Let’s pay close attention to each person, each activity that we encounter today. It’s not what we do today, but how we do it that counts.
Can I do each thing well today, even the small things?
Touchstones
Meditations For Men
April 16
A woman should be able to be both independent and dependent, active and passive, relaxed and serious, practical and romantic, tender and tough minded, thinking and feeling, dominant and submissive. So, obviously, should a man!
—Pierre Mornell
The weakest men, most vulnerable to stresses in life, are those with narrow ideas about masculinity. In our growth, we are finding parts of ourselves we didn’t know were there. Some of us are finding the tough part of us that makes it possible to stand up to our bosses or our wives or lovers when necessary. We are also finding the soft parts, warm parts, sad parts. And the greater the variety of sides we develop, the more successful we are in meeting life.
Whatever we discover about ourselves is another example of being human. Sometimes we might think what we feel is not right, or is weak or sick. We need never fear our feelings. The denial of our feelings had devastating effects on us. Knowing and accepting our many sides will lead us into strength and health.
I am thankful that I am able to be both sides of many coins.
Daily TAO
April 16
CAREFREE
Two ducks nestled in lake-side grass.
Both marked by the same brilliant purple at the wing.
Water provides food, bath, and play,
What need do they have for scholarship?
Animals need no schooling. They are perfect, without any need for long instruction. They know what to do by instinct and example. Tao is always there for them. It sustains them and nurtures them. There is no need for them to be especially aware of Tao or to study it: They have no rational consciousness to separate them from Tao.
It is only humanity that constantly divorces itself from Tao. We therefore need methods of reintegration. If we could go beyond the interfering sense of the self, then we would know Tao in as constant and carefree a manner as ducks.
“Forget learning,” say those who follow Tao, but what they don’t append is that you must first have learning before you can forget it. If you would be unencumbered by the weight of knowledge, then you must return to a state of deep intuitiveness. This is not the same as mere selfish behavior — just doing what you feel like doing — because your actions are likely to be dictated more by lusts, obsessions, compulsions, and habits than anything natural. Only through the clarification of spiritual training will you reach the ground of deep intuition and the freedom that it affords.
Daily Zen
April 16
When one contemplates
Sickness, old age, and death,
One sees that no one and nothing
Can escape them.
When compassion is born
In the heart,
One sees that there is no reason
To add to the evil and pain.
– Sutra on the Perfection of Wisdom