Daily Reflections
April 20
SELF-EXAMINATION
… we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.
–ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 86
When said sincerely, this prayer teaches me to be truly unselfish and humble, for even in doing good deeds I often used to seek approval and glory for myself. By examining my motives in all that I do, I can be of service to God and others, helping them do what they want to do. When I put God in charge of my thinking, much needless worry is eliminated, and I believe He guides me throughout the day. When I eliminate thoughts of self-pity, dishonesty and self-centeredness as soon as they enter my mind, I find peace with God, my neighbor and myself.
Twenty-Four Hours A
Day
April 20
A.A. Thought for the Day
The satisfaction you get out of living a sober life is, made up of a lot of little things, but they add up to a satisfactory and happy life. You take out of life what you put into it. So I’d say to people coming into A.A.: “Don’t worry about what life will be like without liquor. just hang in there and a lot of good things will happen to you. And you’ll have that feeling of quiet satisfaction and peace and serenity and gratitude for the grace of God.” Is my life becoming really worth living?
Meditation for the Day
There are two paths, one up and one down. We have been given free will to choose either path. We are captains of our souls to this extent only. We can choose the good or the bad. Once we have chosen the wrong path, we go down and down, eventually to death. But if we choose the right path, we go up and UP, until we come to the resurrection day. On the wrong path, we have no power for good because we do not choose to ask for it. But on the right path, we are on the side of good and we have all the power of God’s spirit behind us.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be in the stream of goodness. I pray that I may be on the right side, on the side of all good in the universe.
Walk in Dry Places
April 20
Avoiding emotional
whirlpools
Serenity
If we were rattling down a rough river, we would try to steer away from whirlpools and rocky rapids. Living each day requires the same alertness.
We’re asking for trouble if we drift into malicious discussions about other people… even those who seem to deserve it. We’re also sliding into rocky rapids if we get into supercharged arguments about political and religious issues.
How do we avoid touchy situations that can lead to violent arguments or terrible breakdowns in personal relationships? We can begin by recognizing that we’re not on this earth to judge, manipulate, or control other people. We’ll do well today to keep our own performance up to a good standard.
We can also respond correctly to people who seem hopelessly wrong. Borrowing an idea from one Twelve Step program, we can detach from such people with love, even if circumstances require continuing contact with them. At whatever cost, we must avoid emotional whirlpools and rocky rapids in life.
Looking ahead at the things might happen today. I’ll adjust my thinking for situations that could be troublesome or destructive. I will try especially hard to avoid trouble with my fellow workers.
Keep It Simple
April 20
A great obstacle to happiness is to expect too much happiness.
–Fontenelle
Our disease is sometimes called the disease of “always wanting more.”
We push ourselves to get as much pleasure as we could. If one was good, two was better.
We didn’t see that what we were lacking was faith.
At times in recovery, we still crave “more.”
We must pay attention to these cravings. When we have a craving, maybe we’re scared, and our Higher Power is trying to tell us that, if we have faith, we’ll be taken care of. Perhaps our Higher Power just has a message of love for us. All we need to do is listen. It may be that this is only “more” we really need.
Prayer for the Day: I pray to see my as spiritual needs. I pray to turn to my Higher Power instead of to alcohol or other drugs.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll think about how much recovery has given me. I will share this with a friend and with my Higher Power.
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
–Les Brown
You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.
–George Burns
How can we possibly describe feeling the Presence of God? It is the difference between being a child left alone in an empty house at night and a child who knows that her mother is in the next room. Even though she can’t see or hear her mother, she feels comforted by her warm, loving, protective presence. And while a human parent can’t always be with us, our spiritual parent will never abandon us.
–Mary Manin Morrissey
“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”
–Paul Boese
The heart has eyes that the brain knows nothing of.
–American Proverb
Father Leo’s Daily
Meditation
April 20
CHANGE
“There is nothing permanent except change.”
–Heraclitus
Today I know that I need to change. I accept that my behavior and attitude was negative and destructive. Today I make a choice to work on my addiction. I was changing before I embraced a spiritual program but the change was for the worse. Each day I grew more dependent, more isolated, more angry and depressed. I felt I was a hopeless case!
Today I am working on my anger and loneliness. I talk about those things that cause me pain and distress. I express my fears and resentments – and it is getting better.
God created this world in perpetual change, and I believe that He is to be discovered in the change. I am evolving into Truth with my small steps towards recovery. The steps I take towards recovery are my “yes” to God.
In the daily changes I discover the stability of God.
Daily Inspiration
April 20
We are not given peace of mind. We must trust in God and He will be our peace of mind. Lord, You are within my heart and therefore I need look no farther to find my peace.
There is a time for everything. Take time to pray, to sing, to laugh, to work and to touch the hearts of others. Lord, help me be aware that today will never return so that I will not misuse my time or waste it unwisely.
Elder’s Meditation
of the Day
April 20
“You must be prepared and know the reason why you dance.”
–Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
Inside every human being is a need to dance.
We dance to music.
Have you even wondered why people are moved when they hear an Indian Drum?
The drum is the heartbeat of the Mother Earth.
Every Indian dance is for a purpose and a reason.
Every Song is for a reason.
The beat of the drum makes our bodies, minds and spirits join together in
harmony.
It allows us to connect to Mother Earth and to each other.
The dance aligns our minds to think spiritual thoughts.
Dancing to the drum is healthy.
Great Spirit, today, I dance to honor you.
Today’s Gift
April 20
Hurried and worried until we’re buried And there’s no curtain call, Life’s a very funny proposition, after all.
—George M. Cohan
Often, when we involve ourselves in a whirlwind of activities, plans, and expectations, we push ourselves so hard that we don’t derive any satisfaction from success. We need to face our limitations. We can’t do everything we want. Even when we can do a great deal, if we overextend ourselves, take on too much, we will not enjoy ourselves, and there is no reason not to enjoy our work.
Our activities are part of what we are. If we choose to live in a frantic hurry, worrying about the next moment instead of this one, we’ll miss life entirely. Part of self-knowledge is learning to pace ourselves to our own speed, learning to set goals we can attain for each day. When we do this, we can say, “Now that I’ve completed this, I don’t have to do one more thing to feel worthwhile.”
Am I trying to do too much too fast?
Touchstones
Meditations For Men
April 20
I wasn’t exactly brought up in one of those Norman Rockwell paintings you used to see on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.
—Reggie Jackson
We have many myths about other people’s lives. When we compare ourselves to these stories, we come up short. We have the TV families of Father Knows Best or The Walton’s in our minds. We may have stories our father told about his moment of glory and how he met his challenges. Any of these images selects part of the truth and highlights it, creating a myth that might be worthwhile if we don’t take it too literally.
Living real life never feels as serene as our fantasies. A myth lifts us up, carries us away to other possibilities, but we should always take it with a grain of salt. A father’s recollections or a Norman Rockwell painting romanticizes a piece of reality by omitting the drudgery and confusion of life. Myths are meant as inspirations, not as measurements of our lives.
The difficulties and confusion I feel may just be part of real life. Serenity comes when I accept the mixture that real life is.
Daily TAO
April 20
INVOCATION
Invocation becomes declaration;
Worship becomes recognition.
When blessings mature,
One glimpses the source.
When one is young in Tao, all practices begin as external procedures. Sometimes, it is difficult to understand their significance — we don’t know what to expect. This is proper: Not daring to interfere with growth and discovery, those who follow Tao hesitate to go beyond technical instruction.
Take worship, for example. At first, an invocation is something external. You repeat it, but really, it means very little. You kneel down at the altar because you need something on which to focus. Once you realize that the true Tao is to be found within yourself, you shift your attention. Then worship becomes recognition. Your own spirit arises, and you learn to tap into it on your own. If someone had told you what to look for, you might never be sure of your experiences. What comes from outer suggestion is not the true Tao.
Glimpsing the source leaves no doubts.
Daily Zen
April 20
On the single road leading to this place
I saw a footprint in the moss.
The white clouds leaned on quiet banks,
The fragrant grasses closed your idle door.
I passed the rain-fed green of pines
And followed the hills to a mountain spring …
Streams and flowers spoke to me in meditation,
And I replied and cannot think of what I said.
– Liu Chang-ch’ing