Daily Reflections
April 3
ACCEPTING OUR HUMANNESS
We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not the other man’s. So we admitted our wrongs honestly and became willing to set these matters straight.
–AS BILL SEES IT, p. 222
Why is it that the alcoholic is so unwilling to accept responsibility? I used to drink because of the things that other people did to me. Once I came to A.A. I was told to look at where I had been wrong. What did I have to do with all these different matters? When I simply accepted that I had a part in them, I was able to put it on paper and see it for what it was – humanness. I am not expected to be perfect! I have made errors before and I will make them again. To be honest about them allows me to accept them – and myself – and those with whom I had the differences; from there, recovery is just a short distance ahead.
Twenty-Four Hours A
Day
April 3
A.A. Thought for the Day
When I was drinking, I was absolutely selfish, I thought of myself first, last, and always. The universe revolved around me at the center. When I woke up in the morning with a hangover, my only thought was how terrible I felt and about what I could do to make myself feel better. And the only thing I could think of was more liquor. To quit was impossible. I couldn’t see beyond myself and my own need for another drink.Can I now look out and beyond my own selfishness?
Meditation for the Day
Remember that the first quality of greatness is service.
In a way, God is the greatest servant of all, because He is always waiting for
us to call on Him to help us in all good endeavors. His strength is always
available to us, but we must ask it of Him through our own free will. It is a
free gift, but we must sincerely seek for it. A life of service is the finest
life we can live. We are here on earth to serve others. That is the beginning
and the end of our real worth.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may cooperate with God in all good things. I pray that I may serve God and others and so lead a useful and happy life.
Walk in Dry Places
April 3
More will be
revealed
Spiritual Growth
There’s an old saying, “To him that hath, more shall be given.” That saying applies to our growth in AA. If we dedicate ourselves to the program, new information and understanding will continue to flow in our direction.
This is not because God is singling us out for special favors. It’s simply a law of life. When we are interested in a subject, we find more knowledge coming to us almost “Out of the blue” as we continue to seek it. It’s almost as if hidden forces were gathering up ideas and pushing them in our direction.
What’s happened is that we have put ourselves in line for such growth. We have our antennae out, and we become conditioned to recognize useful ideas as they come to us. We are Open-Minded to our good.
This same process has also led to more general knowledge about alcoholism. When the early AA’s attained sobriety, most of the information about alcoholism was summed up in a handful of books. Now there are hundreds of books, symposia, and speeches dealing with the subject. More was revealed, and we can hope that even more will be revealed as we continue to focus on recovery.
I can expect useful information to come to me from a number of sources. My interest in my recovery and self-improvement helps attract the information and understanding I need.
Keep It Simple
April 3
Rest is the
guardian of health.
–Melba Colgrave
Now that we are sober, we’re feeling better than we have in years. We’re busy, too. We attend meetings and visit friends. We have work, school, families, and homes to keep up with.
It’s easy to forget to rest. We forgot that our bodies and minds need time off. We need plenty of sleep each night. And we need a lazy weekend now and than to let our bodies recover from to go, go, go of daily life.
Prayer for the Day:Higher Power, help me listen to my body. Remind me to slow down and rest now and then.
Action for the Day:How much have I rested lately? Have I gotten enough sleep each night? What can I do in the next two days to rest my body, mind, and spirit?
“The great thing in
the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.”
–Oliver Wendell Holmes
“If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep
streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare
wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and
earth will pause and say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job
well.”
–Martin Luther King, Jr.
God, help me accept all the twists and turns along my path.
Help me to say whatever to the good and the unfortunate incidents that come my
way.
–Melody Beattie
Father Leo’s Daily
Meditation
April 3
WONDER
“Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
In my sobriety the world is a wonderful place. I often sit back and am amazed at the splendor of life, at the simple happenings that give such joy, at the nobility that is revealed in man, at the creative adventure and mystery of life. I meditate in wonder.
Now I see how drugs kept me blind from so much. Alcohol kept me a prisoner of mediocrity and much of the wonder of life passed me by. As a drinking alcoholic I existed in life, rather than lived life. I was a bored spectator rather than a participant. I reacted to things, rather than initiated events Alcoholism equals dullness. Recovery symbolized energy.
Today I can dream dreams and rest in the wonder of it all. God is Good.
O Lord, let me see the wonderful mystery of life even in the ordinary.
Daily Inspiration
April 3
We are extremely precious to God and are never left alone not even for one second. Lord, Thank You for Your promise to protect and care for me always.
It is important to remember that different can be better. Lord, as I resist change and cling to the familiar, help me to remember that Your plan is perfect and will truly make me happy.
Elder’s Meditation
of the Day
April 3
“We know that in all creation/Only the human family/Has strayed from the Sacred Way.”
–OJIBWA Prayer
How have we gotten so far off track? What has happened to us? What is happening to our family? How did it happen so quickly? Every individual needs to answer these questions for themselves. What do we need to do to start living the Sacred Way again? Pray! Today I will start praying. I pray the Creator will lead all Native People to a great healing. I pray we’ll be free from alcohol and drugs. I pray we will return to the culture, to spirituality and to unity.
My Mother, help us to heal ourselves. Make us strong again.
Today’s Gift
April 3
If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could be better changed in ourselves.
—Carl Jung
Children are smart. Remember how we used to imitate our parents’ behavior? We’d dress up like them, mimic their words, even copy their attitudes. We wanted to be just like them because we thought they were the most wonderful people in the world. We can see this happen all around us, younger ones imitating parents, older brothers and sisters, and older friends. It’s very flattering.
The problem is that children imitate not just healthy behavior and attitudes, but also sometimes the not-so-healthy. We get very uncomfortable when we look at a younger person misbehaving and see ourselves in that person. Suddenly, we aren’t flattered any more.
When we see things we don’t like in others, we must first look at ourselves to see if we need changing. This is all we can do–change ourselves. Others may follow our example or they may not, but we can be sure that, when we watch our own behavior, most of what we see of ourselves in others will be flattering.
What change can I make in myself to set a good example today?
Touchstones
Meditations For Men
April 3
If we were logical, the future would be bleak indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope, and we can work.
—Jacques Cousteau
What is faith? It is believing in possibilities. It is the ability to carry on with our plans or to be true to our work even though we feel discouraged or tired. It is staying active in relationships even when we receive little in return or when our friends aren’t able to respond.
If there were no doubt, there would be no need for faith. Faith is temporarily putting our doubts on the shelf and working toward our goals. Faith is trusting that help and support will be there for us even though they’re not in view. It is looking at a map and choosing a new destination, getting on the road to go there, and trusting the marks on the map symbolize a real place that we will find.
I will leave room for my doubts and discouragement, but I will not indulge them. I will choose to go with hope. I will give my energy to the better possibilities.
Daily TAO
April 3
CONFIDENCE
Truth perceived gives assurance.
Skill yields self-reliance.
With courage, we can defy danger.
To increase power, increase humility.
Through constant contemplation, we can arrive at the truth. The more experienced we are, the more thorough our understanding, and thus the more we can come to rely on our knowledge. When we exercise what we know, it not only extends our understanding of the truth but helps us take action in meaningful ways. The more we do, the more self-reliant we are.
Every achievement brings a wonderful dividend of confidence. We try greater and greater ventures, until we are brave enough to accomplish undertakings far beyond what the average person imagines. When we reach that level of consummate skill, it is a time of both celebration and extreme caution. We are justified to rejoice, for this is the level of ability that we have been striving so long and hard to attain. It is also the time for caution because the foolish will eventually try something too great for them to handle. Pride and passion will lead to their downfall.
Therefore, the more accomplished one becomes, the more circumspect one should be. The higher one’s skills, the more precarious one’s road. The most powerful followers of Tao are also among the most humble. By veiling their light until the proper moments, they escape the greatest danger of all: hubris.
Daily Zen
April 3
What is sitting meditation?
To remove ourselves from
all external distractions and
quiet the mind is called “sitting.”
To observe the inner nature
in perfect calmness is called “meditation.”
– Hui-neng