First, we take a look backward and try to discover where we have been at fault; next we make a vigorous attempt to repair the damage we have done; … TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 77
As a traveler on a fresh and exciting A.A. journey of recovery, I experienced a newfound peace of mind and the horizon appeared clear and bright, rather than obscure and dim. Reviewing my life to discover where I had been at fault seemed to be such an arduous and dangerous task. It was painful to pause and look backward. I was afraid I might stumble! Couldn’t I put the past out of my mind and just live in my new golden present? I realized that those in the past whom I had harmed stood between me and my desire to continue my movement toward serenity. I had to ask for courage to face those persons from my life who still lived in my conscience, to recognize and deal with the guilt that their presence produced in me. I had to look at the damage I had done, and become willing to make amends. Only then could my journey of the spirit resume.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day August 12
A.A. Thought For The Day
“There was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet by Alcoholics Anonymous. By doing so, we have a spiritual experience which revolutionizes our whole attitude toward life, toward others, and toward God’s universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives there in a way that is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us that we could never do for ourselves.” Have I let God come into my life?
Meditation For The Day
The moment a thing seems wrong to you or a person’s actions to be not what you think they should be, at that moment begins your obligation and responsibility to pray for those wrongs to be righted or that person to be changed. What is wrong in your surroundings or in the people you know? Think about these things and make these matters your responsibility. Not to interfere or be a busybody, but to pray that a change may come through your influence. You may see lives altered and evils banished in time. You can become a force for good wherever you are.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be a co-worker with God. I pray that I may help people by my example.
Walk In Dry Places August 12
Things I can’t fix. Acceptance.
One of the sad realities of life is that we’re awash in disorder that we can’t fix. All around us, the world seethes and festers with aliments and injustices that are beyond our control.
We can react by becoming angry or by making quixotic efforts to solve some of these problems. Our best course, however, is to apply our 12 Step program to life in this world. The Serenity Prayer suggests we accept what we can’t change. A slogan reminds us to set priorities (“First things First.”) The Eleventh Step remind us to always seek God’s will.
This will enable me to live effectively while doing my best to serve others. In time, I may even discover that I can fix a few of the seemingly insoluble problems around me.
I’ll realize today that I have the ability only to do certain things within my sphere of experience. I’ll see to it, however, that I do these things well.
Keep It Simple August 12
Fairness is what justice really is. —Potter Stewart
Some of us get hung up on what’s fair. We might feel, because we’ve worked hard to stay sober, we should be rewarded. We might keep score of what we get and what others get. And we complain if it’s “not fair.”
Maybe we should be glad life isn’t fair. Why? Most of us caused a lot of trouble we’ve never had to pay for. And we’ve hurt a lot of people who haven’t gotten even. Would we really want life to be fair?
Our Higher Power isn’t fair either. That is, our Higher Power doesn’t keep score. Our Higher Power doesn’t try to get even. Our Higher Power is loving and forgiving, no matter what. Our Higher Power has the same love and help for everyone.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, give me the wisdom to stop keeping score. Help me want the best for everyone.
Action for the Day: I’ll list five times I’ve been unfair to others. Do I need to make amends?
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation August 12
LIFE
“The tragedy of life is what dies in man while he lives.” Albert Schweitzer (14 Jan 1875 – 4 Sept 1965)
Addiction progressively takes away the vitality of life. It robs life of meaning. Addiction isolates; it kills by atrophy. People, places and things lose meaning; everything becomes a chore and God is lost. We say to compensate that we are having “fun” — we say this a lot and at times we believe it, but in the silence of the night we know it to be a lie.
We lie to others and to ourselves. Sometimes we believe the lie! At this point we begin to die unless we take courage and confront “the lie” in order to live. Today I live because I confronted my lie. I have discovered the spiritual power that was buried deep beneath the progressive addiction. And I am finding it easier and less painful to live.
May I continue to breathe a daily “yes” in my life so that I might live.
Today’s Gift August 12
I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains. —Anne Frank
We don’t find the rewards of today by searching through our misfortunes. Pausing to seek out something good for everything we find bad is a step in the right direction. We may find the good outweighs the bad.
But how much more chance we will have of living a happy day if we skip over our setbacks and concentrate as much as we can on what is going well. It is smarter to look for diamonds in a diamond mine than in a garbage dump.
Let us discard our failures, using only what we have learned from them to achieve success. Looking back at missed opportunities will make it impossible for us to recognize new chances to enjoy life to the fullest. Looking only for beauty is a beautiful thing in itself.
What beauty can I see around me right now?
Touchstones Meditations For Men August 12
It is a terrible, an inexorable law that one cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one’s own: in the face of one’s victim, one sees oneself. —James Baldwin
Acting totally in our self-interest is shortsighted and foolishly simple. Attacking another person or another nation reflects upon us like a mirror. When any person is undermined, the human race is diminished in some measure. And humanity is our family.
Sometimes we see a reflection of ourselves in someone else and fail to recognize it. What we hate most in another may well be what we hate in ourselves. Knowing this can be useful. Perhaps our teeth are set on edge when we think about an ex-wife, or father, or former friend, or a religious or racial group. How are we like that person or group? What do they cause us to face within ourselves? When we stop diminishing the other person we may still not like him or her, but we can come to terms with ourselves. We learn to live and let live.
God, help me engage in the brotherhood of my own family and with all people – and to see my own face, even in my enemy.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day August 12
“With one mind we address our acknowledgement, respect, and gratefulness to the sacred Cycle of Life. We, as humans, must remember to be humble and acknowledge the gifts we use so freely in our daily lives.” –Audrey Shenandoah, ONONDAGA
The Sacred Cycle of life – the baby, the youth, the adult, the Elder. Let us respect all directions, the four directions of the Grandfathers; let us respect their power. Let us remember we belong to the earth, the earth does not belong to us. Help us to be respectful to all the gifts You have given us.
Oh Great Spirit, help me this day to be humble. Let me not attack anything in deed or in my thoughts. Let my thoughts focus on the beauty You have created in all things.
Daily TAO August 12
Indifference
For a true master, Sitting on a throne Is no different than Sitting on dirt.
A true master is indifferent to the ways of society. Ambition, knowledge, and religion are equally uninteresting. Why? Because all these things are in the realm of human definition.
The holy person transcends all identity. Therefore, wealth or poverty, good or bad, violence or peace makes no difference. Dichotomies are no longer valid to such a person.
Do you find this hard to believe? The degree you find this difficult to accept indicates the degree to which you are shackled by dualism. True enlightenment comes from understanding the oneness of all reality. Such a realization leads to a perception that all things are truly equal. A master sees nutrition and disease as the same, life and death as the same, morality and immorality as the same. If you give the masters something to eat, they will eat. If they have nothing to eat, they forget there was ever such an activity. There is no polarity in their lives.
We ordinary people cannot do this. We make distinctions, defend ourselves and our territories. We feel safe only inside declared boundaries. This is the way we define ourselves, but our identities are also our prisons. Only a master knows the meaning of liberation and has complete freedom.
Daily Zen August 12
Every thought is Buddha mind; Buddha mind dwells on Buddha. If you wish to accomplish this soon, Be vigilant and disciplined If you wish to seek Buddhahood, Don’t stain a single thing. Though the nature of mind is empty, Greed and hatred are real.
