Daily Reflections
August 15
DIDN’T WE HURT ANYBODY?
Some of us, though, tripped over a very different snag. We clung to the claim that when drinking we never hurt anybody but ourselves.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS , p. 79
This Step seemed so simple. I identified several people whom I had harmed, but they were no longer available. Still, I was uneasy about the Step and avoided conversations dealing with it. In time I learned to investigate those Steps and areas of my life which made me uncomfortable. My search revealed my parents, who had been deeply hurt by my isolation from them; my employer, who worried about my absences, my memory lapses, my temper; and the friends I had shunned, without explanation. As I faced the reality of the harm I had done, Step Eight took on a new meaning. I am no longer uncomfortable and I feel clean and light.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
August 15
A.A. Thought For The Day
“Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. If we have admitted we are alcoholics, we must have no reservations of any kind, nor any lurking notion that some day we will be immune to alcohol. What sort of thinking dominates an alcoholic who repeats time after time the desperate experiment of the first drink? Parallel with sound reasoning, there inevitably runs some insanely trivial excuse for taking the first drink. There is little thought of what the terrific consequences may be.” Have I given up all excuses for taking a drink?
Meditation For The Day
“Where two or three are banded together, I will be there in the midst of them.” When God finds two or three people in union, who only want His will to be done, who want only to serve Him, He has a plan that can be revealed to them. The grace of God can come to people who are together in one place with one accord. A union like this is miracle-working. God is able to use such people. Only good can come through such consecrated people, brought together in unified groups for a single purpose and of a single mind.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be part of a unified group. I pray that I may contribute my share to its consecrated purpose.
Walk In Dry Places
August 15
Do We Have A Larger Purpose?
Peace
The Twelve Step program came out of a movement that was attempting to save the world by establishing universal peace. Our purpose is scaled down to helping the person who still suffers.
We don’t really know the route to world peace, but we have learned that we must be at peace with ourselves and others in order to live happily. This means releasing the old resentments, distrust, and other faults that plague so many of us.
Living the Twelve Step way might have been our first experience in getting along with others. We found it totally different from the hate and suspicion that once poisoned our lives and kept us in bondage.
At some point, we may also find that we’re playing a part in the larger purpose of finding peace. We have , at least, removed ourselves from the raging conflicts that cause so much trouble in the world.
I’ll be at peace with everyone I meet today. I’ve forgiven others and myself, and I’ll do nothing today that gets me embroiled in conflict with others.
Our perfectionism generally dashes all hopes of self-satisfaction. But the program is here to show us that we can make progress. We can learn to believe that we are doing any task as well as we need to do it, at this time. Our job is the effort. The outcome is part of a larger plan, one that involves more than ourselves. We’ll find joy when we find acceptance of ourselves and our efforts and the belief that we are spiritual beings whose lives do have purpose and direction.
—Each Day a New Beginning – Sept 3
Keep It Simple
August 15
—Shakespeare
We are addicts. We suffer from an illness. We go to Twelve Step meetings because we know who we are. We have a sponsor because we know who we are. We ask friends for support because we know who we are. We know why we need our Higher Power to guide us. Recovery is a spiritual journey. In this journey, we are followers, not guides. It’s a journey that change us. We don’t know how recovery will change us, but we know it will. Is my faith strong enough for my journey? Part of how we get strong for our journey is by knowing who we truly are: addicts.
Prayer for the Day: I pray to remember who I am, so I’ll learn to respect the power of my illness.
Action for the Day: I’ll take time to remember my past, both good and bad. I’ll also take time to think about who I am now. How far have I come?
Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius.
–George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon
–Doug Firebaugh
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
August 15
PROPERTY
– Abraham Lincoln
God is to be found in the physical. He is to be found in my body, my sexuality, the mountains and streams — and also in houses and real-estate. The luxury of comfort and good living is not incompatible with the spiritual life — indeed, the use of our property can be an opportunity for gratitude and sharing.
I know many people who use their comfortable homes for opportunities to develop sincere friendships. Luxury homes can be used for retreats and spiritual seminars involving music, dance and silence. Property is part of God’s landscape into his world. His love, joy and hope for mankind can be experienced by our creative use of property.
Let me use my property creatively.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
August 15
“There are many people who could claim and learn from their Indian ancestry, but because of the fear their parents and grandparents knew, because of past and present prejudice against Indian people, that part of their heritage is clouded or denied.”
–Joseph Bruchac, ABENAKI
There were many injustices done to Native people. Sometimes I wonder; why am I connected to the past injustices done to Indian people? Why am I so angry about the past? The Elders say our ancestors are alive within each of us. Therefore, I may experience anger and resentment inside of me because of the injustice done to them. The way I get rid of these past feelings is to forgive. It may be necessary to even learn to forgive the unforgivable.
Great Spirit, teach me the path of forgiveness; teach me the courage to forgive; teach me to let go. Give to me a forgiving heart.
Daily TAO
August 15
Consistency
Without too much trouble,
One can keep to the main road.
But people love to be distracted,
And perspective is difficult.
People constantly declare they want to walk the road of Tao. They say all they want is to reach realization. But this is not true. If it were, they would simply walk their road and attain enlightenment right away.
Instant realization doesn’t happen very often because people become distracted. It is not given to every person to pursue Tao with the utmost consistency. Not every one even wants immediate realization. When enlightenment comes, the world becomes completely insignificant. Some of us still want to explore, be involved, amuse ourselves. That is all right, as long as you know you are making up games and intrigues. In the final analysis, it is all right to be sidetracked a little bit, but one must always be cautious and come back to the main road without losing too much time or ground.
That is why a strong perspective is at the root of wisdom. One who follows Tao may appear to be going away from the goal, but such a person knows exactly when to pull back.
Daily Zen
August 15
Simultaneously practice stillness
And illumination.
Carefully observe,
But see no dharmas,
See no body and see no mind.
The mind is nameless,
And the body is empty;
The dharmas are a dream.
There is nothing to be attained,
No enlightenment to experience.
This is called liberation.
– Seng Ts’an (d. 606)