Daily Reflections
August 18
GETTING WELL, p.239
Very deep, sometimes quite forgotten, damaging emotional conflicts persist below the level of consciousness.
-12 & 12, pp. 79-80
Only through positive action can I remove the remains of guilt and shame brought on by alcohol. Throughout my misadventures when I drank, my friends would say, “Why are you doing this? You’re only hurting yourself.” Little did I know how true were those words. Although I harmed others, some of my behavior caused grave wounds to my soul. Step Eight provides me with a way of forgiving myself. I alleviate much of the hidden damage when I make my list of those I have hurt. In making amends, I free myself of burdens, thus contributing to my healing.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
August 18
A.A. Thought For The Day
“We of agnostic temperament have found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which we call God. As soon as you can say that you do believe or are willing to believe, you are on your way. Upon this simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built.” Am I willing to depend on a Power that I cannot fully define or comprehend?
Meditation For The Day
We seek God’s presence and “they who seek shall find.” It is not a question of searching so much as an inner consciousness of the Divine spirit in your heart. To realize God’s presence you must surrender to His will in the small as well as in the big things of life. This makes God’s guidance possible. Some things separate you from God–a false word, a fear-inspired failure, a harsh criticism, a stubborn resentment. These are the things that put a distance between your mind and God. A word of love, a selfless reconciliation, a kind act of helpfulness–these bring God closer.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may think and say and do the things that bring God closer to me. I pray that I may find Him in sincere prayer, a kind word, or an unselfish deed.
Walk In Dry Places
August 18
Handle Today’s Problem
Living Today
Many of us face seemingly insurmountable difficulties, perhaps because of our compulsion or simply through misfortune. Whatever the scale of our problems,One Day at a Time and First things First, are keys to handling them. Today, we can deal only with today’s problems. One of today’s problems, of course, may be worrying about the future. A good method of handling that problem is to turn our concern about it over to our Higher Power. But when we do have work that clearly should be done today, we must carry through with it. It’s neither reasonable nor sensible to put off things that we can and should do today.
There are certain tasks and responsibilities that must be dealt with today. I will not put them off.
A Day At A Time
August 18
Reflection For The Day
As Addictive persons, self-delusion was intricately woven through almost all our thoughts and actions. We became experts at convincing ourselves, when necessary, that black was white, that wrong was right, or even that day was night. Now that we’re in The Program, our need for self-delusion is fading. If I’m fooling myself these days, my sponsor can spot it quickly. And, as he skillfully steers me away from my fantasies, I find that I’m less and less likely to defend myself against reality and unpleasant truths about myself. Gradually, in the process, my pride, fear and ignorance are losing their destructive power. Do I firmly believe that a solitary self-appraisal wouldn’t be nearly enough?
Today I Pray
May I understand that not only must I look to my Higher Power, but that I need to trust my fellow members of the group in this Step of self-evaluation. For we mirror each other in all of our delusions and fantasies, and with there facing mirrors, we produce a depth of perspective that we could never come by alone.
Today I Will Remember
To see myself all around, I need a three-way mirror — with reflections from God, my friends and me
One More Day
August 18
You may judge others only according to your knowledge of yourself.
– Kahlil Gibran
We know that our behavior patterns may not be the only acceptable ones. Many of us have spent the major part of our lives trying to please others. We finally understand that there’s no need for us to reach beyond our own capabilities.
Now that our physical health is limited and our emotional health is stretched almost to the breaking point, we begin to realize that people around us may have serious problems of their own. By reaching out, unselfishly, we can help. Inadvertently, we will reap the benefits of our own behavior.
As I understand my limitations, I begin to know myself more intimately than ever before. I am learning about my untapped potential.
Xtra Thoughts
August 18
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
–Marcel Proust“The first recipe for happiness is: Avoid too lengthy meditations on the past.”
–André Maurois“Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself.”
–Felix Adler“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg – not by smashing it.”
–Arnold Glasow“Patience and perseverance at length / Accomplish more than anger or brute strength.”
–Jean de La FontaineHold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes but morning comes… Keep hope alive.
–Jesse Jackson
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
August 18
ABILITY
“Man’s ability is derived from God and does not have to be acquired.”
– James H. McReynolds
I woke this morning and remembered that sobriety and serenity are gifts from God that are freely given. I need only discover them within my capacity to be honest. I need only seek them in my new attitudes. I need only discover them in the spiritual program from my life.
God is alive in my life and His acceptance of me is guaranteed.
May I continue to discover more of Your beauty in my life.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
August 18
“You have to have confidence in your own ability to be able to go it alone, to go against what the rest of the culture is doing.”
–Eunice Baumann-Nelson, Ph.D., PENOBSCOT
God, this is hard.
Today, allow me to be a Warrior.
Let me be strong.
Let Your voice be clear to me.
Let me hear Your guidance.
My goal today is to serve You,
to develop myself to be the kind of Indian person that You would have me be.
To Walk the Red Road must sometimes be walked alone.
Great Spirit, let me walk the Red Road today with the confidence that You are with me. If I fall, I will quickly ask You to help me know what I should do next.
Today’s Gift
August 18
Large streams from little fountains flow.
—David Everett
Somewhere nearby, no matter where we are, runs a creek. We’ve seen plenty of them, narrow and rocky. In summer it’s hardly a creek at all, but in the spring, it feeds a mighty river.
Each of us is like that creek, a trickle contributing to some greater plan. Sometimes we feel dried up, contributing nothing. Often we feel small, rocky, not up to the task – when we can understand what the task is.
Sometimes the task seems too simple – get up each morning, love and work and live the day as honestly as we can. What kind of contribution is that? Sometimes it seems too complicated. How much more we could contribute if we could see the whole river – where it begins and ends – if we knew what would happen tomorrow.
So we ebb and flow. And in our moments of contentment, we know we are doing the best we can each day.
What contribution, however small, can I offer the world today?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
August 18
The years forever fashion new dreams when old ones go. God pity the one dream man.
—Robert Goddard
A painful loss can seem like the end of hope for us. It is true that the place a loved one had in our lives will never be filled. The loss of a job may dash a dream that will not come true – at least not as we thought it would. The aging of our body ends physical strength, and we lose options that will not come around a second time. Yet, change is a basic fact of life. We must empty a glass before we can fill it with something else. Our spiritual task is to become less rigid in our attachments and more accepting of the flow of life.
When we look straight at our losses and allow ourselves to cry and grieve over them, we are saying good-bye and letting go. Grief cleanses the soul and frees us to move on to new dreams. The loss of a job may put us in a position to discover undreamed of possibilities. In time, the loss of a love heals, and it deepens our relationship with our Higher Power and with our other friends. The other side of grief is freedom, and we are learning to have many new dreams in our lives.
I pray for the freedom that comes with having dreams in my life.
Daily TAO
August 18
Perfection
The hero comes down from the mountain,
Radiant with the power.
Yet one tussle with a dusty old man
Quickly tumbles him into the dirt.
In olden times, young men and women who wanted to be extraordinary trained in the mountains with a famous master. Away from all the distractions of society, isolated in the cleanliness, they remained on a high peak and did not come down until they had attained great ability.
Such people were heroes, the pinnacle of cultivation. However, in their subsequent wanderings in the world, such heroes would often come upon some oldster who could quickly best them. Whether in philosophical debate or physical skill, there was always some obscure wanderer who could outshine even the greatest of heroes. Why? Because the hero only had perfection, the strength of youth, and courage. The oldsters had the advantage of experience and wisdom.
There will always be people in the world better than yourself. Learn to recognize those elders who are wiser than you, and respect them. Know that you yourself will not be great until you have lived a long time.
To perfect oneself is difficult but not rare. To have perfect wisdom is rare indeed.
Daily Zen
August 18
The water of the mind, how clear it is!
Gazing at it, the boundaries are invisible.
But as soon as even a slight thought arises,
Ten thousand images crowd it.
Attach to them and they become real,
Be carried by them, and it will be difficult to return.
How painful to see a person trapped
In the ten-fold delusions.
– Ryokan (1758-1831)