Daily Reflections
August 26
GIVING IT AWAY
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY
AUGUST 26
Thought for the Day
“If we are still clinging to something that we will not let go, we must sincerely ask God to help us to be willing to let even that go, too. We cannot divide our lives into compartments and keep some for ourselves. We must give all the compartments to God. We must say: ‘My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my friends.'” Am I still clinging to something that I will not let go?
Meditation for the Day
The laws of nature cannot be changed and must be obeyed if you are to stay healthy. No exceptions will be made in your case. Submit to the laws of nature or they will finally break you. And in the realm of the spirit, in all human relationships, submit to the moral laws and to the will of God. If you continue to break the laws of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love, you will be broken to some extent yourself. The moral and spiritual laws of God, like the laws of nature, are unbreakable without some disaster. If you are dishonest, impure, selfish, and unloving, you will not be living according to the laws of the spirit and you will suffer the consequences.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may submit to the laws of nature and to the laws of God. I pray that I may live in harmony with all the laws of life.
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
August 26
SECURITY
“Nobody in this world is more
secure than a man in a
penitentiary.”
— Harvey S. Firestone, Jr.
In one sense it is safe to live in a prison — but at what price? To live is
to be free and have the responsibility of choice. Addiction removes
this freedom of choice; addiction takes away our freedom.
In sobriety I am involved in the joys of risk. I experience the pleasure
and pain that comes with the responsibility of choice. Today I know I
am living — yesterday I had to read about it!
God, I thank You for the confusing gift of freedom.
One Day At A Time
August 26
LOVE
“When you love you should not say,
“God is in my heart,” but rather,
“I am in the heart of God.”
Kahlil Gibran
What is love? And what does it mean to love myself? I’ve found from my experience that it is easier to describe what love is not. Through many failures — and with my Higher Power’s help — I have discovered that to love myself means choosing to not hurt myself by overeating. Self-love means choosing to no longer ignore my inner-child who sometimes screams to be heard and must have a tantrum to get my attention. Self-love means not isolating or allowing the hurtful, grieving, angry, fearful thoughts to possess my mind to the degree that the disease overtakes any sanity I may have. This list could go on — focusing on the failures and the negative — but my Higher Power has given me the desire, strength and power to feel, express and give love. Our Higher Power offers the freedom and joy of self-love to each of us who are willing to receive and practice it.
The more I am able to receive the love of others, the more I am able to love myself. And conversely, the more I love myself, the more I am able to receive love from others. As I work this Twelve Step program to the best of my ability each 24 hours, I am shown love through meetings, my sponsor, meditating, journaling, spending time with my Higher Power, and sharing my experience, strength and hope with another person. Some days, “the best of my ability” may be to just get out of bed and say the Third Step prayer. Other days, “the best of my ability” will seem like I’m working the program close to perfection. Regardless of my ability on any particular day, I’ve found that love can be gleaned from each day.
As the quote above states, “I am in the heart of God.” I experience this when I am willing to surrender daily to the will of my Higher Power and to be completely and absolutely surrounded and protected by the heart of God.
One Day at a Time . . .
I will seek to see love in as many moments as possible by looking to my Higher Power and then reaching out to others.
~ Ohitika
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
August 26
“Those who live for one another learn that love is the bond of perfect unity.”
–Fools Crow, LAKOTA
To serve each other, to respect each other, to trust each other, to honor each other, to love each other, to cooperate with each other, to care for each other, to forgive one another, to focus on peoples’ good, to laugh with one another, to learn from one another, to pray for each other; these are all acts of love. These values and actions will connect us to one another in the Unseen World. Nature is a good example of how we should get along with one another. Watch nature. She is our teacher. Nature lives to give to one another. The insects give to the birds, who give to the four legged, who give to the two legged. The Creator made all things perfect.
Oh Great Spirit, let me serve the people today. Let me see that it is better to give than it is to receive. Be with me today.
Touchstones Meditations for Men
August 26
Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.
—Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The primary requirement for our recovery is honesty. In order to grow in honesty we first needed to see how we had lied to others and to ourselves. This was not as easy as it first appeared. Our lies to ourselves kept us so fully in the dark that we did not know we were lying. We sometimes told “sincere” lies because we honestly did not distinguish the truth within ourselves. For so long we had preferred dishonest rationalizations, and we had come to believe them.
The spiritual life of this program is based upon experience. What we feel, what we see and hear, is what we know. When we simplify our lives and base the truth upon our experiences, we slowly cleanse ourselves of the lies we told ourselves. With this kind of honesty comes an inner peace with ourselves in whom we can say, “I know myself.”
Today, I will accept my experience as a simple message of truth.
Daily TAO
August 26
Matrix
This fragile body
Is matrix
For mind and soul.
We cannot afford to neglect our bodies, even if we recognize we must not identify with them exclusively. Actually, in our search for our true selves, our physical existence is the best place to start. We can alter our lives by how we eat and exercise, and we can expedite our search by keeping ourselves healthy. If we are free of physical blockages and pain, we can identify our inner selves much better.
In the search for the mind and soul, it is wise to understand the body is not the true self, but it is also wise to maintain the body. There should be neither denial nor mortification of the flesh, but it takes a wise person to both maintain the body and look beyond it.
Daily Zen
August 26
You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.