Daily Reflections
December 23
RECOVERY, UNITY, SERVICE
Our Twelfth Step – carrying the message – is the basic service that AA’s Fellowship gives; this is our principal aim and the main reason for our existence.
-THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 160
I thank God for those who came before me, those who told me not to forget the Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity and Service. In my home group, the Three Legacies were described on a sign which said: “You take a three-legged stool, try to balance it on only one leg, or two. Our Three Legacies must be kept intact. In Recovery, we get sober together; in Unity, we work together for the good of our Steps and Traditions; and through Service – we give away freely what has been given to us.” One of the chief gifts of my life has been to know that I will have no message to give, unless I recover in unity with A.A. principles.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
December 23
A.A. Thought For The Day
We have definitely left that dream world behind. It was only a sham. It was a world of our own making and it was not the real world. We are sorry for the past, yes, but we learned a lot from it. We can put it down to experience, as we see it now, because it has given us the knowledge necessary to face the world as it really is. We had to become alcoholics in order to find the A.A. program. We would not have got it any other way. In a way, it was worth it. Do I look at my past as valuable experience?
Meditation For The Day
Shed peace, not discord, wherever you go. Try to be part of the cure of every situation, not part of the problem. Try to ignore evil, rather than to actively combat it. Always try to build up, never to tear down. Show others by your example that happiness comes from living the right way. The power of your example is greater than the power of what you say.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to bring something good into every situation today. I pray that I may be constructive in the way I think and speak and act today.
Walk In Dry Places
December 23
AA goes the Distance
Fortitude
Few societies or organizations have better ways of measuring success than AA. Since we are friends as well as recovering people, some of us get to know others fairly well over long periods of time. Even in a large city, we meet people again and again, year after year.
We’ve come to think it very commonplace that some individuals have been sober ten years or more, and that some members have been in the fellowship more than forty years.
The AA program does have staying power; it goes the distance for those who continue to follow it.
We should remind ourselves of this when we hear of new, faddish theories about alcoholism and recovery. Most of the time, the results reported are very short-term. What we really need is recovery with staying power, which we can find in the AA program.
Today’s sobriety can be another link in an endless chain of sobriety. AA will go the distance for me if I take care of each day as it comes.
Keep It Simple
December 23
We not only need to be willing to give, but also to be open to receiving from others.
-from On Hope
Many of us took so much from others during our addiction that now we may not want to ask for anything.
We may be afraid to ask for help, so our needs go unmet. In fact, many of us would rather give than receive. In recovery, we need to understand the difference between taking and receiving. Giving to others is important. So is receiving from others. As we grow spiritually, we learn to accept gifts. The gift of sobriety teaches us this. We need to accept the gifts the world gives us without shame. We are entitled.
God loves us and will give us much if we’re willing to receive it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me be receptive to Your gifts. Help me see and believe that I’m entitled to all the happiness of the world.
Action for the Day: I’ll think of what a friend has given me. I’ll thank this friend.
“The tree in which the sap is stagnant remains fruitless.”
-Hosea BallouSpeaking without thinking is shooting without aiming.
-French ProverbDon’t let your tongue cut your throat.
-Irish ProverbAs long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.
-Ralph Waldo EmersonWhen you find you are upset over a situation, stop and ask yourself one very important question. “Is this something I can change?” Whether it is or not, turn your negative energy in to productive energy. You can either change the situation, or change your perspective of the situation.
-unknown
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
December 23
LANGUAGE
“If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”
-George Orwell
Sobriety for me means much more than “not drinking” or “not using” — it means the daily decision to be a positive and creative human being in all areas of my life: How I treat people. What I eat. The books I read and how I speak! Not even my worst enemy would call me a “prude” but I think that bad language used on a regular basis is unacceptable in sobriety. Why? Because it hurts the listener and does not show respect for self or the God-given gift of communication.
If you have no respect for language, you will ultimately not grow as a spiritual person.
May Your “words of love” be reflected in my speech and writings.
Daily Inspiration
December 23
Each time you have a kind thought, say a kind word or do a kind deed you are living your love. Lord, as I see the world through loving eyes, I experience heaven on earth.
Get and keep a good humored attitude toward life. This will bring you support rather than opposition. Lord, may I always be a peacemaker.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
December 23
“It’s not the package and the wrapping which counts but what is inside, underneath the clothes and the skin.”
-Lame Deer, LAKOTA
Our eyes and ears gather information that is fed to the mind, and we tend to form judgements, opinions and assumptions on what our perception is. We might see someone act a certain way, then label that person forever, not at all concentrating on what is inside the person. It matters not our height, our size, our facial features, or our gender. What matters is our thoughts. Good thoughts overcome all obstacles.
Great Spirit, let my inside contain Your qualities.
Today’s Gift
December 23
There are no riches above a sound body, and no joy above the joy of the heart.
—Anonymous
Holidays are a wonderful and exciting time of year – a time to enjoy snowflakes falling, company coming, and presents. Sometimes we find ourselves concentrating solely on the wrapped presents and forgetting about the presents of the heart. With God’s help, we can begin to notice such things as the hug from a brother or sister, the laugh of a grandparent or the hand-drawn card given to us by a friend. All of these wonderful presents and more are ours for the taking; we need only to see beyond the wrapped packages. It is then we will fully experience the joys of the heart.
How many gifts do I see around me right now?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
December 23
Loneliness is the way by which destiny endeavors to lead man to himself.
—Hermann Hissed
We have an epidemic of loneliness among men in our world. Everywhere, men are walking around as though in plastic bubbles that prevent contact with others. We are cut off from closeness with our brothers and sisters, our own children, our mates, coworkers, and neighbors. We have learned to play the role, be efficient, and look good. Do we dare let others know how we feel? Will they look down on us? Will they think we’re strange?
All this has made us ripe for the diseases of addiction and codependency. Some of us have romanticized the pain of loneliness and glorified it. We sought some comfort for our pain, but we only perpetuated it. Breaking through the barrier to let someone know us can be incredibly difficult. Yet, just to say “I feel lonely” to another person makes us slightly less alone. Going to meetings and working this program provide a way out. The greatest benefits of the program for many of us have been recovery from loneliness and the genuine relationships we have developed.
Today, I will reveal some of my feelings to another person.
Daily TAO
December 23
RUSTICITY
The laughter of country folk is uncomplicated.
The laughter of city folk is full of dark nuance.
The ambition of country folk is to grow their crops well.
The ambition of city folk is to overcome others.
The joy of country folk is to participate in the seasons.
The joy of city folk is to achieve sophistication.
When you see urban people in the countryside, you can often hear one of them making fun of the simplicity of the country folk. After all, we have so many words to mock them with : bumpkin, yokel, hick, hayseed, peasant, clodhopper, hillbilly, lout, oaf, cabbage-head, simpleton, rube. If one stops to consider, are these descriptions worse than neurotic, compulsive, stressed, ambitious, devious, shrewd, obsessive, money-hungry, or nouveau riche?
Those who follow Tao celebrate country living over the difficult existence in the cities. While we certainly cannot go back to an exclusively agrarian way of living, it is beneficial for us to consider the agrarian ideal. City living is a mental construct that collapses once we cease to make it real.