Daily Reflections
December 25
AT PEACE WITH LIFE
Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. “How can I best serve Thee – Thy will (not mine) be done.”
-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85
I read this passage each morning, to start off my day, because it is a continual reminder to “practice these principles in all my affairs.” When I keep God’s will at the forefront of my mind, I am able to do what I should be doing, and that puts me at peace with life, with myself and with God.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
December 25
A.A. Thought For The Day
Many alcoholics will be saying today: “This is a good Christmas for me.” They will be looking back over the past Christmases which were not like this one. They will be thanking God for their sobriety and their new found life. They will be thinking about how their lives have changed when they came into A.A.
They will be thinking that perhaps God let them live through all the hazards of their drinking careers, when they were perhaps often close to death, in order that they may be used by Him in the great work of A.A. Is this a happy Christmas for me?
Meditation For The Day
The kingdom of heaven is also for the lowly, the sinners, the repentant. “And they presented unto him gifts–gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Bring your gifts of gold–your money and material possessions. Bring your frankincense–the consecration of your life to a worthy cause. Bring your myrrh–your sympathy and understanding and help. Lay them all at the feet of God and let Him have full use of them.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be truly thankful on this Christmas day. I pray that I may bring my gifts and lay them on the altar.
Walk In Dry Places
December 25
Liking Ourselves
Self-esteem.
It’s maybe unsettling to learn that we need to like ourselves more, especially when we’ve often been accused of being conceited.
Being conceited does not mean liking oneself; it’s really a matter of being smug and contemptuous in our dealing with others. This attitude is easily recognized by others, and it causes them to dislike us.
However, if we like ourselves in the right way, others sense this too, and they will be drawn to us. We will truly like ourselves more as we learn to practice the principles of AA. We will like the kind of life we are trying to live. We will like ourselves for practicing fairness and honesty. We will also like ourselves for letting people see us as we are and feel comfortable doing so. In liking ourselves, we feel no need to impress or dazzle others.
I’ll remember today that I have a right to be in the world. I will do my best to be fair toward others, but I will like myself regardless of their reactions.
Keep It Simple
December 25
To love is to place our happiness in the happiness of another.
-Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz.
Not that we’re getting well. We feel the need for love more than ever. We tried to avoid love by using chemicals to feel good. But it didn’t work. Addiction cut us off even more from people. How do we fill our needs for love? We can think about this fact: People give us love all the time. Only we just haven’t seen it. Every time someone comes to a meeting to get well with us, that is love. Love isn’t all-or-nothing.
Little gems of love are all over. Watch them. Enjoy them. Give them to others.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, love comes from You. Help me see it, and give it.
Action for the Day: I’ll look three persons in the eye today and send them love in my smile.
“Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others.”
-Brian Tracy“The duty of helping one’s self in the highest sense involves the helping of one’s neighbors.”
-Samuel Smiles“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost, that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.”
-Henry David Thoreau
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
December 25
GENEROSITY
“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.”
-John (1:14)
There is a beautiful fairy tale about a land where everybody had an abundance of “warm fuzzies” that they exchanged with each other and shared with each other. Everything in this land was wonderful because all the people were generously giving and receiving “warm fuzzies”.
Then a rumor began that there was to be a shortage of “warm fuzzies,” and people began to hoard and selfishly protect their supply of “warm fuzzies.” At this point, “cold pricklies” were introduced into the land. Sadness, pain, tension and persecution developed in the land, and the growth of the “cold pricklies” kept people separated, fearful and alone.
The tragedy of this tale is that the rumor was not true! As long as people generously share their “warm fuzzies”, they will never disappear. The “warm fuzzies” only disappear when they are not shared. The more we give, the more we receive. Abundance rests in giving, never hoarding!
Master, may I always be generous with all that You have given me.
Daily Inspiration
December 25
Enthusiasm keeps the mind young and the spirit growing. Lord, may I always see wonder in the ordinary happenings of my day.
No detail is too insignificant for God’s attention. Lord, You encourage me daily as You guide my humblest moments.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
December 25
“When you see a new trail, or a footprint that you do not know, follow it to the point of knowing.”
-Grandmother of Charles Eastman, SANTEE SIOUX
We never gain new knowledge or new experience unless we are willing to take risks. It’s good to be curious. Also, it pays to be cautious. Walk in balance. The path of the Warrior is filled with opportunities to seek new knowledge. As we travel down the Red Road, we will run into trails of opportunity. Down each of these trails are experiences from which we will learn. Experience plus action is the beginning of knowledge.”
Great Spirit, help me to make good choices in choosing only the trails You would have me take.
The Language Of Letting Go
December 25
Moving on and changing old habits
It is important to reflect on our habits and how we need to change some in order to break out of the patterns that have brought us unhappiness. I now realise that as hard as it is to know other people, that it is hardest of all to truly know ourselves. It is something which requires constant reflection.
Where we are in life has much less to do with other people and their actions towards us than it has to do with our own habits and choices. If we are making poor choices we need to improve our thought processes. We do not have to repeat mistakes we simply have to learn from them. We owe it to ourselves to learn from our mistakes and use the lessons to improve our lives. Spend time reflecting on what has gone wrong and what you could have done differently and take the lesson forward with you. What’s done is done, however with a lesson learned it doesn’t have to be repeated.
The people that we have in our life, other than our immediate family are there because we have attracted them to us. If there are toxic people in our lives we have to examine why they are there, why do we keep them in our lives? We don’t have to.
We are often strangers to ourselves, getting to know ourselves can be difficult and at times painful. Being truly honest to ourself about ourself can be grueling. Not laying blame on others, taking full responsibility for our lives. This doesnt mean that nobody has ever wronged us, everyone of us will be wronged in some way or ways in our lives, it means understanding our part in it, how did we let it occur, where we not living conciously, where we in denial, where we complacent, where we needy, where we lazy and handing the reins of our lives to others? did we put the responsibility for our happiness on to someone else?
Our happiness can only ever be our own responsibility. Ouf financial security is our own responsibility. We can handle these tasks, we just have to believe in ourselves. Other people can add to our happiness and even our wealth, but ultimately it is up to us to be happy and secure, and with belief and effort of course, we can do it.
It’s never beneficial to beat ourselves up and criticise ourselves, we simply need to observe and learn and move on. Negativity is not productive. If our thoughts begin to spiral downwards we need to reach down and pick them up again, redirect them. Learn the habit of positive thinking. Our thoughts are our lives. Keep them positive and that is what our lives shall be.
Today’s Gift
December 25
What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.
-Agnes M. Pahro
“A fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings.” I couldn’t think of a better way to express what I see as the spirit behind Christmas. To me, it always has been and always shall be about wishing good for others, about doing what we can to make their lives a bit more joyful, if only for a day or two or three. And while we do tend to focus on the material aspects of giving, even the material gifts come with the message: “I’ve thought of you, and I wanted to do something for you.”
It’s easy to get turned off by our commercial focus. It’s easy for us to get caught up in the religious aspects of the holiday and neglect those who don’t share the belief that Jesus was more than just a man. It’s easy to get so focused on what we want as gifts that we neglect to give much thought to what we give. But as we spend this day here on this planet today, it’s a good time to concentrate on the wishes of prosperity and happiness and peace that we have for others.
I do wish you peace. And I wish you a rich, full life with many, many blessings. And I wish you the ability and the willingness to see those blessings, recognize them, and appreciate them, for only when we’re aware of them are blessings truly blessings.
This Christmas, let us be aware of the thoughts and hopes that we have for others of wonderful, plentiful blessings. And while we can’t provide all those blessings ourselves–no matter how much we may want to–the positive thoughts that we have for others are blessings in themselves.
Touchstones Meditations For Men
December 25
In the sphere of material things, giving means being rich. Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much.
—Erich Fromm
Material possessions have great significance in our world. Not only do we strive to own a special car, electronic gear, and far more clothes than we need, but we also think in terms of possessing a girlfriend, or our health, or happiness, or things that cannot be owned. Some of us have become addicted to buying and owning things. This gimme-gimme mentality affects us all and, rather than enriching us, it impoverishes us. Tangible things enrich us only when we use them and share them to improve our lives and the lives of others. We don’t need to be wealthy to share what we have with others. It is the sharing that nourishes us and builds bridges between us.
Wise people have known for thousands of years that a man’s spirituality is deeply affected by his relationship to his possessions. When we respect what we own as a gift from God and share it with others, we grow richer spiritually.
I will hold my possessions loosely and with respect so they can be used well and shared.
Daily TAO
December 25
SANITY
You are demons.
You are darkness.
Your soul is at stake. Your soul is light.
Dissipation is the threat.
Don’t surrender the key. Just dissolve.
The problems of humanity are not metaphysical. They are personal. Damnation is in you. So too is salvation. You are the prince of darkness. You are also the prince of light. Neither can be cast out of yourself. The valiant coping with that dichotomy is the poignancy of this existence.
The momentum is in favor of darkness. Glory is in favor of light. If you do nothing, you slip toward darkness. If you give the least bit of effort toward the light, you will be helped. Struggle for the light. For the price is dissipation — of the soul, of the mind, of the body, of your very humanity.
The key to all of this is your sanity. You have to struggle to maintain it. It mediates between the light and the dark.