Daily Reflections
February 11
THE LIMITS OF SELF-RELIANCE
“We asked ourselves why we had them [fears]. Wasn’t it because self-reliance failed us?”
—ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.68
All of my character defects separate me from God’s will. When I ignore my association with Him I face the world and my alcoholism alone and must depend on self-reliance. I have never found security and happiness through self-will, and the only result is a life of fear and discontent. God provides the path back to Him and to His gift of security and comfort. First, however, I must be willing to acknowledge my fears and understand their source and power over me. I frequently ask God to help me understand how I separate myself from Him.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
February 11
A.A. Thought For The Day
If we’re going to stay sober, we’ve got to learn to want something else more than we want to drink. When we first came into A.A., we couldn’t imagine wanting anything else so much or more than drinking. So we had to stop drinking on faith, on faith that someday we really would want something else more than drinking. But after we’ve been in A.A. for a while, we learn that a sober life can really be enjoyed. We learn how nice it is to get along well with our family at home, how nice it is to do our work well at the office, how nice it is to try to help others. Have I found that when I keep sober, everything goes well for me?
Meditation For The Day
There is almost no work in life so hard as waiting. And yet God wants me to wait. All motion is more easy than calm waiting, and yet I must wait until God shows me His will. So many people have marred their work and hindered the growth of their spiritual lives by too much activity. If I wait patiently, preparing myself always, I will be some day at the place where I would be. And much toil and activity could not have accomplished the journey so soon.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may wait patiently. I pray that I may trust God and keep preparing myself for a better life.
Walk In Dry Places
February 11
Practice makes patience.
Acquiring Maturity
Extreme impatience is part of most alcoholic stories: “I want what I want when I want it.” When it continues in sobriety, impatience leads to mistakes and accidents. How can we bring impatience under control without losing all drive and initiative?
One route may be to acquire patience through practice. We can devote some time each day to a task that must be done, even if it is tedious and boring. We can make a real effort to be more patient with somebody who is slow or difficult. We can face the fear and anxiety that sometimes make us overwork or turn us into people-pleasers.
These exercises won’t eliminate impatience overnight. But they’ll produce the satisfaction of knowing that we’re getting control of our lives. They will also make us more effective in our dealings with others.
Reminding ourselves that all outcomes are in God’s hands can help us acquire patience. Willful pushing does not bring the serenity and well being we really seek. We labor in vain if we are seeking goals that are not in line with God’s will for us.
I will do my work today with the knowledge that God really is in charge of my life … I do not have to let anything or anyone rob me of my serenity and self-control. I will practice patience in situations where it is needed.
Keep It Simple
February 11
“Sanity is madness put to good use.”
—George Santayana
In Step Two we come to believe a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. In a way, as we work Step Two, we’re praying that our madness can be put to good use. This is just what happens. Addiction was wrecking our life. But it’s also our addiction that forced us into a new way of life.
As long as we remember what our madness was like, we can put it to good use. When we feel like giving up, let’s remember our madness. It will help us go on. When we see someone suffering from the illness of addiction, let’s remember our days of madness. It will help us be there for that person. It’s also good to remember that our madness is only a pill or a drink away.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, I believe You can put my madness to good use. I give up my madness; do with it what You want.
Action for the Day: I’ll list a couple ways my Higher Power and I have changed my madness into sanity.
“When we release the bitterness, judgment and blame of the past, whether of ourselves or others, the past becomes a stepping stone to spiritual growth, to increased compassion, understanding and love. Today, repeat several times, ‘I bless my past and see it as a stepping stone to greater good.’”
—Mary Manin Morrissey“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
—William Arthur Ward“Great Spirit, grant that I may not criticize my neighbor until I have walked a mile in his moccasins.”
—Native American Proverb“Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.”
—Frank A. Clark
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
February 11
PITY
“When a man has pity on all living creatures, then only is he noble.”
—Buddha
We all need each other. More than this, we need to help and sustain each other. And this concept extends beyond human beings—the world is full of other creatures that God has made and which make our lives so fascinating and entertaining. Animals and plants make up our ecological history, and yet, so often we rob and hurt our environment.
Recovery from alcoholism means more than putting down “the drink.” Today I am picking up a responsible attitude that makes me care, on a spiritual level, for my world.
Lord, as I look around my world I cannot help but worship You.
Daily Inspiration
February 11
God will answer our prayers if we believe, but first we must ask. Lord, I need the strength that only You can give.
God will give you strength because He will give of Himself. Lord, thank You for the many gifts of which You always bless me.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
February 11
“Oh God! Like the Thunderbird of old I shall rise again out of the sea; I shall grab the instruments of the white man’s success—his education, his skills, and with these new tools I shall build my race into the proudest segment of your society.”
—Chief Dan George, SALISH
One thing the Indian people do well is adapt. This is why we survive. We must learn to keep our culture, but also to learn the good things that other races have to offer. Education is the future weapon of Native people. We must learn the legal system, health, science and engineering. Indian people have great contributions to make to the world. We need to educate ourselves so we can better protect the land and our children. Otherwise, we will lose the things and the land that we have.
Great Spirit, make me teachable today.
Today’s Gift
February 11
“Life deals more rigorously with some than others.”
—Lewis F. Presnall
How often we think about a friend, He sure is lucky! And probably just as often we say to ourselves, Why did that happen to me? It’s not fair! The truth is, life isn’t always fair. We don’t all get the same experiences, the same lessons. But we each learn what we need to learn in order to fulfill our destiny.
We have to learn to trust. Maybe a bike gets stolen or a friend moves away. It’s not easy to accept such things as these, but we must all learn to understand and accept losses in our lives.
Perhaps we fail a test. The lesson we learn from this may be to study harder or to consider a different course of study in school. There are always reasons for why things happen, but we don’t have to know them.
Can I trust in the lessons of my failures today?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
February 11
“Too much agreement kills a chat.”
—Eldridge Cleaver
Many of us haven’t learned there is room for disagreement in a relationship. Some men who grew up in addicted families saw a lot of pain, anger, and quarreling. Many learned to be always pleasing and agreeable, no matter how they felt. Others took it as a personal insult when someone disagreed with them.
We choke the vitality and excitement in our love relationships if we are too intent on avoiding conflict. Nothing can be resolved if we smooth everything over. Differences between people don’t just go away. If we don’t bring them out, they fester and create silent tension or boredom. If we willingly express our thoughts and feelings, we can learn how to resolve our disagreements and to appreciate each other for our differences as well as our similarities. If two people in a relationship were exactly alike, one of them would be unnecessary.
Today, I will try to be more open about my differences with people, not as a way of fighting, but as a way of letting them know me better.
Daily TAO
February 11
WALKING
Trail beside stream,
Fragrant pine.
Rocky red earth,
Steep mountain.
Walking may be a good metaphor for spiritual life, but there are times when simple hiking is literally the best activity. When one walks in the woods or climbs mountains, there is a wonderful unity of body, mind, and spirit. Hiking strengthens the legs, increases stamina, invigorates the blood, and soothes the mind. Away from the madness of society, one is freed to observe nature’s lessons.
Erosion. Gnarled roots. The carcass of a dead deer. A flight of swallows. The high spirals of hawks. Bladed reflections of rushing water. Just budding bare branches. Gray rock, cracked, shattered, and worn. A fallen tree. A lone cloud. The laughter of plum branches. Even a little circle of rocks beside the trail—who put them there, or did any hand arrange them, and no matter which, what are the secrets of that circle?
There are a thousand meanings in every view, if only we open ourselves to see the scripture of the landscape.