Daily Reflections
February 6
A RALLYING POINT
Therefore, Step Two is the rallying point for all of us. “Whether agnostic, atheist, or former believer, we can stand together on this Step.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 33
I feel that A.A. is a God-inspired program and that God is at every A.A. meeting. I see, believe, and have come to know that A.A. works, because I have stayed sober today. I am turning my life over to A.A. and to God by going to an A.A. meeting. If God is in my heart and He speaks to me through other people, then I must be a channel of God to other people. I should seek to do His will by living spiritual principles and my reward will be sanity and emotional sobriety.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
February 6
A.A. Thought For The Day
On a dark night, the bright lights of the corner tavern look mighty inviting. Inside, there seems to be warmth and good cheer. But we don’t stop to think that if we go in there we’ll probably end up drunk, with our money spent and an awful hangover. A long mahogany bar in the tropical moonlight looks like a very gay place. But you should see the place the next morning. The chairs are piled on the tables and the place stinks of stale beer and cigarette stubs. And often we are there too, trying to cure the shakes by gulping down straight whiskey. Can I look straight through the night before and see the morning after?
Meditation For The Day
God finds, amid the crowd, a few people who follow Him, just to be near Him, just to dwell in His presence. A longing in the Eternal Heart may be satisfied by these few people. I will let God know that I seek just to dwell in His presence, to be near Him, not so much for teaching or a message, as just for Him. It may be that the longing of the human heart to be loved for itself is something caught from the Great Divine Heart.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have a listening ear, so that God may speak to me. I pray that I may have a waiting heart, so that God may come to me.
Walk In Dry Places
February 6
Competing with Others
A new View of Competition.
We live in a world torn by endless strife and competition. Although competitiveness can be a good quality, we’ve seen it become very ugly and destructive. A few alcoholics like the excitement of competition, but many of us withdraw from it. We hate anything that includes the risk of defeat or might make us appear second best. Sometimes we even feel guilty in winning.
We don’t need the kind of competition that causes us to gloat arrogantly in victory or to wallow in self-pity in defeat. We don’t really need to compete with others in anything if we are truly seeking guidance from our Higher power. If God is in charge of our lives, we do not have to struggle with others for the good we seek in life. It is God’s pleasure to give us the good things of the kingdom.
There is a kind of competition that does pay off in sobriety … competition with ourselves. We can try to be better people than we might have been yesterday, or a week ago, or a month ago. This kind of competition requires skill and stamina, and it also requires exercise and training. But anybody who sincerely seeks a spiritual life and true self-improvement can find it in AA.
This day, I won’t try to reform or change anybody but myself. I’ll remember that God is in charge of things and concentrate on competing with the person I once was by letting the program work in my life.
Keep It Simple
February 6
We will not know unless we begin.
–Howard Zinn
Let us begin! Whether it be working on our First Step, Finding a sponsor, or talking to someone we hurt–Let us begin. Doubt will set in if we wait too long. Fear will follow. So, let us begin. We learn by doing. Recovery is for doers. Sobriety doesn’t just happen. We create it. We create it by working the Steps and learning from them. We’ll never totally understand the Steps unless we work them. In the same way, we’ll never learn how to have friends unless we try. So, call your friends, instead of waiting to be called. Begin and begin again. Each day is a new beginning.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, today I’ll begin. I begin by asking for Your help and love. Be with me as I go through my day. Help me work for progress, not perfection.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll not sit on the sidelines. I’ll be a doer. I’ll decide what to do to move closer to friends, family, Higher Power, and myself.
We can teach the faith by the way we face what each day brings.
–Damaris Hernandez“Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”
–One Day at a Time in Al-Anon“I said to a man who stood at the gate of the year: Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied, “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.”
–Minnie L. HaskinsIf you judge people, you have no time to love them.
–Mother Teresa
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
February 6
LIES
“Christ cannot possibly have been a Jew. I don’t have to prove that scientifically. It is a fact!”
— Joseph Goebbels
Today I know that if a lie is said loudly enough, often enough, with ceremony and ritual, people will believe it. I can identify with the above statement: I said I was not alcoholic because I did not drink every day, in the mornings, all day and I was too young! People believed me. Some people still choose to believe this lie.
Spirituality requires that I not only confront the lies in other people but also in myself. Usually if I am angry at the remarks of others, it is because they remind me of myself.
Today I seek not simply to condemn but to understand.
May I continue to learn from the criticism I make of others.
Daily Inspiration
February 6
It is better to try and fail than to fail because you are afraid to try. Lord, grant me the courage to live my life to the fullest.
Learn to be peaceful in all situations and trust that through all stages of our lives, God has a plan. Lord, may I have the wisdom to be able to turn my stumbling blocks into building blocks.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
February 6
“We hold on to our otuhan, our give-aways, because they help us to remain Indians.”
–Lame Deer, LAKOTA
Our traditional communities and villages function on interdependence. Share the deer and give freely of what you have to another. Another way to express this principle is, it’s better to give than to receive. To share what you have eliminates complexity. The Elders say, live a simple life. One of the principles in the Unseen World is, the more you give, the more you get. You can become a channel for abundance for your family, tribe or community. A giving person sets up a flow or replacement. Whatever you share will be returned to you in an amount equal or greater. The Indian way is for everyone to give to another, thus the community wins.
Great Spirit, today, teach me the principle of giving. Let me be Your channel of abundance.
Today’s Gift
February 6
Pride works from within; it is the direct appreciation of oneself.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Pride, like all emotions, has two faces: one healthy and one sick. It is our challenge to use the healthy side well. Sick pride fills us with ourselves, looks down on others, and has no room for generosity. Healthy pride is heavy with humility. If we can feel joyful when we succeed, and tell others about it honestly, we are not being boastful.
Sick pride often keeps us from doing things because we are too proud to ask for help when we need it, or too proud to risk failure, or too proud to do anything that might not turn out perfect.
Healthy pride about our greatest victories always comes with the awareness that we did not do it all by ourselves. We had the aid, advice, and encouragement of loved ones. In all things that really count, we never walk alone. Even those who claim pride is not a virtue admit that it is the parent of many virtues.
What makes me proud of myself today?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
February 6
Behind an able man there are always other able men.
—Chinese proverb
Most of us have had a strong desire in our lives to “do it ourselves.” We have had the idea that strength and independence meant we should not rely on or receive help from others. Now, in recovery, we are learning a far more mature and time-honored principle. We find strength to develop to our fullest as members of a community. Maybe we never learned how to ask for help. Perhaps we haven’t learned yet how to accept it. It may still be difficult to express our gratitude for the help that brought us where we are today.
In recovery, we get many lessons about these things. If we are actively growing, we will get help from others and give it too. The rewards of recovery give us ample reasons and opportunities to express our gratitude. We are no longer loners. Now we have a network of friends who truly enjoy and enhance each other’s strength.
Today, I pray for help in learning how to share my strength and to appreciate the strength of others.
Daily TAO
February 6
DISCORD
When birds fly too high,
They sing out of tune.
There are times when we feel out of harmony with our surroundings, matters do not go our way, and we feel confused and disoriented. Sometimes these moments will last a day, sometimes they may last for weeks. When we feel like this, we are not integrated with the Tao, or as it is sometimes metaphorically said, Tao has flowed elsewhere.
Being constantly in touch with Tao is an ideal. There will be times of misfortune and discord from external sources. We can also fall out of synchronization with Tao through our own follies, as when we act without complete consideration. Whenever this happens, we are like the birds singing out of tune: We are mired in discord.
If we keep our patience, we can usually ride out these times. We should take action and break the stagnation if an opportunity presents itself. Whether it is waiting or acting, we should always try to bring a situation back into balance so that we can rejoin Tao.
Whenever we find ourselves linked again, we will feel relieved. We are back on track, back on target. But we should learn from each time that we lose Tao. Sometimes this is enough to prevent recurrences, and sometimes it is enough to buoy our hopes through future lean times. Once we know the Tao, we will recognize it again and again. We will not lose faith, even in times of discord.
Daily Zen
February 6
When the mind neither sorrows nor delights, that is supreme attainment of virtue. To succeed without changing is supreme attainment of calm. To be unburdened by habitual desires is supreme attainment of emptiness. To have no likes and dislikes is supreme attainment of equanimity. Not getting mixed up with things is supreme attainment of purity. Those who can accomplish these five things reach spiritual illuminations. Those who reach spiritual illumination are those who attain the inward.
– Huai-nan-tzu
Food for Thought
February 6
The Power of Love
Love is the best motivation. When we are plugged in to our Higher Power, we are plugged in to love. It flows through us like a current, energizing our sluggish hearts and minds.
As we work the Steps of this program, we are given increased ability to love. By turning over our lives and our wills, we become receptive to the love, which surrounds and sustains us. By taking inventory and being ready to have our character defects removed, we are able to get rid of old ways of thinking and acting which have been blocking out love.
We cannot produce love for others by ourselves, but we can receive it from our Higher Power. We can even receive love for people we don’t particularly like.
Love gives energy for action and directs its course.