Daily Reflections
January 4
BEGIN WHERE YOU ARE
We feel that elimination of our drinking is but a beginning. A much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations and affairs.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.19
It’s usually pretty easy for me to be pleasant to the people in an A.A. setting. While I’m working to stay sober, I’m celebrating with my fellow A.A.s our common release from the hell of drinking. It’s often not so hard to spread glad tidings to my old and new friends in the program. At home or at work, though, it can be a difference story. It is in situations arising in both of those areas that the little day-to-day frustrations are most evident, and where it can be tough to smile or reach out with a kind word or an attentive ear. It’s outside of the A.A. rooms that I face the real test of the effectiveness of my walk through A.A.’s Twelve Steps.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
January 4
A.A. Thought For The Day
Have I admitted I am an alcoholic? Have I swallowed my pride and admitted I was different from other drinkers? Have I accepted the fact that I must spend the rest of my life without liquor? Have I any more reservations, any idea in the back of my mind that some day I’ll be able to drink safely? Am I absolutely honest with myself and with other people? Have I taken an inventory of myself and admitted the wrong I have done? Have I come clean with my friends? Have I tried to make it up to them for the way I have treated them?
Meditation For The Day
I will believe that fundamentally all is well. Good things will happen to me. I believe that God cares for me and will provide for me. I will not try to plan ahead. I know that the way will unfold, step by step. I will leave tomorrow’s burden to God, because He is the great burden-bearer. He only expects me to carry my one-day’s share.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may not try to carry the burden of the universe on my shoulders. I pray that I may be satisfied to do my share each day.
Walk In Dry Places
January 4
God’s will for us
Higher Will
More than one alcoholic has trouble learning and accepting God’s will. This difficulty may grow out of the old belief that God’s will is going to be something unpleasant or dull. “I was afraid of learning God’s will, because I thought I might have to go off to Africa as a missionary,” one young person said at a meeting.
But God only intends what is best for us; therefore, the only real happiness and security comes from learning and carrying out God’s will. God’s plan is always better and greater than anything we might produce when depending solely on human reason. Our own view and understandings are limited, but God can see a breathtaking sweep of wonderful activities and opportunities for us.
Most of us, by yielding to self-will, lose out in the search for real joy, true success, and genuine happiness. Our alcoholism was perhaps the best example of self-will in action. It was only when we turned to a Higher Power that we began to find the things that we had been vainly seeking in the bottle. God has brought us this far and will not fail us when we ask for guidance and understanding in other matters.
I will keep in mind today that God’s will for me is good, and that God gives me the power to live in peace and harmony with others.
Keep It Simple
January 4
He who is swift to believe is swift to forget.
—Abraham Joshua Herschel
Life is full of questions. Many people tell us they have the answers. We have to be careful of who and what we believe. Other people’s ideas may not fit us. The program doesn’t tell us much about what to believe. It teaches us how to believe. How well the program works for us depends on what we believe and how well we live it. When we face all the facts, we can really believe. We believe we are powerless over our addiction. We believe we must and can change some things in our lives. We believe we can trust a Higher Power to care for us. When we choose to believe, we want to choose the best beliefs we can. And once we believe, we must not forget.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me know You, and help me know the truth.
Action for the Day: Today I’ll think about my First Step. Do I truly believe I’m powerless over my disease?
“Laughter is as good as jogging for our heart, lungs, and brain.”
–Gail Grenier SweetPeople travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering.
–St. Augustine of Hippo
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
January 4
FREEDOM
“A hungry man is not a free man.”
— Adlai Stevenson
For years I craved food. It was my escape from reality. It stopped the pain, loneliness and anger — for a moment. It felt good. Eventually I began to feel bad — but I could not stop. I was addicted to sugar and sodium. My freedom was being exchanged for doughnuts!
I heard a man talk about his compulsion around cocaine and gambling. I asked how he managed to abstain and he replied: “Talk about it, a day at a time!”
Today I am compulsive about getting well, and I talk about my disease every day. The price of freedom is vulnerability. God is in the risk. I have taken it.
God, let me experience freedom in the choices I make today.
Daily Inspiration
January 4
It is you, not where you are or what you have, that makes the difference. Lord, may I always blossom where I am planted.
Kindness can accomplish that which force won’t. Lord, may I pause when I am about to react to irritations and respond as though it is You to whom I speak.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
January 4
“Our circle is timeless, flowing, it is a new life emerging from death-life winning out over death.”
–Lame Deer, LAKOTA
When we look at the world in the manner which the Great Spirit designed it, we can see why it makes sense to live in harmony with it: the trees grow and bear fruit, the fruit has seeds, the seeds fall to the ground, the ground grows new trees, old trees die to make way for the young. Any time we think we can interrupt this cycle or change it we will experience turmoil and confusion. The Human Cycle exists as the baby becomes the youth, the youth becomes the adult, the adult has children, the adult becomes the Elder, and the Elder teaches the youth. Elders go on to the Spirit World. Spirit comes into babies to produce new life. Flow into the flow. Be the path of least resistance.
My Creator and my Make, today, teach me to just flow with the river of life.
Today’s Gift
January 4
“A tip-off to an abusive family system is a situation in which nobody ever apologizes.”
—Karen Shaud
When we get a tip-off, we can open the door to a whole new way of looking at the world. The tip-off about apologies can help us learn to have a healthier family. It is hard to apologize, but with practice, it will get easier. We are learning that we can make mistakes, and admit them, and that other people will accept our apologies. In the same way, we are learning we can accept others’ apologies. Apologies are sometimes hard to make. It helps to keep in mind that we make them as much for ourselves and our own growth as for the person we apologize to. We are not worthless just because we make mistakes, but we increase our value t o ourselves and others by being able to recognize them and apologize.
Touchstones Meditations For Men
January 4
What if the interests of the self were expanded to … a God’s eye view of the human scene … accepting failure as being as natural an occurrence as success in the stupendous human drama… as little cause for worry and concern as having to play the role of a loser in a summer theater performance. —Huston Smith
Detachment is a mature and wise way of dealing with life experiences. It is sometimes difficult because it challenges our maturity. How can we take failure lightly when we have been taught all our lives to be winners and to accept every dare? How can we stand back from a loved one who is anxious and in pain, still be supportive, but not take charge as if it were our problem?
We can question some of our old ideas. Maybe we were wrong to think we should always be Prince Charming who rescues maidens in distress. Maybe our ideas about being winners have been compulsions that stood in our way of having true friends.
As my perspective is changed, I will get stronger in maintaining a healthy detachment.
Daily TAO
January 4
REFLECTION
Moon above water.
Sit in solitude.
If waters are placid, the moon will be mirrored perfectly. If we still ourselves, we can mirror the divine perfectly. But if we engage solely in the frenetic activities of our daily involvements, if we seek to impose our own schemes on the natural order, and if we allow ourselves to become absorbed in self-centered views, the surface of our waters becomes turbulent. Then we cannot be receptive to Tao.
There is no effort that we can make to still ourselves. True stillness comes naturally from moments of solitude where we allow our minds to settle. Just as water seeks its own level, the mind will gravitate toward the holy. Muddy water will become clear if allowed to stand undisturbed, and so too will the mind become clear if it is allowed to be still.