Daily Reflections
January 5
TOTAL ACCEPTANCE
He cannot picture life without alcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p.152
Only an alcoholic can understand the exact meaning of a statement like this one. The double standard that held me captive as an active alcoholic also filled me with terror and confusion: “If I don’t get a drink I’m going to die,” competed with “If I continue drinking it’s going to kill me.” Both compulsive thoughts pushed me ever closer to the bottom. That bottom produced a total acceptance of my alcoholism – with no reservations whatsoever – and one that was absolutely essential for my recovery. It was a dilemma unlike anything I had ever faced, but as I found out later on, a necessary one if I was to succeed in this program.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
January 5
A.A. Thought For The Day
Have I turned to a Higher Power for help? Do I believe that each man or woman I see in A.A. is a demonstration of the power of God to change a human being from a drunkard into a sober, useful citizen? Do I believe that this Higher Power can help me from drinking? Am I living one day at a time? Do I ask God to give me the power to stay sober for each twenty-four hours? Do I attend A.A. meetings regularly?
Meditation For The Day
I believe that God’s presence brings peace and that peace, like a quiet flowing river, will cleanse all irritants away. In these quiet times, God will teach me how to rest my nerves. I will not be afraid. I will learn how to relax. When I am relaxed, God’s strength will flow into me. I will be at peace.
Prayer For The Day
I pray for that peace which passes all understanding. I pray for that peace which the world can neither give nor take away.
Walk In Dry Places
January 5
The problem of Gossip
Breaking free from faults.
Our character defects hand on tenaciously because we secretly enjoy or need them. Gossip is an example of this problem. Most of us know that gossip is mean and malicious, yet we enjoy the spurious self-satisfaction and self-importance it gives us.
However, this feeling of self-satisfaction and self-importance is fleeting. When we engage in GOSSIP, we feel guilty, uneasy, and ashamed. We also know the fear of being gossiped about when our own backs are turned, because those who gossip will betray their friends.
Our search for real growth in sobriety should include wiliness to part company with gossip. We also should not permit ourselves to gossip indirectly; that is, by pretending to “understand” another person to induce them to share personal information, or by introducing a subject with the intention of having gossip shared with us. We can also help ourselves by turning away from gossipy news stories and magazines. We cannot grow mentally and spiritually by reading about the misbehavior and shortcomings of others.
Knowing that my true good is in keeping straight, I will go through this one day without engaging in gossip.
Keep It Simple
January 5
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
—Chinese proverb.
Life holds so many choices now that we are sober. We’d like to go so many places. We’d like to see so many things. We have so much to do. We are slowly learning how to trust our dreams and reach for them. Our program teaches us that we live One Day at a Time. We make progress by doing First Things First. Easy Does It. Our dreams may seem very big and far away. We wonder if we’ll ever get there. But our faith tells us to go for it. And we know how: one step at a time.
PRAYER: Higher Power, help me know this gentle truth: my life matters. Help me set goals that I can grow toward, one step at a time.
ACTION: Today, I’ll think about one of my goals. I will list ten little steps that will help me get there.
“You can’t brag that you’re humble … and be humble.”
–Terry McEwenBe still like a mountain and flow like a river.
–Lao-Tze
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
January 5
CHANGE
“It’s the most unhappy people who most fear change.”
—Mignon McLaughlin
When I was drinking, I hated change. I hated things not being the same. I feared anything being different. Rarely did I want to go anywhere new. My attitudes were fixed and rigid. I resented any criticism of my behavior. The unexpected was seen as sabotage or a threat. My paranoia was extreme.
Today I have decided to let go of the control, the pretense and the arrogance. I face life as it comes — and today I do not drink. I am responsible for my life but I cannot control the world. Today I am learning to relax in the acceptance of my disease.
May I always discover the courage to change the things I can.
Daily Inspiration
January 5
People make mistakes, but seldom on purpose. Lord, may my patience with others grow and may I replace my frowns with smiles.
If you want peace and goodness in your life you must be kind and loving. Lord, may I avoid creating misery so that my life will reflect my love for You.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
January 5
“But first, let us join hands and pray.”
–Starleaf, SHINNECOCK
Where two or more human beings joined together for a common cause, the helpers and the Grandfathers will show up to help. When our Indian people come together, the Elders say, “always pray first-do a ceremony and ask the Creator to be with us and to help us. We can never pray enough.” The Elders also say, “pray in a circle because the Creator made things in circles. When we stand in a circle and pray together, a sacred hoop will form above the people. This is the spiritual way.”
Oh Great Spirit, through my prayers I can find Your guidance. I pray You guide my path today. Touch my life with Your holy breath,
Today’s Gift
January 5
. . . and, when the time comes to let it go, . . . let it go.
—Mary Oliver
If we all let go of one thing we like, and take instead each other’s hand; if we all let go of three minutes each day, and find instead a few perfect words for someone in the house; if we all withhold our judgments for one hour, and reveal during that time one of our own small secret sins; if we all skip the same meal each week, and spend the time together in the park; would we have less or more than what we started with?
It is one of the great and pleasing mysteries of life that we gain by giving things up. Instead of grabbing things or demanding from others if we give something up, we leave a space for something new to enter our lives.
Touchstones Meditation For Men
January 5
Be able to be alone. Lose not the advantage of solitude.
—Sir Thomas Browne
Loneliness and solitude are very different things. When we’re lonely, we feel sad about being alone. But when we’re in solitude, we have ourselves and can be at peace. Many of us have had so much pain in our relationships that we often feel lonely. Or we may have been so frightened of being alone that now we avoid it like poison. All of us have known the pain of loneliness, even while we were surrounded by people.
Through solitude we can become more fully acquainted with ourselves, develop greater honesty, and deepen our spiritual development. Each day, as we spend time alone in meditation, we make conscious contact with God and join other men in spirit who also walk this path. Even in our solitude we are not alone.
In this quiet time, I reestablish peace within and find the spirit of my fellow men and women on a similar path.
Daily TAO
January 5
SOUND
Wind in the cave :
Movement in stillness.
Power in silence.
In a cave, all outer sounds are smothered by rock and earth, but this makes the sounds of one’s own heartbeat and breath audible. In the same way, contemplative stillness turns us away from everyday clamor but allows us to hear the subtle in our own lives.
When listening not with the ear but with the spirit, one can perceive the subtle sound. By entering into that sound, we enter into supreme purity. That is why so many religious traditions pray, sing, or chant as a prelude to silence. They understand that the repetition and absorption of sound leads to sacredness itself.