Daily Reflections
June 16
OPEN-MINDEDNESS
We have found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the realm of spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive, never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.
-AS BILL SEES IT, p. 7
Open-mindedness to concepts of a Higher Power can open doors to the spirit. Often I find the human spirit in various dogmas and faiths. I can be spiritual in the sharing of myself. The sharing of self joins me to the human race and brings me closer to God, as I understand Him.
Twenty-Four Hours A
Day
June 16
A. A. Thought for the Day
But even faith is not the whole story. There must be service. We must give this thing away if we want to keep it. The Dead Sea has no outlet and it is stagnant and full of salt. The Sea of Galilee is clear and clean and blue, as the Jordan River carries it out to irrigate the desert. To be of service to other people makes our lives worth living. Does service to others give me a real purpose in life?
Meditation for the Day
Seek God early in the day, before He gets crowded out by life’s problems, difficulties, or pleasures. In that early quiet time gain a calm, strong confidence in the goodness and purpose in the universe. Do not seek God only when the world’s struggles prove too much and too many for you to bear or face alone. Seek God early, when you can have a consciousness of God’s spirit in the world. People often only seek God when their difficulties are too great to be surmounted in any other way, forgetting that if they sought God’s companionship before they need it, many of their difficulties would never arise.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not let God be crowded out by the hurly-burly of life. I pray that I may seek God early and often.
Keep It Simple
June 16
AA states that resentments is the “number one offender” among our members, that it puts more alcoholics in the graves than any other thing.
—Stools and Bottles
We can get high on anger. That’s why it’s dangerous. We get a false sense of power from being angry. Our anger turns into resentments. Resentments turn into hate. Hate eats at our spiritual core.
We can get rid of resentments and hate through prayer and helping others. That’s why we we’re to pray for those who have wronged us, so our hearts don’t fill with hate. This why, we use our energy in a healthy way. And our serenity will grow as we see that anger no longer has so much power over our actions.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me stop using anger, resentments and hate for control over other people and advents I don’t like.
Action for the Day: I’ll list all the people I’m angry at. I’ll say a simple prayer for each of them.
Walk in Dry Places
June 16
Solving our common
problem
Recovery
Twelve Step programs bring together people who admit certain behaviors that society often views with pity or contempt. Some of these behaviors, such as alcoholism and gambling, are heavily stigmatized.
Though we often talk about “our common problem,” the thing we have most in common with each other is that we’re human beings who share the human condition. No one is really immune from the similar problems that beset us.
That’s why somebody once remarked, only in half-jest, that “alcoholics are like normal people, only more so.” We have to remember that the people around us are no different from us in that they are subject to such feelings as pride, resentment, self-pity, and discouragement.
Our common problem is really that we’re human beings who need a spiritual life in order to become our true selves. This can turn a problem into a new life if we accept the program.
Today I’ll look upon all people with understanding and acceptance. Everyone shares the same feelings that drive me, and everyone deserves my warmth and understanding.
“The secret of self-confidence and courage hinges on the kind of thoughts you think. In the long run, your subconscious will send up to you what you send down to it. Take charge of your mind and begin to fill it with healthy thoughts.”
–Norman Vincent Peale
Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he
learned in school.
–Albert Einstein
“Don’t talk about what you have done or what you are going to do–do it and let it speak for itself.”
–Martin Vanbee
If every man would sweep before his own doors, the city would soon be clean.
– Italian Proverb
Those who dance are thought to be quite insane by those who cannot hear music.
– Maggie Erotokritou
Father Leo’s Daily
Meditation
June 16
LEARNING
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”
–Henry Ford
My life is exciting today because I am learning and creating so much in recovery. Even things that I thought I understood have a new “ring”. Words, ideas, relationships and the awareness of God are forever changing – usually for the better.
Sobriety is not boring. It is not stuffy, rigid or restrictive – and discussions (not arguments) within the fellowship of recovering people produces fresh insights. Today I am involved in the life of God. I am creating, healing and forever learning more about the mystery of love.
O Teacher of the Universe, let me seek beyond that which I understand.
Daily Inspiration
June 16
Nothing is more important than your own peace of mind and ability to be happy. Lord, help me to remember that I must take care of myself because only then can I care for others.
Confront your problems so they don’t gather like weights upon your back. Lord, help me to handle my concerns of today and lay them to rest.
Elder’s Meditation
of the Day
June 16
“For me, the essence of a medicine man’s life is to be humble, to have great patience, to be close to the Earth, to live as simply as possible, and to never stop learning.”
–Archie Fir Lame Deer, LAKOTA
The Medicine people focus on their Being, not their doing. After all, we are human beings not human doings. The Medicine people are very patient and consciously trying to live a life of humility. Medicine people are servant leaders. Their main purpose is to serve the needs of others. By this service attitude, they become the leaders people listen to and the leaders the people want to follow. The Medicine people say everyone is their teacher. Maybe we should try to live this way ourselves; humble, patient, honoring the Earth and listening to our teachers.
Grandfather, today, let me know all people are my teachers and I am the student.
Today’s Gift
June 16
Being alive is being creative. You need do nothing but affirm your aliveness.
—Gay Bonner
What does it mean to be alive? Does it mean merely breathing, eating, and moving around, or is there more to it? Being alive can mean different things to different people. To some, it’s sewing a baby quilt for a new life about to be born. To others, it’s singing, or walking, or running. Still others find it in the exhilaration of skiing, or the tropical splendor they find when scuba diving.
Each of us has our own favorite activity that lets us feel our creativity and vitality, that lets us feel a part of the larger world. Two gifts these activities leave us with are joy and energy. Joy is one of the most creative forces we can call on, and energy gives us the power to do it well.
What will my creative activity be today?
Touchstones
Meditation for Men
June 16
It’s not hard. When I’m not hittin’, I don’t hit nobody. But when I’m hittin’, I hit anybody!
—Willie Mays
It seems like some days everything goes our way. Everything falls together in a way that makes life easier for us. Other days are just the opposite; on a bad day we seem to be all thumbs. In our spiritual practice we know we don’t control all that goes on around us.
We all are vulnerable to accidents, random misfortune, and illness. Yet, when we don’t fight against the events of our lives, somehow things go better for us. We can remember that as difficult as a day may be, we are never alone because nothing can separate us from our Higher Power. When we accept the bad things that come, even though they are unfair, we give them less power in our lives. Then we are free to go forward and leave more room for the good things.
Today, I’ll accept the problems I must confront and leave room for the good things.