Daily Reflections
March 17
MYSTERIOUS WAYS
” … out of every season of grief or suffering, when the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered, and that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God does ‘move in a mysterious way: His wonders to perform.’”
—TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105
After losing my career, family and health, I remained unconvinced that my way of life needed a second look. My drinking and other drug use were killing me, but I had never met a recovering person or an A.A. member. I thought I was destined to die alone and that I deserved it. At the peak of my despair, my infant son became critically ill with a rare disease. Doctors’ efforts to help him proved useless. I redoubled my efforts to block my feelings, but now the alcohol had stopped working. I was left staring into God’s eyes, begging for help. My introduction to A.A. came within days, through an odd series of coincidences, and I have remained sober ever since. My son lived and his disease is in remission. The entire episode convinced me of my powerlessness and the unmanageability of my life. Today my son and I thank God for his intervention.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
March 17
A.A. Thought For The Day
A. A. also helps us to hang onto sobriety. By having regular meetings so that we can associate with other alcoholics who have come through that same door in the wall, by encouraging us to tell the story of our own sad experiences with alcohol, and by showing us how to help other alcoholics. A.A. keeps us sober. Our attitude toward life changes from one of pride and selfishness to one of humility and gratitude. Am I going to step back through that door in the wall to my old helpless, hopeless, drunken life?
Meditation For The Day
Withdraw into the calm of communion with God. Rest in that calm and peace. When the soul finds its home of rest in God, then it is then that real life begins. Only when you are calm and serene can you do good work. Emotional upsets make you useless. The eternal life is calmness, and when a man enters into that, then he lives as an eternal being. Calmness is based on complete trust in God. Nothing in this world can separate you from the love of God.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may wear the world like a loose garment. I pray that I may keep serene at the center of my being.
Walk in Dry Places
March 17
Is it Easy?
Practicing principles
There’s no “softer, easier way,” we’re told. If so, why are we also urged to embrace the slogan “Easy does it?” Which is right?
Both are right, because they express two different ideas. The softer, easier way doesn’t work because it grows out of self-deception and falls short of a thorough working of the program. “Easy does it” works because it describes an approach to action that is relaxed, confident, and careful.
The person seeking an easier, softer way usually avoids taking some of the steps that are considered necessary in maintaining sobriety. It’s a way of trying to win without doing sufficient work. The person following the “Easy does it” principle pays attention to every detail, but carries on without reasonable haste or excessive loafing.
In a spiritual sense, “Easy does it” also means letting the Higher Power carry the load. At all times, however, we must continue to make choices and bear responsibility for our actions.
I’ll be relaxed and confident while carrying on a full day’s activity. There is always time to do things the right way.
Keep It Simple
March 17
“Skill to do comes of doing.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Often, we just want to sit and do nothing. And why not. We go to meetings, work the Twelve Steps, read, make new friends. All this takes energy and means taking risk. Haven’t we earned the right to just sit and take it a break from it all? No! In the past, we avoided life. Now we’re becoming people of action. We take risk. We’re becoming people who get involved in life. We practice caring about people and caring about ourselves. At times, we may complain, but we do what is needed to stay sober. We gain skills by doing. why? We do it to save our lives. How? By trusting. We now trust that our Higher Power and friends will be there for us. They will help us push past our fears. As we practice daily how to stay sober, our skills grow.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, Yours is a spirit of action. Allow me to become skilled at being active.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll work at being active and alive. Maybe I’ll start a new friendship or try a new meeting.
“He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.”
—Marcus Aurelius“If you make yourself a doormat, you will be stepped on.”
—American Proverb“The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
—Marcel Proust“The Way isn’t something that can be put into words. You have to practice before you can understand. You can’t force things, including practice. Understanding is something that happens naturally. It’s different for everyone. The main thing is to reduce your desires and quiet your mind.”
—Master Hsueh“Within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty; to which every part and every particle is equally related; the eternal One.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
March 17
SAINTS
“The saints are the sinners who keep on going.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson
At times I do not want to carry on; I do not want to fight anymore for truth and freedom; it seems so much easier to “give up ” and agree with everybody—but I know, deep inside myself, this is not true.
At times the disease speaks to me and tells me to “give up” and everything will be okay—perhaps have one drink, don’t rush off to so many meetings, get what you can when you can! It all sounds so tempting, but I know that it does not work.
Sobriety works! The struggle and pain to act responsibly in my life is paying off and it does get better. I am not going to give up. My life is worth more than a quick fix!
Lord, let me know that true courage is working through the pain.
Daily Inspiration
March 17
We have been given a treasure of talents which should be accepted with responsibility and gratitude. Lord, may my gifts flourish in great faith and charity so that they may also benefit others.
Love who you are, for who you are, God loves. Lord, help me to never abuse myself with self pity or excess, emotionally or physically, so that I may live my life to the fullest according to Your Will.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
March 17
“By listening to the inner self and following one’s instincts and intuitions, a person may be guided to safety.”
—Dr. A.C. Ross (Ehanamani), LAKOTA
Be still and know. The Medicine Wheel teaches the four directions of inner power – not personal power, but the power of God. These four directions are emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual. As our emotions get too far out of control, we simultaneously create an equivalent mental picture, our physical body fills with stress and tension, and we become spiritually confused. When we experience these uptight feelings, the best thing to do is mentally pause, slow down our thinking, breathe slowly, or pray and ask the spirits to help. Only when we approach the stillness of the mind do we get access to our spiritual guidance system. To be guided, let your mind be still.
Creator, today, let me reside in Your stillness.
Journey to the Heart
March 17
Cherish Hope
It was a beautiful city in Idaho. The lake that ran alongside the highway was so clear and blue, I pulled the jeep to the roadside just to stop and stare. The air was clear. The city felt light, airy, buoyant. It’s name was hope.
I didn’t stay long. I didn’t need to. But I needed to drive by, drive through, pause for a moment to remember another important power to discover and cherish on our journey. Hope is airy, almost intangible, yet if we don’t have it, we know it. Hope is simple. Clear. Light. Our hearts, our souls, need a good glimpse of it every so often, just to keep us going.
Even those times we can’t have what we want, we can be open to seeing its light shining unexpectedly in another direction, like this small town that caught my eye.
Cherish hope. It adds buoyancy to the spirit, lightness to the day.
Today’s Gift
March 17
“Love is always open arms.”
—Leo Buscaglia
There is a story about a boy who left home and dishonored his father by spending a large amount of money on fast and reckless living. When the boy’s money ran out, he was faced with the prospect of returning home to face his father, knowing the father had every reason to be disappointed in him. Filled with fear and shame he approached his home, his mind racing with words of apology. Before the boy could say a word, his father rushed to him with open arms and hugged his lost son in joy and love.
Have we done this? Have we found it in our hearts to approve whatever a loved one does, even if we would have wanted something different?
Love like this is the highest kind of love. It finds joy in others no matter what, because it recognizes the freedom of those we love, and doesn’t chain them to our own wants. It is the same kind of love God has for us.
Are my arms open today?
Touchstones Meditation For Men
March 17
“The reward of friendship is itself. The man who hopes for anything else does not understand what true friendship is.”
—Saint Ailred of Rievaulx
The comfort of a true friend in a time of trouble, the strength we sense in being with someone who truly knows us, the affirmation of life that comes with enduring friendships—no other experience is like these. Recovery, once our addictive behaviors end, is mostly through relationships. In this program we are developing a friendship with ourselves, with other men and women, and with our Higher Power.
True friendship happens when we lower our guard and let our feelings show. It happens when we listen without judgment. It accumulates over time in many little experiences with someone. There is friendship in returning to someone when we feel offended or hurt so the relationship can be repaired – and in returning to him when we have been the offender. Sometimes friendship means humility, or accepting our worthiness to be forgiven. The development and deepening of our friendships, with other men, with women, and with ourselves sustains us in recovery.
Today, I will be true in my friendships.
Daily TAO
March 17
SANCTITY
Every soul is inviolable,
Any thought can be private.
The deepest goal is to
Find sanctity’s source.
The body may be ravaged and hacked to pieces, but the mind may never be invaded. It is only when we permit others to influence us that our minds may be entered. Evil may thrive on enslaving us physically, emotionally, or mentally, but it can do so only by deception. That is why we must remember the sanctity of our own souls. Our thoughts are private. As long as we are determined, evil cannot sway us. People think that others can read minds or that the gods watch our every movement. No master, no psychic, no god can enter our inner gate if we choose not to let them in.
By withdrawing into the sanctity of our souls, we can also know ourselves. This effort cannot be carried forth by others. It can only be accomplished through the self-effort of living and engaging in ongoing contemplation. Only we can enter the most sacred core of our beings and find the secrets of life.
Daily Zen
March 17
I expected to see only pink blossoms,
But a gentle spring snow has fallen
And the cherry trees are wearing a white coat.
—Ryokan (1758-1831)