Daily Reflections
May 30
OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE
The more A. A. sticks to its primary purpose, the greater will be its helpful influence everywhere.
-A. A. COMES OF AGE, p. 109
It is with gratitude that I reflect on the early days of our Fellowship and those wise and loving “foresteppers” who proclaimed that we should not be diverted from our primary purpose, that of carrying the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. I desire to impart respect to those who labor in the field of alcoholism, being ever mindful that A. A. endorses no causes other than its own. I must remember that A. A. has no monopoly on miracle making and I remain humbly grateful to a loving God who made A. A. possible.
Twenty-Four Hours A
Day
May 30
A. A. Thought for the Day
I am part of A. A., one among many, but I am one. I need the A. A. principles for the development of the buried life within me. A. A. may be human in its organization, but it is Divine in its purpose. The purpose is to point me toward God and a better life. Participating in the privilege of the movement, I shall share in the responsibilities, taking it upon myself to carry my fair share of the load, not grudgingly but joyfully. To the extent that I fail in my responsibilities, A. A. fails. To the extent I succeed, A. A. succeeds. Do I accept this as my A. A. credo?
Meditation for the Day
“Praise the Lord.” What does praising God mean? It means being grateful for all the wonderful things in the universe and for all the blessings in your life. So praise God by being grateful and humble. Praise of this kind has more power to vanquish evil than has mere resignation. The truly grateful and humble person who is always praising God, is not tempted to do wrong. You will have a feeling of security because you know that fundamentally all is well. So look up to God and praise Him.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be grateful for all my blessings. I pray that I may humble because I know that I do not deserve them.
Walk in Dry Places
May 30
Civilians who show
resentments
Healthy Thinking
As compulsive people, we’re urged to watch resentments carefully. These negative feelings can flare up out of nowhere and bring terrible destruction.
This sensitivity in spotting our own resentments also makes us more aware of resentments in others— perhaps people who are not alcoholics and thus are considered NORMAL. (Earth people I call them even if I doubt that anyone is really normal)
When this happens, we have no responsibility to point their resentment out to them. Our best approach is to deal with them as cordially as possible and to withdraw gracefully if their resentment is directed at us. This teaches us that resentment is a universal human problem— not just an affliction of alcoholics and other compulsive people.
While guarding against resentment in myself today, I’ll not be surprised or hurt when it appears in others. If it does, I will not feel hurt or surprised, knowing that it’s a human problem.
Keep It Simple
May 30
One Day at a Time
-AA program slogan
One Day at a Time reminds us to live in a sane, natural way. It reminds us we can’t control the past. It reminds us we can’t control the future. We can live only in the present. We have only the moment. We have only today.
Before recovery, our worries about the past and the future put stress in our lives We need to live in a way that doesn’t put us in danger. We need to live in a way that lets us enjoy things. We need to live in a way that lets us stay close to others, ourselves, and our Higher Power.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, teach me to really live One Day at a Time.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll keep reminding myself that I have the moment. No more, no less. Am I using my moments the way my Higher Power wants me to?
“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”
–Pope John XXIII
“You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.”
–Goldsmith
“The value of all service lies in the spirit in which you serve and not in the importance or magnitude of the service. Even the lowliest task or deed is made holy, joyous, and prosperous when it is filled with love.”
–Charles Fillmore
“Integrity is telling myself the truth. Honesty is telling the truth to other people.”
–Spencer Johnson
“A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside.”
–Denis Waitley
Father Leo’s Daily
Meditation
May 30
POSTERITY
“We need to make a world in which fewer children are born, and in which we take better care of them.”
–Dr. George Wald
Spirituality is concerned for the physical. How we plant seeds, do exercises and develop a healthy food plan is as important as prayer, reading and meditation. The body is part of the soul.
Also we have a responsibility for the future; for those who follow us on this planet. The ecological welfare of our world is spiritual. An irresponsibility concerning childbirth reveals an arrogance that does not belong to the spiritual program. The satisfaction of our personal desires should never hurt the lives of others – including the unborn.
Teach me to have a spiritual responsibility to the future.
Daily Inspiration
May 30
Look beyond people’s behaviors and have compassion for what may be causing their insensitivities. Lord, I will not take everything personal because I don’t know the weight of my neighbor’s cross.
We are on earth to discover our own path and will never be happy trying to live someone else’s idea of life. Lord, may I be happy with who I am and not evaluate myself in terms of someone else’s success.
Elder’s Meditation
of the Day
May 30
“Power comes and goes. It can vanish in the twinkling of an eye, like smoke dissolving in the air.”
–Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
The East, South, West, and North are the powers of the four directions. The Creator makes these powers available to do things. We pray to the Creator to give us the power to do these things. Often, we are given these powers for awhile, then these powers disappear. Power is given and taken from us by the Great Spirit, the source of power. During the time we have this power, we should be responsible and use the power in a good way. Many good things can be accomplished when we realize where this power really comes from.
Great Spirit, today, show me how to use Your power.
Today’s Gift
May 30
The cut worm forgives the plow.
—William Blake
Would anyone believe that rain abuses grass, or accuse roots, hungry for a better hold on life, of digging too far into earth’s flesh? And if the earth should have to quake, would anyone blame it for cracking here and there? Look closely at the small world of busy life overturned in the garden each spring. No ant there curses another bug, and no worm curses itself. Though they can neither speak nor think, even small creatures know enough to accept their pain as a natural part of life.
Why, then, should we waste time blaming others, or ourselves, for the natural sensations of life?
In the process of new growth, can we expect no pain?
Touchstones
Meditation For Men
May 30
A frontier is never a place; it is a time and a way of life. Frontiers pass, but they endure in their people.
—Hal Borland
Frontiers are borders, and in our development we meet them again and again. Our first loves, as teenagers were emotional and spiritual frontiers. Leaving home after childhood was another. Becoming a father, perhaps another. Some frontiers are very generous and exciting, while others are frightening, dangerous. Certainly this program has been a frontier for us.
To stay alive spiritually we need to continually go to the borders of our experience – or go back and face an old one from a new angle. We may encounter a new border in learning God’s will for us in a new way, or in learning a new handicraft or sport, or meeting a life experience we didn’t expect. We accumulate these memories within us. Some frontiers from long ago exist within us as if they were just yesterday. What frontiers stand out in our lives as we look back? What spiritual learning came from them? This is how we grow as men.
I am grateful for past frontiers that endure within me. They have strengthened and deepened my manhood.
Daily TAO
May 30
MERCY
Uphold precepts, but be merciful.
Gradually absorb, until there is no need for law.
Gain wisdom beyond right and wrong.
There was a young priest who returned to the community of his birth. Instead of the neighborhood he knew as a boy, the community was now predominantly homosexual. He was uncertain : On one hand, he had to serve the people. On the other hand, his sect forbade homosexuality and condemned it as a grave wrong. It would seem that whatever he did, he would be a hypocrite. He eventually decided to accept all who came to him but still uphold the doctrines of his sect. He saw his most important duty as mercy, and so he was able to help others without truly violating his precepts. When there are contradictions between beliefs, one must resolve them in favor of what one judges to be the higher principle.
We should not sell our ideals short for the sake of expediency or selfishness. Following a particular spiritual tradition means a full commitment to its rules in order to gain the essence of that tradition. But we cannot afford to be dogmatic. Human law is imperfect : There will always be unprecedented circumstances. Thus, we must go beyond rules and operate instead from pure wisdom. We must act with experience, flexibility, and insight. Let us so absorb integrity — experiencing both its triumphs and defeats — that we do the right thing intuitively.