Daily Reflections
May 6
“HOLD BACK NOTHING”
The real tests of the situation are your own willingness to confide and your full confidence in the one with whom you you share your first accurate self-survey. Provided you hold back nothing, your sense of relief will mount from minute to minute. The dammed-up emotions of years break out of their confinement, and miraculously vanish as soon as they are exposed. As the pain subsides, a healing tranquility takes its place.
-TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS p. 61-62,
A tiny kernel of locked-in feelings began to unfold when I first attended A.A. meetings and self-knowledge then became a learning task for me. This new self-understanding brought about a change in my responses to life’s situations. I realized I had the right to make choices in my life, and the inner dictatorship of habits slowly lost its grip. I believe that if I seek God I can find a better way to live and I ask Him daily to assist me in living a sober life.
Twenty-Four Hours A
Day
May 6
A.A. Thought for the Day
I’ve noticed that the ones who do the most for A.A. are not in the habit of boasting about it. The danger of building myself up too much is that, if I do, I’m in danger of having a fall. That pattern of thought goes with drinking. If one side of a boat gets too far up out of the water, it’s liable to tip over. Building myself up and drinking go together. One leads to the other. So if I’m going to stay sober, I’ve got to keep small. Have I got the right perspective on myself?
Meditation for the Day
The way sometimes seems long and weary. So many people today are weary. The weariness of others must often be shared by me. The weary and the heavy laden, when they come to me, should be helped to find the rest that I have found. There is only one sure cure for world-weariness and that is turning to spiritual things. In order to help bring about the turning of the weary world to God, I must dare to suffer, dare to conquer selfishness in myself, and dare to be filled with spiritual peace in the face of all the weariness of the world.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be a help to discouraged people. I pray that I may have the courage to help bring about what the weary world needs but does not know how to get.
Walk in Dry Places
May 6
Dealing with Fear
Challenges
Some of us suffer from a free-floating anxiety that is like a general fear, while others have specific fears that cause distress. Sometimes the specific fears are easier to face, because they can at least be identified. Most of us dread that other kind- a sort of general apprehension that things are not well or that something very bad is about to happen.
It’s reasonable to have some fear when facing trouble or risk. It’s unreasonable, however, to let fear keep us from acting in our own best interests. A review of the past may show that may of us did that while drinking– and brought even more calamities upon ourselves.
Whatever the fear, the answer is always the same. We must apply our principles to the problem, take any reasonable action and then place the outcome in God’s hands. No person can do more than this.
This will not bring permanent victory over fear. It will however, give us confidence in the program as a tool for dealing with fears that arise in the future.
I may have to deal with fear today, but I will accept it as part of the human condition. I know that I have great spiritual resources to deal with any fear that might arise, and this gives me confidence and reassurance.
Keep It Simple
May 6
Anyone who follows a middle course is called a sage.
-Maimonides
Much of the wisdom of our program is about how to live in the middle. We learn how to pause and think before we act. We ask, “What is the best way to handle this?” We look for the smooth part of the road. Our actions tell us who we are. We listen to our actions, and we think about them. This listening and thinking takes time. This slows us down. It’s good for us. It gives us time to talk with our Higher Power. After all, we want our actions to come from the new values our Higher Power has given us. Thus, over time we act and feel wiser. The wisdom of the program becomes part of who we are.
Prayer for the Day: I pray that I I don’t get caught up in the rush of the day. Higher Power, teach me to stop and think, to seek Your wisdom.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll set aside time to think, meditate, and be alone. I will listen to what’s inside me.
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”
–Anne Bradstreet
Today, I will come back to balance with any need or want that seems to be controlling my life. Instead of dwelling on it, I’ll give it to God and focus on taking care of myself.
–Melody Beattie
God is the only constant.
–Ruth Casey
At times fear grips me and I can concentrate only on the anxiety. Then I realize I am in God’s care and I need only trust and the fear subsides.
–Michele Fedderly
Father Leo’s Daily
Meditation
May 6
CHILDLIKE
“In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.”
–Friedrich Nietzsche
My spiritual program means that I can play and have fun in my life. I am forty years old and I can still enjoy going on the swings in the park. But more importantly I have a daily sense of adventure. My eyes light up as I ask: How? When? Where? These words still dominate my life.
I can still get excited about life; I can still get excited about my life.
God is forever present in His world of color, movement and change. But for me God is most clearly seen in people. They are a constant fascination for me. Part of my play involves people-watching and as I gaze my mouth still opens in amazement. The child in me still enjoys the world in which I play.
Thank You for toys, people and “difference” because they add color to my life.
Daily Inspiration
May 6
Each day offers many situations for accomplishment, joy, change and personal growth. Lord, grant me the ability to recognize these moments and the energy to benefit from these daily opportunities.
God knows what is best for you in all matters of your life. Rely on His wisdom. Lord, I place my trust in You because You answer every prayer.
Elder’s Meditation
of the Day
May 6
“We must remember that the heart of our religion is alive and that each person has the ability within to awaken and walk in a sacred manner.”
-Thomas Yellowtail, CROW
The Native Spirituality is full of life. When we seek it we become alive. Even if we have gone astray and have conducted ourselves in a bad way, we can look within and have a new awakening to life. Maybe we have drunk too much alcohol; maybe we have cheated on our spouse; maybe we have done things that make us feel guilty and ashamed. If we look outside ourselves, we will not find life; if we look inside, we will find life. Anytime we choose to change our lives, we only need to look inside. How do we do this? Take some sage and light it, close your eyes and say to the Great Spirit, I’m tired, I need your help. Please help me change.
Great Spirit, I know you exist inside of myself. Let me awaken to your teachings.
Journey to the
Heart
May 6
Stay Open to Life
I have a tendency to be dogmatic. If I have an experience that’s unpleasant, I take a firm stand and say, I’ll never go through that again. I’ll never do that again. If something frightens me or I don’t understand it, I’ll push it away. Won’t even consider it. That won’t work for me, I say, sometimes before I know whether it will or not. Being dogmatic shuts us down and can shut life out.
The universe will challenge our prejudices,though. Without being certain how it happened,we may find ourselves doing the very thing we thought we never would, liking it, and hearing a quiet voice, the one that comes from our heart ask, What do you think now? When we’re open, we’ll find ourselves doing things, sharing things, experiencing things, and liking things we never thought we would or could.
Open your heart. Open your mind. Open to life and all it holds for you. Let the dogma dissolve.
Today’s Gift
May 6
“Take it away at once,” stormed the Princess, stamping her tiny foot in its embroidered slipper. “I hate real flowers; their petals fall off and they die.”
—Hans Christian Andersen
If love is reserved for things that never die, love is doomed to die. If flowers fade in a minute or two, will not stones wear to sand in time? Even this earth, this garden of life, one day will be like the dust of stars. We must walk gratefully, carefully on it now. Now is the lifetime that passes here, now is the best of all days; now is the flower’s eternity in the sun, our chance of a lifetime.
This is all we have, this moment. Within it, anything can be done, any dream fulfilled, if we only use it well. Why hold back? There is nothing to stop us.
What can I do to use this moment well?
Touchstones
Meditation For Men
May 6
Little importance has been given to body awareness. The emphasis is on achievement rather than awareness. Yet it is only those athletes who have a highly developed kinesthetic sense – muscle sense – who ever achieve high levels of excellence.
—W. Timothy Gallwey
The outstanding athlete is guided by the feeling in his muscles and bones. He knows as he moves how much force to apply, how to place the ball on target, or how to dive gracefully. Competitiveness and achievement are useful in our lives. Winning provides us with motivation and fun. But when we give primary importance to being a winner, we weaken and lose balance.
Our balance is strengthened through more awareness in all aspects of our lives. If a ruler refused to hear news from a certain section of his country, his leadership would suffer. When we ignore our feelings and don’t reflect on our daily lives, we become weaker and less adequate men. As we read this page today, we are opening ourselves to internal messages and opening the windows of awareness.
God, help me find more balance and learn to be more aware.
Daily TAO
May 6
METAPHOR
Spirituality is
Applied poetry.
Metaphysics is
Applied metaphor.
All the methods that we have for knowing Tao came from observing the outside world and then applying it to the human dilemma. In the past, the body was seen as a microcosm of the universe, spiritual energy was compared to the sun, the duality of the body was matched to the duality of day and night, the habits of animals were copied for their innate wisdom, and the psychic centers of the body were imagined as opening flowers. Even if we apply these ideas today, they yield results.