Daily Reflections
November 24
A UNIVERSAL SEARCH
Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer.
-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 87
I do not claim to have all the answers in spiritual matters, any more than I claim to have all the answers about alcoholism. There are others who are also engaged in a spiritual search. If I keep an open mind about what others have to say, I have much to gain. My sobriety is greatly enriched, and my practice of the Eleventh Step more fruitful, when I use both the literature and practices of my Judeo-Christian tradition, and the resources of other religions. Thus, I receive support from many sources in staying away from the first drink.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
November 24
A.A. Thought For The Day
Instead of being pretended perfectionists, in A.A. we are content if we are making progress. The main thing is to be growing. We realize that perfectionism is only a result of false pride and an excuse to save our faces. In A.A. we are willing to make mistakes and to stumble, provided we are always stumbling forward. We are not so interested in what we are as in what we are becoming. We are on the way, not at the goal. And we will be on the way as long as we live. No A.A. has ever “arrived.” But we are getting better. Am I making progress?
Meditation For The Day
Each new day brings an opportunity to do some little thing that will help to make a better world, that will bring God’s kingdom a little nearer to being realized on earth. Take each day’s happenings as opportunities for something you can do for God. In that spirit, a blessing will attend all that you do. Offering this day’s service to God, you are sharing in His work. You do not have to do great things.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that today I may do the next thing, the unselfish thing, the loving thing. I pray that I may be content with doing small things as long as they are right.
Walk In Dry Places
November 24
Are there better paths to sobriety?
Self-honesty
Now that alcoholism recovery has been well established, alternatives to the AA program are being developed. These are designed to appeal to those who either will not or cannot accept AA.
Nobody in AA should feel threatened by these new programs. We should, in fact, be delighted if ways are found to reach those whom we are unable to help. The need is so great that we should welcome anything that helps alcoholics.
The only real test for any program is that it works. More important, it must work for us. No program is useful to us if we cannot apply it in our own lives.
If we have found sobriety in AA, we have no need to look further. If AA was able to help us in our hour of desperate need, it can help us as the days unfold into the future.
I’ll be thankful today for the sobriety AA has given me. I’ll also remember that my need for help in maintaining sobriety will never end.
Keep It Simple
November 24
Freedom is not enough.
-Lyndon B. Johnson
We are free of alcohol and other drugs. We’ve been given a second chance or third chance.
For that, we thank our Higher Power. We’ve started a new life. But to keep this life, we need to change. We need new friends. We need to let a Higher Power guide our hearts, minds, and bodies. We need new friends. We need to let a Higher Power guide our hearts, and bodies. We need to learn new values and how to stand up for them. We need to learn how to give and receive.
Freedom from dependence is not enough. We also want to be happy, and to do something with our lives. So each day we keep learning, we keep growing. Each day without alcohol or other drugs is a gift, a gift from God.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, You set me free. Now teach me to stay free. Guide me, for keeping my freedom is a big task
Action for the Day: I will meditate on my freedom. I will take time to list all the ways I am now free.
You cannot do a kindness too soon, because you never know how soon it will be too late.
-Cited in The Best of BITS & PIECESA light heart lives long.
-Irish ProverbPeople are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within.
-Elizabeth Kubler-RossThere is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.
-Marguerite Gardiner BlessingtonSeven days without a meeting makes one weak.
-unknownIt takes only a moment to be kind, but the result can last a lifetime.
-unknown
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
November 24
SHAME
“If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.”
-Marcus Tullius Cicero
I was afraid to tell you what I was thinking. I was afraid to speak or be noticed. I sat for hours silent and at times I wished I could vanish into the furniture. I was afraid of my shadow.
This reveals not only my lack of confidence but my low self-esteem. I did not think I had anything to say, anything to offer, anything that might be considered interesting. I would laugh at stupid things to please people.
Today I speak out. I do not hide what I am thinking. I believe I have something to offer in the celebration of life. And it feels good. My spiritual growth is proportionate to my willingness to let you know who I am and what I think.
I celebrate my joy in living by sharing it.
Daily Inspiration
November 24
Much time is spent fearing that which isn’t really there in the first place. Lord, help me conquer my fears and overcome my difficulties as they happen rather than giving up and letting my difficulties overcome me.
Our thoughts have a powerful effect on our bodies. Lord, may my thoughts be wholesome and loving and bear good results on me and my life.
Journey to the Heart
November 24
The Power of Gratitude Never Wanes
The haunting music of “Amazing Grace” followed me throughout my travels. I heard it first in the rustic cabin I rented in Arizona. The music from a distant flute wound through the air, filling it like incense, filling me with peace.
The next time I heard the music was at an old Montana hotel. The notes were clearer this time, as the soothing melody drifted across the courtyard.
Then, near the forest in Washington. I heard the hymn once more, again played on a flute. The notes rang out. The melody filled the air, gratitude flooded my soul.
“Amazing Grace” is following me, I thought. I thought again. No, grace wasn’t following me; grace had found me.
The power of gratitude never wanes. Say it when you feel and believe it. Say it when you don’t. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Soon you will hear the music,too. This song of grace will touch you with its haunting melody.
Amazing, amazing grace.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
November 24
“Things would go well for us if we would think positively about everything.”
-Mary Hayes, CLAOQUOT
Each of our thoughts are like individual seeds. These thoughts will plant our life garden. Whatever our thoughts, they grow in our gardens.
Each day we will process about 50,000 thoughts or thought seeds. Positive thoughts will produce positive results. Have you ever been aware of what you are thinking about during the day? Of the possible 50,000 thoughts in one day – if the positive thoughts were flowers and the negative thoughts were weeds – how would your garden look at the end of the day?
Great Spirit, let me plant positive seeds.
Today’s Gift
November 24
I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible day.
—Judith Viorst
Some days, for all our good intentions, seem to go sour from the start. Maybe we’re tired or feeling ill or preoccupied with a problem that seems insurmountable. Maybe we just got up on the wrong side of the bed.
Living one day at a time means getting the most we can out of today. It also means we know today does not have to doom or dictate tomorrow. If we have a bad day today, that’s all it is – a bad day. It does not mean we’re bad or that the world is against us or that we might as well give in to our worst attitudes and behaviors since nothing is going right anyway. And it does not mean tomorrow will be a bad day, too.
When we have a bad day – and everyone does – there are a few things we can do while we wait it out. We can slow down. We can be quiet. We can pray. And we can let go. How else will we be able to recognize a wonderful day?
Am I living today – good or bad – and not tomorrow or yesterday?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
November 24
Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.
—Abraham Heschel
Most of us have struggled with our self-esteem. We believed if we felt better about ourselves we could change some of our behavior. In recovery we found the reverse to be true. First our behavior changed, then our self-esteem improved.
Only after we stop doing things we don’t respect can we hear and accept the goodwill of others around us. Then we see our value as men because we are upholding strong self-images by our actions. This is not easy to do. As we learn, we continue to say no to weak behaviors, and we are released to feel greater dignity.
Saying no to my negative behavior today will improve my self-respect.
Daily TAO
November 24
PRESENCE
Lightning rod at the pinnacle
Attracts power by its mere presence.
In the same way, we must work
For substance and height.
If we want communion with heavenly powers, we need only attain the proper spiritual height. Then heaven will come to meet us as surely as lightning is attracted to a lightning rod. The effort is only in the becoming, in the purification of our characters, in the reaching upward. Once the situation is correct, union is inevitable.
Some people say, “Who cares about heaven?” Some people say, “Why strain for refinement?” Of course, no one is required to make an effort in life. We can all go the easy way. But then we are still lightning rods. Only the forces we attract are not the powers of heaven, but the powers of demons, misfortune, and predators.