Daily Reflections
November 7
LET GO AND LET GOD
” … praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”
-TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 96
When I “Let Go and Let God,” I think more clearly and wisely. Without having to think about it, I quickly let go of things that cause me immediate pain and discomfort. Because I find it hard to let go of the kind of worrisome thoughts and attitudes that cause me immense anguish, all I need do during those times is allow God, as I understand Him, to release them for me, and then and there, I let go of the thoughts, memories and attitudes that are troubling me.
When I receive help from God, as I understand Him, I can live my life one day at a time and handle whatever challenges that come my way. Only then can I live a life of victory over alcohol, in comfortable sobriety.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
November 7
A.A. Thought For The Day
I have lost many of my resentments. I have found that getting even with people doesn’t do any good. When we try to get revenge, instead of making us feel better, it leaves us frustrated and cheated. Instead of punishing our enemies, we’ve only hurt our own peace of mind. It does not pay to nurse a grudge, it hurts us more than anyone else. Hate causes frustration, inner conflict, and neurosis. If we give out hate, we will become hateful. If we are resentful, we will be resented. If we do not like people, we will not be liked by people. Revengefulness is a powerful poison in our systems. Have I lost my resentments?
Meditation For The Day
It is not so much you, as the grace of God that is in you, that helps those around you. If you would help even those you dislike, you have to see that there is nothing in you to block the way, to keep God’s grace from using you. Your own pride and selfishness are the greatest blocks. Keep those out of the way and God’s grace will flow through you into the lives of others. Then all who come in contact with you can be helped in some way. Keep the channel open, free from those things that make your life futile and ineffective.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that all who come in contact with me will feel better for it. I pray that I may be careful not to harbor those things in my heart that put people off.
Walk In Dry Places
November 7
Sincerity at the beginning
Self-Honesty
We were told at our first AA meeting that half-measures will avail us nothing. What’s needed is a sincere desire to stop drinking and a desire to seek a new way of life.
As we continue in the program, we learn that sincerity is an ingredient for success in everything we do. Quite often, we may find that we’re failing in something simply because our heart isn’t really in it.
We can’t force ourselves into a sincere posture. Instead, the answer is to know ourselves well enough to know just how we feel about everything we do.
We’ll learn to be careful about attempting to do something when our heart is not really in it. We may be doing something we dislike merely for the recognition and money it gives us. For real sincerity, we need more than that, and the truths of the program will help us find it.
I’ll be conscious today of the sincerity I have about things I am attempting to do. There may be some things I need to abandon or at least change.
Keep It Simple
November 7
“Telling the truth is a pretty hard thing.”
—Thomas Wolfe
Often, we get scared to tell the truth. We wonder, “What will happen? Will I get in trouble? Will someone be mad at me?’” These things could happen. But good things could happen, too. Sometimes we want to lie.
We don’t want anyone mad at us or unhappy with us. We want people off our back. So we lie. And it comes back to haunt us. We must believe that the best will happen in the long run if we tell the truth. Our program tells us that we can stay sober if we’re honest. Telling the truth takes faith. We must have faith in the program. We must be honest. Our sobriety and our life depend on it.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remember that I’m doing things Your way when I tell the truth.
Action for the Day: I will think about what I say today. I will be as honest as I can be.
“Progress results from persistence with purpose.”
—Frank Tyger“Remember—nothing will happen that you and God can’t handle together.”
—Author Unknown“I’ve never learned anything while I was talking.”
—Larry King“Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.”
—William James“He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.”
—Lao-Tzu“Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.”
—Pearl Strachan Hurd“The written word can be erased—not so with the spoken word.”
—Unknown“A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword.”
—Robert Burton
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
November 7
FEAR
“A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice.”
—Ed Howe
My fear of alcoholism helped me into treatment. My awareness of reality—”I am an alcoholic,”—helped me towards recovery. I was scared into treatment!
I must never forget my frightening yesterdays because that can so easily lead to minimization and tomorrow’s denial. I need to remember my pain if I am to continue to gain. My car accident, my abuse of self and others, my suicidal behavior should be feared, on a daily basis, because it is only one drink away!
God has given me memory—I need to use it. My spiritual courage is in remembering my yesterdays so that I can continue to enjoy the sobriety of today.
May I see that a healthy fear comes from God; it is part of God’s love for me.
Daily Inspiration
November 7
Fears cannot survive without your full attention. Lord, help me to face my fears, realize that they are not as big as I imagine and see that their main purpose is to stop me from action.
Today is far too short to visit with all the friends you want to see, to read all that you want to read, to think all that you want to think, to do all that you want to do. Thank You, Lord, for this beautiful day and for the privilege of spending it as I choose. May I spend it wisely.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
November 7
“Abuse and repression have no place in a traditional family.”
—Haida Gwaii, Traditional Circle of Elders
Traditional families guided by their culture were taught how to live. The were taught about relationships, respect, and spirituality.
Only since alcohol was introduced to Indians have we seen physical abuse, sexual abuse and verbal abuse. These behaviors have no room in traditional families. The cycle of abuse must be broken during this generation. We do this by asking for help to quit drinking and abusing and return to our traditional culture and spirituality.
Creator, plant inside of me the knowledge of the traditional family.
Journey to the Heart
November 7
You Are Being Led
You are being guided. You are being led. I say that a lot because I need to hear that a lot. The more I hear it, the more I believe it. The more I believe it, the more I see it.
There are times when life flows along, when it’s easy and natural to believe we’re being guided. But there comes a point in any journey, in even the most magical of trips, when we look around and say, I don’t know where I’m going. We have no plan, we’re short on ideas, and we’re plumb out of vision. We’ve gone as far as we could see.
Now is the time to practice what you know. Let go. Stay as peaceful as you can. Stay right here in the present moment. Sharpen your tools—your intuition, your inner voice, your consciousness, and your awareness. Do the little things, the small actions that appear right, the things that are right before you. Feel your feelings. Move through the fear. Wrap up in self love.
Then let the journey unfold. Trust that you are being guided and led.
Today’s Gift
November 7
“I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”
—Henry David Thoreau
One of the greatest gifts of our lives is the ability to enjoy solitude. Many of us are unable to enjoy this gift. We are too busy—busy with work, with friends, with entertainment.
When we slow down, we find out we can feel peaceful when we are alone. For most of us, solitude is ordinary—we each find our private place and take up our favorite activities: fishing, sewing, writing, building models, and making pictures. These simple activities are so much fun it’s hard to figure out why it took us so long to calm down and enjoy them.
Our dreams may be quite ordinary. We can learn how to find them.
What ordinary activities have I been putting off because I think I’m too busy?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
November 7
“If the Great Spirit wanted men to stay in one place, He would make the world stand still; but He made it to always change, so birds and animals can move and always have green grass and ripe berries, sunlight to work and play, and night to sleep.”
—Flying Hawk
The American Indian’s spiritual knowledge teaches that God has a rhythm and a benevolent purpose for the earth. How we relate to the changes, which overtake us, is central to our spiritual lives. With our overdeveloped will, we still fight change in many ways. We fight the aging of our bodies by oversensitivity to our thinning hair and increasing grayness. We refuse to accept the end of summer by pouting and getting depressed about the cold. We try to hasten the time when our children are more independent and then hold them back when they get there. Peace comes with trusting the Great Spirit to bring changes in their natural progression. The extent of our willfulness affects our serenity—but not the progress of change.
God, help me accept the changes in my life.
Daily TAO
November 7
SMALLNESS
You may be capable of great things,
But life consists of small things.
Big things seldom come along. One should know the small as well as the big. We may all yearn to make lasting achievements and to be heroes, but life seldom affords us the opportunities to do so. Most of our days consist of small things—the uneventful meditations, the ordinary cooking of meals, the banal trips to work, the quiet scratching in the garden—and it is from these small things that the larger events of life are composed.
We rarely have the occasion to make grand gestures. The champion gymnast’s greatest moment is but an hour out of an entire lifetime. The works of great artists are view for very short times. The master musician’s best composition is but one work in a sea of musical tones. If we want to be successful, it is the small things that we should pay attention to.