Daily Reflections
November 8
An Individual Adventure
“Meditation is something which can always be further developed. It has no boundaries, either of width or height. Aided by such instruction and example as we can find, it is essentially an individual adventure, something which each one of us works out in his own way.”
-TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 101
My spiritual growth is with God as I understand Him. With Him, I find my true inner self. Daily meditation and prayer strengthen and renew my source of well-being. I receive then the openness to accept all that He has to offer. With Go,d I have the reassurance that my journey will be as He wants for me, and for that I am grateful to have God in my life.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
November 8
A.A. Thought For The Day
I have lost much of my inferiority complex. I was always trying to escape from life. I did not want to face reality. I was full of self-pity. I was constantly sorry for myself. I tried to avoid all responsibilities. I did not feel that I would handle the responsibilities for my family or my work. Owing to my inferiority complex, I was eager to be free of all responsibilities. I wanted to drift; I wanted to be “on the beach.” A.A. showed me how to get over my feeling of inferiority. It made me want to accept responsibility again. Have I lost my inferiority complex?
Meditation For The Day
“One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before, I press onward toward the goal.”
We should forget those things which are behind us and press onward toward something better. We can believe that God has forgiven us for all our past sins, provided we are honestly trying to live today the way we believe He wants us to live. We can wipe clean the slate of the past. We can start today with a clean slate and go forward with confidence toward the goal that has been set before us.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may drop off the load of the past. I pray that I may start today with a light heart and a new confidence.
Walk In Dry Places
November 8
Proving God’s existence.
Belief.
It surprised some of us to learn that the AA Big Book has a chapter about agnosticism. The agnostic is one who believes the existence of God cannot be proved, and, indeed, some of us liked to explain this during profound barroom discussions.
Our existence with a Higher Power does not really settle the questions about God or the purpose and meaning of life. We may still wonder why we are on Earth and what the universal system is all about.
We can prove, however, that our lives can become dramatically different as a result of our belief in God. While some people scoff that our belief in a Higher Power is merely psychological, we still know that it is far more than that. This belief seems to be something that we need just as we require physical nourishment.
It’s not necessary to join the debating society that seems to prove or deny God’s existence. For our purposes, it’s only necessary to believe that God exists in our lives.
I’ll not concern myself with a general question about the existence or nonexistence of God. What’s important is to know that my Higher Power is living and working in my sphere of activities.
Keep It Simple
November 8
“Any man may make a mistake; none but a fool will persist in it.”
—Cicero
The way we face life’s challenges is what gives meaning to our lives. If we run from our mistakes, they follow us. If we stand up and work with them, we learn. Facing our mistakes teaches us wisdom and courage. Our self-respect grows. Spiritual growth means asking, “How would my Higher Power want me to deal with this mistake?” Then we listen for the answer and do what is needed. The better we get at facing our mistakes, the better we become at learning from them. Native American culture teaches us that all mistakes in life are gifts. The gift is that we are given a chance to learn.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me face the mistakes of life and find the lessons that lie within them.
Action for the Day: When I make a mistake, I’ll stop and ask, “What does my Higher Power want me to learn from this?”
“Everybody can make it with a little help from a friend.”
—Rab5178“Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.”
—Will Rogers“First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.”
—Thomas A Kempis, 1420“Life is something like this trumpet. If you don’t put anything in it you don’t get anything out. And that’s the truth.”
—W. C. Handy (1873-1958) Composer“If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.”
—W. L. Bateman
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
November 8
THOUGHT
“There is no place in active life on which thought is negligible.”
—T. S. Eliot
It is not a crime to think. It is not a sin to have a brain. To think is human.
However, so much of my past thinking was destructive and negative. The disease of addiction permeated every aspect of my life particularly my thoughts. For years my best ideas justified my addiction.
Today I am open to a change of mind. I can choose to change my ideas. I am free to think differently.
God is alive in my willingness to change.
Lord, help my thinking to recover.
Daily Inspiration
November 8
We are each a huge container of talents and abilities many of which we have not yet discovered and recognized. Lord, increase my ability to believe in myself and let the wonderful me burst out.
We only have so much time and so much energy in a day. To use it grumbling leaves less time for enjoyment and accomplishment. Lord, may I focus on looking for Your blessings in every part of my life.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
November 8
“See how the boy is with his sister and the other ones of his home lodge and you can know how the man will be with your daughter.”
—LAKOTA Proverb
Very early in our lives we form beliefs, attitudes, expectations, and habits. We will live by these habits when we are older. The Elders say to watch the boy with his sister. If he is respectful and treats her good, then odds are that’s the way he will treat all women when he is older. Also, watch the young girl and how she treats her brother, for that will indicate what kind of woman she will be to her man. We need to teach our children to respect one another while they are young. The best way to teach them is to show respect ourselves.
Great Spirit, let me be a role model for the children.
Journey to the Heart
November 8
Ease Up on Yourself
When you don’t know what to do next, ease up on yourself. See how much more you accomplish, how much easier life is, how much more you enjoy life when you aren’t forcing yourself. Forcing can turn into fear– fear that the job won’t get done, fear that the natural way things would evolve won’t be right, fear that you’re not good enough.
Learn a different way, learn the way of love. Relax. Sit back. Let go for now. Do something different. Breathe deeply. Burn a candle. Read a poem. Light some sage. If fear is present, send it away. See it, feel it, then allow it to leave. Return to the task in love when it feels natural, right, and on time. Participate naturally, joyfully in creation, whether that’s the creation of a relationship, a dinner, a garden, or a meeting.
Sometimes it’s time to focus, to try hard. Sometimes it’s time to ease up. See how much more you get done when you ease up. And see how much more playing and laughing and enjoying gets done too.
Today’s Gift
November 8
“All acts performed in the world begin in the imagination.”
—Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
We use our imaginations to plan how we’re going to build a model car or plane, rearrange the furniture in our rooms, even dress for a special party. The imagination is like a big piece of drawing paper on which we sketch the way we want something to look.
When we don’t know just how to begin a task, the imagination gets us started. It’s like having the directions for playing a new game. Dreams about the future, where we want to go, the jobs we want to have, are made more real when we “draw” them in our minds. The imagination gives us courage, too.
Do I have the courage today to imagine a better me?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
November 8
“Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them.”
—Alan Watts
As we live our very busy lives we might say, “How full and rich my life is!” But are we stopping long enough to look, to take in experiences, digest them, and grow from them? Or is our attention always focused upon the next event? Are we running from one thing to another, never truly being present in the current moment?
For spiritual deepening, many of us men do not need to enrich the events in our lives as much as we need to simplify and quiet ourselves. We need to slow down and look at what is here. At a banquet, we might appreciate a few fine foods served in a tranquil atmosphere more fully than a lavish variety served in a frenzied atmosphere. For today, we are not able to stop the hectic pace of the world, but we can slow ourselves down and notice and reflect upon our experiences. Then they will have meaning and value for us.
Today, I will slow down. I will notice what my experiences are and give myself time to look.
Daily TAO
November 8
BRAVERY
One willing to take his own life into his hands
Will not hesitate to take the lives of others.
There were once two friends hiking in the mountains. One was a poet, the other was a statesman. They came to a deep ravine, and at the bottom were roaring rapids with a narrow plank bridge spanning the gap.
“Let’s climb down and write our names on the other side,” suggested the statesman. The poet refused. So the statesman went bravely down, crossed the bridge, and wrote their names in beautiful calligraphy. Then he climbed back up.
“Someday you will murder a man,” predicted the poet.
“Why do you say that?” exclaimed his companion.
“Those who will take their own lives into their hands will not hesitate to take the lives of others.”
Beware the brave man. He may be a hero, willing to risk his very life, but he will also be willing to endanger the lives of others. After all, he is a risk taker and therefore does not see the wisdom in conservation, compassion, and carefulness. Such a person will threaten others, force his will upon others, and even murder others not out of passion but out of something much more deadly—rationale. He will justify his actions according to ideology, patriotism, religion, and principle.