Daily Reflections
September 17
FREEDOM FROM FEAR
When, with God’s help, we calmly accepted our lot, then we found we could live at peace with ourselves and show others who still suffered the same fears that they could get over them, too. We found that freedom from fear was more important than freedom from want.
-TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 122
Material values ruled my life for many years during my active alcoholism. I believed that all of my possessions would make me happy, yet I still felt bankrupt after I obtained them. When I first came into A. A., I found out about a new way of living. As a result of learning to trust others, I began to believe in a power greater than myself. Having faith freed me from the bondage of self. As material gains were replaced by the gifts of the spirit, my life became manageable. I then chose to share my experiences with other alcoholics.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
September 17
A.A. Thought For The Day
Step One is, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol–that our lives had become unmanageable.”
This step states the membership requirement of A.A. We must admit that our lives are disturbed. We must accept the fact that we are helpless before the power of alcohol. We must admit that we are licked as far as drinking is concerned and that we need help. We must be willing to accept the bitter fact that we cannot drink like normal people. And we must make, as gracefully as possible, a surrender to the inevitable fact that we just stop drinking. Is it difficult for me to admit that I am different from normal drinkers?
Meditation For The Day
“Show us the way, O Lord, and let us walk in Thy paths.” There seems to be a right way to live and a wrong way. You can make a practical test. When you live the right way, things seem to work out well for you. When you live the wrong way, things seem to work out badly for you. You seem to take out of life about what you put into it. If you disobey the laws of nature, the chances are that you will be unhealthy. If you disobey the spiritual and moral laws, the chances are that you will be unhappy. By following the laws of nature, and the spiritual laws of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love, you can expect to be reasonably healthy and happy.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to live the right way. I pray that I may follow the path that leads to a better life.
Walk In Dry Places
September 17
The world will recover
Belief
If our recovery program is working properly, an amazing thing can happen. Instead of being the bad actors of society, we become people who can be considered solid citizens in every way.. So square that we might even have sharp corners.
We might then start becoming critical of the world in general. “I’ve recovered, so why does the rest of the world have to be the way it is?” A person might say. “Why don’t other people do something about their resentments and fears, just as I have?”
In asking such a question, we’re already in danger of becoming self-righteous. We can remember, however, that our Higher Power has the same concern for others that was shown to us. By the grace of God, and in God’s own good time, the world can and will recover.
I’ll remember today that God is in charge of the world and will set all things straight, just as I was brought to recovery.
“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.”
–Kahlil GibranYesterday is a canceled check,
tomorrow is a promissory note,
today is cash in the bank.Yesterday is history,
Tomorrow’s a mystery,
Live just for today.Today is a gift that is why they call it the present.
When special feelings come your way,
let them flow into your heart.
When miracles try to find you, don’t hide.
When special people come along,
let them know what a blessing they are.
Let your smiles begin way down, deep inside.
–Collin McCarthy“I can do nothing to change the past except stop repeating it in the present.”
–Courage to Change
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
September 17
PEOPLE-PLEASING
“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is try to please everybody.”
– Herbert Bayard Swope
Part of my recovery is not that I never “people-please” but that I know when I am doing it . . . and I am doing it less!
My low self-esteem was revealed in the way I would say what I felt you wanted to hear, do what you wanted to do, go where you wanted to go — and for years I missed me. For years I missed my life because I was preoccupied with other people. And I wasn’t honest. I hated being that way but I wouldn’t admit it. Now I see that my guilt around my addiction led me into this sick cycle, and recovery is taking me out of it. Today I say “I don’t want to go.” “I don’t agree with what you are saying.” “I refuse to do that.”
My dignity is being discovered in my straightforwardness.
God, may I have the courage to share my true feelings.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
September 17
“The old people must start talking and the young people must start listening.”
–Thomas Banyacya, HOPI
We are at a critical time in transferring cultural knowledge, spiritual ways. During the last few years the young people have not been interested in learning the old ways. The only place this knowledge is found is among the Elders. We must encourage the young to visit with the Elders. The adults need to think also about learning the culture. The Elders are getting old and soon will go to the other side. Each of us must pause and think about our individual responsibility to learn the culture and teach this to our young.
Great Spirit, help us to learn and remember the old ways.
Touchstones Meditations For Men
September 17
Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting.
—William Shakespeare
An important part of our lives is simply tending to our basic needs – sitting down daily to share a meal with loved ones, getting enough sleep, setting time aside for haircuts and polishing shoes, spending leisure time with friends. Paying attention to these things only when they become crises makes our lives unbalanced and crisis oriented. Many men have neglected themselves because they felt it was the mark of a tough guy. Others have been so lost in an addiction or so codependent that a respectful self-caring life was not possible.
As we regain our sanity, we find balance in the basics. Self-love allows us to be responsible for our care, and it puts us in a stronger position to help others, to be creative, and to assert our right to recovery.
Today, I will look after the essentials of my personal care and my family’s care before I take on other things.
Daily TAO
September 17
STIMULATION
Sex, coffee, liquor, and cigarettes
Are the totems of today.
Stimulation has replaced feeling.
In today’s world, these are the unfortunate equations :
Do you want intimacy? Have sex.
Do you want to be energetic? Drink coffee.
Do you want freedom from inhibitions? Drink wine.
Do you want a fashionable prop? Smoke cigarettes.
Why is it that these things have replaced what should naturally be done?
Because people have lost the knowledge of how to do these things without
artificial stimulation. Why not seek intimacy through sensitivity? Energy
through good health? If we overcome our obstacles, we won’t need inhibition.
Pretension will fall away. Only then will there be a blossoming of Tao.
Daily Zen
September 17
Today she is Buddhist Nun Ru,
Yesterday she was Teacher Wang.
Although born to wear silken gauze,
She now wears only the roughest hemp.
Mouths that open and spew out lofty talk
Have no interest in becoming buddhas.
Leap out of the cauldron of right and wrong,
Cut off completely the road of life and death,
Then enter tiger’s lair and demon’s palace
With a heart that feels not the slightest fear.
– Zhenru