Daily Reflections
September 22
A “LIMITLESS LODE”
Like a gaunt prospector, belt drawn in over the last ounce of food, our pick struck gold. Joy at our release from a lifetime of frustration knew no bounds. Father feels he has struck something better than gold. For a time he may try to hug the new treasure to himself. He may not see at once that he has barely scratched a limitless lode which will pay dividends only if he mine it for the rest of his life and insists on giving away the entire product.
-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 128-29
When I talk with a newcomer to A.A., my past looks me straight in the face. I see the pain in those hopeful eyes, I extend my hand, and then the miracle happens: I become healed. My problems vanish as I reach out to his trembling soul.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
September 22
A.A. Thought For The Day
Step Eight is, “Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.” Step Nine is, “Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.” Making restitution for the wrongs we have done is often very difficult. It hurts our pride. But the rewards are great. When we go to a person and say we are sorry, the reaction we get is almost invariably good. It takes courage to make the plunge, but the results more than justify it. A load is off your chest and often an enemy has been turned into a friend. Have I done my best to make all the restitution possible?
Meditation For The Day
There should be joy in living the spiritual life. A faith without joy is not entirely genuine. If you are not happier as a result of your faith, there is probably something wrong with it. Faith in God should bring you a deep feeling of happiness and security, no matter what happens on the surface of your life. Each new day is another opportunity to serve God and improve your relationships with other people. This should bring joy. Life should be abundant and outreaching. It should be glowing and outgoing, in ever widening circles.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that my horizons may grow ever wider. I pray that I may keep reaching out for more service and companionship.
Walk In Dry Places
September 22
Making tough decisions
Decision Making
An AA member in a supervisor’s position was faced with the need to terminate an unsatisfactory employee. Procrastinating about this unpleasant matter, she found herself wishing that the employee would suddenly find another job, thus making the termination ordeal unnecessary.
But further reflection showed that the procrastination was related to the same problems that had dogged her in her drinking years. She was a people=pleaser; she felt guilty about inflicting pain on others.
She was finally able to make the tough decision and call the employee in for termination. In the process, she discovered that a brief prayer time for preparation and a gentle manner removed some of the pain for her and the employee being terminated. She learned that the principles of the program could help her become more decisive without being brutal.
I’ll look over any tough decisions I;ve been putting off and determination why I’m behaving that way. Am I prolonging tough decisions just as I did when drinking?
“Without memory, there is no healing. Without forgiveness, there is no future.”
“A quiet hour is worth more to you than anything you can do in it.”
–Sara One Jewess“If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else”
–Chinese ProverbA good exercise for the heart is to bend down and help another up.
He who divides and shares is left with the best share.
–Mexican Proverb“Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.”
–Mother TheresaIf your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset.
–Krishnamurti
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
September 22
HEAVEN
“If you’re not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.”
– Martin Luther
When I was a practicing alcoholic, I imagined heaven to be a dull formal place, rather like a never-ending cathedral. Beautiful, but serious. My pain and guilt were so great that I rarely laughed, and when I did it was usually inappropriate and violent: I laughed at others!
Today heaven is associated with recovery. It is a place of joy, acceptance and forgiveness. A place where people can be themselves and where variety abounds. Christians play with people from other religions — and the atheists make the music! The laughter of “peace” abounds. I am “at one” with my Father and all my brothers and sisters. I am home!
God of Love, when I hear the sound of laughter here on earth, I think what joy awaits me in heaven.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
September 22
“I think the spiritual values come first and everything else follows.”
–Leonard George, Chief Councilor
To properly develop, the human being needs to learn the guiding principles. It is from these principles that we make our decisions. Spiritual values are the guiding principles given to us by the Great Spirit. He says if we live by these spiritual values, the results we experience will be good. These spiritual values will develop and guide the human being by helping us to think right. Right thinking will improve our choices and decisions. Doing this will bring good consequences.
Great Spirit, teach me values first.
Touchstones Meditations For Men
September 22
Time never challenged the Indian or worked against him. Time was for silently marking the passing of the seasons. It was a thing to be enjoyed.
—Tim Giago
We have a choice as to how we view the passage of time. We can look at it as a gift to be enjoyed, marking the transitions and cycles of life. Or we can think of time as a long, thin string of pressures and frustrations – specific minutes and hours that we try to speed up or slow down. Our relationship to time is a very important part of our recovery.
We are learning to live in the present, one day at a time. We are letting go of the past. The future we place in trust to our Higher Power. Time doesn’t work against us or challenge us – it just flows. This day need not be painless or close to paradise for us to live in the present moment. Being aware of our lives without struggling against time makes the day rich and full of meaning.
Today, rather than wrestling with time, I will be aware of my experiences and let time flow.
Daily TAO
September 22
INNOCENCE
Black and orange butterfly –
Flying joyously.
Wings like a nun’s hands:
First folder in prayer,
Then open in offering.
The world moves toward war. Leaders increase their rhetoric. Armies mass along the border. The world, it seems, never tires of conflict.
We should remember the innocent in life. The delicate, the gossamer, the beautiful. A butterfly lives for a day. It comes into the world with very little reason except to fly and mate. It does not question its destiny. It does not engage in any alchemy to extend its lifespan or to change its lot. It goes about its brief life happily.
A butterfly is always attracted to the beautiful. Whether it is the sun on a blade of grass or the edge of a deep ruby rose, the butterfly spends its brief time dwelling on loveliness.
Even the angry and insane leave the butterfly alone. Why can we not learn to honor the innocence in one another? Maybe we spend too much time dwelling on the ugly. In the name of practicality and realism, we think about strategy, defense, territory, gain, and advantage. We are too late to be like the butterfly. But at least we can honor it, and move as closely as possible to its simple existence.