DAILY REFLECTIONS
SEPTEMBER 24
VIGILANCE
We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: “Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.” Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.
-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33
Today I am an alcoholic. Tomorrow will be no different. My alcoholism lives within me now and forever. I must never forget what I am. Alcohol will surely kill me if I fail to recognize and acknowledge my disease on a daily basis. I am not playing a game in which a loss is a temporary setback. I am dealing with my disease, for which there is no cure, only daily acceptance and vigilance.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
September 24
A.A. Thought For The Day
Let us continue with Step Twelve. We must practice these principles in all our affairs. This part of the twelfth step must not be overlooked. It is the carrying on of the whole program. We do not just practice these principles in regard to our drinking problem. We practice them in ALL our affairs. We do not give one compartment of our lives to God and keep the other compartments to ourselves. We give our whole lives to God and we try to do His will in every respect. “Herein lies our growth, herein lies all the promise of the future, and ever-widening horizon.” Do I carry the A.A. principles with me wherever I go?
Meditation For The Day
“Lord, to whom shall we go but to Thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” The words of eternal life are the words from God controlling your true being, controlling the real spiritual you. They are the words from God which are heard by you in your heart and mind when these are wide open to His spirit. These are the words of eternal life which express the true way you are to live. They say to you in the stillness of your heart and mind and soul: “Do this and live.”
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may follow the dictates of my conscience. I pray that I may follow the inner urging of my soul.
Walk In Dry Places
September 24
Willingness to listen
Willingness
Why is it that we’ll accept information from some people but not from others? Many people tried to advise us while we were drinking; why would we listen only to recovering alcoholics?
We can’t answer that question, except to say that most human beings are willing to listen only to certain people at certain times. That’s why business organizations have to select sales people carefully; customers will respond to some people, but not to others.
As we grow in sobriety, however, we develop the willingness to listen to people we would have once avoided. We can find wonderful ideas in all sorts of places and from all types of people. As we become more open-minded and willing, we can listen more and learn more.
My prejudices and fears of the past kept me from listening to people who would have helped me. I’ll be more open-minded and willing today.
“Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host.”
–Maya Angelou“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
–Dale Carnegie“Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don’t hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people.”
–Zig Ziglar“He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not remains a fool forever.”
–Chinese Proverb“It takes time to build a corporate work of art. It takes time to build a life. And it takes time to develop and grow. So give yourself, your enterprise, and your family the time they deserve and the time they require.”
–Jim Rohn
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
September 24
GOD
“God is not a cosmic bellboy.”
– Harry Emerson Fosdick
My understanding of God is within the context of freedom. God is involved in His world but He allows it an autonomy. We are not puppets on a string. When things begin to go wrong, God does not interfere and make changes (usually) without our cooperation. God reveals the extent of His love by allowing us a creative responsibility in our lives.
For years I did not understand this. I thought that if I prayed enough, He would answer all my prayers and come to my rescue. When He didn’t, I grew confused, angry and resentful. What was I doing wrong? Where was God in my life? He didn’t love me. Why wasn’t God my cosmic co-dependent?
Today I love his detachment. Today I grow in my freedom. Today I cooperate with His miracle.
Lord, thank You for allowing me the freedom to fail.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
September 24
“Touch not the poisonous firewater that makes wise men turn to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.”
–Tecumseh, SHAWNEE
It’s not an accident that firewater is also called spirits. Firewater affects our judgments. The Great Spirit created a set of laws and principles by which we are to live our lives. When we have problems we should pray and ask for the wisdom of these laws. If instead we turn to liquor, our judgement will be affected. It is the decision and choice made under the influence of booze that causes us to be fools. We need to learn to lean on prayer and not on the spirits of alcohol.
Great Spirit, teach me to pray. Let not one drop of liquor touch my lips today.
Touchstones Meditations For Men
September 24
Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
As we go about our activities, we will have a richer day when we think of ourselves as painting a picture instead of keeping score. Rather than woodenly completing a task, we might approach it as something that can be made interesting. Instead of driving to work or riding the bus only to reach our destination, we might think of this routine as part of the picture we paint today. When a friend makes a comment, we might think of it as another brush stroke in our painting and join in with him, rather than making a game or contest, which we must try to win.
Many of us men were taught that success means having the highest score. So we have become compulsively competitive – always trying to be right, always striving for more financial security, or always pushing ourselves for some new achievement. Success may not be coming out on top. When our lives are lived as rich and interesting pictures, we find our rewards are far deeper and more lasting.
May the picture I paint today be one I will carry with me and appreciate.
Daily TAO
September 24
STYLE
An old man sits on a granite step.
He plucks a treasured guitar.
The strings throb with feeling;
He needs no audience to open his heart.
A boy enthusiastically wants to learn his style.
“Style?” asks the man slowly. “My style is made of
The long road of life, of heartbreak
And joy, and people loved, and loneliness.
Of war and its atrocities.
Of a baby born.
Of burying parents and friends.
My scale is the seven stars of the dipper.
The hollow of my guitar is the space between heaven and earth.
How can I show you my style?
You have your own young life.”
Everyone has their own style in life. The old have perspective. The young have vigor. We can learn from each other, but we cannot have what the other generations possess. We are each shaped by our generations, and to transcend the limitations of our time is a rare occurrence indeed.
Daily Zen
September 24
If you desire to attain enlightenment, you should steadily walk the Way with a resolute heart, with courage, and be fearless in whatever environment you many happen to be. Destroy every evil influence that you may come across; for thus you shall reach the goal.
– Sutra of Forty Two Chapters