Daily Reflections
September 25
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job — wife or no wife — we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.
-ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 98
Before coming to A.A., I always had excuses for taking a drink: “She said … , ” “He said … ,” “I got fired yesterday,” “I got a great job today.” No area of my life could be good if I drank again. In sobriety my life gets better each day. I must always remember not to drink, to trust God, and to stay active in A.A. Am I putting anything before my sobriety, God, and A.A. today?
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
September 25
A.A. Thought For The Day
Let us consider the term “spiritual experience” as given in Appendix II of the Big Book: “A spiritual experience is something that brings about a personality change. By surrendering our lives to God as we understand Him, we are changed. The nature of this change is evident in recovered alcoholics. This personality change is not necessarily in the nature of a sudden and spectacular upheaval. We do no need to acquire an immediate and overwhelming God-consciousness followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook. In most cases, the change is gradual.” Do I see a gradual and continuing change in myself?
Meditation For The Day
“Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” For rest from the care of life, you can turn to God each day in prayer and communion. Real relaxation and serenity comes from a deep sense of the fundamental goodness of the universe. God’s everlasting arms are underneath all and will support you. Commune with God, not so much for petitions to be granted as for the rest that comes from relying on His will and His purposes for your life. Be sure of God’s strength available to you, be conscious of His support, and wait quietly until that true rest from God fills your being.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be conscious of God’s support today. I pray that I may rest safe and sure therein.
Keep It Simple
September 25
Martyrs set bad examples
—David Russell
Sometimes we call people “martyrs.” We sometimes think of them as victims. They suffer, but sometimes not for a cause. They play “poor me.” They want people to notice how much they suffer. They are afraid to really live. These are the people who set bad examples.
True martyrs died for causes they believed in. We remember them because they were so full of energy and spirit. Recovery helps us live better. Let’s go for it!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, thanks for giving me energy and for healing my spirit. Help me live fully by putting my life in Your care.
Action for the Day: What kind of example do I set? Does my life reflect joy for life and recovery?
One should not give up, neglect, or forget for a moment his inner life, but he must learn to work in it, with it, and out of it, so that the unity of his soul may break out in all his activities.
–Meister EckhartAll people, have goodness in their hearts and greatness in their souls.
–ShelleyThe more I let go of my own suffering and self-pity, I can see those around me with the eyes of love and compassion. I am becoming more aware of other people’s pain and unhappiness today and I will reach out to them in loving ways that heal me while helping them to heal.
–Ruth FishelToday I am living in the moment, instead of living for a moment.
“Don’t go through life, GROW through life.”
–Eric Butterworth
Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
September 25
PRAYER
“Prayer is not asking. It is a language of the soul.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
At school I was told that prayer is “talking to God”. Then I discovered that prayer is more than this — prayer is a relationship with God. It is a two-way system — I talk to God but I must also listen to Him. Like any relationship that is going to work and grow, it needs time. I must spend time developing my relationship with God. I must create an awareness of his presence in my life because I believe He is always there for me.
But more than this, prayer is a yearning for truth within the center of my being. In prayer I get in touch with that part of me that will be forever restless until it finds rest, eternal rest, in Him.
O God, prayer is my journey into You.
Daily Inspiration
September 25
Every decision we make is not critical nor is every mistake fatal. Lord, help me keep things in perspective and avoid the panic such thinking creates.
Take time to learn from the mistakes of others. We don’t have time to make all of them ourselves. Lord, guide me onto paths that lead me to You.
A Day At A Time
September 25
Reflection For The Day
At the suggestion of a long-timer in The Program, I began taking “recovery inventories” periodically. The results showed me — clearly and unmistakably — that the promises of The Program have been true for me. I am not the sick person I was in years past; I am no longer bankrupt in all areas; I have a new life and a path to follow, and I’m at peace with myself most of the time. And that’s far way from the time in my life when I dreaded facing each new day. Perhaps we should all write recovery inventories from time to time, showing how The Program is working for each of us.
Just for today, will I try to sow faith where there is fear?
Today I Pray
God, let me compare my new life with the old one — just to see how things have changed for me. May I make progress reports for myself now and then — and for those who are newer to The Program. May these reports be — heartrendingly — about “what I am doing” rather than — smug — about “what I have done.”
Today I Will Remember
Has The Program kept its promise? Have I kept mine?
One More Day
September 25
Fate chooses our relatives. We choose our friends.
– Jacques Bossuet
We had no choice — and still have no choice — as to whether our families are supportive and caring. Those of us who lived in negative or unnurturing families may find that we slip into similar situations as adults. Without realizing it, we may have fostered friendships that allow us to use the same old scripts — the same unhealthy scripts.
One of the things we’ve learned from our illness is we must be willing to nurture ourselves. We need approval and love, and we have it within our power to give that gift to ourselves. We also can enter only into friendships based on these qualities, allowing us to be cared for and to care for others.
I choose today to work toward healthy, loving friendships.
One Day At A Time
September 25
COURAGE
“Courage faces fear and thereby masters it.”
–Martin Luther King, Jr.
I’ve never been a brave person and was always very fearful. I would watch movies where the hero would rescue the heroine, someone would climb Mount Everest or perform some feat of daring, and I would be totally in awe. I was afraid of the dark, of rejection, of failure and of most other things that I was convinced took courage. There’s no way would I go parasailing or deep sea diving as that seemed to require the courage that I lacked.
I didn’t understand then that people who do those kinds of things are not totally without fear, but they have a way of overcoming their fear and still doing it anyway.
When I came into the program and learned that I would have to do an inventory and then, worse still, make amends to the people I had harmed, I was paralyzed by fear. Eventually I realized that, even though I feared doing these things, all I had to do was ask my Higher Power for strength and guidance and then do the things I’d most feared. Perhaps these weren’t the feats of daring that I had seen heroes perform, but for me they were great victories and in being able to do them, I knew that I was developing courage.
One Day at a Time …
I will continue to walk through my fear with my Higher Power at my side, knowing that I am developing the courage that I thought I lacked.
Sharon S.
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
September 25
“Even the trees have spirits – everything has a spirit.”
–Mary Hayes, CLAYOQUOT
The trees are great teachers. The trees are great listeners. That is why we should meditate in their presence. The Great spirit is in every rock, every animal, every human being and in every tree. The Great Spirit has been in some trees for hundreds of years. Therefore, the trees have witnessed and heard much. The trees are the Elders of the Elders. Their spirits are strong and very healing.
Great Spirit, teach me respect for all spiritual things.
Today’s Gift
September 25
Things don’t turn up in this world until somebody turns them up.
—James A. Garfield
We could learn from the bears in the woods how to turn up opportunities. To nourish themselves, they turn over logs and stumps to get insects. When they smell honey, they will climb a tree after it, and when they see berries they will move branches aside to get at them.
Like the bears, we need to turn up things for ourselves. Perhaps we can enter a drawing or writing contest. Maybe we can try out for a team sport or the orchestra. By doing this, we take risks, which foster our growth and build confidence, and we turn our lives into fulfilling adventures.
Why wait for opportunity to knock when we can knock at opportunity’s door. Whatever our interests, finding ways to enjoy them can make the most out of the opportunities around us.
What opportunities are available to me today?
Touchstones Meditations For Men
September 25
Be thine own palace, or the world’s thy jail.
—John Donne
All of us have some difficult circumstances to face today. Some among us find ourselves in the hospital or in jail. Others are worried about pressures and frustrations at work. Tensions and concerns about war and the future of the world affect us all. We have many uncontrollable circumstances in our lives, but we don’t have to give ourselves over to them. A man’s body may be in jail while in his heart he is free.
We build a palace for our spirits by maintaining contact with our Higher Power. We are always within the circle of God’s love. Always! Knowing that helps us make peace with the limits on what we can do about our situations. Then we can go forth working to make peace in our relationships, accomplish what is possible in our lives, and make a contribution to others.
Today, I will remember that the frustrations around me are not all of who I am. When I am at peace within, I live among spiritual riches.
Daily TAO
September 25
NATURE
My back is stooped from scholarship,
My eyes are dimmed by history’s words.
Surrounded though I may be by learning,
I still cannot compare with nature’s perfection.
Learning is a passion shared by many of us. There is a great allure
to education and a fascination with the accomplishments of civilization.
We go to libraries and museums. We go to exhibits showing the diggings
from royal tombs. We are enchanted with new inventions. And yet, if we
look out our windows and see a tree in its perfection, or gaze into a
tide pool, or watch a cat as it strolls its territory, or see the flash
of a blue jay, we can see another order of beauty and intelligence in
this life.
The works of humanity cannot compare to the works of nature. The
works of civilization lack the balance and refinement of nature. Too
many times, our accomplishments are tainted by impure motives : profit,
hardship, desire for fame, simple greed. We achieve, but we cannot
foresee the results because we are unable to place our actions into a
greater context.
Nature is a conglomeration of contending forces, of tooth and claw,
venom and perfume, mud and excrement, eggs and bones, lightning and
lava. It seems chaotic. It seems terrible. And yet, for all its
unfathomable workings, it far surpasses the business of our society.
Think about what you do. How much of it can compare to the
perfection of nature?
Daily Zen
September 25
When the inward and the outward are illumined, and all is clear, you are one with the light of the sun and moon. When developed to its ultimate state, this is a round luminosity which nothing can deceive, the subtle body of a unified spirit, pervading the whole universe. Then you have the same function as the sun and moon.
– Liu I-Ming