Thursday - Morning Readings

Thursday, March 4^TH

AA Morning Readings

 

 

Daily Reflections

WEEDING THE GARDEN
The essence of all growth is a willingness to make a change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 115

By the time I had reached Step Three I had been freed of my dependence on alcohol, but bitter experience has shown me that continuous sobriety requires continuous effort. Every now and then I pause to take a good look at my progress. More and more of my garden is weeded each time I look, but each time I also find new weeds sprouting where I thought I had made my final pass with the blade. As I head back to get the newly sprouted weed (it's easier when they are young), I take a moment to admire how lush the growing vegetables and flowers are, and my labors are rewarded. My sobriety grows and bears fruit.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day
Having surrendered our lives to God and put our drink problem in His Hands doesn't mean that we'll never be tempted to drink. So we must build up strength for the time when temptation will come. In this quiet time, we read and pray and get our minds in the right mood for the day. Starting the day right is a great help in keeping sober. As the days go by and we get used to the sober life, it gets easier and easier. We begin to develop a deep gratitude to God for saving us from that old life. And we begin to enjoy peace and serenity and real quiet happiness. Am I trying to live the way God wants me to live?

Meditation For The Day
The elimination of selfishness is the key to happiness and can only be accomplished with God's help. We start out with a spark of the Divine Spirit but a large amount of selfishness. As we grow and come in contact with other people, we can take one of two paths. We can become more and more selfish and practically extinguish the Divine Spark within us or we can become more unselfish and develop our spirituality until it becomes the most important thing in our lives.

Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may grow more and more unselfish, honest, pure and loving. I pray that I may take the right path every day.

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As Bill Sees It

Free Of Dependence, p. 63

I asked myself, "Why can't the Twelve Steps work to release me from this unbearable depression?" By the hour, I stared at the St. Francis Prayer: "It is better to comfort than to be comforted."

Suddenly I realized what the answer might be. My basic flaw had always been dependence on people or circumstances to supply me with prestige, security, and confidence. Failing to get these things according to my perfectionists dreams and specifications, I fought for them. And when defeat came, so did my depression.

Reinforced by what grace I could find in prayer, I had to exert every ounce of will and action to cut off these faulty emotional dependencies upon people and upon circumstances. Then only could I be free to love as Francis had loved.

Grapevine, January 1958

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Walk in Dry Places
 
Don't feed the Habit _____  Enhancing Sobriety

We quickly learn that it's wrong to do anything that "feeds" a drinking habit. A recovering person would be foolish, for example, to spend time in a drinking environment simply to "be with friends."

It's constructive to take that same approach toward other problems we'd like to get out of our lives.  If gossip has been my problem, I should not feed it by listening to gossip or even by reading gossipy articles and books.  IF I have accumulated debts through overspending, I should cut off window shopping and other practices that may bring on more unnecessary debt.  And if I want to rid my life of self-pity, I should not spend a single moment brooding over the bad breaks I have had in the past.

Bad habits have a life of their own. They are somewhat like rodents that have found their way into the house and have become star borders. One way to control rodents is to eliminate their food supply.  That same principle applies to bad habits we want to eliminate from our own lives.

I'll make a strong effort to cut off any line of thinking that feeds my bad habits, whatever they are.  This might include avoiding practices that others see as harmless and trivial.  However, nothing is harmless or trivial if it has become destructive in my life.

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Keep It Simple

Better bend than break.-------Scottish proverb

Our program is based on bending. We call it "surrender." We surrender our self-will to the care of God. We do what we believe our Higher Power want us to do. We learn this as an act of love.

Many of us believed surrender was a sign of weakness. We tried to control everything. But we change as we're in the program longer and longer. We learn to bend. We start to see that what is important is learning. We learn to do what's best for us and others. To learn, we need an open mind. To bend, we must stay open. Love and care become the center of our lives.

Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, teach me that strength comes from knowing how and when to bend.

Action for the Day:  Today, I'll check myself. How open am I? Do I bend when I need to?

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Quotes

God, help me find and create true joy and peace in my world.
--Melody Beattie

I have been given a quiet place in bright sunshine.

It doesn't matter what we have done in the past.
--Melody Beattie

Learning and maturation in the life of the spirit cannot be hurried, and as in physical and intellectual development, a great deal depends on our readiness.
--Mary McDermott Shideler

God's will never takes me where his grace will not sustain me.
--Ruth Humlecker

Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door to everlasting love.

Antidote for stress: Take a deep breath and think of something that pleases you.

An argument had with a spouse is a loving moment lost forever.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

HELL

"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those, who in time of great moral crises, maintain their neutrality."
-- Dante Alighieri

Each human being makes a personal hell here on earth. Often we do it not by what we perpetrate but in what we allow to happen. So much of the loneliness and isolation that many addicts and their families experience is caused by them remaining hidden and silent. The pretense that everything is okay is not only untrue but deadly. Silence and compliance kills more addicts than a thousand needles!

Today I choose not to be neutral in my life. I speak about my alcoholism so that I can on a daily basis make war on the disease that nearly killed me. I speak out about the disease of addiction so that society cannot say that it did not know what was happening. I speak up for treatment and recovery because I know it can work in the vast majority of cases. I am not neutral when it comes to addiction because I am fighting for my life.

God, give me the courage to speak up in the crowd; let me live the message I was privileged to receive.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

Unlike most of our crowd, I did not get over my craving for liquor much during the first two and one-half years of abstinence. It was almost always with me. But at no time have I been anywhere near yielding. I used to get terribly upset when I saw my friends drink and knew I could not, but I schooled myself to believe that though I once had the same privilege, I had abused it so frightfully that it was withdrawn. So it doesn't behoove me to squawk about it, for after all, nobody ever used to throw me down and pour any liquor down my throat.

p. 181

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

Of course the depressive and the power-driver are personality extremes, types with which A.A. and the whole world abound. Often these personalities are just as sharply defined as the examples given. But just as often some of us will fit more or less into both classifications. Human beings are never quite alike, so each of us, when making an inventory, will need to determine what his individual character defects are. Having found the shoes that fit, he ought to step into them and walk with new confidence that he is at last on the right track.

p. 48

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--
Jeff Moses Jr
http://www.jeffmoses.com
http://www.google.com/profiles/jeffmosesjr

Tuesday - Morning Readings

Tuesday, March 2^ND

AA Morning Readings

 

Daily Reflections

HOPE

Do not be discouraged.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 60

Few experiences are of less value to me than fast sobriety. Too many times discouragement has been the bonus for unrealistic expectations, not to mention self-pity or fatigue from my wanting to change the world by the weekend. Discouragement is a warning signal that I may have wandered across the God line. The secret of fulfilling my potential is in acknowledging my limitations and believing that time is a gift, not a threat.

Hope is the key that unlocks the door of discouragement. The program promises me that if I do not pick up the first drink today, I will always have hope. Having come to believe that I keep what I share, every time I encourage, I receive courage. It is with others that, with the grace of God and the Fellowship of A.A., I trudge the road of happy destiny. May I always remember that the power within me is far greater than any fear before me. May I always have patience, for I am on the right road.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day
Over a period of drinking years, we've proved to ourselves and to everybody else that we can't stop drinking by our own willpower. We have been proved helpless before the power of alcohol. So the only way we could stop drinking was by turning to a Power greater than ourselves. We call that Power God. The time that you really get this program is when you get down on your knees and surrender yourself to God, as you understand Him. Surrender means putting your life into God's hands. Have I made a promise to God that I will try to live the way He wants me to live?

Meditation For The Day
Spirit-power comes from communication with God in prayer and times of quiet meditation. I must constantly seek spirit-communication with God. This is a matter directly between me and God. Those who seek it through the medium of the church do not always get the joy and the wonder of spirit communication with God. From this communication comes life, joy, peace, and healing. Many people do not realize the power that can come to them from direct spirit-communication.

Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may feel that God's power is mine. I pray that I may be able to face anything through that power.

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As Bill Sees It

Resolving Fear, p. 61

Fear somehow touched about every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn't deserve. But did we not often set the ball rolling ourselves?

<< << << >> >> >>

The problem of resolving fear has two aspects. We shall have to try for all the freedom from fear that is possible for us to attain. Then we shall need to find both the courage and the grace to deal constructively with whatever fears remain.

1. Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 67-68
2. Grapevine, January 1962

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Walk in Dry Places
 
Do we need some Fear?

Courage

It's easy to get into an argument about the role of fear in our lives. Some say that we need some fear…. It helps us get out of the path of an oncoming truck.

Is that really true?  If it is, it's still not like the fear that was present with alcoholism. This fear was more likely to make us freeze and lose all power of action in the face of a threat. It was the sort of fear that paralyzes us, making us unable to move out of the way when the truck is bearing down on us.

Fear is even more destructive when it keeps us from doing the simple things we need to function in our lives.  Fear certainly can't be helpful when it makes us unable to face a new customer or ride in an airplane for necessary business travel.  Some people even put off medical exams simply because they fear bad news… and thus delay treatment, so that their condition becomes worse.

We might not need to get rid of all fear, but we do need to dispose of the unhealthy kind that keeps us from necessary actions on our own behalf.

A really strong sense of the program can help me deal with fear today. One good idea for coping with fear is to remember that if God is for us, nobody can really be against us.  Keeping that thought in mind can help stabilize our feelings in the face of threatening situations.

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Keep It Simple

Love conquers all; let us surrender to love.  --Virgil

In Step Three, we turn our lives over to God's care, God love. If we turn our lives over to a loving God, we can conquer all. If you need proof, look around at your next meeting. The room will be full of people who know that love conquers addiction. Like them, we've surrendered to love. Once we've done this, we  can't use again. For us, using alcohol or others drugs is an act of hate, not love. To Face the hard things in life, we'll need a lot of love. We'll find love in our Higher Power, groups, and friends .We're all working at turning our lives over to love.

Prayer for the Day:  There was a time that love scared me. It still does, at times. Higher Power, help me see that You are love, and I must follow where love takes me.

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Quotes

The alcoholic is in no greater peril than when he takes sobriety for granted.

God, help me remember that letting go is a powerful behavior, one that can change my life and impact the lives of others. Help me be patient with others and myself as letting go becomes a way of life.
--Melody Beattie

Laughter, like a drenching rain, settles the dust, cleans and brightens the world around us, and changes our whole perspective.
--Jan Pishok

A big part of my "conversion" has been full acceptance of myself, warts and all.
--Mary Zink

God is all around us, all the time.
--Martha Leonard

"Let us always be open to the miracle of the second chance."
--Reverend David Stier

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

INTEGRITY

"Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor."
-- John Gardner

I understand integrity to be a willingness to make sacrifices for what we believe to be true. The living of a spiritual program must lead to integrity.

Not so many years ago integrity was not an understood word in my vocabulary because of my unwillingness to make sacrifices. I was so selfishly preoccupied with my "wants" that I gave little thought to the needs of others. The more I lost myself in "self", the greater was the emotional pain.

Today I live the paradox that it is only in giving that I truly receive.

May I daily express the paradox of sacrifice in my life.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

It is a most wonderful blessing to be relieved of the terrible curse with which I was afflicted. My health is good and I have regained my self-respect and the respect of my colleagues. My home life is ideal and my business is as good as can be expected in these uncertain times.

p. 180

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

But in A.A. we slowly learned that something had to be done about our vengeful resentments, self-pity, and unwarranted pride. We had to see that every time we played the big shot, we turned people against us. We had to see that when we harbored grudges and planned revenge for such defeats, we were really beating ourselves with the club of anger we had intended to use on others. We learned that if we were seriously disturbed, our first need was to quiet that disturbance, regardless of who or what we thought caused it.

p. 47

Trying not to be the hornet.

I have been silent for a while now. Quiet, and calm.. but not without purpose. I feel that the last year has been the hardest in my life on multiple accounts. But, I am fearful about writing here. In the past, I have been open and honest about me, my life and my emotions. Some details I have learned must stay between me and god, because some things about life are only for me and my maker.

Step one.. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

This admission for me came a while ago, 4 years to be exact, I thank god everyday that I was able to put down alcohol at that time.. However I didn't realize that it was not the only thing i had to address and that there were other things that I had to work on.

Step two... We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

This step I took four years later. By, my own procrastination and poor judgement I lost contact with the people that mattered most to me, made my share of mistakes and ignored my disease.

Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him...

Ahhh the balance between my will and that of gods will... Trying to control life... We all do it, I do it more than most, and it puts me in a position to be hurt or drunk or both.

Step 4... Made a searching a fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Complete, and now at 42 pages, unfortunately for me (and you) this document will never be published as I feel that some things are just plain private and I must remember that my healing has nothing to do with publishing things that could hurt another person. Let me just say, that I didn't kill anyone. I wonder if anyone has ever taken a complete and unabridged look at what THEY have done wrong in life. How they have played a part and how things have changed because of the things that they have done wrong. This is an amazing gift to the recovering alcoholic, because i feel that people that i love don't have this ability. (my own mother for example)

Step five... We admitted to god, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Thankfully for my sanity and happiness its GOD, Me and someone else. The me part I am still doing, and same with the god part. I have admitted it to another human being as I am able to recall the things. It is freeing, but at times I feel like a man that has reached a summit who looks up to see another peak ahead.

So thats where I am today. I could go into details about things that have made me stumble or times that i have been disappointed. Or things that have happened that have made this a really hard year for me. But tests that have been put in my path are for me and my maker to discuss, all I can say is that I am stronger today than I have ever been, and for that I thank god.

When something threatens the hive a bee will sting and die in the process. A hornet, will sting and continue to when cornered. Me, I am fighting, everyday I am fighting. But god help me if i sting.

Your always introverted friend... Jeff...

Your daily new posts digest

jeffmoses,

This is the digest of posts in topic "Daily Recovery Readings - February" for today.

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Topic: Daily Recovery Readings - February (Forum: Daily Recovery Readings)
http://www.christianrecoverysupport.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1532-daily-recovery-readings-february/
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bluidkiti -- Yesterday, 05:37 PM
February 28

Daily Reflections

WHAT? NO PRESIDENT?

When told that our Society has no president having authority to govern it, no treasurer
who can compel the payment of any dues. . . . our friends gasp and exclaim, "This
simply can't be . . ."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 132

When I finally made my way to A.A., I could not believe that there was no treasurer to
"compel the payment of dues." I could not imagine an organization that didn't require
monetary contributions in return for a service. It was my first and, thus far, only
experience with getting "something for nothing." Because I did not feel used or conned
by those in A.A., I was able to approach the program free from bias and with an open
mind. They wanted nothing from me. What could I lose? I thank God for the wisdom of
the early founders who knew so well the alcoholic's disdain for being manipulated.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

We should be free from alcohol for good. It's out of our hands and in the hands of God,
so we don't need to worry about it or even think about it any more. But if we haven't
done this honestly and fully, the chances are that it will become our problem again. Since
we don't trust God to take care of our problem for us, we reach out and take the problem
back to ourselves. Then it's our problem again and we're in the same old mess we were
in before. Do I trust God to take care of the problem for me?

Meditation For The Day

No work is of value without preparation. Every spiritual work must have behind it much
spiritual preparation. Cut short times of prayer and times of spiritual preparation and
many hours of work may be profitless. From the point of view of God, one poor tool
working all the time, but doing bad work because of lack of preparation, is of small value
compared with a sharp, keen, perfect instrument working only for a short time, but that
turns out perfect work because of long hours of spiritual preparation.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may spend more time alone with God. I pray that I may get more strength
and joy from such times, so that they will add much to my work.

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As Bill Sees It

Conviction and Compromise, p. 59

One qualification for a useful life is give-and-take, the ability to
compromise cheerfully. Compromise comes hard to us "all or nothing"
drunks. Nevertheless, we must never lose sight of the fact that
progress is nearly always characterized by a series of improving
compromises.

Of course, we cannot always compromise. There are circumstances in
which it is necessary to stick flat-footed to one's convictions until the
issue is resolved. Deciding when to compromise and when not to
compromise always calls for the most careful discrimination.

Twelve Concepts, pp. 39-40

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Walk In Dry Places

Seeking Excitement____ Seeking Serenity
"I haven't found anything to replace the excitement I felt while drinking," a member complained. "Sure, Im grateful to be sober. But sometimes it's so darned boring!
Let' talk about that need for excitement, or "high." For many of us, it was an important part of our drinking. At times, our drinking was exciting---it came with celebrations, graduations, marriage receptions, engagements, and just about anything else out of the ordinary. Along with it, we wanted other excitement: exciting love affairs, exciting experiences, exciting stories.
For us, however, excitement always ended with a crash, often a terrible one. Waking up after an exciting binge was a horrible moment. It stretched out to become horrible It never seemed to have a happy ending.
We can take this addiction to excitement in hand by recognizing it as a component of our alcoholism. We'll still be able to be excited at times, but it must be a type of excitement that brings neither crash nor hangover.
I will not let boredom push me into actions that I know will be destructive in the long run. I do not want thrills at the expense of my self-respect and sense of well-being.

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Keep It Simple

Leave yourself alone.---Jenny Janacek
We often pick on ourselves. We put ourselves down. But doing this isn't part of our recovery.
In fact, it goes against our program. Our program is based on loving care. We have turned our lives over to a caring, loving Higher Power who will give us the answers. We are told Easy Does It. We back off. As recovering addicts, we learn not to judge. Instead, we learn to be kind to ourselves. Our job is not to figure out the world, butt to add more love to it. Let's start with ourselves.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, stop me from judging. Help me know what You want to do. Help me work the Steps Two and Three.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll leave myself alone. I will remember that picking on myself is another from of control.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

We entered her house at exactly five o' clock and it was eleven fifteen when we left. I had a couple of shorter talks with this man afterward, and stopped drinking abruptly. This dry spell lasted for about three weeks; Then I went to Atlantic City to attend several days' meeting of a National Society of which I was a member. I drank all the Scotch they had on the train and bought several quarts on my way to the hotel. This was on Sunday. I got tight that night, stayed sober Monday till after the dinner and then proceeded to get tight again. I drank all I dared in the bar, and then went to my room to finish the job. Tuesday I started in the morning, getting well organized by noon. I did not want to disgrace myself, so I then checked out. I bought some more liquor on the way to the depot. I had to wait some time for the train. I remember nothing from then on until I woke up at a friend's house, in a town near home. These good people notified my wife, who sent my newly-made friend over to get me. He came and got me home and to bed, gave me a few drinks that night, and one bottle of beer the next morning.
That was June 10, 1935, and that was my last drink. As I write nearly six years have passed.

pp. 179-180

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

First off, they can be told that the majority of A.A. members have suffered severely from self-justification during their drinking days. For most of us, self-justification was the maker of excuses; excuses, of course, for drinking, and for all kinds of crazy and damaging conduct. We had made the invention of alibis a fine art. We had to drink because times were hard or times were good. We had to drink because at home we were smothered with love or got none at all. We had to drink because at work we were great successes or dismal failures. We had to drink because our nation had won a war or lost a peace. And so it went, ad infinitum.

pp. 46-47

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"The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them ..."
--Michel de Montaigne

"The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes."
--Frank Lloyd Wright

There is in each of us a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill.
--Blaise Pascal

Expectation is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses
today.
--Seneca

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
--Abraham Lincoln

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.
--Seneca

"This day I choose to spend in perfect peace."
--A Course in Miracles

When we are fearful, God's love can help us to be confident.
--Amanda Graham

O God, help us let your love conquer our fears.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

PERFECTION

"He that is without sin amongst
you, let him cast the first stone."
-- Jesus Christ

It is so easy for me to focus on the failings of others and miss my own. My attraction to
gossip is that it is usually about other people and that keeps the attention away from me.
Sometimes I am made to "feel good" by exposing the weaknesses of others.

This attitude needs to be changed if I am ever to fully enjoy the fruits of sobriety. I do not
need to be drinking to behave like a drunk; gossip and character assassination are
reminiscent of my past addictive behavior. I do not need the side of me that seeks to
destroy the character of others. With my spiritual program, I am trying to change.

May I grow in my forgiveness and acceptance of others.

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God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not
only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
Philippians 2:3-4

Jesus said, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure,
pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into
your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Luke 6:38

"If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles."
Matthew 5:41

"Do to others as you would have them do to you."
Luke 6:31

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Daily Inspiration

Set your priorities daily because some things in our path are just not important enough to use up our time and energy. Lord, with Your help I can have a full and enjoyable day.

God doesn't always end the storm, but He will calm your spirit and give you the courage you need. Lord, I have come to know and believe in the love You have for me.

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jeffmoses,

This is the digest of posts in topic "Daily Recovery Readings - February" for today.

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Topic: Daily Recovery Readings - February (Forum: Daily Recovery Readings)
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bluidkiti -- Yesterday, 07:55 PM
February 27

Daily Reflections

A UNIQUE STABILITY

Where does A.A. get its direction? . . . These practical
folk then read Tradition Two, and learn that the sole
authority in A.A. is a loving God as He may express
Himself in the group conscience. . . The elder statesman
is the one who sees the wisdom of the group's decision,
who holds no resentment over his reduced status, whose
judgment, fortified by considerable experience, is
sound, and who is willing to sit quietly on the sidelines
patiently awaiting developments.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 132, 135

Into the fabric of recovery from alcoholism are woven
the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions. As my
recovery progressed, I realized that the new mantle was
tailor made for me. The elders of the group gently
offered suggestions when change seemed impossible.
Everyone's shared experiences became the substance for
treasured friendships. I know that the Fellowship is
ready and equipped to aid each suffering alcoholic at
all crossroads in life. In a world beset by many
problems, I find this assurance a unique stability.
I cherish the gift of sobriety. I offer my gratitude
for the strength I receive in a Fellowship that truly
exists for the good of all members.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When we first came into A.A., the first thing we did was
to admit that we couldn't do anything about our drinking.
We admitted that alcohol had us licked and that we were
helpless against it. We never could decide whether or not
to take a drink. We always took the drink. And since we
couldn't do anything about it ourselves, we put our whole
drink problem into the hands of God. We turned the whole
thing over to that Power greater than ourselves. And we
have nothing more to do about it, except to trust God to
take care of the problem for us. Have I done this honestly
and fully?

Meditation For The Day

This is the time for my spirit to touch the spirit of God.
I know that the feeling of the spirit-touch is more
important than all the sensations of material things. I
must seek a silence of spirit-touching with God. Just a
moment's contact and all the fever of life leaves me. Then
I am well, whole, calm and able to arise and minister to
others. God's touch is a potent healer. I must feel that
touch and sense God's presence.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that the fever of resentment, worry and fear may
melt into nothingness. I pray that health, joy, peace and
serenity may take its place.

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As Bill Sees It

Righteous Indignation, p. 58

"The positive value of righteous indignation is theoretical--especially
for alcoholics. It leaves every one of us open to the rationalization
that we may be as angry as we like provided we can claim to be
righteous about it."

<< << << >> >> >>

When we harbored grudges and planned revenge for defeats, we
were really beating ourselves with the club of anger we had intended
to use on others. We learned that if we were seriously disturbed, our
very first need was to quiet that disturbance, regardless of who or
what we thought caused it.

1. Letter, 1954
2. 12 & 12, p. 47

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Walk In Dry Places

Selling myself____ Personal Relations
Thoughtful people tell us that every person has to "sell" himself or herself in daily work. As alcoholics, we can find that threatening. Uncertainty and the fear of rejection or failure put us under stress.
We can avoid this stress and tension by putting all responsibility for results in God's hands. While it is true that we want to succeed and to be accepted, we can never be sure that our idea of success is the right one. There are times when our strong determination to succeed at all costs makes us overbearing and demanding in our approach. We may be so anxious to appear competent and knowledgeable that we overreach our selves and make stupid blunders.
God can show us how to handle each day's affairs in an orderly, reasonable way. It is not necessary to win every argument or to make every sale. We can sell ourselves mor effectively when we go through the day calmly and take a genuine interest in the ideas and concerns of others.
I will look upon my customers and fellow workers as friends and allies. I don't have to bludgeon every person into accepting my point of view. If I am sincerely trying to follow God's will in all my affairs, others will sense my sincerity and will be glad to consider what I have to say.

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Keep It Simple

Without work all life goes rotten.---Albert Camus
Work is more than earning money. Work means using our time and skills to make life better for those around us. Our work can be our hobbies. Growing food or growing flowers can be our work.
Raising children or caring for older people who need help can be our work. Building homes or helping people live in them can be our work. Thanks to our program of recovery, we can do our best work again. What a change from the drugged-up and hung over days when we didn't do anything well. We are sober, and we have something to offer.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see that work makes me part of the human family. Help me do Your will in my work today.
Action for the Day: Good work teaches us good habits. How do the things I've learned in my work help me in my recovery program? I'll list five ways.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

About this time a lady called up my wife one Saturday afternoon, saying she wanted me to come over that evening to meet a friend of hers who might help me. It was the day before Mother's Day and I had come home plastered, carrying a big potted plant which I set down on the table and forthwith went upstairs and passed out. The next day she called again. Wishing to be polite, though I felt very badly, I said, "Let's make the call," and extracted from my wife a promise that we would not stay over fifteen minutes.

p. 179

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

The sponsors of those who feel they need no inventory are confronted with quite another problem. This is because people who are driven by pride of self unconsciously blind themselves to their liabilities. These newcomers scarcely need comforting. The problem is to help them discover a chink in the walls their ego has built, through which the light of reason can shine.

p. 46

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The road to recovery is always under construction.

A cool head keeps you out of hot water.

Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without
forgetting.
--Elizabeth Bibesco

God, help me take a deep breath and holler woohoo.
--Melody Beattie

A deeper bonding with one's spirit and with others at an essence level is
the spiritual opportunity of the new millennium, yet the first step is an
inside job -- starting with oneself. People have an innate desire to bond
with others in the spirit of love, but an essential first step is rolling up
our sleeves and applying some elbow grease toward managing attitudes
and emotions that are not in line with our heart or authentic self.
Then bonding becomes not an action you do but a way of being, the
way of love.
--Doc Childre

When the storms clouds threaten
And on the sea of life we're tossed,
When we don't know where we are going,
Feeling all alone and lost.......
There is a friend to turn to.
A calming hand to guide your way
He will make the dark clouds scatter
and brighter grows the day.
--Gloria Hall Wood

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

FACTS

"To treat your facts with
imagination is one thing, but to
imagine your facts is another."
-- John Burroughs

When I was drinking, I was always confusing fantasy with reality. Lies
got mingled with the facts and the facts became exaggerated. It was
almost impossible for me to distinguish between reality and fantasy,
imagination and fact. My life was a complicated lie.

Today I have a program of "rigorous" honesty; I must be rigorous and
stop the game before it starts. I need to practice the principles of
recovery in every area of my life. The spiritual road involves a
comprehensive journey and nothing need be left out.

God, who created the mountains, help me to take responsibility for the
grit between my toes.

***********************************************************

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My
heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."
Psalm 28:7

"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither
you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on
every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."
Deuteronomy 8:3

"Come to me all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Accept
my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find
rest for your lives. The teaching I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is
light."
Matthew 11:28-30

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Daily Inspiration

Time passes too quickly so waste none of it on anger, self-pity or the irritations of life. Lord, may my choices remove stress and free me to enjoy the goodness of today.

In your pursuit of happiness, pause to relax and be happy. Lord, slow me down just enough to enjoy all that You have given to me.

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Your daily new posts digest

jeffmoses,

This is the digest of posts in topic "Daily Recovery Readings - February" for today.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Topic: Daily Recovery Readings - February (Forum: Daily Recovery Readings)
http://www.christianrecoverysupport.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1532-daily-recovery-readings-february/
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-------------------------------------------
bluidkiti -- Yesterday, 07:45 PM
February 26

Daily Reflections

NO ORDINARY SUCCESS STORY

A.A. is no success story in the ordinary sense of the
word. It is a story of suffering transmuted, under
grace, into spiritual progress.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 35

Upon entering A.A. I listened to others talk about the
reality of their drinking: loneliness, terror and pain.
As I listened further, I soon heard a description of a
very different kind--the reality of sobriety. It is a
reality of freedom and happiness, of purpose and
direction, and of serenity and peace with God,
ourselves and others. By attending meetings, I am
reintroduced to that reality, over and over. I see it
in the eyes and hear it in the voices of those around
me. By working the program I find the direction and
strength with which to make it mine. The joy of A.A.
is that this new reality is available to me.

***********************************************************

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When we came into A.A., we came to believe in a Power
greater than ourselves. We came to believe in that Divine
Principle in the universe which we call God, and to whom
we could turn for help. Each morning we have a quiet
time. We ask God for the power to stay sober for the next
twenty-four hours. And each night we thank Him for
helping us to keep sober for that day. Do I believe that
each man or woman I see in A.A. is a demonstration of the
power of God to change a human being from a drunkard
to a sober person?

Meditation For The Day

I should pray for more faith as a thirsty man prays for
water in a desert. Do I know what it means to feel sure
that God will never fail me? Am I sure of this as I am
sure that I still breathe? I should pray daily and most
diligently that my faith may increase. There is nothing
lacking in my life because really all I need is mine,
only I lack the faith to know it. I am a king's son who
sits in rags and yet all around me are stores of all I
could desire.

Prayer For The Day

I pray for the realization that God has everything I need.
I pray that I may know that His power is always available.

***********************************************************

As Bill Sees It

Better Than Gold, p. 57

As newcomers, many of us have indulged in spiritual intoxication.
Like a gaunt prospector, belt drawn in over the last ounce of food, we
saw our pick strike gold. Joy at our release from a lifetime of
frustration knew no bounds.

The newcomer feels he has struck something better than gold. He
may not see at once that he has barely scratched the limitless lode
which will pay dividends only if he mines it for the rest of his life and
insists on giving away the entire product.

Alcoholics Anonymous, pp. 128-129

***********************************************************

Walk In Dry Places

The Fix that Never was_____ Recovery
In all of the despair and defeat that went along with drinking, most of us held to the ideal of a "fantastic fix"----- a drinking experience so fulfilling and complete that it would solve our problems and leave us searching no more.
Compulsive disorders, like alcoholism, seem to include this delusion. The gambler looks for the big score, the overeater seeks the total enjoyment of food, and the sex junkie searches for the perfect partner. But the search never ends, because our compulsions always drive us to seek stronger wine and greater excitement.
The only fix that will ever work has to be rooted in sobriety and right living. When we think and live properly, free from alcohol, we find a fix that really works. We find continuous satisfaction instead of soaring excitement, sound relationships with other people instead of ego-gratifying encounters, and purpose instead of drifting.
The peak experience we had been seeking is a fix that never can be. We can be truly "fixed" only by staying sober.
I will live calmly and gratefully today, forgetting the drive for excitement that was destroying me. My Higher Power knows who I am and what I should be doing.

***********************************************************

Keep It Simple

Forewarned. forearmed: being prepared is half the victory.---Miguel de Cervantes
Ther will be hard times in our program. There will be hard times in our lives. That's the way the life is. It helps if we accept this. Then we can prepare for tough times. We can prepare by getting a good set of habits and sticking to them. We can make it a habit to give time to our program each day. Sticking to good habits is like having a savings account: when hard times come, we can take the "investment" we've made and overcome our problems.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me accept that there will be hard times. Help me prepare for them. With Your help, I'll stay close to You, my friends, and the program.
Action for the Day: I'll put something into my program "savings account" today. I'll make that extra call. I'll read a little longer or go to an extra meeting.

***********************************************************

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

My good wife became deeply interested and it was her interest that sustained mine, though I at no time sensed that it might be an answer to my liquor problem. How my wife kept her faith and courage during all those years, I'll never know, but she did. If she had not, I know I would have been dead a long time ago. For some reason, we alcoholics seem to have the gift of picking out the world's finest women. Why they should be subjected to the tortures we inflicted upon them, I cannot explain.

pp. 178-179

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Four - "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves."

At this stage of the inventory proceedings, our sponsors come to the rescue. They can do this, for they are the carriers of A.A.'s tested experience with Step Four. They comfort the melancholy one by first showing him that his case is not strange or different, that his character defects are probably not more numerous or worse than those of anyone else in A.A. This the sponsor promptly proves by talking freely and easily, and without exhibitionism, about his own defects, past and present. This calm, yet realistic, stocktaking is immensely reassuring. The sponsor probably points out that the newcomer has some assets which can be noted along with his liabilities. This tends to clear away morbidity and encourage balance. As soon as he begins to be more objective, the newcomer can fearlessly, rather than fearfully, look
at his own defects.

p. 46

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This is a great day to be sober, patient, tolerant, kindly and loving.

A positive attitude is a person's passport to a better tomorrow.
--Anon

Gratitude is our most direct line to God and the angels. If we
take the time, no matter how crazy and troubled we feel, we
can find something to be thankful for. The more we seek gratitude,
the more reason the angels will give us for gratitude and joy to
exist in our lives.
--Terry Lynn Taylor

God, help me learn to respond to whatever environment I'm in by
taking the appropriate actions to take care of myself.
--Melody Beattie

Every new day is the beginning of the rest of your life. On each day
you can make new choices on how to live it.

No matter what the season, God is with us.
--George J. Waggoner

God's love reaches us wherever we are.
--Karen Christy Kurtz

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

UNIQUENESS

"Each honest calling, each walk of
life, has its own elite, its own
aristocracy based upon excellence
of performance."
-- James Bryant Conant

Everybody has a gift and a special feature that is unique to
themselves. Unfortunately so many people are so busy admiring the
gifts of others that they miss their own; they are so caught up in the
lives of others that they miss the "specialness" of their own
existence. One of the symptoms of my alcoholism was low self-esteem.
Of course I acted a role of confidence. I pretended that everything was
okay. I wore the mask of success --- but deep within myself, I was always
waiting for the world to find out that I was a fake, that something
was missing in my life.

In recovery I have discovered God's powerful gift of spirituality and I
know that through my life a uniqueness exists in the world. I have the
capacity to make the day better --- not only for myself but also for
others.

Thank You for the "specialness" of my life.

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Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow
to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20

"Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
Proverbs 12:18

We love because first loved us.
1 John 4:19

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Daily Inspiration

Lift yourself above the seriousness of life by keeping a gentle sense of humor. Lord, You have made me one of a kind. Help me to enjoy who I am.

No one can live for himself alone for then he will have no purpose in life. To give of self is one of life's greatest joys and blesses us with a full and rich life. Lord, help me to be selfless and loving to those around me.

=====================================

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