Daily Readings 12-01-2022
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Daily Readings 12-01-2022
"SUGGESTED" STEPS
Our Twelfth Step also says that as a result of practicing all the Steps, we have each found something called a spiritual awakening. . . . A.A.'s manner of making ready to receive this gift lies in the practice of the Twelve Steps in our program."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 106-07
I remember my sponsor's answer when I told him that the Steps were "suggested." He replied that they are "suggested" in the same way that, if you were to jump out of a airplane with a parachute, it is "suggested" that you pull the ripcord to save your life. He pointed out that it was "suggested" I practice the Twelve Steps, if I wanted to save my life. So I try to remember daily that I have a whole program of recovery based on all Twelve of the "suggested" Steps.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The thoughts that come before having a slip are often largely subconscious. It is a question whether or not our subconscious minds ever become entirely free from alcoholic thoughts as long as we live. For instance, some of us dream about being drunk when we are asleep, even after several years of sobriety in A.A. During the period of our drinking days, our subconscious minds have been thoroughly conditioned by our alcoholic way of thinking and it is doubtful that they ever become entirely free of such thoughts during our lifetime. But when our conscious minds are fully conditioned against drinking, we can stay sober and our subconscious minds do not often bother us. Am I still conditioning my conscious mind?
Meditation For The Day
Having sympathy and compassion for all who are in temptation, a condition which we are sometimes in, we have a responsibility towards them. Sympathy always includes responsibility. Pity is useless because it does not have a remedy for the need. But wherever our sympathy goes, our responsibility goes too. When we are moved with compassion, we should go to the one in need and bind up his wounds as best we can.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have sympathy for those in temptation. I pray that I may have compassion for others' trials.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Quantity or Quality, p. 11
"About this slip business--I would not be too discouraged. I think you are suffering a great deal from a needless guilt. For some reason or other, the Lord has laid out tougher paths for some of us, and I guess you are treading one of them. God is not asking us to be successful. He is only asking us to try to be. That, you surely are doing, and have been doing. So I would not stay away from A.A. through any feeling of discouragement or shame. It's just the place you should be. Why don't you try just as a member? You don't have to carry the whole A.A. on your back, you know!
"It is not always the quantity of good things that you do, it is also the quality that counts.
"Above all, take it one day at a time."
Letter, 1958
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Why do bad things happen?
Understanding life
No one has been able to explain why pain and misfortune must be part of the human condition. Bad things can and do happen to everybody, and sometimes there's no way to explain it.
Even in sobriety, AA members have misfortunes---times when it appears that God is hiding. We even hear members share such experiences at meetings. Many of us have found ways to use misfortunes constructively, however, by seeing how the program helps us deal with it. In some cases---but not all---we even learn that a misfortune was a disguised blessing.
Most important, by using the program, we are eliminating the drinking that has been the cause of many misfortunes in our lives. That alone makes our immediate world a much better place for everyone.
My life today can be both easy and hard. It gives me great comfort to know that I am not making conditions worse for myself and others.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps---First part of Step Twelve.
We are awake! Our spirits are alive. We are part of the world. Our addiction no longer clouds our vision. How? Step Twelve answers this. The beauty of Step Twelve is that if we feel our spirits starting to go dead, we know how to awaken them. It's simple. Turn to the Steps. After all, working the Steps has awakened our spirits. The hope and serenity we feel are gifts given to us through the Steps of our program. And the more we turn to the Steps for help, the more life we'll feel. The Steps are what feed and heal our souls. Prayer for the Day
Higher Power: Thank you for the Steps. If I start to believe it is I who keeps me sober, remind me of my life before the Twelve Steps.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll read the Twelve Steps. I'll think of how each Step helped awaken my spirit.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 8 - TO WIVES
If you and your husband find a solution for the pressing problem of drink you are, of course, going to very happy. But all problems will not be solved at once. Seed has started to sprout in a new soil, but growth has only begun. In spite of your new-found happiness, there will be ups and downs. Many of the old problems will still be with you. This is as it should be. p. 117
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
LISTENING TO THE WIND - It took an "angel" to introduce this Native American woman to A.A. and recovery.
I met my current husband in an A.A. meeting. Together we carry the message to Indian people on reservations all over the country. I started at the fifth-grade level in school when I had been sober nearly two years. After college I started my own business. Today I publish the books I write. Our daughter was born during my early sobriety, and she is in high school now. She has never seen her mother take a drink. Our family has returned to the spirituality of our ancestors. We attend sweat lodges and other ancient ceremonies with our people on sovereign native land. We take panels of sober Natives into Indian boarding schools and institutions, and share about recovery. - pp. 468-469
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Five - "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."
But of the things which really bother and burn us, we say nothing. Certain distressing or humiliating memories, we tell ourselves, ought not be shared with anyone. These will remain our secret. Not a soul must ever know. We hope they'll go to the grave with us.
pp. 55-56
************************************************** *********
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
It has truly been said that “We become what we do.” It’s emphasized to us over and over in The Program that our thoughts and actions toward others color and shape our spiritual lives. Words and acts of kindness, generosity, thoughtfulness and forgiveness serve to strengthen those qualities within us that heighten our consciousness of God’s love. In asking God to direct and guide my life, am I also asking love to take over and lead me where it will?
Today I Pray
May I make a resolute attempt at acting out the way I want to be — loving, forgiving, kind, thoughtful. May I be aware that each small, attentive act carries with it an echo of God’s all-caring. For God so loved the world; may we make His love our example.
Today I Will Remember
We become what we do.
************************************************** *********
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better. - Pg. 30 - More About Alcoholism
************************************************** *********
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Many people in meetings will talk about having a spiritual awakening or experience regarding recovery. These awakenings come in many forms, some in a flash of lightening, some in the slow revelation of sobriety. Whatever way it comes for you will be in your best interests.
Help me accept whatever awakening is right for me, so that I am not wishing for the experience of another but content with my own.
************************************************** *********
Warriors Anonymous Practice of the day-
BB pg 6-
Ch 1- Bill’s Story:
The remorse, horror and hopelessness of the next morning are unforgettable. The courage to do battle was not there. My brain raced uncontrollably and there was a terrible sense of impending calamity. I hardly dared cross the street, lest I collapse and be run down by a early morning truck, for it was scarcely daylight. An all night place supplied me with a dozen glasses of ale. My writhing nerves were stilled at last. A morning paper told me the market had gone to hell again. Well, so had I. The market would recover, but I wouldn’t. That was a hard thought. Should I kill myself? No—not now. Then a mental fog settled down. Gin would fix that. So two bottles, and—oblivion.
-Tom- That is very similar to my story of my last few months of drinking to live and living to drink. Getting to oblivion was the goal, and I did, only problem is I couldn’t stay there and had to start the living Hell all over again, and again, and again, and again.
Early sobriety was the hardest thing I’ve ever done my entire life. They told me it was supposed to be hard, that was normal. But my sponsor said he guaranteed I could do it if I just kept doing the basics everyday:
-Gratitude list
-Communication with my Higher Power
-Do my Step Work
-Go to a Meeting
-Talk with my Sponsor
My sobriety requires a daily commitment, and, if you are like me, I suspect yours does too. I am responsible for my own sobriety. Not my sponsor, family, friends, I am responsible to do the Work.
I pray that today I remember where I come from, so I don’t have to go back.
Our Twelfth Step also says that as a result of practicing all the Steps, we have each found something called a spiritual awakening. . . . A.A.'s manner of making ready to receive this gift lies in the practice of the Twelve Steps in our program."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 106-07
I remember my sponsor's answer when I told him that the Steps were "suggested." He replied that they are "suggested" in the same way that, if you were to jump out of a airplane with a parachute, it is "suggested" that you pull the ripcord to save your life. He pointed out that it was "suggested" I practice the Twelve Steps, if I wanted to save my life. So I try to remember daily that I have a whole program of recovery based on all Twelve of the "suggested" Steps.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
The thoughts that come before having a slip are often largely subconscious. It is a question whether or not our subconscious minds ever become entirely free from alcoholic thoughts as long as we live. For instance, some of us dream about being drunk when we are asleep, even after several years of sobriety in A.A. During the period of our drinking days, our subconscious minds have been thoroughly conditioned by our alcoholic way of thinking and it is doubtful that they ever become entirely free of such thoughts during our lifetime. But when our conscious minds are fully conditioned against drinking, we can stay sober and our subconscious minds do not often bother us. Am I still conditioning my conscious mind?
Meditation For The Day
Having sympathy and compassion for all who are in temptation, a condition which we are sometimes in, we have a responsibility towards them. Sympathy always includes responsibility. Pity is useless because it does not have a remedy for the need. But wherever our sympathy goes, our responsibility goes too. When we are moved with compassion, we should go to the one in need and bind up his wounds as best we can.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may have sympathy for those in temptation. I pray that I may have compassion for others' trials.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
Quantity or Quality, p. 11
"About this slip business--I would not be too discouraged. I think you are suffering a great deal from a needless guilt. For some reason or other, the Lord has laid out tougher paths for some of us, and I guess you are treading one of them. God is not asking us to be successful. He is only asking us to try to be. That, you surely are doing, and have been doing. So I would not stay away from A.A. through any feeling of discouragement or shame. It's just the place you should be. Why don't you try just as a member? You don't have to carry the whole A.A. on your back, you know!
"It is not always the quantity of good things that you do, it is also the quality that counts.
"Above all, take it one day at a time."
Letter, 1958
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Why do bad things happen?
Understanding life
No one has been able to explain why pain and misfortune must be part of the human condition. Bad things can and do happen to everybody, and sometimes there's no way to explain it.
Even in sobriety, AA members have misfortunes---times when it appears that God is hiding. We even hear members share such experiences at meetings. Many of us have found ways to use misfortunes constructively, however, by seeing how the program helps us deal with it. In some cases---but not all---we even learn that a misfortune was a disguised blessing.
Most important, by using the program, we are eliminating the drinking that has been the cause of many misfortunes in our lives. That alone makes our immediate world a much better place for everyone.
My life today can be both easy and hard. It gives me great comfort to know that I am not making conditions worse for myself and others.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps---First part of Step Twelve.
We are awake! Our spirits are alive. We are part of the world. Our addiction no longer clouds our vision. How? Step Twelve answers this. The beauty of Step Twelve is that if we feel our spirits starting to go dead, we know how to awaken them. It's simple. Turn to the Steps. After all, working the Steps has awakened our spirits. The hope and serenity we feel are gifts given to us through the Steps of our program. And the more we turn to the Steps for help, the more life we'll feel. The Steps are what feed and heal our souls. Prayer for the Day
Higher Power: Thank you for the Steps. If I start to believe it is I who keeps me sober, remind me of my life before the Twelve Steps.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll read the Twelve Steps. I'll think of how each Step helped awaken my spirit.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 8 - TO WIVES
If you and your husband find a solution for the pressing problem of drink you are, of course, going to very happy. But all problems will not be solved at once. Seed has started to sprout in a new soil, but growth has only begun. In spite of your new-found happiness, there will be ups and downs. Many of the old problems will still be with you. This is as it should be. p. 117
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
LISTENING TO THE WIND - It took an "angel" to introduce this Native American woman to A.A. and recovery.
I met my current husband in an A.A. meeting. Together we carry the message to Indian people on reservations all over the country. I started at the fifth-grade level in school when I had been sober nearly two years. After college I started my own business. Today I publish the books I write. Our daughter was born during my early sobriety, and she is in high school now. She has never seen her mother take a drink. Our family has returned to the spirituality of our ancestors. We attend sweat lodges and other ancient ceremonies with our people on sovereign native land. We take panels of sober Natives into Indian boarding schools and institutions, and share about recovery. - pp. 468-469
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Five - "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."
But of the things which really bother and burn us, we say nothing. Certain distressing or humiliating memories, we tell ourselves, ought not be shared with anyone. These will remain our secret. Not a soul must ever know. We hope they'll go to the grave with us.
pp. 55-56
************************************************** *********
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
It has truly been said that “We become what we do.” It’s emphasized to us over and over in The Program that our thoughts and actions toward others color and shape our spiritual lives. Words and acts of kindness, generosity, thoughtfulness and forgiveness serve to strengthen those qualities within us that heighten our consciousness of God’s love. In asking God to direct and guide my life, am I also asking love to take over and lead me where it will?
Today I Pray
May I make a resolute attempt at acting out the way I want to be — loving, forgiving, kind, thoughtful. May I be aware that each small, attentive act carries with it an echo of God’s all-caring. For God so loved the world; may we make His love our example.
Today I Will Remember
We become what we do.
************************************************** *********
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better. - Pg. 30 - More About Alcoholism
************************************************** *********
Hour To Hour - Book - Quote
Many people in meetings will talk about having a spiritual awakening or experience regarding recovery. These awakenings come in many forms, some in a flash of lightening, some in the slow revelation of sobriety. Whatever way it comes for you will be in your best interests.
Help me accept whatever awakening is right for me, so that I am not wishing for the experience of another but content with my own.
************************************************** *********
Warriors Anonymous Practice of the day-
BB pg 6-
Ch 1- Bill’s Story:
The remorse, horror and hopelessness of the next morning are unforgettable. The courage to do battle was not there. My brain raced uncontrollably and there was a terrible sense of impending calamity. I hardly dared cross the street, lest I collapse and be run down by a early morning truck, for it was scarcely daylight. An all night place supplied me with a dozen glasses of ale. My writhing nerves were stilled at last. A morning paper told me the market had gone to hell again. Well, so had I. The market would recover, but I wouldn’t. That was a hard thought. Should I kill myself? No—not now. Then a mental fog settled down. Gin would fix that. So two bottles, and—oblivion.
-Tom- That is very similar to my story of my last few months of drinking to live and living to drink. Getting to oblivion was the goal, and I did, only problem is I couldn’t stay there and had to start the living Hell all over again, and again, and again, and again.
Early sobriety was the hardest thing I’ve ever done my entire life. They told me it was supposed to be hard, that was normal. But my sponsor said he guaranteed I could do it if I just kept doing the basics everyday:
-Gratitude list
-Communication with my Higher Power
-Do my Step Work
-Go to a Meeting
-Talk with my Sponsor
My sobriety requires a daily commitment, and, if you are like me, I suspect yours does too. I am responsible for my own sobriety. Not my sponsor, family, friends, I am responsible to do the Work.
I pray that today I remember where I come from, so I don’t have to go back.
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