Daily Readings 12-22-2022
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Daily Readings 12-22-2022
Daily Reflections
PRINCIPLES, NOT PERSONALITIES
The way our "worthy" alcoholics have sometimes tried to judge the
"less worthy" is, as we look back on it, rather comical. Imagine, if
you can, one alcoholic judging another!
THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 37
Who am I to judge anyone? When I first entered the Fellowship I
found that I liked everyone. After all, A.A. was going to help me to a
better way of life without alcohol. The reality was that I couldn't
possibly like everyone, nor they me. As I've grown in the Fellowship,
I've learned to love everyone just from listening to what they had to
say. That person over there, or the one right here, may be the one
God has chosen to give me the message I need for today. I must
always remember to place principles above personalities.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
As we look back over our drinking careers, we must
realize that our lives were a mess because we were a mess
inside. The trouble was in us, not in life itself. Life
itself was good enough, but we were looking at it the
wrong way. We were looking at life through the bottom of
a whiskey glass, and it was distorted. We could not see
all the beauty and goodness and purpose in the world,
because our vision was blurred. We were in a house with
one-way glass in the windows. People could see us but we
could not look out and see them and see what life meant
to them and should mean to us. We were blind then, but
now we can see. Can I now look at life as it really is?
Meditation For The Day
Fear no evil, because the power of God can conquer evil.
Evil has power to seriously hurt only those who do not
place themselves under the protection of the Higher Power.
This is not a question of feeling, it is an assured fact
of our experience. Say to yourself with assurance that
whatever it is, no evil can seriously harm you as long as
you depend on the Higher Power. Be sure of the protection
of God's grace.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that fear of evil will not get me down. I pray that
I may try to place myself today under the protection of
God's grace.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
The Step That Keeps Us growing, p.264
Sometimes, when friends tell us how well we are doing, we know
better inside. We know we aren't doing well enough. We still
can't handle life, as life is. There must be a serious flaw
somewhere in our spiritual practice and development.
What, then, is it?
The chances are better than even that we shall locate our trouble in
our misunderstanding or neglect of A.A.'s Step Eleven--prayer,
meditation, and the guidance of God.
The other Steps can keep most of us sober and somehow functioning.
But Step Eleven can keep us growing, if we try hard and work at it
continually.
Grapevine, June 1958
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Watching what we think
Personal Inventory.
It's healthy for AA members to confess personal difficulties with destructive thinking. When we find ourselves becoming too irritable or impatient, it's important to admit this in meetings or one-on-one discussions. Usually, just the admission of the problem helps solve it. It's only false pride that makes us think we should be "above" destructive thinking. As human beings, we'll be susceptible to human failings no matter how long we've been sober.
If we continue to watch what we think, we'll also be able to head off very serious problem before they get out of control. Far from being a sign that we're not working the program, the practice of weeding out our current faults is the Tenth Step in action. Continuing to take personal inventory and admitting our wrongs are a safeguard against trouble. Destructive thinking is no respecter of persons, and even as an older member, I could lapse into it today. I always have the Tenth Step, however, to get me back on track.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
It is possible to be different and still be right.--Anne Wilson Schaef
Each of us is special. In some ways we're all different. It's a good thing too. We'd be bored if we were all the same. Sometimes though, we try to hide the special things about us. We don't want to be "different." But the ways that we're different makes us special. Others have a knack of fixing things. Some of us make beautiful art. Others are great with kids. Our Higher Power made us as different, as unique, as beautiful snowflakes.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me use my special gifts the way You want me to. Help me be thankful that You have given me something special to share with others.
Action for the Day: I'll think of one thing about me that's special. I'll talk with my sponsor about it.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards
Another principle we observe carefully is that we do not relate intimate experiences of another person unless we are sure he would approve. We find it better, when possible, to stick to our own stories. A man may criticize to laugh at himself and it will affect others favorably, but criticism or ridicule coming from another often produce the contrary effect. Members of a family should watch such matters carefully, for one careless, inconsiderate remark has been known to raise the very devil. We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time to outgrow that serious handicap.
p. 125
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
BUILDING A NEW LIFE - Hallucinating and restrained by sheriff's deputies and hospital staff, this once-happy family man received an unexpected gift from God--a firm foundation in sobriety that would hold up through good times and bad.
Two days before Christmas I was on the way to basic training. On the train's next to last stop, my buddies from home and I got off and rushed to the bar to buy liquor to celebrate Christmas. Back on the train, we were warned that the M.P.'s were throwing bottles out the windows, so we drank ours hard and fast and got loaded.
p. 478
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Six - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."
But most of our other difficulties don't fall under such a category at all. Every normal person wants, for example, to eat, to reproduce, to be somebody in the society of his fellows. And he wishes to be reasonably safe and secure as he tries to attain these things. Indeed, God made him that way. He did not design man to destroy himself by alcohol, but He did give man instincts to help him to stay alive.
p. 64
************************************************** *********
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Through our own experiences and the experiences of others in The Program, we see that a spiritual awakening is in reality a gift — a gift which in essence is a new state of consciousness and being. It means that I’m now on a road which really leads somewhere; it means that life is really worth living, rather than something to be endured. It means that I have been transformed in a sense that I have undergone a basic personality change — and that I possess a source of strength which I had so long denied myself. Do I believe that none come too soon to The Program — and that none return too late?
Today I Pray
I pray that I may attain that state of consciousness which transcends my everyday reality — but is also a part of it. May I no longer question the existence of God because I have touched His Being. For us who are recovering from addictions, the words reborn in the Spirit have a special, precious meaning. May I be wholly grateful to a Higher Power for leading me to a spiritual rebirth.
Today I Will Remember
Renaissance through my Higher Power.
***************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us. - Pg. 164 - A Vision For You
***************************************
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Some program members get stuck on rules of what one can and can't say and what dependency qualifies one to be in what recovery group. They demand that newcomers follow traditions as interpreted by them. This can drive newcomers away before they even find out what recovery means.
I carry the message, not the mess.
***************************************
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
The trouble with many of us is that in trying times we stop trying.
***************************************
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
There are no chemical solutions to spiritual problems. - Ron K.
***************************************
Warriors Anonymous Practice of the Day-
BB pg 89
Ch 7, Working with Others:
Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion: Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Remember they are very ill.
-Tom- man, those words “insure immunity from drinking “ grabbed me, for that is what I wanted. I didn’t do all that hard work, rip my guts out and change my entire life to just start drinking again. But in early sobriety that was a realistic experienced based fear. With time, I always destroyed what was good in my life. Do good, do good, destroy it all, do good, do good, destroy it all......all my life.
These instructions on the 12th step guarantee that I will stay sober. However there is a few requirements, as we know sobriety isn’t free. It requires me to do intensive work with other alcoholics. That’s a whole lot more than just showing up at a meeting, sharing, hanging out and talking, then going home.
It means that I must be sponsoring guys and taking them through the BB.
No matter where I am at in the steps I can ask myself, “am I working intensely with other alcoholics?”
If the answer is yes, then I can continue.
If the answer is no, then I had better start right now, that is if I want to stay sober.
Today I pray that I carry the message of Alcoholics Anonymous, not my mess.
PRINCIPLES, NOT PERSONALITIES
The way our "worthy" alcoholics have sometimes tried to judge the
"less worthy" is, as we look back on it, rather comical. Imagine, if
you can, one alcoholic judging another!
THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART, p. 37
Who am I to judge anyone? When I first entered the Fellowship I
found that I liked everyone. After all, A.A. was going to help me to a
better way of life without alcohol. The reality was that I couldn't
possibly like everyone, nor they me. As I've grown in the Fellowship,
I've learned to love everyone just from listening to what they had to
say. That person over there, or the one right here, may be the one
God has chosen to give me the message I need for today. I must
always remember to place principles above personalities.
************************************************** *********
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
As we look back over our drinking careers, we must
realize that our lives were a mess because we were a mess
inside. The trouble was in us, not in life itself. Life
itself was good enough, but we were looking at it the
wrong way. We were looking at life through the bottom of
a whiskey glass, and it was distorted. We could not see
all the beauty and goodness and purpose in the world,
because our vision was blurred. We were in a house with
one-way glass in the windows. People could see us but we
could not look out and see them and see what life meant
to them and should mean to us. We were blind then, but
now we can see. Can I now look at life as it really is?
Meditation For The Day
Fear no evil, because the power of God can conquer evil.
Evil has power to seriously hurt only those who do not
place themselves under the protection of the Higher Power.
This is not a question of feeling, it is an assured fact
of our experience. Say to yourself with assurance that
whatever it is, no evil can seriously harm you as long as
you depend on the Higher Power. Be sure of the protection
of God's grace.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that fear of evil will not get me down. I pray that
I may try to place myself today under the protection of
God's grace.
************************************************** *********
As Bill Sees It
The Step That Keeps Us growing, p.264
Sometimes, when friends tell us how well we are doing, we know
better inside. We know we aren't doing well enough. We still
can't handle life, as life is. There must be a serious flaw
somewhere in our spiritual practice and development.
What, then, is it?
The chances are better than even that we shall locate our trouble in
our misunderstanding or neglect of A.A.'s Step Eleven--prayer,
meditation, and the guidance of God.
The other Steps can keep most of us sober and somehow functioning.
But Step Eleven can keep us growing, if we try hard and work at it
continually.
Grapevine, June 1958
************************************************** *********
Walk In Dry Places
Watching what we think
Personal Inventory.
It's healthy for AA members to confess personal difficulties with destructive thinking. When we find ourselves becoming too irritable or impatient, it's important to admit this in meetings or one-on-one discussions. Usually, just the admission of the problem helps solve it. It's only false pride that makes us think we should be "above" destructive thinking. As human beings, we'll be susceptible to human failings no matter how long we've been sober.
If we continue to watch what we think, we'll also be able to head off very serious problem before they get out of control. Far from being a sign that we're not working the program, the practice of weeding out our current faults is the Tenth Step in action. Continuing to take personal inventory and admitting our wrongs are a safeguard against trouble. Destructive thinking is no respecter of persons, and even as an older member, I could lapse into it today. I always have the Tenth Step, however, to get me back on track.
************************************************** *********
Keep It Simple
It is possible to be different and still be right.--Anne Wilson Schaef
Each of us is special. In some ways we're all different. It's a good thing too. We'd be bored if we were all the same. Sometimes though, we try to hide the special things about us. We don't want to be "different." But the ways that we're different makes us special. Others have a knack of fixing things. Some of us make beautiful art. Others are great with kids. Our Higher Power made us as different, as unique, as beautiful snowflakes.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me use my special gifts the way You want me to. Help me be thankful that You have given me something special to share with others.
Action for the Day: I'll think of one thing about me that's special. I'll talk with my sponsor about it.
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition
Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards
Another principle we observe carefully is that we do not relate intimate experiences of another person unless we are sure he would approve. We find it better, when possible, to stick to our own stories. A man may criticize to laugh at himself and it will affect others favorably, but criticism or ridicule coming from another often produce the contrary effect. Members of a family should watch such matters carefully, for one careless, inconsiderate remark has been known to raise the very devil. We alcoholics are sensitive people. It takes some of us a long time to outgrow that serious handicap.
p. 125
************************************************** *********
Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories
BUILDING A NEW LIFE - Hallucinating and restrained by sheriff's deputies and hospital staff, this once-happy family man received an unexpected gift from God--a firm foundation in sobriety that would hold up through good times and bad.
Two days before Christmas I was on the way to basic training. On the train's next to last stop, my buddies from home and I got off and rushed to the bar to buy liquor to celebrate Christmas. Back on the train, we were warned that the M.P.'s were throwing bottles out the windows, so we drank ours hard and fast and got loaded.
p. 478
************************************************** *********
Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
Step Six - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."
But most of our other difficulties don't fall under such a category at all. Every normal person wants, for example, to eat, to reproduce, to be somebody in the society of his fellows. And he wishes to be reasonably safe and secure as he tries to attain these things. Indeed, God made him that way. He did not design man to destroy himself by alcohol, but He did give man instincts to help him to stay alive.
p. 64
************************************************** *********
A Day At A Time
Reflection For The Day
Through our own experiences and the experiences of others in The Program, we see that a spiritual awakening is in reality a gift — a gift which in essence is a new state of consciousness and being. It means that I’m now on a road which really leads somewhere; it means that life is really worth living, rather than something to be endured. It means that I have been transformed in a sense that I have undergone a basic personality change — and that I possess a source of strength which I had so long denied myself. Do I believe that none come too soon to The Program — and that none return too late?
Today I Pray
I pray that I may attain that state of consciousness which transcends my everyday reality — but is also a part of it. May I no longer question the existence of God because I have touched His Being. For us who are recovering from addictions, the words reborn in the Spirit have a special, precious meaning. May I be wholly grateful to a Higher Power for leading me to a spiritual rebirth.
Today I Will Remember
Renaissance through my Higher Power.
***************************************
AA 'Big Book' - Quote
Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us. - Pg. 164 - A Vision For You
***************************************
Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote
Some program members get stuck on rules of what one can and can't say and what dependency qualifies one to be in what recovery group. They demand that newcomers follow traditions as interpreted by them. This can drive newcomers away before they even find out what recovery means.
I carry the message, not the mess.
***************************************
"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book
The trouble with many of us is that in trying times we stop trying.
***************************************
Alkiespeak - Book - Quote
There are no chemical solutions to spiritual problems. - Ron K.
***************************************
Warriors Anonymous Practice of the Day-
BB pg 89
Ch 7, Working with Others:
Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion: Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Remember they are very ill.
-Tom- man, those words “insure immunity from drinking “ grabbed me, for that is what I wanted. I didn’t do all that hard work, rip my guts out and change my entire life to just start drinking again. But in early sobriety that was a realistic experienced based fear. With time, I always destroyed what was good in my life. Do good, do good, destroy it all, do good, do good, destroy it all......all my life.
These instructions on the 12th step guarantee that I will stay sober. However there is a few requirements, as we know sobriety isn’t free. It requires me to do intensive work with other alcoholics. That’s a whole lot more than just showing up at a meeting, sharing, hanging out and talking, then going home.
It means that I must be sponsoring guys and taking them through the BB.
No matter where I am at in the steps I can ask myself, “am I working intensely with other alcoholics?”
If the answer is yes, then I can continue.
If the answer is no, then I had better start right now, that is if I want to stay sober.
Today I pray that I carry the message of Alcoholics Anonymous, not my mess.
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