Daily Reflections
July 12
GIVING UP CENTER STAGE, p.202
For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all. . . Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith that can meet any emergency.
-12 & 12, p.70
Why do I balk at the word “humility”? I am not humbling myself toward other people, but toward God, as I understand Him. Humbly means “to show submissive,” and by being humble I realize I am not the center of the universe. When I was drinking, I was consumed by pride and self-centeredness. I felt the entire world revolved around me, that I was master of my destiny. Humility enables me to depend more on God to help me overcome obstacles, to help me with my own imperfections, so that I may grow spiritually. I must solve more difficult problems to increase my proficiency and, as I encounter life’s stumbling blocks, I must learn to overcome them through God’s help. Daily communion with God demonstrates my humility and provides me with the realization that an entity more powerful than I is willing to help me if I cease trying to play God myself.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
July 12
A.A. Thought For The Day
Today is ours. Let us live today as we believe God wants us to live. Each day will have a new pattern which we cannot foresee. But we can open each day with a quiet period in which we say a little prayer, asking God to help us through the day. Personal contact with God, as we understand Him, will from day to day bring us nearer to an understanding of His will for us. At the close of the day, we offer Him thanks for another day of sobriety. A full, constructive day has been lived and we are grateful. Am I asking God each day for strength and thanking Him each night?
Meditation For The Day
If you believe that God’s grace has saved you, then you must believe that He is meaning to save you yet more and keep you in the way that you should go. Even human rescuers would not save you from drowning only to place you in other deep and dangerous waters. Rather, they would place you on dry land, there to restore you. God, who is your rescuer, would certainly do this and even more. God will complete the task He sets out to do. He will not throw you overboard, if you are depending on Him.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may trust God to keep me in the way. I pray that I may rely on Him not to let me go.
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As Bill Sees It
July 12
The Spiritual Alibi, p. 193
Our first attempts at inventories are apt to prove very unrealistic. I used to be a champ at unrealistic self-appraisal. On certain occasions, I wanted to look only at the part of my life which seemed good. Then I would greatly exaggerate whatever virtues I supposed I had attained. Next I would congratulate myself on the grand job I was doing in A.A.
Naturally this generated a terrible hankering for still more “accomplishments,” and still more approval. I was falling straight back into the pattern of my drinking days. Here were the same old goals–power, fame, and applause. Besides, I had the best alibi known–the spiritual alibi. The fact that I really did have a spiritual objective made this utter nonsense seem perfectly right.
Grapevine, June 1961
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Walk In Dry Places
July 12
Pats on the back
Self-esteem
Recovery from a compulsive illness such as alcoholism often brings “pats on the back.” This praise is a welcome change from the criticism our problems once raised.
We should accept such pats on the back graciously, but without taking the personal credit this sort of praise implies. We can become addicted to praise seeking, and we may even invite it as a way of building up self-esteem.
Moreover, much of our challenge is still ahead of us. The real victory may be in learning how to live after we’ve established our initial freedom. We learn that all human beings must face issues such as boredom and pain, which we tried to avoid with our drinking. We may get few pats on the back for our success in this everyday living, but our healthier lifestyle is reward enough.
If I receive praise today, I’ll acknowledge it graciously, knowing that such praise is not necessary for my well-being.
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Keep It Simple
July 12
Just because everything is different doesn’t mean anything has changed.
—Irene Peter
Our life changed a lot when we stopped drinking and using other drugs. But this is only a start. We need to go further.
Our old attitudes can kill us, even if we aren’t drinking or drugging any more. This is called a “dry drunk.” If we’re on a dry drunk, we’ve changed the way we act without changing the way we think.
Our program shows us how to change the way we think. And we change how we treat ourselves and others. We learn to live a new life based on love and care.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me guard against my old attitudes. Help me keep changing.
Action for the Day: I’ll list four ways I’ve changed because I’m sober. I’ll list four ways I haven’t changed yet.
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Each Day a New Beginning
July 12
… those interested in perpetuating present conditions are always in tears about the marvelous past that is about to disappear, without having so much as a smile for the young future.
—Simone de Beauvoir
Hanging on to any moment, once it’s gone, deadens us to the joys and lessons of the present. We must learn to let go, to let go of persons, painful situations, and even meaningful experiences. Life goes on, and the most fruitful lesson before us is to move with the vibrations, be in tune with them.
Being open to the present is our only chance for growth. These experiences today in our lives beckon us forward along the path meant for us. We are not guaranteed only joy today. But we are promised security. We may not be free of twinges of fear or confusion, but we can learn to trust even in the midst of adversity. We can remember that power greater than ourselves whenever and wherever our steps are uncertain.
Dwelling, as we are wont to do, on our rebuffs, our rejections, invites further criticism. But neither should we dwell on past joys. Attention to now and to the persons here, now, is the only rightful response to life. Not being here, now, invites others to turn away, just as we have turned away.
I will celebrate the thrill of the present, squeeze the moments of today, and trust the outcome to God.
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Alcoholics Anonymous
July 12
Jim’s Story
This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.’s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.
I was born in a little town In Virginia in an average religious home. My father, a Negro, was a country physician. I remember in my early youth my mother dressed me just as she did my two sisters, and I wore curls until I was six years of age. At that time I started school, and that’s how I got rid of the curls. I found that even then I had fears and inhibitions. We lived just a few doors from the First Baptist Church, and when they had funerals, I remember very often asking my mother whether the person was good or bad and whether they were going to heaven or hell. I was about six then.
p. 232
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
July 12
Step Eleven – “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”
Now, what of prayer? Prayer is the raising of the heart and mind to God–and in this sense it includes meditation. How may we go about it? And how does it fit in with meditation? Prayer, as commonly understood, is a petition to God. Having opened our channel as best we can, we try to ask for those right things of which we and others are in the greatest need. And we think that the whole range of our needs is well defined by that part of Step Eleven which says: “ … knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” A request for this fits in any part of our day.
p. 102
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Xtra Thoughts
July 12
“It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.”
–Seneca
“If one asks for success and prepares for failure, he will get the situation he has prepared for.”
–Florence Shinn
Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.
–American Proverb
Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.
–Kahil Gibran
“When we surrender to God, we let go of our attachment to how things happen on the outside, and we become more concerned with what happens on the inside.”
–Marianne Williamson
Change your thoughts and you change your world.
–Vincent Norman Peale
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
July 12
VIOLENCE
“Violence is counter-productive and produces changes of a sort you don’t want. It is a very dangerous instrument and can destroy those who wield it.”
–John Gardner
I believed I wasn’t violent when I drank but that is not true; I wasn’t physically violent but I used emotional and mental violence. I did not hit, fight or mutilate people with my hands, but I could tear a person apart with my tongue. My sarcasm and criticism made people cry, feel demoralized and useless. Violence always removes the “dignity” from man — and I did this with my mouth!
Today I try to practice tolerance and patience, I count to ten, and when I do lose my temper and hurt a person unfairly or unnecessarily, I apologize. In my sobriety the anger, hate and need to hurt is slowly going. I am progressively getting better a day at a time.
Teacher, let me offer the hand of peace, not the fist of violence.
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Bible Scriptures
July 12
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.”
-Ephesians 2:8
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith.
-1 Corinthians 16:13
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up…”
-Luke 18:1
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”
-Ephesians 5:18
“My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.”
-Psalm 119:28
“Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.”
-Psalm 119:37
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Daily Inspiration
July 12
Turn to God’s love when you become doubtful or discouraged. Lord, Your love for me is so great that with this knowledge I am able to face my biggest challenges without stress.
Never forget that home is Heaven and life on earth is only temporary. Lord, may I live with deep awareness of my spiritual nature and live a life of truth.
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A Day At A Time
July 12
Reflection For The Day
In many aspects the Fellowship of The Program is like a reasonably happy cruise ship or, in time of trouble, like a convoy. But in the long run each of us must chart his or her own course through life. When the seas are smooth, we may become careless. By neglecting Step Ten, we may get out of the habit of checking our position. If we’re mindful of Step Ten, however, then we rarely go so far wrong that we can’t make a few corrections and get back on course again. Do I realize that regular practice of Step Ten can help me determine what other step is indicated to bring me into a happier frame of mind and into serenity?
Today I Pray
May step Ten be a sextant by which I read my whereabouts at sea, so that I can correct my course, re chart it if I am heading for shallow places. May I keep in mind that, if it weren’t for an all-knowing Captain, and the vigilance of my fellow crew members, this ship could be adrift and I could easily panic.
Today I Will Remember
To steer by a steady star.
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One More Day
July 12
There is a certain state of health that does not allow us to understand everything; and perhaps illness shuts us off from certain truths; but health shuts us off just as effectively from others.
–Andre Gide
When we were healthy, it was hard imagining what someone in poor health was going through. We could sympathize — even empathize — but we were insulated from the reality because we had no personal experience with illness.
Now, our diminished health allows us to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. Many of our friends and family don’t always know how to act toward us or what to say. They’re the ones who may be uneasy about facing our world. We can help them because we know what they are experiencing.
I will be compassionate to my loved ones as they strive to help and understand.
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One Day At A Time
July 12
APATHY
“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
–Albert Einstein
In my life as an addict, I found myself deteriorating in every way possible. I was spiritually hungry, emotionally bereft, and physically a mess. I stopped caring about people, places or things. I was apathetic to such a degree that I no longer cared about anything.
That gradually changed when I embraced the Twelve Steps. I began to open my eyes to the world around me ~ the world I had shut out. The more I worked the Steps, the more I saw the reality of things. I became less selfish and began to try to make a difference — not only in my own life, but also in the lives of those I cared about. I found myself loving more. I found I was once again capable of having compassion.
I am no longer afraid to speak out when I see misdeeds. I don’t cower before those who would do harm to others. I embrace the good and the bad in this world I call home.
One day at a time …
I will do my part in making the world a better place. I will listen and hear what my Higher Power has in mind for me.
~ Mari
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Elder’s Meditation of the Day
July 12
“Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit.”
–Sitting Bull, TETON SIOUX
Our bodies are both physical and spiritual. At our very center we are spiritual. Our bodies are built around the spiritual. The center is the unseen world. Therefore, we cannot see it with our eyes and we tend to judge the body because we can see it. The body is not who we are. We can see the spiritual if we are spiritual ourselves. We won’t see this always with our physical eyes. Usually we will see it with our spiritual eye. We will hear ourselves say “I know this to be true.”
At the center of all human beings is the place of good. That includes myself. At my very core is good. I can find this place by staying free of resentments, fear, dishonesty and self-seeking motives.
My Creator, keep me free this day of resentment, selfishness, dishonesty and fear.
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Journey To The Heart
July 12
Let the Universe Lead the Way
Feel and see how the life force, the heartbeat of the universe, leads you on, guides you, takes you on the way. Yes, there are times when we need to march forward, muster up our willpower, and grind through the motions. But those times are transitory. And that’s not the magical way we’re living now. Even when we stop, doubt, wonder, get tired and confused, the universe is there to revitalize us, move us along our path and lead the way.
If you’re tired, rest. If you’re sad,cry. If you’re thirsty, take a long cold drink of water. If you feel hopeless, feel that. But know it’s just for the moment. If you feel confused, feel that. Feel it until clarity, desire, hope, and meaning break through. You don’t have to trudge through on willpower, not any longer. You do not have to push your way through.
Rest until you feel healed, then gently go forward. Let the universe assist you. Open your eyes, the eyes of your soul, and see where to go. Feel where to go. Sense what to do next. See how the magical power of the universe carries you along, even when you get tired, even when you get confused. You are connected– to yourself, to the universal force, to God.
Quiet the chatter of your mind. Renew your body. Replenish your soul. Take in all the healing energy of the world around you.
Then let the universe lead the way.
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Today’s Gift
July 12
We love the things we love for what they are.
—Robert Frost
Once there was a little girl who had a stuffed frog named Jeremy. Jeremy went everywhere with the girl – to imaginary picnics with her other dolls, to school, on trips, and, once, even into the bathtub! Every night, Jeremy slept cradled in her arms.
Over time, Jeremy grew old and tattered. He had lost an eye, and he limped because the girl used to use one of his legs as a handle, and it had gotten crushed. His nose was a little mangled too, from being dragged on the ground.
But the girl loved that frog; no matter how bedraggled he looked. And he never did anything. He was just always there. He was just Jeremy, and she loved him for that.
Today, that girl is a young woman and has outgrown childish things. But in her bedroom, you’ll still find Jeremy, tattered and repaired, asleep on her bed. She still loves him dearly, for what he is.
Who do I love, and why?
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The Language of Letting Go
July 12
Letting Go of Fear of Abandonment
“Where are you, God? Where did you go?”
So many people have gone away. We may have felt so alone so much. In the midst of our struggles and lessons, we may wonder if God has gone away too.
There are wondrous days when we feel God’s protection and presence, leading and guiding each step and event. There are gray, dry days of spiritual barrenness when we wonder if anything in our life is guided or planned. Wondering if God knows or cares.
Seek quiet times on the gray days. Force discipline and obedience until the answer comes, because it will.
“I have not gone away child. I am here, always. Rest in me, in confidence. All in your life is being guided and planned, each detail. I know, and I care. Things are being worked out as quickly as possible for your highest good. Trust and be grateful. I am right here. Soon you will see, and know.”
Today, I will remember that God has not abandoned me. I can trust that God is leading, guiding, directing, and planning in love each detail of my life.
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More Language Of Letting Go
July 12
Honor your emotions
Inside me is a wheel, constantly turning from sadness to joy, from exultation to depression, from happiness to melancholy. Like the flowers, today’s full bloom of joy will fade and wither into despondency, yet I will remember that as today’s dead flower carries the seal of tomorrow’s bloom, so, too, does today’s sadness carry the seed of tomorrow’s joy.
–Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman in the World
Honor your emotions, they are an important part of you. They hold your connection to love, passion, joy, healing, and intuition.
Not having emotions would make us cold robots. Emotions are part of the glory of being human, and they’re our connection to our hearts.
Respect and treasure your emotional self. Learn to cherish your variety of emotions.
God, help me become the passionate, vibrant human being you created me to be. Help me feel all my emotions, and embrace the glory of being alive.
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Touchstones Meditations For Men
July 12
If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer
Many of us have the habit of taking a negative outlook on whatever comes along. We don’t believe things will work out for us; we don’t think we will have a good day; we can’t accept our friends’ warm feelings. To follow this gloomy path is a strange distortion of faith – it is faith in the negative. Any forecast, whether hopeful or pessimistic, is a step into the unknown. So why do we choose the dark one?
We get a payoff for our pessimism, which keeps us hooked. It creates misery, but serves our demand for control. There is more risk in being open to something positive because we cannot force positive things to occur. We can only be open to them and believe in the possibility. But when we predict the negative and expect only bad things, we squelch many good things or overlook them. Then we say, “I knew it would be this way,” and in our misery we satisfy our self-centered craving to be in charge. When we surrender our need to be in control, we are more open and welcoming of the good things that come our way.
Today. I will be open to the good that is around me.
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Daily TAO
July 12
Immediacy
When washing your face, can you see your true self?
When urinating, can you remember true purity?
When eating, can you remember the cycles of all things?
When walking, can you feel the rotation of heaven?
When working, are you happy with what you do?
When speaking, are your words without guile?
When you shop, are you aware of your needs?
When you meet the suffering, do you help?
When confronted with death, are you unafraid and lucid?
When you meet conflict, do you work toward harmony?
When with your family, do you express benevolence?
When raising children, are you tender but firm?
When facing problems, are you far-seeing and tenacious?
When you are finished with work, do you take time to rest?
When preparing for rest, do you know how to settle your mind?
When sleeping, do you slip into absolute void?
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In God’s Care
July 12
The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
-Muhammad Ali
We can be changed, sometimes profoundly, by seemingly insignificant events – provided we are willing to be touched by them and the people involved. How we thought and what we dreamed for in our youth was fitting for that time and place. But those thoughts and dreams may be too small for us today. Now, each moment calls for new dreams, shaped daily by the events and people we open ourselves to.
We’re most fully alive when we’re learning, changing, and growing. Not a moment passes that isn’t rich with possibilities for insights and growth. Each encounter with people who cross our path offers us the chance for a deeper connection with our Higher Power. When we become entrapped by rigid attitudes, our spirit withers. God has given us life as a gift that wee must open. It’s never too late to begin the celebration.
I will think of my life as celebration today, with me and the people around me as God’s guests of honor.
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Day By Day
July 12
Knowing our Higher Power
A good understanding of our Higher Power may be necessary for some of us, but we don’t need to get stuck on any image. All we have to do is become willing to believe that a power greater than ourselves will help us get clean and sober.
Electricity works the same after a course in electronics as it did before the course. Like-wise, our Higher Power works the same for us before we understand how it operates. It gets down to this simple idea: It’s less important that we understand God than believe God understands us.
Do I have faith in my Higher Power?
Higher Power, help me accept the fact that understanding your ways is less important than believing you are present in my life today.
I will apply my faith in my Higher Power today by…
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Food for Thought
July 12
Growing Up
There is no magic. Nothing – be it person, place, or thing – is going to give us instant and permanent gratification. We keep thinking in the back of our mind that there is some way we can manipulate life into granting us all of our desires, even when they contradict each other.
When we seriously and with honest effort work our way through the Twelve Steps, we begin to grow up emotionally and spiritually. Abstinence from compulsive overeating makes this growth possible. It is not easy, but it is definitely worth the effort.
Acceptance and renunciation are necessary if we are to live with satisfaction in the real world. Grandiose illusions are of no help. We come to understand that certain foods, emotions, and attitudes are not for us if we are to maintain our sanity.
There is no magic, but there is a Power greater than ourselves. Who is directing our growth.
Grant me the willingness to grow up.
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Daily Zen
July 12
I suddenly found myself upside-down
On level ground;
When I picked myself up,
I find there’s nothing to say!
If someone should ask me what this
Is all about, smiling,
I’d point to the pure breeze and
Bright moon.
– Zhenru
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Faith’s Check Book
July 12
Whom, When, How to Deliver
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.
-2 Peter 2:9
The godly are tempted and tried. That is not true faith which is never put to the test. But the godly are delivered out of their trials, and that not by chance, nor by secondary agencies, but by the Lord Himself. He personally undertakes the office of delivering those who trust Him. God loves the godly or godlike, and He makes a point of knowing where they are and how they fare.
Sometimes their way seems to be a labyrinth, and they cannot imagine how they are to escape from threatening danger. What they do not know, their Lord knows. He knows whom to deliver, and when to deliver, and how to deliver. He delivers in the way which is most beneficial to the godly, most crushing to the tempter, and most glorifying to Himself. We may leave the “how” with the Lord and be content to rejoice in the fact that He will, in some way or other, bring His own people through all the dangers, trials, and temptations for this mortal life to His own right hand in glory.
This day it is not for me to pry into my Lord’s secrets but patiently to wait His time, knowing this, that though I know nothing, my heavenly Father knows.
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This Morning’s Meditation
July 12
“Sanctified by God the Father.”—Jude 1 “Sanctified in Christ Jesus.”—1 Corinthians 1:2 “Through sanctification of the Spirit.”
—1 Peter 1:2
MARK the union of the Three Divine Persons in all their gracious acts. How unwisely do those believers talk who make preferences in the Persons of the Trinity; who think of Jesus as if He were the embodiment of everything lovely and gracious, while the Father they regard as severely just, but destitute of kindness. Equally wrong are those who magnify the decree of the Father, and the atonement of the Son, so as to depreciate the work of the Spirit. In deeds of grace none of the Persons of the Trinity act apart from the rest. They are as united in their deeds as in their essence. In their love towards the chosen they are one, and in the actions which flow from that great central source they are still undivided. Specially notice this in the matter of sanctification. While we may without mistake speak of sanctification as the work of the Spirit, yet we must take heed that we do not view it as if the Father and the Son had no part therein. It is correct to speak of sanctification as the work of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit. Still doth Jehovah say, “Let us make man in our own image after our likeness,” and thus we are “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” See the value which God sets upon real holiness, since the Three Persons in the Trinity are represented as co-working to produce a Church without “spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” And you, believer, as the follower of Christ, must also set a high value on holiness—upon purity of life and godliness of conversation. Value the blood of Christ as the foundation of your hope, but never speak disparagingly of the work of the Spirit which is your meekness for the inheritance of the saints in light. This day let us so live as to manifest the work of the True God in us.
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This Evening’s Meditation
July 12
“His heavenly kingdom.”
—2 Timothy 4:18
YONDER city of the great King is a place of active service. Ransomed spirits serve Him day and night in His temple. They never cease to fulfil the good pleasure of their King. They always “rest,” so far as ease and freedom from care is concerned; and never “rest,” in the sense of indolence or inactivity. Jerusalem the golden is the place of communion with all the people of God. We shall sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in eternal fellowship. We shall hold high converse with the noble host of the elect, all reigning with Him who by His love and His potent arm has brought them safely home. We shall not sing solos, but in chorus shall we praise our King. Heaven is a place of victory realized. Whenever, Christian, thou hast achieved a victory over thy lusts—whenever after hard struggling, thou hast laid a temptation dead at thy feet—thou hast in that hour a foretaste of the joy that awaits thee when the Lord shall shortly tread Satan under thy feet, and thou shalt find thyself more than conqueror through Him who hath loved thee. Paradise is a place of security. When you enjoy the full assurance of faith, you have the pledge of that glorious security which shall be yours when you are a perfect citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem. O my sweet home, Jerusalem, thou happy harbour of my soul! Thanks, even now, to Him whose love hath taught me to long for Thee; but louder thanks in eternity, when I shall possess thee.
“My soul has tasted of the grapes,
And now it longs to go
Where my dear Lord His vineyard keeps
And all the clusters grow.
“Upon the true and living vine,
My famish’d soul would feast,
And banquet on the fruit divine,
An everlasting guest.”