Daily Reflections
August 9
“ … OF ALL PERSONS WE HAD HARMED”
“ … and became willing to make amends to them all.”
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 77
One of the key words in the Eighth Step is the word all. I am not free to select a few names for the list and to disregard others. It is a list of all persons I have harmed. I can see immediately that this Step entails forgiveness because if I’m not willing to forgive someone, there is little chance I will place his name on the list. Before I placed the first name on my list, I said a little prayer: “I forgive anyone and everyone who has ever harmed me at any time and under any circumstances.” It is well for me to contemplate a small, but very significant, two-letter word every time the Lord’s Prayer is said. The word is as. I ask, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” In this case, as means, “in the same manner.” I am asking to be forgiven in the same manner that I forgive others. As I say this portion of the prayer, if I am harboring hatred or resentment, I am inviting more resentment, when I should be calling on the spirit of forgiveness.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
August 9
A.A. Thought For The Day
“We have an allergy to alcohol. The action of alcohol on chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy. We allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all. We cannot be reconciled to a life without alcohol, unless we can experience an entire psychic change. Once this psychic change has occurred, we who seemed doomed, we who had so many problems that we despaired of ever solving them, find ourselves able to control our desire for alcohol.” Have I had a psychic change?
Meditation For The Day
Ask God in daily prayer to give you the strength to change. When you ask God to change you, you must at the same time fully trust Him. If you do not fully trust Him, God may answer your prayer as a rescuer does that of a drowning person who is putting up too much of a struggle. The rescuer must first render the person still more helpless, until he or she is wholly at the rescuer’s mercy. just so must we be wholly at God’s mercy before we can be rescued.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may be daily willing to be changed. I pray that I may put myself wholly at the mercy of God.
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As Bill Sees It
August 9
God Will Not Desert Us, p. 221
“Word comes to me that you are making a magnificent stand in adversity–this adversity being the state of your health. It gives me a chance to express my gratitude for your recovery in A.A. and especially for the demonstration of its principles you are now so inspiringly giving to us all.
“You will be glad to know that A.A.’s have an almost unfailing record in this respect. This, I think, is because we are so aware that God will not desert us when the chips are down; indeed, He did not when we were drinking. And so it should be with the remainder of life.
“Certainly, He does not plan to save us from all troubles and adversity. Nor, in the end, does He save us from so-called death–since this is but an opening of a door into a new life, where we shall dwell among His many mansions. Touching these things I know you have a most confident faith.”
Letter, 1966
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Walk In Dry Places
August 9
Confidence In the next phase.
Assurance
“God has carried me this far. I will not be let down now.” These are brave words of recovering people who find themselves facing new doubts and fears.
There’s nothing unrealistic about this attitude. Those of us in 12 Step programs and beneficiaries of a miraculous chain of events that brought our movement into being. Our responsibility is to continue carrying the message by proving how the program works.
It’s our success in dealing with life’s problems that eventually attracts others to our fellow ship. The best proof of how our spiritual program works is showing how our Higher Power continues to solve problems in our lives.
We don’t always know what the next phase in our lies will bring. We can only know that with God, all sorts of wonderful things continue to be possible.
Though I can’t see around the corner, I’ll know today that my Higher Power will guide me smoothly and safely through the next phase.
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Keep It Simple
August 9
If there is no wind, row.
—Latin proverb
At times, staying sober will be easy; at other times, it will be hard. But we must do what is needed to stay sober. Having a hard week? Go to extra meetings. Feeling alone? Call a friend and ask if you can get together. Feel like drinking? Go to a safe place until the urge passes.
We have no choice. We must row when there’s no wind. If not, we’ll fall back into our addiction.
If we work hard, we’ll stay sober. Plus we’ll grow as spiritual people. Hard times test us and make better people. But this will only happen if we keep our Higher Power and our program close to our heart.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me remember that I grow during hard times. I pray that I’ll accept and use what You’ve given me each day.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list five things I learned from my program in hard times.
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Each Day a New Beginning
August 9
For me, stopping smoking wasn’t a matter of will power, but being will-less.
—Joan Gilbertson
Most of us have struggled, willfully, with untold numbers of addictions; liquor, uppers, downers, sugar, chocolate, cigarettes, men. The more we became determined to control our use or to abstain, the greater the compulsion felt for one drink, one bite, one puff. Giving in completely was the turning point.
This recovery program helps each of us find relief from our primary addiction once we humble ourselves, accept our powerlessness, and ask for help. It can help us equally effectively, every day, with any problem we are willfully trying to control. Is a family member causing us grief? Is a co-worker creating anxiety? Has a close friend pulled away? We expend so much energy trying to manage outcomes! In most cases, our attempt to control will invite even more resistance.
The program offers the way out of any frustrating situation. We can be mindful of our powerlessness and cherish the opportunities offered by our higher power. We can turn over whatever our problem to God and quietly, trustingly, anticipate the resolution. It’s guaranteed.
How much easier I will find life’s experiences if I will let go of my willful ways. The right outcome in all cases will more quickly surface.
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Alcoholics Anonymous
August 9
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.
At this time I wasn’t working. Vi was taking care of me, and I was devoting all my time to the building of that group. I worked at that alone for six months. I just gathered up this and that alcoholic, because, in the back of my mind, I wanted to save all the world. I had found this new “something,” and I wanted to give it to everyone who had a problem. We didn’t save the world, but we did manage to help some individuals.
That’s my story of what A.A. has done for me.
p. 245
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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
August 9
Step Twelve – “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”
When we had taken the opposite tack and had insisted, like infants ourselves, that people protect and take care of us or that the world owed us a living, then the result had been equally unfortunate. This often caused the people we had loved most to push us aside or perhaps desert us entirely. Our disillusionment had been hard to bear. We couldn’t imagine people acting that way toward us. We had failed to see that though adult in years we were still behaving childishly, trying to turn everybody–friends, wives, husbands, even the world itself–into protective parents. We had refused to learn the very hard lesson that overdependence upon people is unsuccessful because all people are fallible, and even the best of them will sometimes let us down, especially when our demands for attention become unreasonable.
p. 115
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Xtra Thoughts
August 9
You can’t fly a kite unless you go against the wind and have a weight to keep it from turning somersaults. The same with man. No man will succeed unless he is ready to face and overcome difficulties and is prepared to assume responsibilities.
–William J. H. Boetcker
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.
–Dale Carnegie
Never assume you know who I am or what I’m doing, ask me a question instead.
–Carol Neilson
Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.
–Helen Keller
“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”
–unknown
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Father Leo’s Daily Meditation
August 9
ACCEPTANCE
“The man who has become a thinking being feels a compulsion to give to every creature the same reverence for life that he gives to his own.”
– Albert Schweitzer
Today I accept people. Even the people with who I do not agree, I accept. My freedom is dependent upon my attitude towards others. My respect is rooted in the respect I give to others. God is to be found in my neighbor!
Nowhere is this more true for me as a religious person than in my attitude to people of other creeds — and those who have none! The spiritual life that unites me to God and the world requires not only acceptance of “difference” but my personal need for it.
But more than this; even those who hurt, abuse and destroy need to be accepted from within my spiritual self — because something of their life exists in mine. In this accepting love is the daily healing of my disease.
May my acceptance of the tyrant lead to the forgiveness of the self.
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Bible Scriptures
August 9
Whatever you do or say; let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus.
-Colossians 3:17
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
-Proverbs 3:5-6
“The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”
-Isaiah 58:11
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Daily Inspiration
August 9
A thoughtful gesture can accomplish so much and can even be the beginning of a miracle. Lord, help me to warm the heart of just one person today.
Keep your feet firmly planted in your faith and your eyes raised to the heavens. Lord, You are my strength, my encouragement and my source of all that is good.
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A Day At A Time
August 9
Reflection For The Day
On numerous occasions, I’ve found that there’s a strong connection between my fears and my resentments. If I secretly fear that I’m inadequate, for example, I’ll tend to resent deeply anybody whose actions or words expose my imagined inadequacy. But it’s usually too painful to admit that my own fears and doubts about myself are the cause of my resentments. It’s a lot easier to pin the blame on someone Else’s “bad behavior” or “selfish motives” – and use that as the justification for my resentment. Do I realize that by resenting someone, I all that person to live rent-free in my head?
Today I Pray
May God help me overcome my feelings of inadequacy. May I know that when I consistently regard myself as a notch or two lower than the next person, I am not giving due credit to my Creator, who has given each of us a special and worthwhile blend of talents. I am, in fact, grumbling about God’s Divine Plan. May I look behind my trash-pile of resentments for my own self-doubt.
Today I Will Remember
As I build myself up, I tear down my resentments.
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One More Day
August 9
Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.
– Malcolm X
Those of us who have a chronic illness often feel a lot of anger, but we can choose how to deal with the anger. If we insist on denying it, we may isolate ourselves and be numbed by an unbearable sadness. Or we might lash out at the people we love.
A sounder choice for us is to acknowledge our anger — and our right to be angry. We don’t deserve illness. Or pain. When we allow ourselves these honest reactions, we are freer to move toward acceptance — and action. When we accept our limitations — no matter how unfair they are — we then can decide where and how and when we will make needed changes in our lives.
My anger can lead me toward growth if I use it in the right ways.
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One Day At A Time
August 9
~ ANSWERS ~
There is no need to run outside For better seeing, Nor to peer from a window. Rather abide at the center of your being.
–Lao Tzu
I always looked for answers outside of myself. I did not put the trust in my self and thought someone, anyone, always knew better than me. I believed the advertisements and compared myself to polished pictures of beautiful thin women.
As I recover from compulsive overeating, I am learning that all of the answers are inside of me. I need only to get quiet and listen to that still small voice. I pray that my Higher Power will give me the willingness to go inside where my truths lie.
One Day at a Time …
I look within and wait patiently … knowing the answers, however big or small, are all within.
~ Melissa S.
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Elder’s Meditation of the Day
August 9
“Praying to seek a vision, to seek truth is always right. Truth builds upon itself – as the true mark of a warrior who conducts himself/herself accordingly – so that its beauty may shine in the faces of our children.”
–Barney Bush, SHAWNEE
We move toward and become like that which we think about. What we think about creates our vision. If our thoughts are wise and good, then our vision becomes strong and truthful. If our thoughts are junk, then our vision becomes contaminated. It’s important to be aware of what we are thinking about. As I live my vision, my children watch and live their lives the same way. We need to live the walk of the Warrior. We need to walk in beauty and respect.
Oh Great Spirit, give me a vision for today. Let me see truth. Let me walk in beauty. Let my heart guide me in truth. The law says the truth shall set you free. Let me be free today.
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Journey To The Heart
August 9
Grow in Your Sensitivity to Toxicity
Just as we are becoming more careful about our earth and the toxins we put into the ground and air, so will we grow in our sensitivity to events, people, places, and substances that are toxic to us.
Our bodies will speak to us, tell us what they don’t want, what they can’t handle anymore. Our bodies will tell us what hurts, what we’re allergic to, what we wish to move away from. Often, underneath the toxins are old, embedded emotions. Release the emotions and you release the toxins. Our bodies will gasp for clarity, purity, cleansing and detoxification.
What is toxic to one person may not be toxic to the next. What my body wants and needs today may be different from what yours wants and needs today. The answer is in listening– listening to our bodies, listening to what they’re saying, how they’re reacting to the people, the substances, the world around us.Listen. What is your body telling you?
Grow in your sensitivity to toxicity. Trust the messages from your body. Let yourself heal.
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Today’s Gift
August 9
What is without periods of rest will not endure.
—Ovid
When we are tired, we need to stop and give ourselves time to rest. Sometimes we think we can’t spare the time. But without rest, all our activity soon becomes a burden and there is no joy in it. Animals know it is necessary to take time to rest. This is part of the rhythm of life: activity and rest, effort and relaxation.
Our bad moods are often our body’s way of telling us we need rest. When we were little, we needed naps. Somehow, we forget to allow ourselves this right when we are older. We are wise to remember we never outgrow this need for rest to make the day go better.
When we return to our day refreshed, we have given ourselves and all those around us the gift of ourselves at our best.
What can I do better when I am rested?
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The Language of Letting Go
August 9
Asking for What We Need
Decide what it is you want and need, and then go to the person you need it from and ask for it.
Sometimes, it takes hard work and much energy to get what we want and need. We have to go through the pains of identifying what we want, then struggle to believe that we deserve it. Then, we may have to experience the disappointment of asking someone, having the person refuse us, and figuring out what to do next.
Sometimes in life, getting what we want and need is not so difficult. Sometimes, all we need to do is ask.
We can go to another person, or our Higher Power, and ask for what we need.
But because of how difficult it can be, at times, to get what we want and need, we may get trapped in the mind set of believing it will always be that difficult. Sometimes, not wanting to go through the hassle, dreading the struggle, or out of fear, we may make getting what we want and need much more difficult than it needs to be.
We may get angry before we ask, deciding that we’ll never get what we want, or anticipating the “fight” we’ll have to endure. By the time we talk to someone about what we want, we may be so angry that we’re demanding, not asking; thus our anger triggers a power play that didn’t exist except in our mind.
Or we may get so worked up that we don’t ask–or we waste far more energy than necessary fighting with ourselves, only to find out that the other person, or our Higher Power, is happy to give us what we want.
Sometimes, we have to fight and work and wait for what we want and need. Sometimes, we can get it just by asking or stating that this is what we want. Ask. If the answer is no, or not what we want, then we can decide what to do next.
Today, I will not set up a difficult situation that doesn’t exist with other people, or my Higher Power, about getting what I want and need. If there is something I need from someone, I will ask first, before I struggle.
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More Language Of Letting Go
August 9
Be thankful when you get something else
Dear God,
Thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy.
–Children’s Letters to God
Sometimes we look around, assess the situation, and decide what we think we need. So we go to God and begin praying.
Out of the blue, our prayers are answered. But the answer isn’t what we requested. We were so specific, we think. Now, this– this thing– has come along. We didn’t get what we asked for. Our prayers were answered, but we got something else.
Don’t get bitter or so involved with feeling blue about not getting what you requested that you miss out on what you did receive. Wants and needs are closely connected. And all our needs, even the ones we’re not completely aware of yet, will be met. Be grateful that God knows more about what we need than we do.
Sometimes when we pray, we get what we want. Sometimes we get what we need. Accept both answers– the yes’s and the something else’s– with heartfelt gratitude. Then look around and see what your lesson and gift is.
God, help me remember to be thankful even when the gift is not quite what I expected.
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Touchstones Meditations For Men
August 9
We must embrace the absurd and go beyond everything we have ever known.
—Janie Gustafson
We have stepped beyond the limits of our former life and accepted the possibility of the unknown. Many of us have always tried to be rational, to trust only what we could understand or reason through. That attempt served the part of us that lusted for control and power, but it kept us from unknown possibilities and dreams.
When we decide to be less controlling, we begin to believe in possibilities we didn’t allow before. That is how we let God influence our lives. Perhaps we don’t see a reasonable way to a more satisfying job, but we can be open to surprising possibilities. We may see nothing we can do to overcome our compulsions, but we pray for God to remove our shortcomings in God’s way, and already we have a new attitude.
God, give me the courage to step into the unknown, the absurd, and experience the awakening of my spirit.
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Daily TAO
August 9
Non-duality
Don’t contemplate
As mere activity.
Be void contemplating void.
Once one understands that the ultimate nature of this existence is void, one understands that to be void is the only true mode of meditation. Notice that void is not the object of meditation – to pair meditator and object creates a dualistic relationship between self and environment that leads one astray.
In meditation we are searching for unity. We need something that takes us out of the normal dualistic modes that are the origins of all our difficulties. Therefore, the only true meditation is one that does not put us into a relationship of viewer and object. Any object, no matter how holy, still reinforces the illusion there is a reality outside ourselves. What we are trying to gain is the true interior view: There is no difference between our inner and outer realities.
The ultimate meditation is the realization we ourselves are empty of distinctions, our sense of identity is only the result of dualistic clinging. Along with that we should understand there is really nothing to contemplate, nothing to think about.
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In God’s Care
August 9
We cannot always oblige, but we can always speak obligingly.
-Voltaire
Sometimes we forget that we’re all special people who are in each others’ lives for a purpose. Our Higher Power has guaranteed each of us love, growth, and support. In return, we’re expected to treat our fellow travelers respectfully and courteously. Abrupt or harsh comments put people on the defensive and strain communication. Then none of us feels the support and love we need from one another.
We can ease a friend or co-worker’s troubles today by quietly, calmly relying on our Higher Power to help us in our conversations. And when we are troubled, we don’t need to project our tenseness or anxiety to everyone around us. We will gain esteem for ourselves and show love to the other person if we share our words in a loving tone. It’s relly so easy to decide to honor one another in this way. In the process, we are honoring God too.
I will speak kindly and lovingly to others today.
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Day By Day
August 9
Admitting unmanageability
“What do you mean, ‘unmangeable’?” we ask when we first come into the program. (And we are surprised at the smiling faces and suppressed chuckles.) We have been living with our delusions for so long that we really believe everything is okay – or will be okay next week. We simply can’t see how out of control our lives truly are: angry creditors, unemployment, separation or divorce, health problems.
Some of these situations were ridiculous, others tragic – and still we fantasized that we were in control. After a period of time in the program, however, living with them seems hard to imagine. But if we still think we have control, we need to ask for help in facing our delusions and our tomorrow-will-be-better syndrome.
Have I turned the management of my life over to God?
Higher Power, help me to truly accept Step One.
I will look at what is unmanageable in my life today by…
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Food For Thought
August 9
Daily Inventory
When we are not functioning up to par, we need to find out where the problem is. If the day begins to fall apart and we feel overwhelmed and unable to cope, it may be a good idea to stop and take inventory.
Examining the quality of our abstinence is a good place to begin. Have we permitted thoughts of making a small exception here and there? Are we dwelling too much on what we will have for the next meal? Did we make a substitution, which gave us more carbohydrates than we could handle?
If the problem is not with abstinence, then it must be in our emotional or spiritual life. Are we harboring resentments, which are poisoning our outlook? Have we made a mistake, which we are unwilling to admit? Is there something we need to do for a family member that we are procrastinating about doing? Are we denying a legitimate need of our own?
Grant me the honesty to confront my weaknesses.
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Daily Zen
August 9
It comes in and out before your eyes,
Responding to phenomena, following emotions.
When it is carefree, without obstruction,
All endeavors are successful.
When you realize original mind,
The mind sees Buddha.
This mind is Buddha;
This Buddha is mind.
– Master Fu (497-569)
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Faith’s Check Book
August 9
Pruning for Fruit-Bearing
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
-John 15:2
This is a precious promise to one who lives for fruitfulness. At first it seems to wear a sharp aspect. Must the fruitful bough be pruned? Must the knife cut even the best and most useful? No doubt it is so, for very much of our Lord’s purging work is done by means of afflictions of one kind or another. It is not the evil but the good who have the promise of tribulation in this life. But, then, the end makes more than full amends for the painful nature of the means. If we may bring forth more fruit for our Lord, we will not mind the pruning and the loss of leafage.
Still, purging is sometimes wrought by the Word apart from trial, and this takes away whatever appeared rough in the flavor of the promise. We shall by the Word be made more gracious and more useful. The Lord who has made us, in a measure, fruit-bearing, will operate upon us till we reach a far higher degree of fertility. Is not this a great joy? Truly there is more comfort in a promise of fruitfulness than if we had been warranted riches, or health, or honor.
Lord Jesus, speedily fulfill Thy gracious word to me and cause me to abound in fruit to Thy praise!
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This Morning’s Readings
August 9
“The city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it.”
—Revelation 21:23
FONDER in the better world, the inhabitants are independent of all creature comforts. They have no need of raiment; their white robes never wear out, neither shall they ever be defiled. They need no medicine to heal diseases, “for the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick.” They need no sleep to recruit their frames—they rest not day nor night, but unwearedly praise Him in His temple. They need no social relationship to minister comfort, and whatever happiness they may derive from association with their fellows is not essential to their bliss, for their Lord’s society is enough for their largest desires. They need no teachers there; they doubtless commune with one another concerning the things of God, but they do not require this by way of instruction; they shall all be taught of the Lord. Ours are the alms at the king’s gate, but they feast at the table itself. Here we lean upon the friendly arm, but there they lean upon their Beloved and upon Him alone. Here we must have the help of our companions, but there they find all they want in Christ Jesus. Here we look to the meat which perisheth, and to the raiment which decays before the moth, but there they find everything in God. We use the bucket to fetch us water from the well, but there they drink from the fountain head, and put their lips down to the living water. Here the angels bring us blessings, but we shall want no messengers from heaven then. They shall need no Gabriels there to bring their love-notes from God, for there they shall see Him face to face. Oh! what a blessed time shall that be when we shall have mounted above every second cause and shall rest upon the bare arm of God! What a glorious hour when God, and not His creatures; the Lord, and not His works, shall be our daily joy! Our souls shall then have attained the perfection of bliss.
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This Evening’s Readings
August 9
“He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils.”
—Mark 16:9
MARY of Magdala was the victim of a fearful evil. She was possessed by not one devil only, but seven. These dreadful inmates caused much pain and pollution to the poor frame in which they had found a lodging. Hers was a hopeless, horrible case. She could not help herself, neither could any human succour avail. But Jesus passed that way, and unsought, and probably even resisted by the poor demoniac, He uttered the word of power, and Mary of Magdala became a trophy of the healing power of Jesus. All the seven demons left her, left her never to return, forcibly ejected by the Lord of all. What a blessed deliverance! What a happy change! From delirium to delight, from despair to peace, from hell to heaven! Straightway she became a constant follower of Jesus, catching His every word, following His devious steps, sharing His toilsome life; and withal she became His generous helper, first among that band of healed and grateful women who ministered unto Him of their substance. When Jesus was lifted up in crucifixion,
Mary remained the sharer of His shame: we find her first beholding from afar, and then drawing near to the foot of the cross. She could not die on the cross with Jesus, but she stood as near it as she could, and when His blessed body was taken down, she watched to see how and where it was laid. She was the faithful and watchful believer, last at the sepulchre where Jesus slept, first at the grave whence He arose. Her holy fidelity made her a favoured beholder of her beloved Rabboni, who deigned to call her by her name, and to make her His messenger of good news to the trembling disciples and Peter. Thus grace found her a maniac and made her a minister, cast out devils and gave her to behold angels, delivered her from Satan, and united her for ever to the Lord Jesus. May I also be such a miracle of grace!