[bluidkiti]

April 17

Daily Reflections

LOVE AND FEAR AS OPPOSITES

All these failings generate fear, a soul-sickness in its own right.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 49

"Fear knocked at the door; faith answered; no one was there." I
don't know to whom this quote should be attributed, but it certainly
indicates clearly that fear is an illusion. I create the illusion myself.
I experienced fear early in my life and I mistakenly thought that the
mere presence of it made me a coward. I didn't know that one of the
definitions of "courage" is "the willingness to do the right thing in
spite of fear." Courage, then, is not necessarily the absence of fear.
During the times I didn't have love in my life I most assuredly had
fear. To fear God is to be afraid of joy. In looking back, I realize
that, during the times I feared God most, there was no joy in my life.
As I learned not to fear God, I also learned to experience joy.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Every time we go to an A.A. meeting, every time we say the Lord's
Prayer, every time we have a quiet time before breakfast, we're
paying a premium on our insurance against taking that first drink. And
every time we help another alcoholic, we're making a large payment
on our drink insurance. We're making sure that our policy doesn't
lapse. Am I building up an endowment in serenity, peace, and
happiness that will put me on easy street for the rest of my life?

Meditation For The Day

I gain faith by my own experience of God's power in my life. The
constant, persistent recognition of God's spirit in all my personal
relationships, the ever accumulating weight of evidence in support of
God's guidance, the numberless instances in which seeming chance or
wonderful coincidence can be traced to God's purpose in my life. All
these things gradually engender a feeling of wonder, humility, and
gratitude to God. These in turn are followed by a more sure and
abiding faith in God and His purposes.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that my faith may be strengthened every day. I pray that I may
find confirmation of my life in the good things that have come into my
life.

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As Bill Sees It

Learn in Quiet, p. 108

In 1941, a news clipping was called to our attention by a New York
member. In an obituary notice from a local paper, there appeared
these words: "God grant us the serenity to accept the things we
cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the
wisdom to know the difference."

Never had we seen so much A.A. in so few words. With amazing
speed the Serenity Prayer came into general use.

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

In meditation, debate has no place. We rest quietly with the thoughts
or prayers of spiritually centered people who understand, so that we
may experience and learn. This is the state of being that so often
discovers and deepens a conscious contact with God.

1. A.A. Comes Of Age, p. 196
2. 12 & 12, pp. 101-100

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Walk in Dry Places

We can't go home again….
Living here and now.
Despite all evidence that we must live for today, some of us persist in trying to recapture the past. We may be holding a few good memories that we would like to bring alive today. More likely, we may also be re-fighting old battles in the hope that this time we'll come out winners.
But since change is taking place everywhere at every moment, we can never return to any previous place or time. Time does march on, and we are part of the parade. Whether we were winners or losers in the past, we can live only in the here and now.
The good news is that we can retain any lessons from the past and put them to use today. If we have scalding memories of twisted relationships, we can remind ourselves that growth and understanding now place us out of harm’s way. And if we remember the things that did turn our right even in the confused past, we can reflect that even greater good is possible today.
Our home is never in the past. It is in the time and place where we are today. As we make the best of it, all of our future homes in place and time will improve, for “in God’s house are many mansions.”
Accepting the value of all of its lessons, I will close the door firmly on the past, knowing that I must devote all of my interest and energies to the present moment.

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Keep It Simple

We create revolution by living it.---Jerry Rubin
There’s a lot wrong in the world---Child abuse, homeless and hungry people, pollution. Our old way of dealing with these troubles was to break the rules or to “drop out” by using chemicals.
Now we have a new way to change the world. We’re changing ourselves. One Day at a Time, we’re acting like the caring , responsible people we want to be. We use the ideas of the program in our lives.
We’re kinder. We’re more honest. We stand up for ourselves and for others who need our help. What if the whole world started working the Steps? What a wonderful world this would be!
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, please work through me today. Help me make the world a little better place.
Action for the Day: I’ll list one thing that brothers me about the world today. How can using the ideas of the program help solve that problem? Remember, the program tells us to look at our own behavior.

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Each Day a New Beginning

I can stand what I know. It's what I don't know that frightens me. --Frances Newton
Fear of the unknown, often referred to as free-floating anxiety, catches up to us on occasion. But it needn't. The program offers us strength whenever we need it, and faith diminishes all fear. It is said that fear cannot exist where there is faith.
We have many days when we feel strong, in touch with our higher power, able to meet all situations. On those days, we are seldom conscious of how our faith is guiding us. But the hours of fear that we experience on other days make us aware of faith's absence. There is a simple solution: We can reach out to a friend. We can be attentive to her needs, and the connection to God will be made.
Shifting our focus, from self-centered fears to another person's needs, offers us a perspective on our own life. It also offers us a chance to let God work through us. Our own faith is strengthened each time we offer our services to God and to a friend in need. What may frighten us seems less important the closer we are to the people in our lives.
When I touch someone else, God touches me in return.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 9 - The Family Afterwards

It is possible to dig up past misdeeds so they become a blight, a veritable plague. For example, we know of situations in which the alcoholic or his wife have had love affairs. In the first flush of spiritual experience they forgave each other and drew closer together. The miracle of reconciliation was at hand. Then, under one provocation or another, the aggrieved one would unearth the old affair and angrily cast its ashes about. A few of us have had these growing pains and they hurt a great deal. Husbands and wives have sometimes been obliged to separate for a time until new perspective, new victory over hurt pride could be rewon. In most cases, the alcoholic survived this ordeal without relapse, but not always. So we think that unless some good and useful purpose is to be served, past occurrences should not be discussed.

pp. 124-125

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Two - "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."

"Well," says the newcomer, "I know you're telling me the truth. It's no doubt a fact that A.A. is full of people who once believed as I do. But just how, in these circumstances, does a fellow `take it easy'? That's what I want to know."
"That," agrees the sponsor, "is a very good question indeed. I think I can tell you exactly how to relax. You won't have to work at it very hard, either. Listen, if you will, to these three statements. First, Alcoholics Anonymous does not demand that you believe anything. All of its Twelve Steps are but suggestions. Second, to get sober and to stay sober, you don't have to swallow all of Step Two right now. Looking back, I find that I took it piecemeal myself. Third, all you really need is
a truly open mind. Just resign from the debating society and quit bothering yourself with such deep questions as whether it was the hen or the egg that came first. Again I say, all you need is the open mind."

p. 26

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See with your heart not with your eyes for beauty lies everywhere.
The mind reasons. The heart knows.

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase,
just take the first step.
--Martin Luther King Jr.

God, help me take guided action, then surrender to your will. Help me
remember that true power comes from aligning my will, intentions, and
desires with you.
--Melody Beattie

God, help me learn to take care of myself and live with passion,
compassion, and an open heart.
--Melody Beattie

Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when
you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes.
--Unknown

Compromise often leads to the solution to a problem, so keep your
heart open to it.

God is with us through all the changes in our lives.
--Greg Faggart

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

POWER

"Power does not corrupt. Fear
corrupts, perhaps the fear of loss
of power."
--John Steinbeck

In my recovery I am beginning to understand that so much "power" in
the world is really fear. The power that seeks to attack first in order
to feel secure is really fear. The power that always has to have an
answer is really fear. The power that arrogantly refuses to listen is
really fear. So much power is "fear" dressed in illusion!

Spiritual power has the ability to be vulnerable. It can live with
confusion. It can stand alone. It allows others to walk away to pursue
their happiness. Spiritual power can exist in suffering and loneliness,
and it does not expect perfection.

My recovery is teaching me to live and let others live, too. My
freedom must respect the freedom of others; respect is a two-way
street!

Give me the power that can rest in imperfection.

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"My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my
commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant
welfare they will give you."
Proverbs 3:1

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Daily Inspiration

It's very possible that our problems may not be as big as they seem and could sometimes actually be a blessing. Lord, I place my trust in You to see me through my trials and help me to become a stronger and wiser person because of them.

Enthusiasm will be yours if you love God, love people, and love life. Lord, the nearer I follow Your way, the happier I become.