DAILY PONDERABLES
Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny
Daily Reflections
A.A.'s HEARTBEAT
Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; . . .
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 125
Without unity I would be unable to recover in A.A. on a daily basis. By practicing unity within my group, with other A.A. members and at all levels of this great Fellowship, I received a pronounced feeling of knowing that I am a part of a miracle that was divinely inspired. The ability of Bill W. and Dr. Bob, working together and passing it on to other members, tells me that to give it away is to keep it. Unity is oneness and yet the whole Fellowship is for all of us.
From the book Daily Reflections
© Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
Fifth, I have learned to live one day at a time. I have finally realized the great fact that all I have is now. This sweeps away all vain regret and it makes my thoughts of the future free of fear. Now is mine. I can do what I want with it. I own it, for better or worse. What I do now, in this present moment, is what makes up my life. My whole life is only a succession of nows. I will take this moment, which has been given to me by the grace of God, and I will do something with it. What I do with each now will make me or break me. Am I living in the now?
Meditation for the Day
We should work at overcoming ourselves, our selfish desires and our self-centeredness. This can never be fully accomplished. We can never become entirely unselfish. But we can come to realize that we are not at the center of the universe and that everything does not revolve around us at the center. I am only one cell in a vast network of human cells. I can at least make the effort to conquer the self-life and seek daily to obtain more and more of this self-conquest. "He that overcomes himself is greater than he who conquers a city."
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may strive to overcome my selfishness. I pray that I may achieve the right perspective of my position in the world.
From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day
© Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation
NA - Just for Today
"Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."
Twelfth Tradition
"Principles before personalities." Many of us chant these words along with the reader whenever the Twelve Traditions are read. The fact that these words have become a cliche of sorts doesn't make them any less important, either in service or in our lives. These words are an affirmation: "We listen to our conscience and do what's right, no matter who's involved." And that principle serves as one of the cornerstones of recovery as well as our traditions.
What does "principles before personalities" really mean? It means we practice honesty, humility, compassion, tolerance, and patience with everyone, whether we like them or not. Putting principles before personalities teaches us to treat everyone equally. The Twelfth Step asks us to apply principles in all our affairs; the Twelfth Tradition suggests we apply them to our relations with everyone.
Practicing principles doesn't stop with our friends or when we leave a meeting. It's for every day, for everyone… in all areas of our lives.
Just for today: I will listen to my conscience and do what's right. My focus will be on principles, not on people's personalities.
pg. 311
From the book Just for Today
© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Thought for Today
The Monkey's been off my back for a long time, but the circus is still in town!
"We don't see see things as they are, we see them as we are." -Anais Nin
The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance.
~Benjamin Franklin
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
"The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes."
~Pema Chodron
Native American
"We create that bad among ourselves. We create it; then we try to call it devil, Satan, or evil. But man creates it. There is no devil. Man creates the devil."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
Inside every human being are the laws and codes by which we should live. These laws and codes are communicated to us through a little voice. When we are still, this voice guides us. If we choose to live out of harmony, our lives become filled with anger, hate, selfishness, dishonesty, etc. When these things appear in our lives, we give up accountability and blame it on something or someone else. If we want to live in harmony, we need to pray our way back to living the principles the Creator gave us.
Grandfather, today let me walk with the principles.
Keep It Simple
Love thy neighbor as thyself, but choose your neighbor. --- Louise Beal
In our program, we learn a lot about loving ourselves. Then we start to see how this helps us love our neighbors. We learn to love ourselves honestly, seeing our strengths and our weaknesses. We learn to see others honestly . We learn how much to trust ourselves and when to get extra help. We learn how much to trust others too. We learn to love ourselves with a love that’s honest and challenging. We learn to love others this way too. We learn to care about others without losing our common sense. We learn to protect our spirits from harm.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see others clearly. Help me love them. But help me choose carefully who I trust.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list three people I trust the most, and I’ll write down why.
TWELVESTEPS
and
TWELVE TRADITIONS
Tradition Three (pgs 141-142)
As group after group saw these possibilities, they finally abandoned all membership regulations. One dramatic experience after another clinched this determination until it became our universal tradition. Here are two examples:
On the A.A. calendar it was Year Two. In that time nothing could be seen but two struggling, nameless groups of alcoholics trying to hold their faces up to the light.
A newcomer appeared at one of these groups, knocked on the door and asked to be let in. He talked frankly with that group’s oldest member. He soon proved that his was a desperate case, and that above all he wanted to get well. “But,” he asked, “will you let me join your group? Since I am the victim of another addiction even worse stigmatized than alcoholism, you may not want me among you. Or will you?”
There was the dilemma. What should the group do? The oldest member summoned two others, and in confidence laid the explosive facts in their laps. Said he, “Well, what about it? If we turn this man away, he’ll soon die. If we allow him in, only God knows what trouble he’ll brew. What shall the answer be—yes or no?”
At first the elders could look only at the objections. “We deal,” they said, “with alcoholics only. Shouldn’t we sacrifice this one for the sake of the many?” So went the discussion while the newcomer’s fate hung in the balance. Then one of the three spoke in a very different voice. “What we are really afraid of,” he said, “is our reputation. We are much more afraid of what people might say than the trouble this strange alcoholic might bring. As we’ve been talking, five short words have been running through my mind. Something keeps repeating to me, ‘What would the Master do?’” Not another word was said. What more indeed could be said?
Big Book
"What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually
becomes a working part of the mind. Being still inexperienced and
having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that
we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this
presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless,
we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on
the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 87~
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The Lord's Prayer
AA Grapevine October 1955
A Perfect Convocation
THE AA meeting was coming to a close. The group discussion had ended and the informal chatting was only a murmur. The chairman, with a nod of his head to the group, said "We'll close the meeting in the regular manner."
Reverently heads were lowered, eyes were closed.
The dramatic impact of that Sermon on the Mount 2000 years ago was upon us, at our meeting.
"Our father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. . . ."
That fellow standing ahead, and to the left of me (it's his first meeting) shuffles his feet in worn shoes. He's embarrassed, ill at ease. But he is praying. Good! I remember a remark he made before the meeting opened. "I've absolutely no control over my drinking anymore. The stuff is killing me; my life's a mess."
Well, I thought now, he had taken the First Step with that admission. The expression on his face might be a clue to his thoughts. Grim, yet pleading.
"God, I'm licked. I've sworn off, gone on the wagon and switched drinks. Always with the same dreary results. Another drunk! I've tried everything--on my own hook. Nothing helped. So, here I am, God. With shabby shoes and screaming nerves, I stand before you, my Father. I don't deserve your help. But I can't go on without it. Will you help me now? Please!"
My fellow alcoholic was not concerned at that moment with our Twelve Step program. He probably didn't know it existed. But he was praying. He had come to believe that a Power greater than himself could restore him to sanity. He was turning over his will and his life to the care of God as he understood Him. He had taken Steps Two and Three in the first ten words of the Lord's Prayer!
"Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. . ."
Some of the grim quality was leaving the face of that man. The tell-tale liquor blotches stood high on his cheek bones but in his eyes, now open, was a softer light. Was hope beginning to replace despair?
"All of this is new to me, God. . .but these fellows here tell me it isn't new to You. For more years than I care to remember, it has always been my will, my whims, my desires. To what end? Regrets, remorse, shame and suffering. Now I want you to take over. Let thy will be done. I know that you are the Master Planner, if I allow you to be. And I know that in your plans there can be only good for me. Teach me, then, to trust in you."
The shuffling feet were still. The eyes again were closed. The form ahead of me was relaxing. Confession is good for the soul. Had not this distraught man just admitted to God, and to himself, the exact nature of his wrongs? Was he not subjecting himself and his will to that of God's--God as he understood Him? Was he not making a fearless inventory of himself? Of course he was! Here was Step Three again, and Steps Four and Five too!
"Give us this day, our daily bread. . ."
There were twenty-five people in that room. Some had known sobriety for years, some for only months. To the man ahead of me it had been a companion for only a few brief hours. But here in seven short words was the unbelievably powerful supplication that could secure it for a life-time,one day at a time!
"Divine master, the Bread we ask for this day's needs is sobriety. The emptiness of yesterday is gone; the demands of tomorrow we know not. Guide us then, this day. Let this day be expiation for the lost yesterdays, a strengthening for the tomorrows. Give us the courage to live out this one day as Thou wouldst will it."
Perhaps I imagined it. Or did our new friend actually rush into the next phrase as if eager to purge himself completely of all that was behind him?
"And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. . ."
"Forgive me. Father! Forgive the lies, the treachery and the deceit wrought in drunken moments. Erase from my soul the stain of petty thievery, of precious time wasted. Forgive me for the heartache and anguish I've authored. Remove from me forever, the bitterness I've harbored against those who have chastised me, and supplant it with love. Strike from my heart the resentment and rancor with which I have lived so long."
He seemed to be growing in stature this man with the shabby shoes. The shoulders were squaring as if a great weight had been taken from them. And that is exactly what had taken place. For, in seeking forgiveness, he had forgiven. He had proved his willingness and readiness to have God remove his character defects. In humility, he had asked Him to remove his shortcomings. And though the compilation of a list of all people he had harmed would require time, he was willing to make amends.
Still without conscious realization of it, our new member was encompassing steps Six, Seven and Eight. And again it had been done in two phrases--thirteen words--of the "Our Father"!
"And lead us not into temptation. . ."
Oh, yes, there will be temptation. In the early stages of our new-found sobriety will come the urge to take "just one" drink. And as our sobriety continues, there may come the belief once again that our problem has been eliminated, that we have mastered it.
"But"--and the man ahead of me may be whispering it now--"there'll be no graduation exercises for me, God. Never permit me to feel that I have completed my course. For, O Lord, innot feeling that, I will not be led into temptation. Give me always the humility to know myself. In that will be my strength."
"For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen."
The prayer was ended. The owner of the shabby shoes walked slowly to the rear of the room. The liquor blotches still stood in high relief on his cheek bones. Nervous perspiration shone on his forehead. But in his carriage there was determination; in his eyes there was hope; in his heart there was the knowledge that he had enlisted an Omnipotent Ally.
In the final words of the "Our Father" he had paid true homage to the Almighty Power, the Supernatural Glory and the Everlasting Kingdom of God. In his quiet "Amen" he had pronounced a solemn "So be it" to the power-packed supplications of the Pater Noster.
John K.
Waupun, Wisconsin
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