~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Recovery
"Most emphatically we wish to say
that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems
in the light of our experience can recover,
provided he does not close his mind to spiritual concepts.
He can only be defeated by an attitude
of intolerance or belligerent denial.
We find that no one need have difficulty
with the spirituality of the program.
Willingness, honesty and open mindedness
are the essentials of recovery.
But these are indispensable"
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 570
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Thought to Consider . . .
The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
W H O = Willingness, Honesty, Openmindedness
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
It relieved me somewhat to learn that in alcoholics the will is amazingly weakened when it comes to combating liquor, though it often remains strong in other respects. My incredible behavior in the face of a desperate desire to stop was explained. Understanding myself now, I fared forth in high hope. For three or four months the goose hung high. I went to town regularly and even made a little money. Surely this was the answer - self-knowledge.
But it was not, for the frightful day came when I drank once more. The curve of my declining moral and bodily health fell off like a ski-jump. After a time I returned to the hospital. This was the finish, the curtain, it seemed to me. My weary and despairing wife was informed that it would all end with heart failure during delirium tremens, or I would develop a wet brain, perhaps within a year. She would soon have to give me over to the undertaker or the asylum.
2001, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous, page 7
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
FOCUSING AND LISTENING
There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation, and prayer. Taken separately, these practices can bring much relief and benefit.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 98
If I do my self-examination first, then surely, I'll have enough humility to pray and meditate -- because I'll see and feel my need for them. Some wish to begin and end with prayer, leaving the self-examination and meditation to take place in between, whereas others start with meditation, listening for advice from God about their still hidden or unacknowledged defects. Still others engage in written and verbal work on their defects, ending with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving. These three -- self-examination, meditation and prayer -- form a circle, without a beginning or an end. No matter where, or how, I start, I eventually arrive at my destination: a better life.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Circle and Triangle
Above us, at the International Convention at St. Louis in 1955, floated a banner on which was inscribed the then new symbol for A.A., a circle enclosing a triangle. The circle stands for the whole world of A.A., and the triangle stands for A.A.'s Three Legacies: Recovery, Unity, and Service.
It is perhaps no accident that priests and seers of antiquity regarded this symbol as a means of warding off spirits of evil.
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When, in 1955, we oldtimers turned over our Three Legacies to the whole movement, nostalgia for the old days blended with gratitude for the great day in which I was now living. No more would it be necessary for me to act for, decide for, or protect A.A.
For a moment, I dreaded the coming change. But this mood quickly passed. The conscience of A.A. as moved by the guidance of God could be depended upon to insure A.A.'s future. Clearly my job henceforth was to let go and let God.
A.A. COMES OF AGE - 1. p. 139 - 2. pp. 46, 48
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man,
woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured
by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form
or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and
miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as
old as man himself."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 55~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day
I have charity, another word for love. That right kind of love which is not selfish passion but an unselfish, outgoing desire to help other people. To do what is best for the other person, to put what is best for him or her above my own desires. To put God first, the other person second, and myself last. Charity is gentle, kind, understanding, long-suffering, and full of desire to serve. A.A. has given me this. What I do for myself is lost; what I do for others may be written somewhere in eternity. Have I charity?
Meditation for the Day
"Ask what you will and it shall be done unto you." God has unlimited power. There is no limit to what His power can do in human hearts. But we must will to have God's power and we must ask God for it. God's power is blocked off from us by our indifference to it. We can go along our own selfish way without calling on God's help and we get no power. But when we trust in God, we can will to have the power we need. When we sincerely ask God for it, we get it abundantly.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may will to have God's power. I pray that I may keep praying for the strength I need.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012
