A Prayer & Some Thoughts - June

[bluidkiti]

June 2


Growing Older Prayer

Lord, You know that I am growing older.

Keep me from becoming talkative and possessed
with the idea that I must express myself
on every subject.

Release me from the craving to straighten out
everyone's affairs.

Keep me from the recital of endless detail.
Give me wings to get to the point.

Seal my lips when I am inclined to tell of my
aches and pains. They are increasing with
the years and my love to speak of them
grows sweeter as time goes by.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally
I may be wrong.

Make me thoughtful but not nosey;
helpful but not bossy.

With my vast store of wisdom and experience it
does seem a pity not to use it all. But You know,
Lord, that I want a few friends at the end.

~From: Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR (Franciscan Order)

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Just a Thought

The A.A. program is one of faith, hope, and charity.

It's a program of hope because when new members come into A.A., the first thing they get is hope. They hear older members tell how they had been through the same kind of hell that they have and how they found the way out through A.A. And this gives them hope that if others can do it, they can do it.

So ............

Is hope still strong in me?

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Just a Contemplation

Our Own Pain

Sometimes we walk around with chips on our shoulders. We're like a tightly wound spring ready to jump at the slightest trigger, when other times we would let the same event go unnoticed. We even say self-righteously, "I didn't start it. Maybe we have a problem with being like a spring ready to jump. When we are like that, we are difficult to live with or be around.

We can change by getting in touch with our pain. We need to explore our feelings. Perhaps we need to be honest with ourselves about low self-esteem, about feelings of loneliness or fear. Then we must talk with another person or our group about our feelings and continue to talk about them. In this way we become reconciled to ourselves and to our friends around us.

God, help me accept my own pain, and help me be tolerant of my friends' mistakes.

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Honesty

I know the biggest word for me in AA is "honesty."
I don't believe this program would work for me if I didn't get honest with myself about everything. Honesty is the easiest word for me to understand because it is the exact opposite of what I've been doing all my life. Therefore, it will be the hardest to work on. But I will never be totally honest -- that would make me perfect, and none of us can claim to be perfect. Only God is.

Experience, Strength and Hope Pages 400-401

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Just a Quote

“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.” ~ Spencer Johnson