Daily Recovery Readings - July

[bluidkiti]

July 20

Daily Reflections

SHORTCOMINGS REMOVED

But now the words "Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the
works" began to carry bright promise and meaning.
12 & 12, p. 75

When I put the Seventh Step into action I must remember that
there are no blanks to fill in. It doesn't say, "Humbly asked Him to
(fill in the blank) remove our shortcomings." For years I filled in
the imaginary blank with "Help me!" "Give me the courage to,"
and "Give me the strength," etc. The Step says simply that God
will remove my shortcomings. The only footwork I must do is "humbly
ask," which for me means asking with the knowledge that of myself I
am nothing, the Father within "doeth the works."

I thank my Higher Power for letting me know that He works through
other people, and I thank Him for our trusted servants in the
Fellowship who aid new members to reject their false ideals and
to adopt those which lead to a life of compassion and trust. The
elders in A.A. challenge the newcomers to "Come To"--so that
they can "Come to Believe." I ask my Higher Power to help my
unbelief.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

We must be loyal to the group and to each member of it. We must
never accuse members behind their backs or even to their faces.
It's up to them to tell us themselves if anything is wrong. More than
that, we must try not to think bad things about any members, because
if we do, we're consciously or unconsciously hurting that person. We
must be loyal to each other if A.A. is going to be successful. While
we're on this lifeboat, trying to save ourselves and each other from
alcoholism, we must be truly and sincerely helpful to each other. Am I
a loyal member of my group?

Meditation For The Day

Carry out God's guidance as best you can. Leave the results to Him.
Do this obediently and faithfully with no question that if the working
out of the guidance is left in God's hands, the results will be all
right. Believe that the guidance God gives you has already been
worked out by God to produce the required results according to your
case and in your circumstances. So follow God's guidance according
to your conscience. God has knowledge of your individual life and
character, your capabilities and your weaknesses.

Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may live according to the dictates of my conscience. I
pray that I may leave the results to God.

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As Bill Sees It

Unlimited Choice, p. 201

Any number of alcoholics are bedeviled by the dire conviction that if
they ever go near A.A. they will be pressured to conform to some
particular brand of faith or theology.

They just don't realize that faith is never an imperative for A.A.
membership. that sobriety can be achieved with an easily acceptable
minimum of it, and that our concepts of a Higher Power and God--as
we understand Him--afford everyone a nearly unlimited choice of
spiritual belief and action.

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In talking to a prospect, stress the spiritual feature freely. If the man
be agnostic or atheist, make it emphatic that he does not have to
agree with your conception of God. He can choose any conception he
likes, provided it makes sense to him.

The main thing is that he is willing to believe in a Power greater than
himself and that he live by spiritual principles.

1. Grapevine, April 1961
2. Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 93

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Walk In Dry Places

Spiritual guidance.
If we go through the day with a confidence that our Higher Power is with us, events will go better than they would if we hadn't held to this belief. We will be more effective in everything we do. We will actually have more power in all activities.
This is what is meant in the Eleventh Step; "the power to carry that out." Knowing that the Higher power is in our lives, we also find the power to do what we believe to be God's will for us. As this confidence strengthens and is seasoned by experience, it becomes part of our nature.
Eventually, we'll sense our Higher Power working in our lives. We can learn to accept this with the same sure belief that we accept the sun's rising and the changing of the seasons. And we'll have the power to do whatever must be done by us.
A conscious contact with God can raise my daily activities to higher levels, giving me the power of achievement.

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Keep It Simple

Living so fully. I can't image what any drug would do for me.---Joan Baez
When we were using alcohol and other drugs, our lives kept getting emptier. We tired to keep new things out of our lives. We were scared and tired. We saw feelings as bad. So we got high instead of feeling them.
Now we can live fully every day. We don't want to block our feelings. We aren't afraid to opening up to new things and people.
And the more we open up, the happier we are. Our feelings are free. They bounce around. They don't get stuck. We feel alive. Sure, we feel pain and fear sometimes. But we feel joy, love, and laughter too. And, more and more often, we feel alive.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, please help me live fully today. Help me notice my feelings.
Action for the Day: Today, I'll list five things I've enjoyed in the last twenty-four hours.

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Each Day a New Beginning

It is ironic that the one thing that all religions recognize as separating us from our Creator--our very self-consciousness--is also the one thing that divides us from our fellow creatures. --Annie Dillard
Getting outside of ourselves, moving beyond our own egos, opens the door to real communication with the people we'll meet today. We have to learn to look with loving appreciation into the soul of that person or child who stands before us. We have to practice being concerned with their needs before our own, and in time our concern will be genuine. The separation between us will exist no more.
This division from others, the barrier that keeps us apart, comes from our individual insecurities. We have grown accustomed to the quick comparisons of ourselves with those we meet. Either inferior or superior we determine them to be, and thus ourselves. Whatever gifts we have to offer each other are left unwrapped, at least for now.
Let's come together, truly together, with someone we've been holding off until now. We can trust that the people who have come into our lives are there by design. We are equal to them, and they to us. We need what they have to offer us, and their growth needs our gifts, too.
I will appreciate the design of my life today. I will draw myself close to the day.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM

MOST OF US have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.
We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.

p. 30

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Seven - "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."

When we have finally admitted without reservation that we are powerless over alcohol, we are apt to breathe a great sigh of relief, saying, "Well, thank God that's over! I'll never have to go through that again!" Then we learn, often to our consternation, that this is only the first milestone on the new road we are walking. Still goaded by sheer necessity, we reluctantly come to grips with those serious character flaws that made problem drinkers of us in the first place, flaws which must be dealt with to prevent a retreat into alcoholism once again. We will want to be rid of some of these defects, but in some instances this will appear to be an impossible job from which we recoil. And we cling with a passionate persistence to others which are just as disturbing to our equilibrium, because we still enjoy them too much. How can we possibly summon the resolution and the willingness to get rid of such overwhelming compulsions and desires?

p. 73

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Truth gives a short answer; lies go round about.
--German Proverb

People who soar are those who refuse to sit back, sigh and wish
things would change. They neither complain of their lot nor
passively dream of some distant ship coming in. Rather, they visualize in
their minds that they are not quitters; they will not allow life's
circumstances to push them down and hold them under.
--Charles Swindoll

An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
--Mahatma Gandhi

He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he
himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for everyone has
need to be forgiven.
--George Herbert

One doesn't recognize in one's life the really important moments....
not until it's too late.
--Agatha Christie

We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap
as they go by.
--Will Rogers

Man is a creature whose substance is faith. What his faith is, he is.
--Bhagavad Gita

"Learn to see in another's calamity the ills which you should avoid."
--Publius Syrus

............ that is what learning is. You suddenly understand something
you've understood all your life, but in a new way.
--Doris Lessing

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

WORRY

"When I look back on all these
worries, I remember the story of
the old man who said on his
deathbed that he had had a lot
of trouble in his life, most of
which never happened."
--Winston Churchill

I know I can worry myself into the grave. I can project an incident
into a calamity. I can make mountains out of molehills.

I worried about what people meant by what they said; I always
looked for a hidden criticism; I worried about what people did not
say; I worried about what people were thinking or were going to do or
were plotting. If I had nothing to worry about, then I worried because
I felt I should have something to worry about! I created most of the
worry in my life.

Today I have a program that helps me deal with this. Of course I still
worry, but I have a "checklist" that keeps me sane and allows me to
laugh at the insanity of my projections. Today the worry in my life is
less destructive and negative.

Let me bring my worry to You in prayer. Then let me sleep!

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"Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in Heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other." Deuteronomy 4:39

I cling to you, and your hand keeps me safe. Psalm 63:8

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Daily Inspiration

Place yourself in God's hands first thing in the morning so that your entire day will be in His care. Lord, may my prayer and my attitude be one so that my relationship with You never becomes casual.

As we help those in need or comfort those in trouble, God's great love and divine glory is revealed to the world. Lord, I am Your servant. May others know more of You through me.