Daily Recovery Readings - September

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September 24

Daily Reflections

VIGILANCE

We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again:
"Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic." Commencing
to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short
time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking,
there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking
notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33

Today I am an alcoholic. Tomorrow will be no different.
My alcoholism lives within me now and forever. I must
never forget what I am. Alcohol will surely kill me if
I fail to recognize and acknowledge my disease on a daily
basis. I am not playing a game in which a loss is a
temporary setback. I am dealing with my disease, for which
there is no cure, only daily acceptance and vigilance.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Let us continue with Step Twelve. We must practice these
principles in all our affairs. This part of the twelfth
step must not be overlooked. It is the carrying on of the
whole program. We do not just practice these principles in
regard to our drinking problem. We practice them in ALL our
affairs. We do not give one compartment of our lives to God
and keep the other compartments to ourselves. We give our
whole lives to God and we try to do His will in every respect.
"Herein lies our growth, herein lies all the promise of the
future, and ever-widening horizon." Do I carry the A.A.
principles with me wherever I go?

Meditation For The Day

"Lord, to whom shall we go but to Thee? Thou hast the words
of eternal life." The words of eternal life are the words
from God controlling your true being, controlling the real
spiritual you. They are the words from God which are heard
by you in your heart and mind when these are wide open to
His spirit. These are the words of eternal life which express
the true way you are to live. They say to you in the stillness
of your heart and mind and soul: "Do this and live."

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may follow the dictates of my conscience.
I pray that I may follow the inner urging of my soul.

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As Bill Sees It

Give Thanks, p.266

Though I still find it difficult to accept today's pain and anxiety
with any great degree of serenity--as those more advanced in the
spiritual life seem able to do--I can give thanks for present pain
nevertheless.

I find the willingness to do this by contemplating the lessons
learned from past suffering--lessons which have led to the
blessings I now enjoy. I can remember how the agonies of
alcoholism, the pain of rebellion and thwarted pride, have often
led me to God's grace, and so to a new freedom.

Grapevine, March 1962

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Walk In Dry Places

Willingness to listen
Willingness
Why is it that we'll accept information from some people but not from
others? Many people tried to advise us while we were drinking; why
would we listen only to recovering alcoholics?
We can't answer that question, except to say that most human beings are
willing to listen only to certain people at certain times. That's why business
organizations have to select sales people carefully; customers will respond to
some people, but not to others.
As we grow in sobriety, however, we develop the willingness to listen to people
we would have once avoided. We can find wonderful ideas in all sorts of places
and from all types of people. As we become more open-minded and willing, we
can listen more and learn more.
My prejudices and fears of the past kept me from listening to people who would
have helped me. I'll be more open-minded and willing today.

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Keep It Simple

To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves.--- Will Durant
Sometimes we say bad things about others. When we do this, it makes us look
bad too.
Our friends worry what we might say about them behind their backs. They’re
afraid to trust us. We become known as gossips.
The things we say about other people tell a lot about us. We are kind or unkind.
We gossip or we don’t. This doesn’t mean we have to say everyone is wonderful
all the time. As we work our program to see ourselves better, we begin to see other
people more clearly too. We see their strong points and their weak points. But we
can know these things without gossiping about them.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me see others clearly, and in their best
light. Let me bring out the good in others.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll list the people I’m closest to at work, school, and
home. I’ll think of how I talk about them to others. Am I kind?

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Each Day a New Beginning

Woman must not be awed by that which has been built up around her; she
must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression. --Margaret Sanger
Let us not stifle ourselves any longer. Let us dare to dream and realize those
dreams. Let us dare to take risks, having faith that to advance in any respect
implies taking risks. Fortunately, we have the support of the program and one
another to cushion the fall, if it should come. But more important, we have one
another's example to inspire us as we contemplate our own agenda for self-
expression.
Many of us for far too long passively watched others move forward. No
longer need we be passive observers, but the familiarity of no action, no
choice making, and irresponsibility, makes passivity attractive at times.
We must remember responsible choices, for only those make possible our
very special contributions.
Not every day do we awaken with the strength needed to "do our part."
But the strength will be available just as quickly as we call for it. Alone,
we are strugglers; however, we have a ready partnership, and it guarantees
us guidance, wisdom, and strength when we ask for it.
I have so much to offer other women. And I need another's example. Every
expression of my strength will boost another woman's strength. I will give.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

WE AGNOSTICS

Imagine life without faith! Were nothing left but pure reason, it wouldn’t be life. But we believed in life—of course we did. We could not prove life in the sense that you can prove a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, yet, there it was. Could we still say the whole thing was nothing but a mass of electrons, created out of nothing, meaning nothing, whirling on to a destiny of nothingness? Or course we couldn’t. The electrons themselves seemed more intelligent than that. At least, so the chemist said.

p. 54

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Eleven - "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."

As the day goes on, we can pause where situations must be met and decisions made, and renew the simple request: "Thy will, not mine, be done." If at these points our emotional disturbance happens to be great, we will more surely keep our balance, provided we remember, and repeat to ourselves, a particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to us in our reading or meditation. Just saying it over and over will often enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of all--our search for God's will, not our own, in the moment of stress. At these critical moments, if we remind ourselves that "it is better to comfort than to be comforted, to understand than to be understood, to love than to be loved," we will be following the intent of Step Eleven.

pp. 102-103

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"Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host."
--Maya Angelou

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in
other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people
interested in you."
--Dale Carnegie

"Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince
a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give
lifting that person your best shot, but don't hang around long
enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround
yourself with optimistic people."
--Zig Ziglar

"He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not
remains a fool forever."
--Chinese Proverb

"It takes time to build a corporate work of art. It takes time to build a
life. And it takes time to develop and grow. So give yourself, your
enterprise, and your family the time they deserve and the time they
require."
--Jim Rohn

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

GOD

"God is not a cosmic bellboy."
-- Harry Emerson Fosdick

My understanding of God is within the context of freedom. God is
involved in His world but He allows it an autonomy. We are not
puppets on a string. When things begin to go wrong, God does not
interfere and make changes (usually) without our cooperation. God
reveals the extent of His love by allowing us a creative responsibility
in our lives.

For years I did not understand this. I thought that if I prayed enough,
He would answer all my prayers and come to my rescue. When He
didn't, I grew confused, angry and resentful. What was I doing wrong?
Where was God in my life? He didn't love me. Why wasn't God my
cosmic co-dependent?

Today I love his detachment. Today I grow in my freedom. Today I
cooperate with His miracle.

Lord, thank You for allowing me the freedom to fail.

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"The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives
me life."
Job 33:4

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of
Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the
surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I
have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the
righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
Philippians 3:7-9

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Daily Inspiration

Each of us has important gifts to share and things to do. Lord, may I be
valuable to those that need my value and do what I can to make a joyful difference.

Prayer may not always change a situation, but it will always change us.
Lord, I accept Your answers to my prayers because I know that they will
always be right and, in Your wisdom, best for me.