Alcoholic Anonymous – Daily Ponderables –
Together We Trudge the Road of Happy Destiny – Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Daily Reflections
THE PERILS OF THE LIMELIGHT
In the beginning, the press could not
understand our refusal of all personal publicity. They were genuinely baffled
by our insistence upon anonymity. Then they got the point. Here was something
rare in the world— a society which said it wished to publicize its principles
and its work, but not its individual members. The press was delighted with this
attitude. Ever since, these friends have reported A.A. with an enthusiasm which
the most ardent members would find hard to match.(TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE
TRADITIONS, page 182)
It is essential for my personal survival
and that of the Fellowship that I not use A.A. to put myself in the limelight.
Anonymity is a way for me to work on my humility. Since pride is one of my most
dangerous shortcomings, practicing humility is one of the best ways to overcome
it. The Fellowship of A.A. gains worldwide recognition by its various methods
of publicizing its principles and its work, not by its individual members
advertising themselves. The attraction created by my changing attitudes and my
altruism contributes much more to the welfare of A.A. than self-promotion.(From
the book Daily Reflections © Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World
Services, Inc.)
Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day
The way of A.A. is the way of sobriety,
fellowship, service, and faith. Let us take up each one of these things and see
if our feet are truly on the way. The first and greatest to us is sobriety. The
others are built on sobriety as a foundation. We could not have the others if
we did not have sobriety. We all come to A.A. to get sober, and we stay to help
others get sober. We are looking for sobriety first, last, and all the time. We
cannot build any decent kind of a life unless we stay sober. Am I on the A.A.
way?
Meditation for the Day
To truly desire to do God's will, therein
lies happiness for a human being. We start out wanting our own way. We want our
wills to be satisfied. We take and we do not give. Gradually we find that we
are not happy when we are selfish, so we begin to make allowances for other
people's wills. But this again' does not give us full happiness, and we begin
to see that the only way to be truly happy is to try to do God's will. In these
times of meditation, we seek to get guidance so that we can find God's will for
us.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may subordinate my will to
the will of God. I pray that I may be guided today to find His will for me.(From
the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day © Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation)
NA - Just for Today
Seeking God's Help
"At times during our recovery, the
decision to ask for God's help is our greatest source of strength and
courage."(Basic Text page 26)
When we take the Third Step, we decide to
allow a loving Higher Power to guide us and care for us in our daily lives. We
make the decision to allow this guidance and care into our lives. Some of us
believe that, once we've made the Third Step decision, God leads us; from that
point on, it's just a matter of paying attention to where we are led.
The Third Step decision is an act of
faith, and asking for God's help is a way of renewing that act of faith.
Putting faith to work in our daily lives gives us all the courage and strength
we need, because we know we have the help of a loving Higher Power. We trust
that our needs will be met. We can tap into that faith and trust just by
asking.
Just for today: I will remind myself that
I'm not alone by asking my Higher Power for help each step of the way.((page
345)From the book Just for Today© Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous
World Services, Inc.)
Thought for Today
" Life is not what happens to you,
but how you react to it...for what caused you to react will surely pass, but
how you continue to react can only be passed by you."
Buddha/Zen Thoughts
I do not believe in a fate that falls on
men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they
act.
Native American
"The Natural Law is a spiritual law.
Its powers are both light and dark."(Oren R. Lyons, Spokesman Traditional
Circle of Elders)
There are some characteristics that are
evident in the system which the Creator made. He made balance, harmony and
polarity. In other words, every (+) plus has a (-) minus. Every positive has a
negative; every up has a down; every problem has a solution. The Spiritual Law
is the same-it has light and dark. Both are good, so both need to be honored.
Lessons can be learned on both sides.
Great Spirit, teach me the powers of the
Natural Laws.
Keep It Simple
Life is not lost by dying; life is lost
by minute, day by day, in all the thousands, small, uncaring ways.(Stephen V.
Benet)
Our Twelve Step program promises us a new
way of life. But most of us won’t just wake up one day with a new attitude. We
only gain this new way of life if we get involved.
The Twelve Steps are tools to build a new
life. The more we use a tool, the easier it is to use. The same goes for the
Twelve Steps, just as carpenters depend on their tools. If we only wait for the
new way of life, it’ll never come. The quicker we get involved, the quicker
we’ll get fixed.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me
get involved. Help me build a new way of life.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll look for
ways to use the Twelve Steps. If I have a problem, I’ll first stop and think of
how the Twelve Steps can help me solve it.
Big Book
"At a certain point in the drinking
of every alcoholic, he passes into a state where the most powerful desire to
stop drinking is of absolutely no avail. This tragic situation has already
arrived in practically every case long before it is suspected."(Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th Edition, There Is A Solution, page 24)
--------------------------------
The Touch of the Master's Hand
It was battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
Hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good people",
he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for
me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear
two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it
three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars
twice, going for three",
But, No,
From the room far back a grey haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet,
As sweet as the angel sings.
The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old
violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.
"One thousand, one thousand, Do I
hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it
three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand
twice,
Going and gone", said he.
The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters
Hand."
And many a man with life out of tune,
All battered with bourbon and gin,
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin.
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite
understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that
is wrought
By the Touch of the Master's Hand.
________________________________________
“The Master's Hand" by Myra Brooks
-------
If you're not enjoying your sobriety it's
your own damn fault
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment