Cunning, Baffling, Powerful

Wow!  I haven't read a daily reflection in some months.  I chalked it up to business in my schedule, but that is only too convenient.  When I pull back the layers I can objectively say I've allowed other things to take priority.  I didn't manage my time effectively enough to get to bed at a reasonable time, to wake up early enough to train, or start my day with prayer or reading the daily reflection. I am indeed busy, but I always make time for my son, my girlfriend, work, making meals, cleaning, etc.  I need to remember the desperation I had when I first sought sobriety.  I NEEDED prayer, meditation, and meetings the way I need oxygen, food, and shelter. In any event, today's read is called Loved Back to Recovery, and it is beautiful in it's simplicity. I could not will myself to sobriety.  I could not will myself to self-love. And for sure no one else's love could make me sober or bring me to self-love. There is a direct correlation be...

DO I HAVE A CHOICE? The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent. — ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 24 My powerlessness over alcohol does not cease when I quit drinking. In sobriety I still have no choice — I can't drink. The choice I do have is to pick up and use the "kit of spiritual tools" (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 25). When I do that, my Higher Power relieves me of my lack of choice—and keeps me sober one more day. If I could choose not to pick up a drink today, where then would be my need for A.A. or a Higher Power? Another great an timely reading.  I was trying to explain to someone with no drinking problem why I don't drink.  I don't drink because I LOVE the life I live today.  And I've never been able to live this fully, honestly, hopefully, purposefully, or spiritually AND drink.  The simple fact is I am powerless over alcohol.  I ...

When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 116 It has been my experience that, when all human resources appear to have failed, there is always One who will never desert me. Moreover, He is always there to share my joy, to steer me down the right path, and to confide in when no one else will do. While my well-being and happiness can be added to, or diminished, by human efforts, only God can provide the loving nourishment upon which I depend for my daily spiritual health. I love this reading. I've been struggling to articulate this to my son since he moved back home with me.  The battle...

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, p. 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 cr...

My kids talk about karma. I talk about grace, the Holy Spirit, and about life-giving words. I have heard people talk about vibrations and energy.  It probably doesn't matter how you contextualize the concept - the truth remains that our existence impacts others. Our actions, words, and even thoughts carry out and resonate with others long after we've forgotten what we did or said. Lately, when I pray I see images or have thoughts of ripples. This isn't some grand revelation, but just a reminder that my thoughts, words, and actions impact far beyond what I can see. I think of my words or actions as a rock, the pond is my community, and the water's surface as a point in time. Long after the rock passes through the water's surface, the ripples are still traveling outward, still impacting others in the pond. I'm not special in this way. I believe we are all impacting each other. The question for me is what kind of ripples do I want to make? Do I want to encourag...

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace—that where there is hatred, I may bring love—that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness—that where there is discord, I may bring harmony—that where there is error, I may bring truth—that where there is doubt, I may bring faith—that where there is despair, I may bring hope—that where there are shadows, I may bring light—that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted—to understand, than to be understood—to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen. — TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 99 No matter where I am in my spiritual growth, the St. Francis prayer helps me improve my conscious contact with the God of my understanding. I think that one of the great advantages of my faith in God is that I do not understand Him, or Her, or It. ...