Daily Recovery Readings - November

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November 9

Daily Reflections

STEPPING INTO THE SUNLIGHT

But first of all we shall want sunlight; nothing much
can grow in the dark. Meditation is our step out into
the sun.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10

Sometimes I think I don't have time for prayer and
meditation, forgetting that I always found the time
to drink. It is possible to make time for anything
I want to do if I want it badly enough. When I start
the routine of prayer and meditation, it's a good idea
to plan to devote a small amount of time to it. I read
a page from our Fellowship's books in the morning, and
say "Thank You, God." when I go to bed at night. As
prayer becomes a habit, I will increase the time spent
on it, without even noticing the foray it makes into
my busy day. If I have trouble praying, I just repeat
the Lord's Prayer because it really covers everything.
Then I think of what I can be grateful for and say a
word of thanks. I don't need to shut myself in a closet
to pray. It can be done even in a room full of people.
I just remove myself mentally for an instant. As the
practice of prayer continues, I will find I don't need
words, for God can, and does, hear my thoughts through
silence.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

I have learned to be less negative and more positive.
I used to take a negative view of almost everything.
Most people, in my estimation, were bluffing. There
seemed to be very little good in the world, but lots
of hypocrisy and sham. People could not be trusted.
They would "take you " if they could. All church-goers
were partly hypocrites. It seemed I should take everything
"with a grain of salt." That was my general attitude
toward life. Now I am more positive. I believe in people
and in their capabilities. There is much love and truth
and honesty in the world. I try not to run people down.
Life now seems worthwhile and it is good to live. Am I
less negative and more positive?

Meditation For The Day

Think of God as a Great Friend and try to realize the
wonder of that friendship. When you give God not only
worship, obedience, and allegiance, but also close
companionship, then He can feel that He and you are working
together. He can do things for you and you can do things
for Him. Your prayers become more real to you when you feel
that God counts on your friendship and you count on His.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may think of God as my Friend.
I pray that I may feel that I am working for
Him and with Him.

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As Bill Sees It

Telling the Worst, p. 311

Though the variations were many, my main theme was always "How
godawful I am !" Just as I often exaggerated my modest attainments
by pride, so I exaggerated my defects through guilt. I would race
about, confessing all (and a great deal more) to whoever would listen.
Believe it or not, I took this widespread exposure of my sins to be
great humility on my part, and considered it a great spiritual asset and
consolation!

But later on I realized at depth that the great harms I had done others
were not truly regretted. These episodes were merely the basis for
storytelling and exhibitionism. With this realization came the
beginning of a certain amount of humility.

Grapevine, June 1961

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Walk In Dry Places

Compliance isn't acceptance
Honesty
We are sometimes mystified when people come into AA program, respond to its message for months or years, and then disappear, seemingly without a trace. Later, we may be shocked to learn that they're drinking again.
While we have no way of knowing the real reason, on possible explanation is that they were practicing compliance without really accepting the program. The danger of compliance is that it may simply be an outward show of working the program while leaving one's real thoughts and feelings unchanged.
At the same time, we often urge people to practice what is really only a form of compliance. We tell them, for example, to "bring the body" to meetings in the belief that the heart will follow. This does little good if one's heart does not follow!
The only solution is to continue the difficult but rewarding search for honesty in all things. When we examine ourselves honestly, we will recognize when we are truly accepting and when we are merely complying.
I'll remember today that the real success of AA is not in the number of people who show up at meetings, but in how we truly accept the program.

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Keep It Simple

He who can take advice is sometimes superior to he who can give it. ---Karl von Knebel
In recovery, we learn that we don’t know everything. We had stopped listening. Most of us had been asked by family, friends, doctors, and employers to stop drinking and using other drugs. But, we didn’t listen. If we had listened, we would’ve been in this program long ago. Addiction did something to how we listen. We heard only what we wanted to hear. Do I still hear only what I want?
In recovery, we learn to listen. We listen to our groups. We listen to our sponsor. We listen as we read. The better we listen, the better our recovery.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, open my ears and eyes to this new way of life. Allow me to hear Your wisdom in the Twelve Steps. Allow me to be someone who takes advice, not just gives it.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll try to listen. Today I’ll seek the advice to others. I’ll ask my sponsor how I may better my program.

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Each Day a New Beginning

On any journey, we must find out where we are before we can plan the first step. --Kathy Boevink
Our lives in all aspects are a journey toward a destination, one fitting to our purpose, our special gifts, our particular needs as women. Each day contributes to our journey, carrying us closer to our destination. However, we often take a circuitous route. We get stranded or waylaid by our selfish desires, by the intrusion of our controlling ego.
We can reflect on the progress we've made toward our destination, the steps we've taken that have unknowingly contributed to our journey. Our easiest steps have been the ones we took in partnership with God. It's in God's mind that our path is well marked.
We are just where we need to be today. The experiences that we meet are like points on the map of our journey. Some of them are rest stops. Others resemble high-speed straight-aways. The journey to our destination is not always smooth, but the more we let God sit in the driver's seat, the easier will be our ride.
I will plan my journey today with God's help, and my ride will be smooth.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

The Doctor's Opinion

There is the type of man who is unwilling to admit that he cannot take a drink. He plans various ways of drinking. He changes his brand or his environment. There is the type who always believes that after being entirely free from alcohol for a period of time he can take a drink without danger. There is the manic-depressive type, who is, perhaps, the least understood by his friends, and about whom a whole chapter could be written.
Then there are types entirely normal in every respect except in the effect alcohol has upon them. They are often able, intelligent, friendly people.

p. xxx

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Women Suffer Too

Despite great opportunities, alcohol nearly ended her life. Early member, she spread the word among women in our pioneering period.

I went to a meeting to see for myself this group of freaks or bums who had done this thing. To go into a gathering of people was the sort of thing that all my life, from the time I left my private world of books and dreams to meet the real world of people and parties and jobs, had left me feeling an uncomfortable outsider, needing the warming stimulus of drinks to join in. I went trembling into a house in Brooklyn filled with strangers . . . and I found I had come home at last, to my own kind. There is another meaning for the Hebrew word that in the King James version of the Bible is translated "salvation." It is: "to come home." I had found my salvation. I wasn't alone any more.

p. 206

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Twelve - "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

Though the earning power of most A.A.'s is relatively high, we have some members who never seem to get on their feet moneywise, and still others who encounter heavy financial reverses. Ordinarily we see these situations met with fortitude and faith.

p. 114

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Make failure your teacher, not your undertaker.

We all make mistakes. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes.

"When everything has to be right, something isn't."
--Stanislaw Lec

"Jealousy is all the fun you think they had."
--Erica Jong

"To cure jealousy is to see it for what it is, a dissatisfaction with self."
--Joan Didion

"As a moth gnaws a garment, so doeth envy consume a man."
--St. John Chrysostom

A person's worth is contingent upon who he is, not upon what he does, or how much he
has. The worth of a person, or a thing, or an idea, is in being, not in doing, not in having.
--Alice Mary Hilton

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

ACCEPTANCE

"Adversity is the trial of
principle. Without it a man
hardly knows whether he is
honest or not."
-- Henry Fielding

The acceptance of my disease has brought me into recovery. If I had not known and
confronted the disease of addiction in my life, I would not know the joys of sobriety and
serenity. Spirituality involves facing my disease.

Today I believe that had I not seen my dishonesty, I could not fully appreciate honesty. If
I had not recognized the lies and games in my life, I could never have appreciated the
"openness" and freedom of sobriety. Owning my violence brought me to peace and
tolerance. Facing my hell gave me a glimpse of paradise.

The disease was not only my prison but when accepted, became the key to recovery.
Spirituality, finding God in our lives, requires a "rigorous honesty" that uses the past
pain to experience today's gratitude.

God, it is through the acceptance of my failings that I can love the world.

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"You are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love."
Nehemiah 9:17

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13

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Daily Inspiration

Everything in life is not logical, but we can enjoy the moment anyway. Lord, help me become spontaneous to the dreams that pass by.

Rise above the little things. Lord,may I overlook pettiness and jealousies and be secure in myself and my actions.