Daily Recovery Readings - September

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September 7

Daily Reflections

"OUR SIDE OF THE STREET"

We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that
nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never
trying to tell him what he should do. His faults are not discussed.
We stick to our own.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 77-78

I made amends to my dad after I quit drinking. My words fell on
deaf ears since I had blamed him for my troubles. Several months
later I made amends to my dad again. This time I wrote a letter in
which I did not blame him nor mention his faults. It worked, and at last
I understood! My side of the street is all that I'm responsible for
and--thanks to God and A.A.-- it's clean for today.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

Another of the mottoes of A.A. is "Easy Does It." This means that we
just go along in A.A. doing the best we can and not getting steamed up
over problems that are in A.A. or outside of it. We alcoholics are
emotional people and we have gone to excess in almost everything we
have done. We have not been moderate in many things. We have not
known how to relax. Faith in a Higher Power can help us to learn to
take it easy. We are not running the world. I am only one among many.
We are resolved to live normal, regular lives. From our A.A.
experience we learn that "easy does it." Have I learned to take it
easy?

Meditation For The Day

"The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the
everlasting arms." Sheltering arms express the loving protection
of God's spirit. Human beings, in their troubles and difficulties need
nothing so much as a refuge, a place to relax where they can lay
down their burdens and get relief from cares. Say to yourself:
"God is my refuge." Say it until its truth sinks into your very soul. Say
it until you know it and are sure of it. Nothing can seriously upset you
or make you afraid, if God is truly your refuge.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may go each day to God as a refuge until fear goes and
peace and security come. I pray that I may feel deeply secure in the
Haven of His spirit.

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As Bill Sees It

God's Gifts, p.249

We see that the sun never sets upon A.A.'s Fellowship; that more
than three hundred and fifty thousand of us have now recovered
from our malady; that we have everywhere begun to transcend
the formidable barriers of race, creed, and nationality. This
assurance that so many of us have been able to meet our
responsibilities for sobriety and for growth and effectiveness in
the troubled world where we live, will surely fill us with the deepest
joy and satisfaction.

But, as a people who have nearly always learned the hard way, we
shall certainly not congratulate ourselves. We shall perceive these
assets to be God's gift, which have been in part matched by an
increasing willingness on our part to find and do His will for us.

Grapevine, July 1965

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Walk In Dry Places

A New approach to Freedom
Staying Sober
Most of us discover that we've had mixed-up ideas about the nature of freedom.
Real freedom is not simply doing exactly as one pleases; privileges would be
the correct term for that. And desirable as political freedom is,
it cannot give us what we're really seeking.
We should approach freedom by recognizing that we're really seeking release from
the bondage of self. This self-concern can be one of the worst tyrannies
humans face. As we are released from the bondage of self, we learn that our choices
begin to multiply. We make wise decisions instead of being driven to certain actions.
We are truly free.
Today I'll enjoy a freedom that is available to anybody who seeks it
wholeheartedly. I'll know it as the freedom only God can offer.

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Keep It Simple

A lair needs a good memory. --- Quintilian
Many of us wasted a lot of energy trying to keep track of whom
we had told what. For example, we’d tell our boss one story and
our family another. Then we’d work hard to make sure they never met.
How wonderful to be done with that way of life! We now have a
life based on honestly. We can now be ourselves where we go.
Our program tell us that to get sober, we must live a life of strict
honesty. Honesty is our rule to get and stay sober. Life is much
more simple this way. We can relax and think of the happy details of life.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, help me to live honestly.
Being honest brings me closer to You. Help me become closer to You.
Action for the Day: Today, I’ll read the first three pages of Chapter
Five in Alcoholics Anonymous (Third Edition).
Here, I’ll learn why honesty is so important to my recovery.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Remember your good memories, but live for today and keep the
memories behind you. --Jodi K. Elliott
The stuff of our memories comprises who we have become.
Each recollection is akin to an ingredient in a simmering pot of stew.
The full flavor of our lives is enhanced by each additional experience,
whether it is painful or joyful.
Our experiences have a way of dovetailing, of grouping themselves,
perhaps even tailoring themselves, to provide us the best advantage.
So human is our tendency to linger in thought on past times that we
fail to take advantage, to be fully present in the moment, which is
assuredly making a necessary contribution to the total panorama of our lives.
Who are we to judge the value of any single experience? It's how
all experiences have mingled, that we must trust. We can be certain
in retrospect, that those situations that created the most inner turmoil
also offered us the most as growing, developing women.
The experiences offered today, in the 24 hours ahead, are significant
because they are unique. I will cherish them for the addition they are
making to my total person.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Doctor Bob's Nightmare

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.
To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholics men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.
In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio, one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know.

If you think you are an atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic, or have any other form of intellectual pride which keeps you from accepting what is in this book, I feel sorry for you. If you still think you are strong enough to beat the game alone, that is your affair. But if you really and truly want to quit drinking liquor for good and all, and sincerely feel that you must have some help, we know that we have an answer for you. It never fails if you go about it with one half the zeal you have been in the habit of showing when getting another drink.
Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!

p. 181

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Nine - "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others."

This atmosphere of approval and praise is apt to be so exhilarating as to put us off balance by creating an insatiable appetite for more of the same. Or we may be tipped over in the other direction when, in rare cases, we get a cool and skeptical reception. This will tempt us to argue, or to press our point insistently. Or maybe it will tempt us to discouragement and pessimism. But if we have prepared ourselves well in advance, such reactions will not deflect us from our steady and even purpose.

p. 85

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Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish one's
growth without destroying one's roots.
--Cited in The Best of BITS & PIECES

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what God has done.
--unknown

"Whatever you are trying to avoid won't go away until you confront
it."
--Anonymous

Serenity isn't freedom from the storm, it is peace within the storm.
--unknown

"We learn the magical lesson that making the most of what we have
turns it into more."
--Codependent No More

Inner peace should not be determined by outward experiences.
--unknown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

WORK

"Without work all life goes rotten."
-- Albert Camus

A spiritual discovery that I have made is that I work in order to be,
not simply to exist. To work is human. Work opens the door to the
meaning of life, and it stops life from being boring and dull. Work is
creative. When I was drinking, I did not have this understanding of
work and so it became a burden, something I had to get through,
something I had to do for money or security. I missed the creative
dynamic of work and how it could enable me to feel good about myself.

In recovery I work, create and grow not only in my job, but also in
my leisure hours. Indeed the distinction between the two often
overlaps because the program I take into the office is the same
program I take into the party or disco.

Today God is to be found in everything.

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"Happy are those...whose hope is in the Lord their God."
Psalm 146:5

"Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"
Luke 9:23

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as
crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the
middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river
stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit
every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the
nations."
Revelation 22:1-2

Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for
the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20

"To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul."
Psalm 25:1

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Daily Inspiration

The way to freedom is the belief that we have the ability to choose. Lord, help me
make good choices and never be blinded by the false idea that I am a victim of circumstances.

The more difficult your burden, the stronger you are after you overcome it. Lord,
bless me as You bring me to everlasting life.