Posts tagged as:

meditation

Humility

February 14, 2009

Every newcomer in AA is told, and soon realizes for himself,
that his humble admission of powerlessness
over alcohol is his first step toward liberation
from its paralyzing grip.
So it is that we first see humility as a necessity.
But this is the barest beginning. . .
A whole lifetime geared to self-centeredness
cannot be set in reverse all at once.
Rebellion [...]

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Faith

November 23, 2008

“We had seen spiritual release,
but liked to tell ourselves it wasn’t true.
Actually we were fooling ourselves,
for deep down in every man, woman, and child,
is the fundamental idea of God.
It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp,
by worship of other things,
but in some form or other it is there.
For faith [...]

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Meditation

November 16, 2008

“We liked AA all right,
and were quick to say that it had done miracles.
But we recoiled from meditation and prayer
as obstinately as the scientist who refused to perform
a certain experiment lest it prove his pet theory wrong.
Of course, we finally did experiment,
and when unexpected results followed, we felt different;
in fact we knew different;
and so [...]

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Pain

November 15, 2008

“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 [...]

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Spiritual Life

November 14, 2008

“The spiritual life is not a theory.
We have to live it.
Unless one’s family expresses a desire to live upon
spiritual principles
we think we ought not to urge them.
We should not talk incessantly to them about spiritual matters.
They will change in time.
Our behavior will convince them more than our words.
We must remember that ten or twenty years
of [...]

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Practice

November 12, 2008

“God willing, we members of AA may never again
have to deal with drinking,
but we do have to deal with sobriety every day.
How do we do it?
By learning — through practicing the Twelve Steps
and through sharing at meetings –
how to cope with the problems
that we looked to booze to solve, back in our drinking days.”
c. 1976AAWS, [...]

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Amends

November 11, 2008

“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 [...]

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