meditation

“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 were sold on meditation and prayer.
And that, we have found, can happen to anybody who tries.
It has been said that ‘almost the only scoffers at prayer
are those who never tried it enough.’ “
c. 1952AAWS, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 97

Thought to Consider . . .

Meditation means trusting the silence around me for a while,
as if it were an answer I had long sought.

AACRONYMS
F A I T H  =  Finding Answers In The Heart

Just For Today!

Caring

From “Brothers in Our Defects”:

“The identification that one alcoholic has with another is mysterious, spiritual  almost incomprehensible. But it is there. I ‘feel’ it. Today I feel that I can help people and that they can help me.

“It is a new and exciting feeling for me to care for someone; to care what they are feeling, hoping for, praying for; to know their sadness, joy, horror, sorrow, grief; to want to share those feelings so that someone can have relief.”

1990 AAWS, Inc.; Daily Reflections, pg. 118

Daily Reflections
A DAILY REPRIEVE

What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85

Maintaining my spiritual condition is like working out every day, planning for the marathon, swimming laps, jogging.  It’s staying in good shape spiritually, and that requires prayer and meditation.  The single most important way for me to improve my conscious contact with a Higher Power is to pray and meditate.  I am as powerless over alcohol as I am to turn back the waves of the sea; no human force had the power to overcome my alcoholism.  Now I am able to breathe the air of joy, happiness and wisdom.  I have the power to love and react to events around me with the eyes of a faith in things that are not readily apparent.  My daily reprieve means that, no matter how difficult or painful things appear today, I can draw on the power of the program to stay liberated from my cunning, baffling and powerful illness.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
As Bill Sees It
Running the Whole Show

Most people try to live by self-propulsion. Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show and is forever trying to arrange the lights, the scenery, and the rest of the players in his own way. If his arrangements would only stay put, if only people would do as he wished, the show would be great.
What usually happens? The show doesn’t come off very well. Admitting he may be somewhat at fault, he is sure that other people are more to blame. He becomes angry, indignant, self-pitying.
Is he not really a self-seeker even when trying to be useful? Is he not a victim of the delusion that he can wrest satisfaction and happiness out of this world if he only manages well?

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 60-61
Big Book Quote
“We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. ‘Do I now
believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power
greater than myself?’ As soon as a man can say that he does believe,
or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on
his way. It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this
simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be
built.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 47
Twenty Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day

I have gotten rid of most of my inner conflicts. I was always at war with myself I was doing things that I did not want to do. I was waking up in strange places and wondering how I got there. I was full of recklessness when I was drunk and full of remorse when I was sober. My life didn’t make sense. It was full of broken resolves and frustrated hopes and plans. I was getting nowhere fast. No wonder my nerves were all shot. I was bumping up against a blank wall and I was dizzy from it. A.A. taught me how to get organized and to stop fighting against myself. Have I gotten rid of inner conflicts?

Meditation for the Day

“When two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” The spirit of God comes upon His followers when they are all together at one time, in one place, and with one accord. When two or three consecrated souls are together at a meeting place, the spirit of God is there to help and guide them. Where any sincere group of people are together, reverently seeking the help of God, His power and His spirit are there to inspire them.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may be in accord with the members of my group. I pray that I may feel the strength of a consecrated group.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

“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 to the blessings I now enjoy.
I can remember how the agonies of alcoholism,
the pain of rebellion and thwarted pride,
have often led me to God’s grace, and so to a new freedom.”
Bill W., Grapevine, March 1962
c. 1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 266

Thought to Consider . . .

Joy isn’t the absence of pain — it’s the presence of God.

AACRONYMS
A B C =  Acceptance, Belief, Change

Just For Today!

Wrong

From “When A.A. Came of Age”:

“After a long interval we heard from the promoter. He wrote, ‘You told us that outside enterprises can be fine and very helpful. But you also said that they could not be mixed with A.A. I figured that they could be, and should be. Well, you folks at Headquarters were right and I was wrong.’

“With his letter, the promoter sent us a card, which he had already mailed to every group in the United States. It was folded like a golf score card, and on the outside was printed, ‘Group so-and-so, place so-and-so. Rule No. 62.’ When the card was unfolded a single pungent sentence met the eye: ‘Don’t take yourself too damned seriously.’”

2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 104

Daily Reflections
VITAL SUSTENANCE

Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we would refuse air, food, or sunshine.  And for the same reason.  When we refuse air, light or food, the  body suffers.  And when we turn away from meditation and prayer, we likewise deprive our minds, our emotions, and our intuitions of vitally needed support.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS p. 97

Step Eleven doesn’t have to overwhelm me.  Conscious contact with God can be as simple, and as profound, as conscious contact with another human being.  I can smile.  I can listen.  I can forgive.  Every encounter with another is an opportunity for prayer, for acknowledging God’s presence within me.

Today I can bring myself a little closer to my Higher Power.  The more I choose to seek the beauty of God’s work in other people, the more certain of His presence I will become.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
As Bill Sees It
Two Authorities

Many people wonder how A.A. can function under a seeming anarchy. Other societies have to have law and force and sanction and punishment, administered by authorized people. Happily for us, we found that we need no human authority whatever. We have two authorities which are far more effective. One is benign, the other malign.
There is God, our Father, who very simply says, “I am waiting for you to do my will.” The other authority is named John Barleycorn, and he says, “You had better do God’s will or I will kill you.”

<<<>>>

The A.A. Traditions are neither rules, regulations, nor laws. We obey them willingly because we ought to and because we want to. Perhaps the secret of their power lies in the fact that these life-giving communications spring out of living experience and are rooted in love.

1. A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 105 - 2. A.A. TODAY, p. 11
Big Book Quote
“We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can
laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness.
Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is
that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust
their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him
demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our
fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once,
we commence to outgrow fear.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 68
Twenty Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day

I am less sensitive and my feelings are less easily hurt. I no longer take myself so seriously. It didn’t used to take much to insult me, to feel that I had been slighted or left on the outside. What happens to me now is not so important. One cause of our drinking was that we couldn’t take it, so we escaped the unpleasant situation. We have learned to take it on the chin if necessary and smile. When I am all wrapped up in A.A., I do not notice the personal slights so much. They do not seem to matter so much. I have learned to laugh at self-pity because it’s so childish. Am I less sensitive?

Meditation for the Day

God’s miracle-working power is as manifest today as it was in the past. It still works miracles of change in lives and miracles of healing in twisted minds. When a person trusts wholly in God and leaves to Him the choosing of the day and hour, there is God’s miracle-working power becoming manifest in that persons life. So we can trust in God and have boundless faith in His power to make us whole again, whenever He chooses.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may feel sure that there is nothing that God cannot accomplish in changing my life. I pray that I may have faith in His miracle-working power.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

“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 drunkenness would make a skeptic out of anyone.”

Reprinted from Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 83, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Thought to Consider . . .

Attitudes are contagious. Is yours worth catching?

AACRONYMS
P A C E =Positive Attitudes Change Everything

Just For Today!

Unconditional

From: “Getting our of the ‘if’ trap“

But then, after a sober while, for some of us there comes a time when - plop! - a new discovery slaps us in the face. That same old “iffy” thinking habit of our tippling days has, without our seeing it, attached itself to not drinking. Unconsciously, we have placed conditions on our sobriety. We have begun to think sobriety is just fine - if everything goes well, or if nothing goes askew.

In effect, we are ignoring the biochemical, unchangeable nature of our ailment. Alcoholism respects no ifs. It does not go away, not for a week, for a day, or even for an hour, leaving us nonalcoholic and able to drink again on some special occasion or for some extraordinary reason - not even if it is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration, or if a big sorrow hits us, or if it rains in Spain or the stars fall on Alabama. Alcoholism is for us unconditional, with no dispensations available at any price.

1998, AAWS, Inc., Living Sober, page 63

Daily Reflections
LOOKING OUTWARD

We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no requests for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped.  We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 87

As an active alcoholic, I allowed selfishness to run rampant in my life.  I was so attached to my drinking and other selfish habits that people and moral principles came second.  Now, when I pray for the good of others rather than my “own selfish ends,” I practice a discipline in letting go of selfish attachments, caring for my fellows and preparing for the day when I will be required to let go of all earthly attachments.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
As Bill Sees It
Vision Beyond Today

Vision is, I think, the ability to make good estimates, both for the immediate and for the more distant future. Some might feel this sort of striving to be heresy against “One day at a time.” But that valuable principle really refers to our mental and emotional lives and means chiefly that we are not foolishly to repine over the past nor wishfully to daydream about the future.
As individuals and as a fellowship, we shall surely suffer if we cast the whole job of planning for tomorrow onto a fatuous idea of providence. God’s real providence has endowed us human beings with a considerable capability for foresight, and He evidently expects us to use it. Of course, we shall often miscalculate the future in whole or in part, but that is better than to refuse to think at all.

TWELVE CONCEPTS, p. 41
Big Book Quote

“Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity
from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 89

“We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: ‘Once an
alcoholic, always an alcoholic.’ Commencing to drink after a period
of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 33

Twenty Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day

Who am I to judge other people? Have I proved by my great success in life that I know all the answers? Exactly the opposite. Until I came into A.A., my life could be called a failure. I made all the mistakes one could make. I took all the wrong roads there were to take’ On the basis of my record, am I a fit person to be a judge of other people? Hardly. In A.A. I have learned not to judge people. I am so often wrong. Let the results of what they do judge them. It’s not up to me, Am I less harsh in my judgment of people?

Meditation for the Day

In our time of meditation, we again seem to hear: “Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Again and again we seem to hear God saying this to us. “Come unto me” for the solution of every problem, for the overcoming of every temptation, for the calming of every fear, for all our needs, physical, mental, or spiritual, but mostly, “come unto me” for the strength we need to live with peace of mind and the power to be useful and effective.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may go to God today for those things that I need to help me live. I pray that I may find real peace of mind.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

“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, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 560

Thought to Consider . . .

There’s no elevator, you have to take the Steps.

AACRONYMS
S T E P S =  Solutions To Every Problem in Sobriety

Just For Today!

Red Flags

From: “The Perpetual Quest”

Many years later, although alcohol is not part of my life and I no longer have the compulsion to drink, it can still occur to me what a good drink tastes like and what it can do for me, from my stand-at-attention alcoholic taste buds right down to my stretched out tingling toes. As my sponsor used to point out, such thoughts are like red flags, telling me that something is not right, that I am stretched beyond my sober limit. It’s time to get back to basic AA and see what needs changing. That special relationship with alcohol will always be there, waiting to seduce me again. I can stay protected by continuing to be an active member of AA.

2001, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous, pages 396-397

Daily Reflections
MORNING THOUGHTS

Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164

For many years I pondered over God’s will for me, believing that perhaps a great destiny had been ordained for my life.  After all, having been born into a specific faith, hadn’t I been told early that I was “chosen”?   It finally occurred to me, as I considered the above passage, that God’s will for me was simply that I practice Step Twelve on a daily basis.  Furthermore, I realized I should do this to the best of my ability.  I soon learned that the practice aids me in keeping my life in the context of the day at hand.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
As Bill Sees It
Our Protective Mantle

Almost every newspaper reporter who covers A.A. complains, at first, of the difficulty of writing his story without names. But he quickly forgets this difficulty when he realizes that here is a group of people who care nothing for acclaim.
Probably this is the first time in his life he has ever reported on an organization that wants no personalized publicity. Cynic though he may be, this obvious sincerity quickly transforms him into a friend of A.A.

<<<>>>

Moved by the spirit of anonymity, we try to give up our natural desires for personal distinction as A.A. members, both among fellow alcoholics and before the general public. As we lay aside these very human aspirations, we believe that each of us takes part in the weaving of a protective mantle which covers our whole Society and under which we may grow and work in unity.

1. GRAPEVINE, MARCH 1946 - 2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 187
Big Book Quote

“When you discover a prospect for Alcoholics Anonymous, find out all
you can about him. If he does not want to stop drinking, don’t
waste time trying to persuade him. You may spoil a later opportunity.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 90


Twenty Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day

I am less critical of other people, inside and outside of A.A. I used to run people down all the time. I realize now that it was because I wanted unconsciously to build myself up. I was envious of people who lived normal lives. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t be like them. And so I ran them down. I called them sissies or hypocrites. I was always looking for faults in the other person. I loved to tear down what I called “a stuffed shirt” or “a snob.” I have found that I can never make a person any better by criticism. A.A. has taught me this. Am I less critical of people?

Meditation for the Day

You must admit your helplessness before your prayer for help will be heard by God. Your own need must be recognized before you can ask God for the strength to meet that need. But once that need is recognized, your prayer is heard above all the music of heaven. It is not theological arguments that solve the problems of the questing soul, but the sincere cry of that soul to God for strength and the certainty of that soul that the cry will be heard and answered.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may send my voiceless cry for help out into the void. I pray that I may feel certain that it will be heard somewhere, somehow.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012

“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.”
Bill W., AAGrapevine, June 1961
c. 1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 311

Thought to Consider . . .

Don’t mess up an amends with an excuse.

AACRONYMS
W H O   M E ? =
Willingness, Honesty, Open-mindedness, Must Exist

Just For Today!

Aim Toward Perfection

Step Six: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character

Let’s dispose of what appears to be a hazardous open end we have left. It is suggested that we ought to become entirely willing to aim toward perfection. We note that some delay, however, might be pardoned. That word, in the mind of a rationalizing alcoholic, could certainly be given a long term meaning. He could say, “How very easy! Sure, I’ll head toward perfection, but I’m certainly not going to hurry any. Maybe I can postpone dealing with some of my problems indefinitely.” Of course, this won’t do. Such a bluffing of oneself will have to go the way of many another pleasant rationalization. At the very least, we shall have to come to grips with some of our worst character defects and take action toward their removal as quickly as we can.

1981, AAWS, Inc., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 69

Daily Reflections
SELF-ACCEPTANCE

We know that God lovingly watches over us.  We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105

I pray for the willingness to remember that I am a child of God, a divine soul in human form, and that my most basic and urgent life-task is to accept, know, love and nurture myself.  As I accept myself, I am accepting God’s will.  As I know and love myself, I am knowing and loving God.  As I nurture myself I am acting on God’s guidance.

I pray for the willingness to let go of my arrogant self-criticism, and to praise God by humbly accepting and caring for myself.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
As Bill Sees It
Greater than Ourselves

If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all our might, but the power needed for change wasn’t there. Our human resources, as marshaled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly.
Lack of power: That was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live - and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 44-45
Big Book Quote
“If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to
let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and
will have learned our lesson. If we are not sorry, and our conduct
continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink. We are not
theorizing. These are facts out of our experience.”

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 70
Twenty Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for the Day

When I think of all who have gone before me, I realize that I am only one, not very important, person. What happens to me is not so very important after all. And A.A. has taught me to be more outgoing, to seek friendship by going at least halfway, to have a sincere desire to help. I have more self-respect now that I have less sensitiveness. I have found that the only way to live comfortably with myself is to take a real interest in others. Do I realize that I am not so important after all?

Meditation for the Day

As you look back over your life, it is not too difficult to believe that what you went through was for a purpose, to prepare you for some valuable work in life. Everything in your life may well have been planned by God to make you of some use in the world. Each person’s life is like the pattern of a mosaic. Each thing that happened to you is like one tiny stone in the mosaic, and each tiny stone fits into the perfected pattern of the mosaic of your life, which has been designed by God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may not need to see the whole design of my life. I pray that I may trust the Designer.

Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN 55012