Sobriety and sanity: A lifeline to both: December 2017

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Dec. 31, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
-- Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Past New Year's Eves may have meant times of excessive chemical use. We may have embarrassed ourselves in many ways. We may have chosen New Year's Eve as a time to analyze our past behaviors and write long lists of how that was going to change.

Yet tonight is like any other night. We don't have to feel as though we aren't having a good time unless we're at a party or a bar. We can celebrate the new year tomorrow with those closest to us by doing something we enjoy. The past is gone - the future has not arrived. The present is all we have, here and now.

Look to ourselves and what we want to do, not at what we think we should be doing. We can share our feelings at a meeting; spend quality time with our families and loved ones. We need to focus on ourselves and what we need to do for us, and not be diverted by the craziness around us.

Tonight is an ending; tonight is a beginning. Help me stay in the moment to bid farewell to the old and welcome in the new in my own way.

You are reading from the book:

Night Light by Amy E. Dean

Dec. 31, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017

Today, I need not fear anything for I have endured and survived the horror of active alcoholism and, by the grace of AA and a higher power to which it led me, I have emerged not only intact but a better person. I have kept the faith in the program, in its steps and principles, in the power stronger than I, and I found faith in myself that I never had before. My gift has been sobriety the last 24 Hours. Having vested not only my heart and soul but my very life in this program, I faced few terrors other than those within myself but met them with the guidance of the steps. Now, nothing can compare and any fear from any source is something I know I can face responsibly, with faith and sobriety. Today, I have nothing to fear except the ghosts of my drinking past, and my program has strengthened me to move beyond them, to leave the fear behind. Yet I do not take for granted the gift of sobriety as something I am owed or even deserve. I have an obligation to it, and that obligation begins with carrying the message. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2017

Dec. 31, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017

AA Thought for the Day
I shall be loyal in my attendance, generous in my giving, kind in my criticism, creative in my suggestions, loving in my attitudes. I shall give AA my interest, my enthusiasm, my devotion and, most of all, myself. The Lord's Prayer has become part of my AA thoughts for each day: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

Have I given myself?

Meditation for the Day
As we look back over the year just gone, it has been a good year to the extent that we have put good thoughts, good words and good deeds into it. None of what we have thought, said or done need be wasted. Both the good and the bad experiences can be profited by. In a sense, the past is not entirely gone. The result of it, for good or evil, is with us at the present moment. We can only learn by experience and none of our experience is completely wasted. We can humbly thank God for the good things of the year that has gone.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may carry good things into the year ahead. I pray that I may carry on with faith, with prayer and with hope.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 31, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017

Reflection for the Day
God grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change; COURAGE to change the things I can; and WISDOM to know the difference - living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it: Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.

Today I Pray
May I look back at this past year as a good one, in that nothing I did or said was wasted. No experience - however insignificant it may have seemed - was worthless. Hurt gave me the capacity to feel happiness; bad times made me appreciate the good ones; what I regarded as my weaknesses became my greatest strengths. I thank God for a year of growing.

Today I Will Remember
Hope is my "balance brought forward" - into a new year's ledger.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 31, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017

Every man at some time arrives at a place where the course of his entire future rests upon a decision. Judas was one day a saint and the next the betrayer of the Lord.

We members of AA also had our moment of great decision. Many more days of decision will probably be our lot, but by the Grace of God and our new-found sobriety, we can meet any situation by reliance on God's Will rather than our own.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 31, 2017 - Good morning to a serene Sunday of renewed faith, hope, confidence and gratitude

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Dec. 30, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

AA Thought for the Day
When we came into Alcoholics Anonymous, were we desperate? Were we so sick of ourselves and our way of living that we couldn't stand looking at ourselves in a mirror? Were we ready to try anything that would help us to get sober and to get over our soul-sickness?

Should I ever forget the condition I was in?
Meditation for the Day
In the new year, I will live one day at a time. I will make each day one of preparation for better things ahead. I will not dwell on the past or the future, only on the present. I will bury every fear of the future.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that God will guide me one day at a time in the new year. I pray that for each day, God will supply the wisdom and the strength that I need.

You are reading from the book:

Twenty-four Hours a Day for Teens by Anonymous

Dec. 30, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017

Today, I awaken with full memory of last night but, if not, the day that awaits offers a chance for another beginning. Grant me the wisdom and courage to seize the opportunity to continue or even begin to work toward something better, something I thirst and hunger for - sobriety, serenity, peace, calm, a worthy self-image, and a sense of gratitude that I am here even to be given yet another second chance. My best hope for what I seek is AA and its steps and principles and, today, may I finally decide that enough is enough of the alcoholic hangover and all the garbage that comes with it. But let me be disciplined enough, too, to understand that what sobriety and recovery offer comes with a price - to be of service to anyone who needs and wants what I possess. Today, I have yet another chance for another new beginning. Don't let the lifeboat go by without me on board. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2017

Dec. 30, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017

AA Thought for the Day
To the extent that I fail in my responsibilities, AA fails. To the extent that I succeed, AA succeeds. Every failure of mine will set back AA work to that extent. Every success of mine will put AA ahead to that extent. I shall not wait to be drafted for service to others, but I shall volunteer. I shall accept every opportunity to work for AA as a challenge, and I shall do my best to accept every challenge and perform my task as best I can.

Will I accept every challenge gladly?

Meditation for the Day
People are failures in the deepest sense when they seek to live without God's sustaining power. Many people try to be self-sufficient and seek selfish pleasure and find that it does not work too well. No matter how much material wealth they acquire, no matter how much fame and material power, the time of disillusionment and futility usually comes. Death is ahead, and they cannot take any material thing with them when they go. What matters is if I have gained the whole world, but lost my own soul.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I will not come empty to the end of the my life. I pray that I may so live that I will not be afraid to die.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 30, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017

Reflection for the Day
My life before coming to The Program was not unlike the lives of so many of us who were cruelly buffeted and tormented by the power of our addictions. For years, I had been sick and tired. When I became sick and tired of being sick and tired, I finally surrendered and came to The Program. Now I realize that I had been helped all along by a Higher Power; it was He, indeed, who allowed me to live so that I could eventually find a new way of life.

Since my awakening, have I found a measure of serenity previously unknown in my life?

Today I Pray
May I realize that my Higher Power has not suddenly come into my life like a stranger opening a door when I knocked. The Power has been there all along, if I will just remember how many brushes with disaster I have survived by a fraction of time or distance. Now that I have come to know my Higher Power better, I realize that I must have been saved for something - for helping others like me.

Today I Will Remember
I am grateful to be alive and recovering.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 30, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017

If man was created by God in the image of God and did not possess human frailties, he would be God. All men would then be perfect and Heaven would exist here on earth. There would be no logical reason for it to operate simply as a branch of Heaven.

With our limited understanding of God's purpose, we must suppose that man was intended from the very first to work out his own evolution. The reason this process has required so many centuries has been man's persistence in the exercise of his puny little will as opposed to the Will of God. That we are less than God is due to our freedom of choice between being one with God and our attempt to play God.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 30, 2017 - Rise 'n shine for a super Saturday with new faith, hope, confidence and gratitude

Friday, December 29, 2017

Dec. 29, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Friday, Dec. 29, 2017

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Be Patient with Everyone
-- from writings by St. Francis de Sales

Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself . . . do not be disappointed by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage.

How are you to be patient in dealing with your neighbor's faults if you are impatient in dealing with your own?

They who are worried by their own shortcomings will not correct them.

All positive progress comes from a calm and peaceful mind.

You are reading from the book:

The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 by Bill P. and Lisa D.

Dec. 29, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Friday, Dec. 29, 2017

Today, when resolutions for the coming new year are in vogue, I will make none because to do so skirts the program's suggestion to take life one day at a time. Further, I have no guarantee that an entire year is promised me, and I cannot live for a day in the future because, in doing that, I am neglecting today. AA discourages us from looking too far ahead if today is sacrificed and encourages us to make our resolutions daily. Today, awakening to a new day, my resolution is to adhere to the steps and principles of the program and not drink and, further, to grow in sobriety. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2017

Dec. 29, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, Dec. 29, 2017

AA Thought for the Day
Participating in the privileges of the movement, I shall share in the responsibilities, taking it upon myself to carry my fair share of the load, not grudgingly but joyfully. I am deeply grateful for the privileges I enjoy because of my membership in this great movement. They put an obligation upon me which I will not shirk. I will gladly carry my fair share of the burdens. Because of the joy of doing them, they will no longer be burdens, but opportunities.

Will I accept every opportunity gladly?

Meditation for the Day
Work and prayer are the two forces which are gradually making a better world. We must work for the betterment of ourselves and other people. Faith without works is dead. But all work with people should be based on prayer. If we say a little prayer before we speak or try to help, it will make us more effective. Prayer is the force behind the work. Prayer is based on faith that God is working with us and through us. We can believe that nothing is impossible in human relationships, if we depend on the help of God.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that my life may be balanced between prayer and work. I pray that I may not work without prayer or pray without work.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 29, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Friday, Dec. 29, 2017

Reflection for the Day
The success of The Program, I've been taught, lies in large measure in the readiness and willingness of its members to go to any lengths to help others tyrannized by their addictions. If my readiness and willingness cools, then I stand in danger of losing all that I've gained. I must never become unwilling to give away what I have, for only by so doing will I be privileged to keep it.

Do I take to heart the saying, "Out of self into God into others ...?"

Today I Pray
May I never be too busy to answer a fellow addict's call for help. May I never become so wound up in my pursuits that I forget that my own continuing recovery depends on that helping - a half-hour or so on the telephone, a call in person, a lunch date, whatever the situation calls for. May I know what my priorities must be.

Today I Will Remember
Helping helps me.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 29, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Friday, Dec. 29, 2017

Is someone happier, better or braver because of some act of yours today? If you can answer yes to any or all of them, then you can feel rather confident that you are progressing in the AA way of living.

If you can't - then you are not giving it the old College try and you are cheating yourself out of a lot of happiness that could have been yours.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 29, 2017 - Good morning to a fabulous Friday of renewed faith, hope, confidence and gratitude

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Dec. 28, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017

Today's thoughts from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation are:

It took me a long time to realize that when I hate somebody it doesn't hurt them. Only me.

*****

Call your sponsor before, not after, you take your first drink.

*****

Nothing is so bad that relapse won't make it worse.

*****

I can't handle it, God. You take over.

*****

You cannot think your way into right actions.
You have to act your way into right thinking.

You are reading from the book:

Keep Coming Back Gift Book by Meiji Stewart

Dec. 28, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017

Today, let me loosen my grip on my perspective that the program hammers what I cannot do and, instead, that it enables me with what I can do. While I cannot continue in futile endeavor to regain control over alcohol, I can control it by not feeding it. While I cannot continue to engage in conduct that injures myself and others, I can chart a 180-degree course change and start to give something nurturing instead of inflicting harm. And while I cannot always make direct amends for whatever reason, I can make indirect amends by working a program in which my sobriety is its own amend. AA is not a program of cannot; it is, instead, a program of can. Today the first word in can't is can. And I can. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M, 2017

Dec. 28, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017

AA Thought for the Day
AA may be human in its organization, but it is divine in its purpose. The purpose is to point me toward God and the good life. My feet have been set upon the right path. I feel it in the depths of my being. I am going in the right direction. The future can be safely left to God. Whatever the future holds, it cannot be too much for me to bear. I have the Divine Power with me to carry me through everything that may happen.

Am I pointed toward God and the good life?

Meditation for the Day
Although unseen, the Lord is always near to those who believe in Him and trust Him and depend on Him for the strength to meet the challenges of life. Although veiled from mortal sight, the Higher Power is always available to us whenever we humbly ask for it. The feeling that God is with us should not depend on any passing mood of ours; we should try to be always conscious of His power and love in the background of our lives.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may feel that God is not too far away to depend on for help. I pray that I may feel confident of His readiness to give me the power that I need.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 28, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017

Reflection for the Day
The Program, for me, is not a place nor a philosophy, but a highway to freedom. The highway leads me toward the goal of a "spiritual awakening as a result of these Steps." The highway doesn't get me to the goal as quickly as I sometimes wish, but I try to remember that God and I work from different timetables. But the goal is there, and I know that the Twelve Steps will help me reach it.

Have I come to the realization that I - and anyone - can now do what I had always thought impossible?

Today I Pray
As I live The Program, may I realize more and more that it is a means to an end rather than an end in itself. May I keep in mind that the kind of spirituality it calls for is never complete, but is the essence of change and growth, a drawing nearer to an ideal state. May I be wary of setting time-oriented goals for myself to measure my spiritual progress.

Today I Will Remember
Timetables are human inventions.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 28, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017

It is very often easier to identify an alcoholic by his hang-over than by his drinking pattern. Alcoholics, for the most part, resemble the non-alcoholics when they have a load aboard, but in the morning, when the sweats and the shakes set in, then the alcoholic can be identified by the degree of his suffering. The alcoholic's hang-over cannot be gotten rid of by 10:30 simply with aspirin or Bromos.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 28, 2017 - Good morning to an awesome Thursday with renewed faith, hope, confidence and gratitude

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Dec. 27, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

It only takes one person to change your life - you.
-- Ruth Casey

Change is not easy, but it's absolutely unavoidable. Doors will close. Barriers will surface. Frustrations will mount. Nothing stays the same forever, and it's such folly to wish otherwise. Growth accompanies positive change; determining to risk the outcome resulting from a changed behavior or attitude will enhance our self-perceptions. We will have moved forward; in every instance, our lives will be influenced by making a change that only each of us can make.

We have all dreaded the changes we knew we had to make. Perhaps even now we fear some impending changes. Where might they take us? It's difficult accepting that the outcome is not ours to control. Only the effort is ours. The solace is that positive changes, which we know are right for us and other people in our lives, are never going to take us astray. In fact, they are necessary for the smooth path just beyond this stumbling block.

When we are troubled by circumstances in our lives, a change is called for, a change that we must initiate. When we reflect on our recent as well as distant past, we will remember that the changes we most dreaded again and again have positively influenced our lives in untold ways.

Change ushers in glad, not bad, tidings.

You are reading from the book:

Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey

Dec. 27, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017

Today, the first word in hopelessness is hope; the first word in helplessness is help; the first word in senselessness is sense; the first word in powerlessness is power. Within insanity is sanity; within fear, fearlessness; within pain, strength; within anger, reconciliation. This is our program: from hopelessness, hope; from helplessness, help; from senselessness, sense; from powerlessness, power; from insanity, sanity; from fear, courage; from pain, strength; from anger, forgiveness. And from them - recovery. It's that simple. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2017

Dec. 27, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017

AA Thought for the Day
I need the AA principles for the development of the buried life within me, that good life which I had misplaced but which I found again in this fellowship. This life within me is developing slowly but surely, with many setbacks, many mistakes, many failures, but still developing. As long as I stick close to AA, my life will go on developing, and I cannot yet know what it will be, but I know that it will be good. That's all I want to know. It will be good.

Am I thanking God for AA?

Meditation for the Day
Build your life on the firm foundation of true gratitude to God for all His blessings and true humility because of your unworthiness of these blessings. Build the frame of your life out of self-discipline; never let yourself get selfish or lazy or contented with yourself. Build the walls of your life out of service to others, helping them to find the way to live. Build the roof of your life out of prayer and quiet times, waiting for God's guidance from above. Build a garden around your life out of peace of mind and serenity and a sure faith.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may build my life on AA principles. I pray that it may be a good building when my work is finished.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 27, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017

Reflection for the Day
"The central characteristic of the spiritual experience," wrote AA co-founder Bill W., "is that it gives the recipient a new and better motivation out of all proportion to any process or discipline, belief or faith. These experiences cannot make us whole at once; they are a rebirth to a fresh and certain opportunity."

Do I see my assets as God's gifts, which have been in part matched by an increasing willingness on my part to find and do His will for me?

Today I Pray
I pray for the wholeness of purpose that can only come through spiritual experience. No amount of intellectual theory, pep-talking to myself, disciplined deprivation, "doing it for" somebody else can accomplish the same results. May I pray for spiritual enlightenment, not only in order to recover, but for itself.

Today I Will Remember
Total motivation through spiritual wholeness.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 27, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017

The average person has so much trouble in finding a satisfactory faith simply because the mind has difficulty visualizing a force so powerful as anything but a very complex thing. He thinks he must understand it in order to acquire it and use it.

When we eat a meal, we believe that we shall digest it and that we will be strengthened and sustained by it. Yet few of us know the mysteries of the digestive functions, but we get just as much sustenance from our meals as those who do.

We, therefore, eat our meals on faith, and we would probably ruin our digestion if we tried to figure it out.

Hazelden Foundation

Decc. 27, 2017 - Good morning to an awesome Wednesday with reaffirmed faith, hope, gratitude and strength

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Dec. 26, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

The best things in life are appreciated most after they have been lost.
-- Roy L. Smith

Humankind has made such great technological progress, developing marvelous tools and instruments to make our life easier, that it is hard to imagine the struggles our ancestors endured. We are so used to these protective and labor-saving devices that we take them for granted. We fail to appreciate them.

So it is with our loved ones, our fellow workers, our friends, and acquaintances. We are so used to the help, the cooperation, the moral support, and the love we get from them that we may take them for granted. And then we wonder why our relationships don't always go smoothly. What if we were to show them a little appreciation? What if we were to ask God to bless them?

Today I will give thanks to my Higher Power for the people around me and tell them, one by one, how much I appreciate them.

You are reading from the book:

In God's Care by Karen Casey

Dec. 26, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017
"When I try to reconstruct what my life was 'before,' I see a coin with two faces.
"One, the side I turned to myself and the world, was respectable ...
"The other side ...was sinister, baffling. I was inwardly unhappy most of the time. There would be times when the life of respectability and achievement seemed insufferably dull - I had to break out. This I would do by going completely 'bohemian' for a night, getting drunk and rolling home with the dawn. Next day remorse would be on me like a tiger. I'd claw my way back to 'respectability' and stay there - until the inevitable next time." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "They Stopped in Time," Ch 16 ("Me an Alcoholic?"), p 432.

Today, faith and security in recovery to know that there does not have to be "the inevitable next time." AA encourages us to live in the solution of sobriety and not in the problem of alcoholism, and I am in the latter if my focus is on fighting off "the inevitable next time." The threat of a "next time" is weakened if I practice with diligence and integrity the program's steps and principles and accept intuitively that drinking now, for me, is a choice and that I will be held responsible to the consequences of that choice. Today, "the inevitable next time" may be less so if I stick to the program and the understanding that I have a choice and the choice I make will have consequences. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2017

Dec. 26, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017

AA Thought for the Day
I am glad to be a part of AA, of that great fellowship that is spreading over the United States and all over the world. I am only one of the many AA's, but I am one. I am grateful to be living at this time, when I can help AA to grow, when it needs me to put my shoulder to the wheel and help keep the movement going. I am glad to be able to be useful, to have a reason for living, a purpose in life. I want to lose my life in this great cause and so find it again.
Am I grateful to be an AA?
Meditation for the Day
These meditations can teach us how to relax. We can be of service to other people in a small way, at least. And we can be happy while doing it. We should not worry too much about people we cannot help. We can make it a habit to leave the outcome of the things we do to the Higher Power. We can go along through life doing the best we can, but without a feeling of urgency or strain. We can enjoy all the good things and the beauty of life, but at the same time depend deeply on God.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may give my life to this worthwhile cause. I pray that I may enjoy the satisfaction that comes from good work well done.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 26, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017

Reflection for the Day
None of us can claim to know God in all His fullness. None of us can really claim to understand our Higher Power to any extent. But this I do know: there is a Power beyond my human will which can do wonderful, loving things for me that I can't do for myself. I see this glorious power at work in my own being, and I see the miraculous results of this same power in the lives of thousands upon thousands of other recovering people who are my friends in The Program.

Do I need the grace of God and the loving understanding of my friends in The Program any less now than when I began my recovery?

Today I Pray
May I never forget that my spiritual needs are as great today as they were when I came into The Program. It is so easy to look at others, newer to the recovery process, and regard them as the needy ones. As I think of myself as increasingly independent, may I never overlook my dependence on my Higher Power.

Today I Will Remember
I will never outgrow my need for God.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 26, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017

As we alcoholics are selfish by nature, it is but right and proper that we should be more severe in our judgments of ourselves than of others. As we are our own best friend or our worst enemy, depending upon our treatment of ourselves, and as we are the one person in the world from whom we cannot escape, it is therefore essential that we do not allow ourselves to get away with anything in our treatment of ourselves. When we forgive ourselves, we are rationalizing. But to forgive others is divine.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 26, 2017 - Good morning to a glorious Tuesday with renewed faith, hope, gratitude and strength

Monday, December 25, 2017

Dec. 25, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Monday, Dec. 25, 2017

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Celebration is a forgetting in order to remember. A forgetting of ego, of problems, of difficulties. A letting go.
-- Matthew Fox

A holiday presents us with an opportunity to practice the letting go of this program. This is a special day to set aside our work and our routines, to put our problems and burdens on the shelf. Let us join with others who are also letting go on this day and celebrate. Maybe we can learn from them how they do it.

We may have been too compulsive on past holidays to celebrate. Or perhaps our holidays are clouded with painful memories. We might miss loved ones or we may recall disappointments for the chaos of earlier holidays. There is no need for perfection in our celebration. We can have some tension, or pain, and yet set it aside as we join with others for a special day.

Today, I will set my ego aside and let go of the usual things in my life in order to reach out to others and participate in celebration.

You are reading from the book:

Touchstones by Anonymous

Dec. 25, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

Step by Step
Monday, Dec. 25, 2017
"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 needed power 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, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 4 ("We Agnostics"), pp 44-5.

Today, let me not blame my alcoholism on some moral failure or a philosophy that did not apply to me and, instead, take it for what it is - a physical, emotional, and spiritual disease of my character. While I should not and cannot be blamed for becoming alcoholic, I can and should be responsible for my recovery. To this end, I must completely accept the First Step of absolute powerlessness over alcohol and, then, at least come to believe in something - a power greater and stronger than myself. But if I still grapple with this concept, perhaps my power can be my own experience of predictable behavior and outcomes, most of which carried increasingly severe consequences. Today, I am an alcoholic not because of a moral or philosophical failure on my part but because of a disease. It cannot be cured, but it can be arrested. The program's first two steps are my beginning. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2017

Dec. 25, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, Dec. 25, 2017

AA Thought for the Day
Many alcoholics will be saying today: "This is a good Christmas for me." They will be looking back over past Christmases which were not like this one. They will be thanking God for their sobriety and their new found life. They will be thinking about how their lives were changed when they came into AA. They will be thinking that perhaps God let them live through all the hazards of their drinking careers, when they were perhaps often close to death, in order that they might be used by Him in the great work of AA.

Is this a happy Christmas for me?

Meditation for the Day
The kingdom of heaven is also for the lowly, the sinners, the repentant. "And they presented unto him gifts - gold, frankincense, and myrrh." Bring your gifts of gold - your money and material possessions. Bring your frankincense - the consecration of your life to a worthy cause. Bring your myrrh - your sympathy and understanding and help. Lay them all at the feet of God and let Him have full use of them.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be truly thankful on this Christmas Day. I pray that I may bring my gifts and lay them on the altar.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 25, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

A Day at a Time
Monday, Dec. 25, 2017

Reflection for the Day
Today is a special day in more ways than one. It's a day that God has made, and I'm alive in God's world. I know that all things in my life this day are an expression of God's love - the fact that I'm alive, that I'm recovering and that I'm able to feel the way I feel at this very instant. For me, this will be a day of gratitude.

Am I deeply thankful for being a part of this special day, and for all my blessings?

Today I Pray
On this day of remembering God's gift, may I understand that giving and receiving are the same. Each is part of each. If I give, I receive the happiness of giving. If I receive, I give someone else that same happiness of giving. I pray that I may give my self - my love and my strengths - generously. May I also receive graciously the love and strengths of others' selves. May God be our example.

Today I Will Remember
The magnitude of God's giving.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 25, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Eye Opener
Monday, Dec. 25, 2017

At some time in your AA experience, you will be called upon to make a talk before the Group. When that time comes, remember that you are talking for the new man out in front. You definitely are not talking just to demonstrate your wisdom and your oratorical ability. Above all, you don't exaggerate your story nor make statements that are manifestly untrue. It has been done and the effectiveness of the talk destroyed. Keep in mind that the man out in front is an alcoholic and he can spot a phony afar off.

Hazelden Foundation

Dec. 25, 2017 - Good morning to a blessed Christmas Day with profound gratitude, faith, hope and strength

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Dec. 24, 2017 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

That life is a fragile shell on the beach I have thought of before. This Christmas I am thinking big basic wonders as if I were just born.
-- Naomi Shihab Nye

The big basic wonders about our origin, and that of the stars, must still occur to us all, even though we're grown up and knowledgeable about astronomy and human reproduction. The germination of a seed is still much more wonderful, in a strict sense, than the mere electronic marvel of a calculator that makes twelve thousand computations in a second.

Do we ever let ourselves simply wonder? Do we still open ourselves to the awe that filled us once, when we first realized the vast intricacies of the solar system or of human physiology?

Every great ritual surrounds a story that is wonderful: the presence of a god; the deliverance of a people; the transformation of life or death. It's appropriate that we should respond to them with a thrill of wonder. Wonder is a gift; it contains the germs of reverence and of knowledge.

Life is frail and intricate, and it contains everything I need for fulfillment.

You are reading from the book:

The Promise of a New Day by Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg