April 29, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Monday, April 29, 2024

Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Lessons from Pain

The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.

-- Anonymous

Today we are living free from compulsions and addictions, but that happiness won't ever let us forget the times we cried from pain. We went through a lot of suffering in order to surrender. All that suffering wouldn't matter if we hadn't become willing to make a spiritual change. We learned valuable lessons from the pain.

In recovery, we learn that pain changes our lives. We gain an understanding of honest values from our suffering. Until we stopped hurting, we couldn't make progress toward a richer life and appreciate the gift of love and service.

I have learned that happiness is getting away from suffering. Even to crave happiness is painful. Finding happiness helps me get rid of pain and find peace of mind.

Hazelden Foundation

April 29, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Monday, April 29, 2024

Today, service to others as an essential element in my recovery, that expending some of my attention on something other than myself may make my problems not as bad as I think they are. Service can range from giving a talk, talking to a sponsor or sponsee, volunteering to make the coffee for a meeting or simply listening to someone else’s problems or experiences. And possibly, the problems I have -- or think I have and maybe exaggerate -- may seem somewhat less serious. Adversely, I must respect prudence in not expending myself to the extreme that my own needs are sacrificed and neglected. In the end, my recovery Program requires that I not focus all that I have completely on myself and that sharing or volunteering for service work may make my own problems less heavy. And our common journey continues. Step by step. -- Chris M., 2024

April 29, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, April 29, 2024

AA Thought for the Day
The AA program is one of faith, hope and charity. It’s a program of hope because when new members come into AA, the first thing they get is hope. They hear older members tell how they had been through the same kind of hell that they have and how they found the way out through AA. And this gives them hope that if others can do it, they can do it.

Is hope still strong in me?

Meditation for the Day
The rule of God’s kingdom is perfect order, perfect harmony, perfect supply, perfect love, perfect honesty, perfect obedience. There is no discord in God’s kingdom, only some things still unconquered in God’s children. The difficulties of life are caused by disharmony in the individual man or woman. People lack power because they lack harmony with God and with each other. They think that God fails because power is not manifested in their lives. God does not fail. People fail because they are out of harmony with Him.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be in harmony with God and with other people. I pray that this harmony will result in strength and success.

Hazelden Foundation

April 29, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Monday, April 29, 2024

Reflection for the Day
As I grow in The Program -- sharing, caring and becoming more and more active -- I find that it’s becoming easier to live in the Now. Even my vocabulary is changing. No longer is every other sentence salted with such well-used phrases as “could’ve,” “should’ve,” “would’ve,” “might’ve.” What’s done is done and what will be will be. The only time that really matters is Now.

Am I gaining real pleasure and serenity and peace in The Program?

Today I Pray
That I may collect all my scattered memories from the past and high-flown schemes and overblown fears for the future and compact them into the neater confines of Today. Only by living in the Now may I keep my balance, without bending backwards to the past or tipping forward into the future. May I stop trying to get my arms around my whole unwieldy lifetime and carry it around in a gunny sack with me wherever I go.

Today I Will Remember
Make room for today.

Hazelden Foundation

April 29, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Monday, April 29, 2024

Effort has been made to carry AA into schools and young people’s organizations, but the effective response has been so negligible that it has usually been abandoned after a short trial.

AA is a program for ALCOHOLICS -- persons suffering from alcoholism. It was designed to appeal to them and them only. It is probably true that we can tell the kids a lot about drinking, but it will fall on deaf ears. Unfortunately, we must be pricked by the sharp thorn of experience in order to learn.

Hazelden Foundation

April 29, 2024 – Good morning and let's commit to a terrific Monday and new week

 

Good morning, get caffeinated and commit to making today a magnificent Monday and drama- and trauma-free new week

April 28, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Sunday, April 28, 2024

Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

In the important decisions, we should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our nature.

~Sigmund Freud

We make decisions all the time, and every one, large or small, changes us. Since change is frightening, making a decision can be frightening, too. We can make the process easier by asking ourselves the right questions: "Do I really want to do this? Will it benefit my life? Is it realistic?" Such questions help us know our true feelings, which are the most important part of any decision.

Wrong decisions are often made by focusing on external things: "If I do this, it will please my partner. I'm doing it because I want excitement and intrigue. I'm in it for the money. I want the power and status. Maybe I'm running away from something I don't want to face -- but so what?"

As addicts, it is important for us to avoid impulsivity and all-or-nothing thinking. We can take our time and talk our feelings through with our friends or our group, trying to see the bigger picture. If we are still unsure of the right thing to do, we can ask for our Higher Power's help, decide, and then trust the outcome.

The only wrong decision is one made for the wrong reasons.

Hazelden Foundation

April 28, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Sunday, April 28, 2024

Today, no running from mistakes with a sense of failure or blaming anything and anyone else. No recovery program works towards perfection because no person will or can achieve it. Likewise, I cannot and must not impose that unreachable goal on myself – and others. AA’s 10th Step says, in part, we “promptly admitted” when we are wrong -- not if. Thus, let me not be so vain as to place responsibility for my mistakes, big and small, on someone and something else. Adversely, let me not be discouraged by a sense of failure when I stumble in word, thought and deed. Instead, let me be open to owning my mistakes, identifying the reason for them and correcting the reason so that I do not repeat them. Today, I am not perfect and I cannot expect myself to be – nor can I expect anyone and anything else to be. And our common journey continues. Step by step. -- Chris M., 2024

April 28, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Sunday, April 28, 2024

AA Thought for the Day

We’re so glad to be free from liquor that we do something about it. We get into action. We come to meetings regularly. We go out and try to help other alcoholics. We pass on the good news whenever we get a chance. In a spirit of thankfulness to God, we get into action. The AA program is simple. Submit yourself to God, find release from liquor and get into action. Do these things and keep doing them and you’re all set for the rest of your life.

Have I got into action?

Meditation for the Day

God’s eternal quest must be the tracking down of souls. You should join Him in His quest. Through briars, through waste places, through glades, up mountain heights, down into valleys. God leads you. But ever with His leadership goes your helping hand. Glorious to follow where the Leader goes. You are seeking lost sheep. You are bringing the good news into places where it has not been known before. You may not know which soul you will help, but you can leave all results to God. Just go with Him in His eternal quest for souls.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may follow God in His eternal quest for souls. I pray that I may offer God my helping hand.

Hazelden Foundation

April 28, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Sunday, April 28, 2024

Reflection for the Day
I will resolve to observe with new interest even the commonplace things that happen today. If I learn to see everything with a fresh eye, perhaps I’ll find I have countless reasons for contentment and gratitude. When I find myself trapped in the quicksand of my negative thoughts, I’ll turn away from them -- and grab for the life-saving strength of sharing with others in The Program.

Do I carry my weight as an all-important link in the worldwide chain of The Program?

Today I Pray
I pray that God will open my eyes to the smallest everyday wonders, that I may notice and list among my blessings things like just feeling good, being able to think clearly. Even when I make a simple, unimportant choice like whether to order coffee or tea or a soft drink, may I be reminded that the power of choice is a gift from God.

Today I Will Remember
I am blessed with the freedom of choice.

Hazelden Foundation

April 28, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Sunday, April 28, 2024

The span of human life is such a small part of eternity that the length of your life, whether it be 20 years or 100, is of no moment. Yet the lifespan of some men has, and will continue to have, great influence upon many succeeding generations.

If you can by one single act do something that will benefit just one person 50 years from now, you will have done more than millions who have before you. Few leave anything to posterity when they die that will outlive their tombstone.

Hazelden Foundation

April 28, 2024 – Good morning and let's have a safe, peaceful and serene Sunday

 

Good morning and let’s shoot for a contented and relaxing Sunday and set aside any daily worries and concerns along with anyone and anything who serve no useful purpose

April 27, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Saturday, April 27, 2024
Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

It’s the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.

-- Marlene Dietrich

A recovery friend once said, "There have been only two people in my life that I've called up at 4 a.m.: my mom, to get me out of jail, and my sponsor, to help keep me from drinking and ending up in jail."

Many of us may also remember calling up a recovery friend in the wee hours of the morning and hearing a calm, caring voice on the other end of the phone. Or we may have had the experience of having a recovery friend call us in the middle of the night and perhaps even spending the night on our couch.

We create safety for each other when we can't create it for ourselves. This is the nature of recovery. Having friends and fellowship that will be there for us whenever there is a need is a gift and a privilege. We should honor it well.

Prayer for the Day

Higher Power, thank you for the fellowship and for friends who will be there for me during the best of times and especially during the worst of times.

Today's Action

I will take time and think about which of my recovery friends have helped me the most. I will call and thank them for their care and kindness.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Today, character defects of frustration and impatience as they relate to relationships and communications. As a drinking alcoholic, frustration and impatience walked hand-in-hand when it came to dealing with others: frustration with people who did not react how and when I expected. As a recovering alcoholic, frustration and impatience still walk hand-in-hand in dealing with others. Clearly, little change. Also clearly, abstaining from the bottle isn’t all that recovery requires. A fundamental reformation in character and emotions is needed. If I overreact when people do not respond when and how I think they should, maybe I am the problem. Today, I work consciously and conscientiously on my defects of frustration and impatience by considering the possibility that someone other than myself might have a better idea. And our common journey continues. Step by step. -- Chris M., 2024

April 27, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Saturday, April 27, 2024

AA Thought for the Day

By submitting to God, we’re released from the power of liquor. It has no more hold on us. We’re also released from the things that were holding us down: pride, selfishness, and fear. And we’re free to grow into a new life, which is so much better than the old life that there’s no comparison. This release gives us serenity and peace with the world.

Have I been released from the power of alcohol?

Meditation for the Day

We know God by spiritual vision. We feel that He is beside us. We feel His presence. Contact with God is not made by the senses. Spirit-consciousness replaces sight. Since we cannot see God, we have to perceive Him by spiritual perception. God has to span the physical and the spiritual with the gift to us of spiritual vision. Many persons, though they cannot see God, have had a clear spiritual consciousness of Him. We are inside a box of space and time, but we know there must be something outside of that box -- limitless space, eternity of time, and God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have a consciousness of God’s presence. I pray that God will give me spiritual vision.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Reflection for the Day

Am I so sure I’m doing everything possible to make my new life a success? Am I using my capabilities well? Do I recognize and appreciate all I have to be grateful for? The Program and its Twelve Steps teach me that I am the possessor of unlimited resources. The more I do with them, the more they will grow -- to overshadow and cancel out the difficult and painful feelings that now get so much of my attention.

Am I less sensitive today than when I first came to The Program?

Today I Pray

May I make the most of myself in all ways. May I begin to look outward to people and opportunities and wonderful resources around me. As I become less ingrown and understand myself better in relation to others, may I be less touchy and thin-skinned. May I shrug off my old “the world-is-out-to-get-me” feeling and see that same world as my treasure-house, God-given and boundless.

Today I Will Remember

My resources are unlimited.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Real reforms are in people, not in movements. All the laws and demands of church, state and family could not make us change our drinking habits. But the day eventually came when we wanted to change and then, and then only, was the change possible. Prohibition legislation was only a challenge to us and we drank the more because they said we could not. We were determined to show those So-and-So’s they couldn’t stop us.

Only when we, ourselves, wanted to do something about it was any real reformation possible.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2024 – Good morning and let’s go for a really super Saturday

 

A boisterous good morning from a cute pussy kitty with a wish of a fantastic Saturday for everyone

April 26, 2024 - Reading sin Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Friday, April 26, 2024
Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow; it only saps today of its strength.

-- A. J. Cronin

Many adult children are expert worriers. No topic is so small that we can't blow it up into something big. The merest hint of an ill wind can trip the hair-trigger mechanism that gets us going. It takes years to develop such a reflex. Originally, we may have legitimately worried that what we loved would be taken from us or never be given to us in the first place.

But worry can become a way of life -- we may not know how to live any other way. In the grips of this delusion, we might assume that if we don't worry about something, it will happen for sure. As if worry had the power to ward off tragedy! We might as well wear garlic around our necks to repel evil spirits.

As opposed to cautious realism, chronic worry is indiscriminate and irrational. We don't worry about disasters because they're so likely to happen -- we worry because that's what we know how to do. Worry doesn't prevent the loss of anything except our own peace of mind.

I recognize that habitual worry is a learned response from long ago. Today, I choose serenity.

Hazelden Foundation

April 26, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Friday, April 26, 2024

Today, appreciation of the power of the spoken word, the one spoken in anger, fear, frustration and sarcasm and which can inflict more damage than any destructive act of my drinking days. Let me understand that a single word can do hurt and injury that might not be healed by any amend. And even if my amend or apology is accepted, the injury and hurt may cut so deeply in the person against whom the wrong word is spoken that something can still be forever lost. I pray for guidance in the 12th Step to practice the Program’s principles in all my affairs, including not caving into anger and unleashing a word that is intended to hurt. Today, I think before I speak, especially if I am angry, frustrated or afraid, because I cannot unspeak it -- and atonement may not be enough to repair the damage. And our common journey continues. Step by step. -- Chris M., 2024

April 26, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, April 26, 2024

AA Thought for the Day

The AA program is one of submission, release and action. When we’re drinking, we’re submitting to a power greater than ourselves -- liquor. Our own wills are no use against the power of liquor. One drink and we’re sunk. In AA, we stop submitting to the power of liquor. Instead, we submit to a Power, also greater than ourselves, which we call God.

Have I submitted myself to that Higher Power?

Meditation for the Day

Ceaseless activity is not God’s plan for your life. Times of withdrawal for renewed strength are always necessary. Wait for the faintest tremor of fear and stop all work, everything, and rest before God until you are strong again. Deal in the same way with all tired feelings. Then you need rest of body and renewal of spirit-force. St. Paul said: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” This does not mean that you are to do all things and then rely on God to find strength. It means that you are to do the things you believe God wants you to do and only then can you rely on His supply of power.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that God’s spirit may be my master always. I pray that I may learn how to rest and listen, as well as how to work.

Hazelden Foundation

April 26, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Friday, April 26, 2024

Reflection for the Day
When I first came to The Program, I was stunned by the constant sound of laughter. I realized today that cheerfulness and merriment make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes shocked when we burst into laughter over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn’t we laugh? We have recovered, and have helped others to recover. What greater cause could there be for rejoicing than this?

Have I begun to regain my sense of humor?

Today I Pray
May God restore my sense of humor. May I appreciate the honest laughter that is the background music of our mutual rejoicing in our sobriety. May I laugh a lot, not the defensive ego-laugh which mocks another’s weakness, not the wry laugh of the self-putdown, but the healthy laugh that keeps situations in perspective. May I never regard this kind of laughter as irreverent. I have learned, instead, that it is irreverent to take myself too seriously.

Today I Will Remember
A sense of humor is a sign of health.

Hazelden Foundation

April 26, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Friday, April 26, 2024

Many of us came into AA either in middle life or beyond and feel that with our reasonable life expectancy, it is practically impossible to atone for our previous wrong actions. The thief at the Crucifixion probably thought the same thing but, by one single act, he brought the promise that “this day, thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”

Hazelden Foundation

April 26, 2024 – Good morning and let’s all have a fantastic and productive Friday

 

Good morning and get out there and make today a magnificent Friday without the stress and worry that we all bear and without the people and things who aren’t worthy of our attention

April 25, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Thursday, April 25, 2024
Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Letting Go of Anger

In recovery, we often discuss anger objectively. Yes, we reason, it's an emotion we're all prone to experience. Yes, the goal in recovery is to be free of resentment and anger. Yes, it's okay to feel angry, we agree. Well, maybe…

Anger is a powerful and sometimes frightening emotion. It's also a beneficial one if it's not allowed to harden into resentment or used as a battering ram to punish or abuse people.

Anger is a warning signal. It points to problems. Sometimes, it signals problems we need to solve. Sometimes, it points to boundaries we need to set. Sometimes, it's the final burst of energy before letting go, or acceptance, settles in.

And, sometimes, anger just is. It doesn't have to be justified. It usually can't be confined to a tidy package. And it need not cause us to stifle ourselves or our energy.

We don't have to feel guilty whenever we experience anger. We don't have to feel guilty. Breathe deeply. We can shamelessly feel all our feelings, including anger, and still take responsibility for our behaviors.

I will feel and release any angry feelings I have today. I can do that appropriately and safely.

Hazelden Foundation

April 25, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Today, understand we cannot claim credit if someone we sponsor or to whom we have carried the message finds sobriety. Likewise, let us not feel that we have failed a sponsee or co-member who continues to drink. To claim credit for anyone else’s recovery or to blame ourselves for their continued drinking fires our ego and, because of it, we break the command of being a carrier of the message. Just as we cannot credit anyone for our sobriety other than the Program or to blame our drinking on someone or something other than ourselves, we cannot claim credit for another person’s recovery or lack of it. Today, let us remember that we are the messenger, not the message. And our common journey continues. Step by step. -- Chris M., 2024

April 25 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty--Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, April 25, 2024

AA Thought for the Day

I don’t believe that AA works because I read it in a book or because I hear people say so. I believe it because I see people getting sober and staying sober. An actual demonstration is what convinces me. When I see the change in people, I can’t help believing that AA works. We could listen to talk about AA all day and still not believe it, but when we see it work, we have to believe it. Seeing is believing.

Do I see AA work every day?

Meditation for the Day

Try saying: “God bless her (or him)” of anyone who is in disharmony with you. Also say it of those who are in trouble through their own fault. Say it, willing that showers of blessings may fall upon them. Let God do the blessing. Leave to God the necessary correcting or disciplining. You should only desire blessing for them. Leave God’s work to God. Occupy yourself with the task that He gives you to do. God’s blessing will also break down all your own difficulties and build up all your successes.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may use God’s goodness so that it will be a blessing to others. I pray that I may accept God’s blessing so that I will have harmony, beauty, joy and happiness.

Hazelden Foundation

April 25, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Reflection for the Day

I have much more to be grateful for than I realize. Too often, I don’t remember to give thought to all the things in my life that I could enjoy and appreciate. Perhaps I don’t take time for this important meditation because I’m too preoccupied with my own so-called woes. I allow my mind to overflow with grievances; the more I think about them, the more monumental they seem. Instead of surrendering to God and His goodness, I let myself be controlled by the negative thinking into which my thoughts are apt to stray unless I guide them firmly into brighter paths.

Do I try to cultivate an “attitude of gratitude?”

Today I Pray

May God lead me away from my pile-up of negative thoughts, which make for detours in my path of personal growth. May I break the old poor-me habits of remembering the worst and expecting the most dire. May I turn my thoughts ahead to a whole new world out there. May I allow myself to envision the glory of God.

Today I Will Remember

Keep an attitude of gratitude.

Hazelden Foundation

April 25, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Man is a pretty smart duck, but after all these centuries of study, experimentation and reasoning, we still don’t know what we are, where our life came from or what happens to it when we die. True, we have certain faiths and beliefs, but who can say with certainty and with personal knowledge exactly what the answer to the Great Enigma really is?

We have unlocked many of the secrets of Nature, but we still don’t know what we are, how we got here or where we will go when we leave.

God still has many secrets. If man knew them all, there would be no incentive to know God better.

Hazelden Foundation

April 25, 2024 – Good morning to a grand and beautiful Thursday

 

Good morning with hopes of a terrific and productive Thursday for everyone — and don’t waste any of the day on people and things who don’t rate our attention

April 24, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

 

Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Today's Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

Religion and art spring from the same root and are close kin. Economics and art are strangers.

-- Willa Cather

As adults, we have become more practical about meeting our economic needs and responsibilities. Perhaps we've gone so far in the process of learning to be fiscally responsible that we've become greedy or cynical. Some of us may have forgotten that there are things more sacred than monetary success.

Creativity, play, love, connection to a Higher Power, joy -- all of these are among our needs. They are as important to our spirits as food and shelter are to our physical survival. If we've given up on our creative side because "it doesn’t pay" or because we're "not good enough to succeed," we may be denying the spirit within us the nourishment it yearns for. We must determine what success means to each of us; we need not be limited by others' definitions or goals. Creative expression is its own reward. It is the voice of our soul.

Today, I express my creativity in something I do, simply for its own sake.

Hazelden Foundation

April 24, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

 

Step by Step
Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Today, the link between consequences and responsibility -- and the reality that I and I alone am responsible to the consequences of my behavior and choices, including drinking, and that excuses and justifications will not spare me either consequences or responsibility. The Program’s 12th Step suggests I “practice these principles in all (my) affairs” -- to live by AA’s principles and not weasel out of owning my feelings, actions and behavior and the consequences of each. If, for example, I slip or relapse, I cannot blame anything but myself because, in the end, I made the choice to drink. No one tied me down and poured it down my throat, and I and no one else will endure the physical and emotional consequences of my choice to drink. Today, I am mindful that all I say, do and feel will bear consequences and that I alone am responsible to those consequences. And if I want to avoid responsibility to the consequences, the “out” is clear: don’t do what I don’t want to suffer consequences for. And our common journey continues. Step by step. -- Chris M., 2024

April 24, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

AA Thought for the Day

It’s been proved that we alcoholics can’t get sober by our willpower. We’ve failed again and again. Therefore, I believe there must be a Higher Power which helps me. I think of that power as the grace of God. And I pray to God every morning for the strength to stay sober today. I know that Power is there because it never fails to help me.

Do I believe that AA works through the grace of God?

Meditation for the Day

Once I am “born of the spirit,” that is my life’s breath. Within me is the life of life, so that I can never perish. The life that down the ages has kept God’s children through peril, adversity and sorrow. I must try never to doubt or worry, but follow where the life of the spirit leads. How often, when little I know it, God goes before me to prepare the way, to soften a heart, or to overrule a resentment. As the life of the spirit grows, natural wants become less important.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my life may become centered in God more than in self. I pray that my will may be directed towards doing His will.

Hazelden Foundation