Daily Recovery Readings - July

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July 29

Daily Reflections

ANONYMOUS GIFTS OF KINDNESS

As active alcoholics we were always looking for a handout in one way
or another.
"THE TWELVE TRADITIONS ILLUSTRATED," p. 14

The challenge of the Seventh Tradition is a personal challenge,
reminding me to share and give of myself. Before sobriety the only
thing I ever supported was my habit of drinking. Now my efforts are a
smile, a kind word, and kindness.
I saw that I had to start carrying my own weight and to allow my new
friends to walk with me because, through the practice of the Twelve
Steps and Twelve Traditions, I've never had it so good.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry,
two days that should be kept from fear and apprehension. One of
these days is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and
blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond
our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday.
We cannot undo a single act we performed. We cannot erase a single
word we said. Yesterday is gone beyond recall. Do I still worry about
what happened yesterday?

Meditation For The Day

"God will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able, but
with the temptation He will also find a way of escape, that you may be
able to bear it." If you have enough faith and trust in God, He will give
you all the strength you need to face every temptation and to
overcome it. Nothing will prove too hard for you to bear. You can face
any situation. "Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world."
You can overcome any temptation with God's help. So fear nothing.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may face every situation without fear. I pray that nothing
will prove too hard for me to bear.

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As Bill Sees It

Out of Bondage, p.210

At Step Three, many of us said to our Maker, as we understand
Him: "God, I offer myself to Thee--to build with me and to do with
me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of bondage of self, that I may better
do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that my transcendence
over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power, Thy
love, and Thy way of life. May I do Thy will always!"

We thought well before taking this Step, making sure we were
ready. Then we could commence to abandon ourselves utterly to
Him.
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 63

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Walk In Dry Places

Flattery or Praise?
Human relations
Flattery and praise are social lubricants that serve human purposes. But flattery is merely manipulative, while genuine praise is beneficial to everybody.
Many of us with troubled back grounds also have trouble giving and accepting praise.Sometimes we mistake flattery for praise and use it either to manipulate otehs or allow ourselves to bemanipulated. Perhaps we're either too proud or too self-conscious to deal with real praise.
Another mistake is in believing that praise should be given out only sparingly, only after outstanding achievement. Not so, we need to give and receive praise continuously in order to reach higher levels of achievement. Knowing it's importance, we'll alsolearn howto avoid flattery.
I'll offer both verbal and silent praise today in my dealing with others. We'll all benefit from it.

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Keep It Simple

They have rights who dare defend them. ---Roger Baldwin
In recovery, we regain our right to have choices, our right to have honest relationships. Do we claim these rights, or do we let them go by?
Sometimes, standing up for our rights will mean going against the crowd. It will mean turning down that drink when everyone else has one. It will mean telling your honest opinion when it's different from the others think. Being sober will mean, at times being different. Lots of times, we find being different hard. We want to fit in. This is normal.
But we don't stand alone. We have friends who will stand with us during hard times. We have a Higher Power who will guide and comfort us. We are people with rights. Let's work hard so nothing takes away our rights.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, please help me keep and defend my dignity and human rights.
Action for the Day: I'll take time out to list the rights I've gotten back due to my recovery.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Harmony exists in difference no less than in likeness, if only the same keynote governs both parts. --Margaret Fuller
Harmony exists everywhere, as an entity of itself. Our personal attitudes bring the disharmony to a situation. An attitude of love can bless all situations and all people.
The converse is likewise true. We all desire harmony in our relationships. And we will find it, every time we bring an attitude of honest gratitude into a situation.
How we feel, today, about this person or that situation, reflects the strength of our relationship with God. When we experience life in the company of our higher power, we will let life flow. We will observe harmony, then, even in the midst of difference.
All of life's elements are moving toward a state of total and perfect harmony. We need not fear. We can trust the company of our higher power and know that every situation, no matter how adverse its appearance, is contributing to a harmonious outcome if we'd but lend a trusting attitude.
Harmony is everywhere. I will celebrate it. I will trust the present. I will trust the future.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 11 - A Vision For You

Many a man, yet dazed from his hospital experience, has stepped over the threshold of that home into freedom. Many an alcoholic who entered there came away with an answer. He succumbed to that gay crowd inside, who laughed at their own misfortunes and understood his. Impressed by those who visited him at the hospital, he capitulated entirely when, later, in an upper room of this house, he heard the story of some man whose experience closely tallied with his own. The expression on the faces of the women, that indefinable something in the eyes of the men, the stimulating and electric atmosphere of the place, conspired to let him know that here was haven at last.

p. 160

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Six - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

Looking again at those defects we are still unwilling to give up, we ought to erase the hard-and-fast lines that we have drawn. Perhaps we shall be obliged in some cases still to say, "This I cannot give up yet...," but we should not say to ourselves, "This I will never give up!"

pp. 68-69

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Today, I will remember that God has not abandoned me. I can trust
that God is leading, guiding, directing, and planning in love each detail
of my life.
--Melody Beattie

God, help me become fluent with my emotions. Help me learn to feel
whatever I feel, then regularly restore myself to that centered,
balanced place.
--Melody Beattie

Today I will be open to growing in my understanding of my Higher
Power. I will be open to letting go of old, limiting, negative beliefs
about God. No matter how I understand God, I will be grateful that
God understands me.
--Melody Beattie

A bird that you set free may be caught again, but a word that escapes
your lips will not return.
--Jewish Proverb

Enjoy life, that's what God intended.
--unknown

Live life to the fullest and make the best of what today has to offer
without worry and fear of what tomorrow might bring.
--unknown

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

GOD-PLAYING

"I determine who is a Jew."
--Herman Goring

Playing God. How well I remember this attitude in my drinking days
when, because I had said it, it must be so! Arrogance and pride kept
me lonely and isolated.

Today my spiritual program teaches me to "play" God in a different
way. It requires that I seek to discover the values I associate with God
and live them out in my own life. Because I believe that God is loving
and accepting, I seek to reveal these qualities in my daily associations.
It makes no sense to worship a God of truth if I continue the life of
"the liar". Belief must determine change.

As a recovering alcoholic I seek to "play" God in the joy, acceptance
and love I show to myself and other people. However, I know (oh how
I know!) that I am not God!

Let my statements always be open to the "pure light" of change.

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A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. A fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence. The house of the righteous contains great treasure, but the income of the wicked brings them trouble.
Proverbs 15:1-6

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Daily Inspiration

Every decision that you make opens the door to many new opportunities and experiences. Lord, help me make the most of my opportunities because it is through them that I am able to grow.

A blessing is an explosion of joy from God that ripples through your heart and fills your mind with God's light and hope. Lord, help me speak the words of blessing when they are needed by someone who is lonely, or who is dying or who is depressed.