Thoughts For The Day~*~Pain ^*^*^ November 15
Transitions Daily
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Pain
"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
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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!^*~*
"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
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