~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
^*^*^*^*^
(\
~~~ /)
( \(AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Faith
People of faith have a logical idea of
what life is all about. Actually,
we used to have no reasonable
conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting
spiritual beliefs and
practices when we might have
observed that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors
and creeds were
demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness
which we should have sought ourselves.
c.
2002 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 49
^*^*^*^*^
Thought to Consider . . .
Feed your faith and starve your doubt.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F A I T H = Finding Answers In The Heart.
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Faith
Step Two: Came to
believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
"'When we encountered A.A., the
fallacy of our defiance was revealed. At no time had we asked what God’s will was for us; instead we had been telling Him what it ought
to be. No man, we saw, could believe in God and defy Him, too. Belief meant
reliance, not defiance. In A.A. we saw the fruits of this belief: men and women
spared from alcohol’s final catastrophe. We saw them meet and transcend their other
pains and trials. We saw them calmly accept impossible situations, seeking
neither to run nor to recriminate. This was not only faith; it was faith that
worked under all conditions. We soon concluded that whatever price in humility
we must pay, we would pay.'"
� 1952, AAWS, Inc.; Printed
2005; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, pg. 31
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
A GLORIOUS RELEASE
"The
minute I stopped arguing, I could begin to see and feel. Right there, Step
Two gently and very gradually began to infiltrate my life. I can't say
upon what occasion or upon what day I came to believe in a Power greater than
myself, but I certainly have that belief now. To acquire it, I had only
to stop fighting and practice the rest of A.A.'s
program as enthusiastically as I could. "
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 27
After years of
indulging in a "self-will run riot," Step Two became for me a
glorious release from being all alone. Nothing is so painful or insurmountable
in my journey now. Someone is always there to share life's burdens with
me. Step Two became a reinforcement with God,
and I now realize that my insanity and ego were curiously linked. To rid
myself of the former, I must give up the latter to one with far broader
shoulders than my own.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Humility First
"A.A. is
no success story in the ordinary sense of the word. It is a story of suffering
transmuted,
under grace, into spiritual progress."
<<<>>>
For Dr. Bob, the insatiable craving for
alcohol was evidently a physical phenomenon which bedeviled several of his
first years in A.A., a time when only days and nights of carrying the message
to other alcoholics could cause him to forget about drinking. Although his
craving was hard to withstand, it doubtless did account for some part of the
intense incentive that went into forming Akron's Group Number One.
Bob's spiritual release did not come
easily; it was to be painfully slow. It always entailed the hardest kind of
work and the sharpest vigilance.
1.
LETTER, 1959 - 2. A.A. COMES OF AGE, p, 69 - 3. LETTER, 1954
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"...with
the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a
spiritual experience, this business of
resentment is infinitely
grave. We found that it is fatal. For
when harboring such feelings
we shut ourselves off from the sunlight
of the Spirit. The insanity
of alcohol returns and we drink again.
And with us, to drink is to die."
Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 66
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day
One thing
we learn in A.A. is to take a long view of drinking instead of a short view.
When we were drinking we thought more about the pleasure or release that a
drink would give us than we did about the consequences that would result from
our taking that drink. Liquor looks good from the short view. When we look in a
package store window, we see liquor dressed up in its best wrappings, with
fancy labels and decorations. They look swell. But
have I learned that what's inside those beautiful bottles is just plain poison
to me?
Meditation for the Day
I
believe that life is a school in which I must learn spiritual things. I must
trust in God and He will teach me. I must listen to God and He will speak
through my mind. I must commune with Him in spite of all opposition and every
obstacle. There will be days when I will hear no voice in my mind and when
there will come no intimate heart-to-heart communion. But if I persist, and
make a life habit of schooling myself in spiritual things, God will reveal
Himself to me in many ways.
Prayer for the Day
I pray
that I may regularly go to school in things of the spirit.
I pray that I may grow spiritually by making a practice of these things