~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~

^*^*^*^*^
(\    ~~  /)
(   \ (AA)/   )
(_   /AA\ _)
  /AA\
^*^*^*^*^
Carry the Message

"We sit at AA meetings and listen, not only to receive something,
but to give reassurance and support which our presence can bring.
If our turn comes to speak at a meeting, we again try to carry AA's message.
Whether our audience is one or many, it is still Twelfth Step work."

Bill W., Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 110

Thought to Consider....

That light at the end of the tunnel may be you.

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
T R U S T =Teaching Recovery Using Steps and Traditions

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

Development

From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":

"As the [Big Book] chapters were slowly roughed out I read them to the New York group at its weekly meeting in our parlor at Clinton Street, and copies were sent to Dr. Bob for checking and criticisms in Akron, where we had nothing but the warmest support. But in the New York meeting the chapters got a real mauling. I re-dictated them and Ruth retyped them over and over. In spite of the heated arguments, the New York group’s criticisms did help a lot, and to some extent the enthusiasm and confidence increased."

2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 159

*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~**~*~*~*~*
ENTIRELY READY?

"This is the Step that separates the men from the boys.". . . the difference between "the boys and the men" is the difference between striving for a self determined objective and for the perfect objective which is of God. . . . It is suggested that we ought to become entirely willing to aim toward perfection. . . . The moment we say, "No, never!" our minds close against the grace of God. . . . This is the exact point at which we abandon limited objectives, and move toward God's will for us.

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, pp. 63, 68, 69

Am I entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character?  Do I know at long last that I cannot save myself?  I have come to believe that I cannot.  If I am unable, if my best intentions go wrong, if my desires are selfishly motivated and if my knowledge and will are limited -- then I am ready to embrace God's will for my life.

Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Suffering Transmuted, p. 35

"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
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality
safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem
has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor
are we afraid. That is our experience. That is how we react so long
as we keep in fit spiritual condition."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, Page 85~

*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day

We alcoholics are fortunate to be living in a day and age when there is such a thing as Alcoholics Anonymous. Before A.A. came into being, there was very little hope for the alcoholic. A.A. is a great rebuilder of human wreckage. It takes men and women whose personality problem expresses itself in alcoholism and offers them a program that, if they are willing to accept it, allows them not only to get sober, but also to find a much better way of living. Have I found a better way of living?

Meditation for the Day

Very quietly God speaks through your thoughts and feelings. Heed the Divine voice of your conscience. Listen for this and you will never be disappointed in the results in your life. Listen for this small, still voice and your tired nerves will become rested. The Divine voice comes to you as strength as well as tenderness, as power as well as restfulness. Your moral strength derives its effectiveness from the power that comes when you listen patiently for the still, small voice.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may listen for the still, small voice of God.

I pray that I may obey the leading of my conscience.