~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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( \(AA)/ )
(_ /AA\ _)
/AA\
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Spiritual Growth
"When we speak to you of God, we mean
your own conception of God. Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual
terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. At the
start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first
conscious relation with God as we understood Him. If we wished to grow we had
to begin somewhere. So we used our own conception, however limited it
was."
Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 47
Thought to Consider . . .
Spirituality is the ability to get our
minds off ourselves.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
WISDOM
When Into Self, Discover Our Motives
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Traditions
From "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"'Please don't talk any more about those damned Traditions.' [in the late 1940s]
"Time has changed all that. Several years later it was recognized that the Twelve Traditions were going to be just as necessary to the life of our society as the Twelve Steps were to the life of each member. We saw that the A.A. Traditions were the key to the unity, the functioning, and even the survival of Alcoholics Anonymous."
(c) 2001 AAWS, Inc.; Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 204
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
A WORLD OF THE SPIRIT
We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next
function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness.
This is not an overnight matter. It
should continue for our lifetime.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 84
The word
"entered" . . . and the phrase "entered into the world of the
Spirit" are very significant. They imply action, a beginning,
getting into, a prerequisite to maintaining my spiritual growth, the
"Spirit" being the immaterial part of me. Barriers to my
spiritual growth are self-centeredness and a materialistic focus on worldly things.
Spirituality means devotion to spiritual instead of worldly things,
it means obedience to God's will for me. I understand spiritual things to
be: unconditional love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
self-control and humility. Any time I allow selfishness, dishonesty,
resentment and fear to be a part of me, I block out spiritual things. As
I maintain my sobriety, growing spiritually becomes a lifelong process.
My goal is spiritual growth, accepting that I'll never have spiritual perfection.
(c)Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS
ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.(c)
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Dependence - Unhealthy or Healthy
"Nothing
can be more demoralizing than a clinging and abject dependence upon another
human being. This often amounts to the demand for a degree of protection and
love that no one could possibly satisfy. So our hoped-for protectors finally
flee, and once more we are left alone - either to grow up or to
disintegrate."
<<<>>>
We discovered the best possible source
of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His
perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work
where nothing else would.
If we really depended upon God, we
couldn't very well play God to our fellows, nor would we feel the urge to rely
wholly on human protection and care.
1.
LETTER, 1966 - 2. TWELVE AND TWELVE, p. 116
Copyright(R)1967
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"...the
actual or potential alcoholic, with hardly an exception,
will be absolutely unable to stop
drinking on the basis of self
knowledge. This is a point we wish to
emphasize and re-emphasize, to
smash home upon our alcoholic readers
as it has been revealed to us
out of bitter experience."
~Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 39~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day
We've
gotten rid of our false, drinking selves and found our real, sober selves. And
we turn to God, our Father, for help, just as the Prodigal Son arose and went
to his father. At the end of the story, the father of the Prodigal Son says:
"He was dead and is alive again, he was lost and
is found." We alcoholics who have found sobriety in A.A. were certainly
dead and are alive again. We were lost and are found. Am I alive again?
Meditation
for the Day
Gently
breathe in God's spirit, that spirit which, if not barred out by selfishness,
will enable you to do good works. This means rather that God will be enabled to
do good works through you. You can become a channel for God's spirit to flow
through you and into the lives of others. The works that you can do will only
be limited by your spiritual development. Let your spirit be in harmony with God's
spirit and there is no limit to what you can do in the realm of human
relationships.
Prayer for
the Day
I pray
that I may become a channel for God's spirit.
I pray that God's spirit may flow through me into the lives of others