~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Authority
"Many people wonder how AA can function under
such a seeming anarchy. Other
societies have to have law and force and sanction and punishment, administered by authorized people.
Happily for us,
we found 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.' And sometimes he does kill.
So, when all the chips are down,
we conform to God's will or perish.
At this level, the death sentence hangs
over the AA member, his
group, and AA as a whole."
Bill
W.,
c. 1957AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous
Comes of Age, p. 105
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Thought to Consider . . .
Faith is the substance of things hoped
for, and the evidence of things not seen.
*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F I T = Faith, Intuition, Trust.
*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*
Growth
From "The Three
Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous":
"Thus A.A. rolled along until the
spring of 1941, when we could count 2,000 members, a gain of 1,200 in a single
year. We thought this was good going, but actually we had not seen anything
yet. We were on the threshold of the event that made Alcoholics Anonymous a
national institution overnight.
"Dr. A. Wiese Hammer, already
champion of A.A. in Philadelphia, had drawn our fellowship to the
attention of Curtis Bok, one of the owners of the Saturday Evening Post [an extremely popular magazine of the
time]. At first the editorial board of the Post was dubious. But Mr. Bok
had seen some of our
© 2001 AAWS, Inc.;
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 190
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
AN INDIVIDUAL ADVENTURE
Meditation is something which can
always be further developed. It has no boundaries, either of width or height.
Aided by such instruction and example as we can find, it is essentially an
individual adventure, something which each one of us works out in his own way.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 101
My spiritual growth is with God as I understand
Him. With Him I find my true inner self. Daily meditation and
prayer strengthen and renew my source of well-being. I receive then the
openness to accept all that He has to offer. With God I have the reassurance
that my journey will be as He wants for me, and for that I am grateful to have
God in my life.
©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
*~*~*~*~*^As Bill Sees It^*~*~*~*~*
Tolerance Keeps Us Sober
"Honesty
with ourselves and others gets us sober, but it is tolerance that keeps us that
way.
"Experience shows that few
alcoholics will long stay away from a group just because they don't like the
way it is run. Most return and adjust themselves to whatever conditions they
must. Some go to a different group, or form a new one. "In other words, once an alcoholic fully
realizes that he cannot get well alone, he will somehow find a way to get well
and stay well in the company of others. It has been that way from the beginning
of A.A. and probably always will be so."
LETTER,
1943
*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*
"The
alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through the lives of
others. Hearts are broken. Sweet
relationships are dead.
Affections have been uprooted. Selfish
and inconsiderate habits have
kept the home in turmoil. We feel a man
is unthinking when he says
that sobriety is enough"
~Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 82~
*~*~*~*^Twenty Four Hours A Day^*~*~*~*
A.A. Thought for the Day
I have
lost much of my inferiority complex. I was always trying to escape from life. I
did not want to face reality. I was full of self-pity. I was constantly sorry
for myself. I tried to avoid all responsibilities. I did not feel that I would
handle the responsibilities of my family or my work. Owing to my inferiority
complex, I was eager to be free of all responsibilities. I wanted to drift; I
wanted to be "on the beach." A.A. showed me how to get over my
feeling of inferiority. It made me want to accept responsibility again. Have I
lost my inferiority complex?
Meditation for the Day
"One thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before,
I press onward toward the goal." We should forget those things which are
behind us and press onward toward something better. We can believe that God has forgiven us for
all our past sins, provided we are honestly trying to live today the way we
believe He wants us to live. We can wipe clean the slate of the past. We can
start today with a clean slate and go forward with confidence toward the goal
that has been set before us.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may drop off the load of
the past.
I pray that I may start today with a light
heart and a new confidence.