Daily Recovery Readings

God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
and Wisdom to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine, be done.

Daily Recovery Readings are posted in advance daily here - http://www.ipass.net/a1idpirat/dailyrecoveryreadings.html

Daily Reflections

PRAYER: IT WORKS

It has been well said that "almost the only scoffers at prayer are those
who never tried it enough."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 97

Having grown up in an agnostic household, I felt somewhat foolish
when I first tried praying. I knew there was a Higher Power working
in my life -- how else was I staying sober? -- but I certainly wasn't
convinced he/she/it wanted to hear my prayers. People who had what
I wanted said prayer was an important part of practicing the program,
so I persevered. With a commitment to daily prayer, I was amazed
to find myself becoming more serene and comfortable with my place in the
world. In other words, life became easier and less of a struggle. I'm still
not sure who, or what, listens to my prayers, but I'd never stop saying them
for the simple reason that they work.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought For The Day

When we were drinking, we used to be ashamed of the past. Remorse
is terrible mental punishment: ashamed of ourselves for the things
we've said and done, afraid to face people because of what they might
think of us, afraid of the consequences of what we did when we were
drunk. In A.A. we forget about the past. Do I believe that God has
forgiven me for everything I've done in the past, no matter how black
it was, provided I'm honestly trying to do the right thing today?

Meditation For The Day

God's spirit is all about you all day long. You have no thoughts, no
plans, no impulses, no emotions, that He does not know about. You can
hide nothing from Him. Do not make your conduct conform only to
that of the world and do not depend on the approval or disapproval of
others. God sees in secret, but He rewards openly. If you are in
harmony with the Divine Spirit, doing your best to live the way you
believe God wants you to live, you will be at peace.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may always feel God's presence. I pray that I may realize
this Presence constantly all through the day.

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As Bill Sees It

Clearing A Channel, p. 78

During the day, we can pause where situations must be met and
decisions made, and renew the simple request "Thy will, not mine, be
done."

If at these points our emotional disturbances happens to be great, we
will more surely keep our balance provided we remember, and repeat
to ourselves, a particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to us in
our reading or meditation. Just saying it over and over will often
enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration,
or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of
all--our search for God's will, not our own, in the moment of stress.

12 & 12, pp. 102-103

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Walk in Dry Places

Where is God?
Guidance.
AA members have always had a difficult time explaining the "God business". We didn't want to be considered religious, but at the same time we've always believed some contact with a Higher Power is necessary for real personal growth.
There's nothing wrong… for our purposes… in simply visualizing God as a Higher Power that has always been within us and around us. "Before they call, I will answer," goes an old saying, and that was true even in our darkest days. Many of us also believe that a higher power helped bring AA into being and move it along to become a worldwide force for good.
But God works in ways that can seem to come from change or coincidence. Quite often, we'll find that little events had far-reaching results in our lives. When we review how such things happened, we should not conclude that this happens only to certain "special" people. All human beings are part of God's creation and can avail themselves of guidance and direction. The more serious problem is that guidance and direction are sometimes ignored or rejected.
I'll go about my affairs today with the knowledge that my Higher Power is making the important decisions in my life. I'll come out about where God wants me to be.

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Keep It Simple

Speak when you're angry and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret. Lawrence J. Peter
When we used alcohol or other drugs, most of us were hotheads. We thought we were right. If we were proven wrong, we may have made life hell for everyone. People knew enough to stay away from us. In recovery, things will still go badly at times. We'll get hurt. And we'll get angry. But now, we turn our anger to our Higher Power. In our groups, we talk about what makes us angry. Then we leave the anger behind when the meeting is over. We find that being at peace is now more important than getting even.
Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, when I'm angry, help me slow down, Help me remember it's okay to be angry, but its not okay to abuse people.
Action for the Day: I will remember a time when I turned anger, into rage and hurt someone. I will also remember a time I was angry in a respectful way.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Alcoholic Anonymous Number Three

Pioneer member of Akron's Group No. 1, the first A.A. group in the world. He kept the faith; therefore, he and countless others found a new life.

After a while, Bill said, "Well, now, you've been talking a good long time, let me talk a minute or two." So, after hearing some more of my story, he turned around and said to Doc—I don't think he knew I heard him, but I did—he said, "Well, I believe he's worth saving and working on." They said to me, "Do you want to quit drinking? It's none of our business about your drinking. We're not up here trying to take any of your rights or privileges away from you, but we have a program whereby we think we can stay sober. Part of that program is that we take it to someone else, that needs it and wants it. Now, if you don't want it, we'll not take up your time, and we'll be going and looking for someone else."

pp. 185-186

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Five - "Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."

All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires . . . they all deflate our egos. When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than Five. But scarcely any Step is more necessary to longtime sobriety and peace of mind than this one.

p. 55

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"All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to
receive help from other people."
-Alexis Carrel, Reflections on Life

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
--Helen Keller

"If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect
yourself."
--Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"A closed mouth gathers no feet."
--Anon.

We cannot think our way into sober living. We live our way into sober thinking.

We in AA don't carry the alcoholic; we carry the message.

Listening feeds the spirit.

When I am too busy to pray - I am just too busy.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

MADNESS

"Sanity is madness put to good use."
-- George Santayana

I heard the phrase "make the disease work for you". It made a great
deal of sense to me and still does. I am a recovering alcoholic. My
alcoholism is still within me and every day I take the necessary steps
to stay sober. My disease is that "mad" part of me that wants to
destroy my life, relationships and understanding of God. What I need
to do is accept my "madness" and turn it around so that it works for me.
My suffering is the key to my spiritual growth. My anger and manipulation
helps me to understand the imperfections of others. My powerlessness over
alcohol give me an understanding of humility that is based on reality.
The acceptance of my "madness" keeps me sane!

O God, give me the sanity to accept my imperfections so that I can
grow into the "best" that I can be.

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"From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is
overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
Psalms 61:2

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Psalms 141:3

Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.
John 14:1

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Daily Inspiration

When you meet God in prayer, everything becomes new. Lord, may I be humbly joyful in my faith.

Take less for granted and you will become very busy enjoying all that you have. Lord, thank you for my blessings and for all those that I am able to share them with.