June 2, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

 

The Eye Opener
Friday, June 2, 2023

We come into AA and are told that we should endeavor to establish a conscious contact with our God as we understand Him; that we should, through prayer and meditation, get on speaking terms with Him. We brushed up on our rusty salutations of “Almighty” and practiced on our Thee’s and Thou’s only to learn that there was a simpler and more direct approach.

We found that we could “tune God in” to our hearts and consciences and that no other method was needed to send and receive messages. We learned that what we said was of no great consequence anyway, as our prayers were for His will, not ours, and we also learned that we had to make no direct request for those things that were for our good, as He knew our needs before we ever realized them ourselves.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 23, 2021 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time

Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021

Reflection for the Day
On studying the Twelve Steps, many of the first members of The Program exclaimed, "What an order! I can't go through with it." "Do not be discouraged," we're told at meeting after meeting. "No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection."

Can I believe, in the words of Browning, that my business is not to remake myself, but to make the absolute best of what God made ...?

Today I Pray
Even if I am an old hand at The Program, may I not forget that the Twelve Steps do not represent an achievement that can be checked off my "things-to-do" list. Instead, they are a striving for an ideal, a guide to getting there. May I keep my mind open to deepening interpretations of these principles.

Today I Will Remember
Progress rather than perfection.

Hazelden Foundation