Jan. 9, 2015 - Step by Step

The Serenity Prayer

Step by Step

Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 

" ...(A)ny alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. He can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial.

"We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty and open-mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "Appendices," No. 2 ("Spiritual Experience"), p 570.

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation." - Herbert Spencer

Today, I look to the principle of HOW - Honesty, Open-Mindedness and Willingness - to guide me if I continue to struggle with the Program's concept of spirituality even if a spiritual awakening or experience may be little more than a change in personality and which usually comes over time instead of suddenly and with fireworks. If, indeed, a spiritual experience can be a simple improvement in my personality, outlook, perspective and philosophy of life, I can also expect that experience to be assured because, without alcohol, there is going to be some change in my emotional status and personality. It is up to me to employ the Program's Steps and Traditions to make that change for the better. Deceit, closed-mindedness and a refusal to admit that something stronger than me - alcohol - could defeat me was my spiritual state as a drinking alcoholic; today, as an alcoholic in recovery, I seek Honesty, Open-Mindedness and Willingness (HOW) out of necessity. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015

Jan. 9, 2015 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

The Serenity Prayer

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Friday, Jan. 9, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
When we were drinking, most of us had no real faith in anything. We may have said that we believed in God, but we didn't act as though we did. We never honestly asked God to help us and we never really accepted His help. To us, faith looked like helplessness. But when we came into AA, we began to have faith in God. And we found that faith gave us the strength we needed to overcome drinking.

Have I learned that there is strength in faith?

Meditation for the Day
I will have faith, no matter what may befall me. I will be patient, even in the midst of troubles. I will not fear the strain of life, because I believe that God knows just what I can bear. I will look to the future with confidence. I know that God will not ask me to bear anything that could overcome or destroy me.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may put this day in the hands of God. I pray for faith, so that nothing will upset me or weaken my determination to stay sober.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 9, 2015 - A Day at a Time

The Serenity Prayer

A Day at a Time
Friday, Jan. 9, 2015

Reflection for the Day
In the past, and sometimes even now, I automatically have thoughts, "Why me?," when I'm trying to learn that my first problem is to accept my present circumstances as they are, myself as I am and the people around me as they are. Just as I finally accepted my powerlessness over my addiction, so must I accept my powerlessness over people, places and things.

Am I learning to accept life on life's terms?

Today I Pray
May I learn to control my urge to control, my compulsion to manage, neaten, organize and label the lives of others. May I learn to accept situations and people as they are instead of as I would like them to be. Thus, may I do away with the ongoing frustrations that a controlling person, by nature, faces continually. May I be entirely ready to have God remove this defect of character.

Today I Will Remember
Control for the controller (me).

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 9, 2015 - The Eye Opener

The Serenity Prayer

The Eye Opener
Friday, Jan. 9, 2015

It would be most difficult to contradict the statement that you cannot get sobriety unless you honestly want it. You cannot find a God of your understanding unless you honestly seek Him. It is likewise true that you cannot reap full measure from our Program unless you honestly live it.

Self-deception is very hard to recognize for, if we recognized it, it would no longer be deceptive. Honesty with ourselves can only be acquired by diligent study of ourselves, our ideals, our ambitions and our motives.

Hazelden Foundation

As same-sex couples marry in Florida, Catholic archbishop threatens 'discipline'

Archbishop Thomas Wenski

Advocate.com: Jan. 8, 2015 - As Fla. Marries, Catholic Archbishop Threatens 'Discipline' | Advocate.com

This is your brain on porn

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HBO to produce Montgomery Clift biopic with Matt Bomer as closeted acting icon

Montgomery Clift

Gay Star News: Jan. 8, 2015 - HBO steps in to make Montgomery Clift film starring Matt Bomer | Gay Star News

LGBT, civil rights groups assail TLC's 'My Husband's Not Gay'

Preston Dahlgren and Jeff Bennion are among the married men documented in the TLC show “My Husband’s Not Gay.”

Associated Press: Jan. 8, 2015 - Gay rights advocates assail TLC special ‘My Husband’s Not Gay’ – LGBTQ Nation

Almost 1,400 same-sex marriage licenses issued in Florida's top 28 counties

Associated Press: Jan. 8, 2015 - Almost 1,400 same-sex marriage licenses issued in Florida’s top 28 counties – LGBTQ Nation

Jan. 8, 2015 - Today's Gift from Hazelden

The Serenity Prayer

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2014

Today's thought from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:

God does not require that we be successful, only that we be faithful.
 -- Mother Teresa

It is probable we have never equated success with faith. Being successful meant accomplishing worthy goals and receiving the expected praise. We may have even considered that relying on faith to help us was a cop out. Fortunately, so much about how we interpret life has changed since joining this journey through recovery.

In Step Three we learn that God wants us to have faith. We are coming to see, in fact, that acting as if we have faith begins to feel like faith. Coming to believe that God's only expectation is that we turn within for guidance makes every circumstance far less threatening.

Practicing faith promises that we will begin to feel successful in all our experiences because we are walking through them peacefully, trusting fully that God is at hand. Believing in God, being truly faithful, can be the greatest success of our lives.

I can be faith-filled today if I turn my life and my will over to the care of God. I will remind myself of this every time I get in the "driver's seat."

You are reading from the book:

A Woman's Spirit by Karen Casey

A Woman's Spirit by Karen Casey. © 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 8, 2015 - Step by Step

The Serenity Prayer

Step by Step

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015 

" ...(W)e spent three or four hours formally going through the Six-Step program as it was at that time.

1. Complete deflation.
2. Dependence and guidance from a Higher Power.
3. Moral inventory.
4. Confession.
5. Restitution.
6. Continued work with other alcoholics." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "Personal Stories," Ch 10 ("He Sold Himself Short"), p 292.

Today, the Program's initial Steps still serve to simplify the purposes of what later would become the 12 Steps. "Complete deflation" is the goal of the First Step - "admitted we were powerless" - and "Continued work with other alcoholics," the marching orders of the 12th Step. In between, we find and concede to a Higher Power from which we seek the strength and honesty to admit our faults to ourselves and to someone else, and then make amends - restitution - for those wrongs. Today, if 12 Steps seem too high to climb for now, "Keep It Simple" and look to the Six Steps. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015

Jan. 8, 2015 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

The Serenity Prayer

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015

AA Thought for the Day
Everyone who comes into AA knows from bitter experience that he or she can't drink. I know that drinking has been the cause of all my major troubles or has made them worse. Now that I have found a way out, I will hang onto AA with both hands. Saint Paul once said that nothing in the world, neither powers nor principalities, life nor death, could separate him from the love of God.

Once I have given my drink problem to God, should anything in the world separate me from my sobriety?

Meditation for the Day
I know that my new life will not be immune from difficulties, but I will have peace even in difficulties. I know that serenity is the result of faithful, trusting acceptance of God's will, even in the midst of difficulties. Saint Paul said: "Our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may welcome difficulties. I pray that they may test my strength and build my character.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 8, 2015 - A Day at a Time

The Serenity Prayer

A Day at a Time
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015

Reflection for the Day
Today is the day for which I asked and for which I have been given strength. That in itself is a miracle. In my old life, I constantly endangered myself as well as countless others. So the very fact that I am alive is the great miracle from which all other miracles will flow, providing I continue to do the things that have brought me this far in my new life.

Am I grateful that I have been given this day?

Today I Pray
May God's goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life. May I never cease to wonder at the greatest miracle in my life - that I am alive, here, on this green earth, and growing healthier with the life-preserving tools I have been given. Since God has chosen to give me life and to preserve my life, even through the dangers of addiction, may I always continue to listen for His plan for me. May I always believe in miracles.

Today I Will Remember
My life is a miracle.

Hazelden Foundation

Jan. 8, 2015 - The Eye Opener

The Serenity Prayer

The Eye Opener
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015

God does not willingly inflict punishment on men. Our pain and our suffering are the direct results of a violation of the Moral, Natural or Civil Law.

We who were guilty of over-indulgence must pray the price, not FOR our indulgence but BECAUSE of our indulgence. The consequences must follow as the night follows the day. It is the LAW.

We have violated this LAW and we have paid dearly for it, but we do not have to persist in our violations. The body will heal, sins will be forgiven, things will right themselves if, and when, we put our thoughts and actions in tune with the immutable laws of God, of Nature and of man.

As sins bring punishment as a natural consequence, so right living brings its own compensations, not as a reward for deeds done but as a CONSEQUENCE.

Hazelden Foundation

Could TLC's 'My Husband's Not Gay' be an ad for the gay conversion lobby?

Advocate.com: Jan. 7, 2015 - Is 'My Husband's Not Gay' an Ad for the 'Ex-Gay' Industry? | Advocate.com