April 27, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

The Serenity Prayer

Step by Step
Monday, April 27, 2015
 
Today, my character defects of frustration and impatience as they relate to my relationships and communications. As a drinking alcoholic, frustration and impatience walked hand-in-hand when it came to dealing with others: frustration with impatience of people who did not react how and when I expected. As a recovering alcoholic, frustration and impatience still walk hand-in-hand in dealing with others. Clearly, little change; also clearly, abstaining from the bottle isn't all that recovery requires. A fundamental change in character and emotional development is needed. If I overreact when people do not respond when and how I believe they should, maybe I am the problem by not seeing I might learn or understand something that someone could offer when they don't think like me. Today, I work consciously and conscientiously on my defects of frustration and impatience by considering the possibility that someone other than myself might have a better idea. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015

April 27, 2015 - Twenty-Four Hours a Day

The Serenity Prayer

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Monday, April 27, 2015
 
AA Thought for the Day
By submitting to God, we're released from the power of liquor. It has no more hold on us. We're also released from the things that were holding us down: pride, selfishness, and fear. And we're free to grow into a new life, which is so much better than the old life that there's no comparison. This release gives us serenity and peace with the world.

Have I been released from the power of alcohol?

Meditation for the Day
We know God by spiritual vision. We feel that He is beside us. We feel His presence. Contact with God is not made by the senses. Spirit-consciousness replaces sight. Since we cannot see God, we have to perceive Him by spiritual perception. God has to span the physical and the spiritual with the gift to us of spiritual vision. Many persons, though they cannot see God, have had a clear spiritual consciousness of Him. We are inside a box of space and time, but we know there must be something outside of that box - limitless space, eternity of time, and God.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may have a consciousness of God's presence. I pray that God will give me spiritual vision.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

The Serenity Prayer

A Day at a Time

Monday, April 27, 2015 

Reflection for the Day 
Am I so sure I'm doing everything possible to make my new life a success? Am I using my capabilities well? Do I recognize and appreciate all I have to be grateful for? The Program and its Twelve Steps teach me that I am the possessor of unlimited resources. The more I do with them, the more they will grow - to overshadow and cancel out the difficult and painful feelings that now get so much of my attention. 
 
Am I less sensitive today than when I first came to The Program? 
 
Today I Pray 
May I make the most of myself in all ways. May I begin to look outward to people and opportunities and wonderful resources around me. As I become less ingrown and understand myself better in relation to others, may I be less touchy and thin-skinned. May I shrug off my old "the world-is-out-to-get-me" feeling and see that same world as my treasure-house, God-given and boundless. 
 
Today I Will Remember 
My resources are unlimited. 
 
Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Serenity Prayer

The Eye Opener
Monday, April 27, 2015
 
Real reforms are in people, not in movements. All the laws and demands of church, state and family could not make us change our drinking habits. But the day eventually came when we wanted to change and then, and then only, was the change possible. Prohibition legislation was only a challenge to us and we drank the more because they said we could not. We were determined to show those So-and-So's they couldn't stop us.

Only when we, ourselves, wanted to do something about it was any real reformation possible.

Hazelden Foundation

April 27, 2015 - Welcome to Monday & a new week, folks!

April 26, 2015 - Gay entrepreneurs face huge backlash after hosting openly anti-gay Ted Cruz

Huffington Post: April 26, 2015 - Mati Weiderpass And Ian Reisner, Gay Businessmen, Face Controversy Over Hosting Ted Cruz

April 26, 2015 - A growing Mormon-Catholic alliance working to thwart LGBT equality

LGBTQ Nation: April 26, 2015 - Growing Mormon-Catholic Alliance: Quiet partners behind the Christian Right’s religious discrimination agenda – LGBTQ Nation

April 26, 2015 - Yes, homosexuality absolutely is a choice

The Good Men Project: April 26, 2015 - Yes, Homosexuality Absolutely is A Choice -

April 26, 2015 - If Bruce Jenner transitioning to female is a shock, get this: He's a Republican!

New York Times: April 26, 2015 - Bruce Jenner, Embracing Transgender Identity, Says ‘It’s Just Who I Am’ - NYTimes.com

April 26, 2015 - Same-sex marriage case caps Cincinnati's shift from conservative past

New York Times: April 26, 2015 - Gay Marriage Case Caps Cincinnati’s Shift From Conservative Past - NYTimes.com

April 26, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Today's Gift from Hazelden

The Serenity Prayer

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Today's thought from Hazelden is:

Speaking from the Heart

Through fellowship, we offer each other mutual support. Since we believe that the Higher Power works through the group, what one of us is prompted to say is probably just what another member needs to hear.

Sometimes we are reluctant to speak of what is in our heart for fear of being embarrassed, belittled, or betrayed. We are so accustomed to masking our true feelings that we often lose touch with them. In the program we are assured that what we say will be received in a spirit of acceptance and love. We do not need to be afraid of revealing our deeper selves.

It is a healing experience to belong to a group, which is dedicated to honest communication with a minimum of game playing. When we make a genuine attempt to describe where we are in our program, we are met with a warm and supportive response. Our Higher Power opens the way for meaningful communication and mutual love.

Open our hearts to You and to each other.

You are reading from the book:

Food for Thought by Elisabeth L.

Food for Thought by Elisabeth L. © 1980, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation

April 26, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Step by Step

The Serenity Prayer

Step by Step
Sunday, April 26, 2015
 
Today, wisdom yo appreciate the power of the spoken word, the one spewed in anger, fear, frustration or sarcasm and which can inflict more damage than any destructive act of my drinking days. Let me understand that a single wrong word can do hurt and injury that might not be healed by any amend I might make. And even if my amend or apology is accepted, the injury and hurt may cut so deeply in the person against whom the wrong word is spoken that something can still be lost permanently. I pray for guidance in the 12th Step that I practice all the Program's principles in all my affairs, including not caving into the impulsiveness or anger of unleashing a word that is intended to impose hurt. Today, I think before I speak, especially if I am angry, frustrated or afraid, because I cannot unspeak it - and atonement may not be enough to repair the damage. And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015

April 26, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

The Serenity Prayer

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Sunday, April 26, 2015 
 
AA Thought for the Day 
The AA program is one of submission, release and action. When we're drinking, we're submitting to a power greater than ourselves - liquor. Our own wills are no use against the power of liquor. One drink and we're sunk. In AA, we stop submitting to the power of liquor. Instead, we submit to a Power, also greater than ourselves, which we call God.

Have I submitted myself to that Higher Power?

Meditation for the Day 
Ceaseless activity is not God's plan for your life. Times of withdrawal for renewed strength are always necessary. Wait for the faintest tremor of fear and stop all work, everything, and rest before God until you are strong again. Deal in the same way with all tired feelings. Then you need rest of body and renewal of spirit-force. St. Paul said: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." This does not mean that you are to do all things and then rely on God to find strength. It means that you are to do the things you believe God wants you to do and only then can you rely on His supply of power.


Prayer for the Day 
I pray that God's spirit may be my master always. I pray that I may learn how to rest and listen, as well as how to work. 
 
Hazelden Foundation

April 26, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

The Serenity Prayer

A Day at a Time
Sunday, April 26, 2015
 
Reflection for the Day
When I first came to The Program, I was stunned by the constant sound of laughter. I realized today that cheerfulness and merriment make for usefulness. Outsiders are sometimes shocked when we burst into laughter over a seemingly tragic experience out of the past. But why shouldn't we laugh? We have recovered, and have helped others to recover. What greater cause could there be for rejoicing than this?

Have I begun to regain my sense of humor?

Today I Pray
May God restore my sense of humor. May I appreciate the honest laughter that is the background music of our mutual rejoicing in our sobriety. May I laugh a lot, not the defensive ego-laugh which mocks another's weakness, not the wry laugh of the self-putdown, but the healthy laugh that keeps situations in perspective. May I never regard this kind of laughter as irreverent. I have learned, instead, that it is irreverent to take myself too seriously.

Today I Will Remember
A sense of humor is a sign of health.

Hazelden Foundation

April 26, 2015 - Readings in Recovery: The Eye Opener

The Serenity Prayer

The Eye Opener
Sunday, April 26, 2015
 
Many of us came into AA either in middle life or beyond and feel that with our reasonable life expectancy, it is practically impossible to atone for our previous wrong actions. The thief at the Crucifixion probably thought the same thing but, by one single act, he brought the promise that "this day, thou shalt be with me in Paradise."

Hazelden Foundation