It is said that alcoholics and other addicts treat loneliness with isolation. This "just for today" reminds us that recovery promises a better solution.
Alone No More
"We gradually and carefully pull ourselves out of the isolation and loneliness of addiction and into the mainstream of life."
Basic Text p. 35
Many of us spent much of our using time alone, avoiding other people - especially people who were not using - at all costs. After years of isolation, trying to find a place for ourselves in a bustling, sometimes boisterous fellowship is not always easy. We may still feel isolated, focusing on our differences rather than our similarities. The overwhelming feelings that often arise in early recovery-feelings of fear, anger, and mistrust-can also keep us isolated. We may feel like aliens but we must remember, the alienation is ours, not NA's.
In Narcotics Anonymous, we are offered a very special opportunity for friendship. We are brought together with people who understand us like no one else can. We are encouraged to share with these people our feelings, our problems, our triumphs, and our failures. Slowly, the recognition and identification we find in NA bridge the lonely gap of alienation in our hearts. As we've heard it said - the program works, if we let it.
Just for today:
The friendship of other members of the fellowship is a life-sustaining gift. I will reach out for the friendship that's offered in NA, and accept it.
pg. 334
November 19, 2004
Happiness is not a Destination
Happiness
We're all after the same thing, and that's happiness. We want peace of mind. The trouble with us alcoholics was this: We demanded that the world give us happiness and peace of mind in just the particular way we wanted to get it -- by the alcohol route.
And we weren't successful. But when we take time to find out some of the spiritual laws, and familiarize ourselves with them, and put then into practice, then we do get happiness and peace of mind. . . .There seem to be some rules that we have to follow, but happiness and peace of mind are always here, open and free to anyone.
Dr. Bob S. (1879-1950), co-founder of AA,
c. 1980 AAWS, Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, p. 308
Thought to Ponder . . .
Happiness is not a station we arrive at; it's a way of traveling.
We're all after the same thing, and that's happiness. We want peace of mind. The trouble with us alcoholics was this: We demanded that the world give us happiness and peace of mind in just the particular way we wanted to get it -- by the alcohol route.
And we weren't successful. But when we take time to find out some of the spiritual laws, and familiarize ourselves with them, and put then into practice, then we do get happiness and peace of mind. . . .There seem to be some rules that we have to follow, but happiness and peace of mind are always here, open and free to anyone.
Dr. Bob S. (1879-1950), co-founder of AA,
c. 1980 AAWS, Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, p. 308
Thought to Ponder . . .
Happiness is not a station we arrive at; it's a way of traveling.
Prayer Leads to Clarity and Peace
Prayer
"As the alcoholic goes along with his process of prayer,he begins to add up the results. If he persists, he will almost surely find more serenity, more tolerance, less fear, and less anger. He will acquire a quiet courage, the kind that doesn't strain him. He can look at so-called failure and success for what they really are.
Problems and calamity will begin to mean instruction, rather than destruction.
He will feel freer and saner. . .Wonderful and unaccountable things will start to happen. Twisted relations with family and on the outside will unaccountably improve."
Bill W., June 1958
c. 1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart, p. 241
"As the alcoholic goes along with his process of prayer,he begins to add up the results. If he persists, he will almost surely find more serenity, more tolerance, less fear, and less anger. He will acquire a quiet courage, the kind that doesn't strain him. He can look at so-called failure and success for what they really are.
Problems and calamity will begin to mean instruction, rather than destruction.
He will feel freer and saner. . .Wonderful and unaccountable things will start to happen. Twisted relations with family and on the outside will unaccountably improve."
Bill W., June 1958
c. 1988AAGrapevine, The Language of the Heart, p. 241
November 17, 2004
We Are Spiritual Beings
Today's quote from Beliefnet:
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Overcoming Loneliness
OVERCOMING LONELINESS
Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn't quite belong.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 90
The agonies and the void that I often felt inside occur less and less frequently in my life today. I have learned to cope with solitude. It is only when I am alone and calm that I am able to communicate with God, for He cannot reach me when I am in turmoil. It is good to maintain contact with God at all times, but it is absolutely essential that, when everything seems to go wrong, I maintain that contact through prayer and meditation.
©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn't quite belong.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 90
The agonies and the void that I often felt inside occur less and less frequently in my life today. I have learned to cope with solitude. It is only when I am alone and calm that I am able to communicate with God, for He cannot reach me when I am in turmoil. It is good to maintain contact with God at all times, but it is absolutely essential that, when everything seems to go wrong, I maintain that contact through prayer and meditation.
©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
Dreams and Fantasy are Very Different
“[Joseph] dreamt another dream ... the sun, moon, and the eleven stars were bowing before me.” — Genesis 37:9
Joseph dreamt of greatness, and he achieved it. Still, he paid a steep price for that greatness, suffering years of enslavement and imprisonment.
Some people are satisfied with their status quo and choose not to rock the boat. Others are dreamers, people of great ambition.
Dreams and fantasy are very different. Fantasy is mere wishful thinking, something we know is beyond reach, but a dream is something that may be in the remote future, yet is conceivably achievable.
Suppose Joseph had known that, in order to obtain the promise of the dream, he would have to endure years of suffering. Would he have foregone the greatness, or would he have accepted the pain? Since Joseph understood the dream to be a revelation of the Divine plan for him, he undoubtedly would have chosen to accept the suffering it entailed.
We may be frequently confronted with a decision whether to resign ourselves to the status quo or to try to advance ourselves at considerable cost. We should avail ourselves of expert counseling and pray for Divine guidance to know what the Divine plan for us is. If we feel secure in the knowledge that G-d wants us to advance to our optimum potential, we should not retreat because of the personal cost entailed.
Infants are fortunate; they do not have to choose whether to remain toothless or to accept the distress of teething. While we do have such choices, we also have the wisdom to make the right choice.
TODAY I SHALL ...
... pray for enlightenment as to what is G-d's will for me and for the fortitude and courage to achieve it.
You are reading from the book, Growing Each Day,by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D., a psychiatrist and ordained rabbi. He is the founder of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, a leading center for addiction treatment and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Joseph dreamt of greatness, and he achieved it. Still, he paid a steep price for that greatness, suffering years of enslavement and imprisonment.
Some people are satisfied with their status quo and choose not to rock the boat. Others are dreamers, people of great ambition.
Dreams and fantasy are very different. Fantasy is mere wishful thinking, something we know is beyond reach, but a dream is something that may be in the remote future, yet is conceivably achievable.
Suppose Joseph had known that, in order to obtain the promise of the dream, he would have to endure years of suffering. Would he have foregone the greatness, or would he have accepted the pain? Since Joseph understood the dream to be a revelation of the Divine plan for him, he undoubtedly would have chosen to accept the suffering it entailed.
We may be frequently confronted with a decision whether to resign ourselves to the status quo or to try to advance ourselves at considerable cost. We should avail ourselves of expert counseling and pray for Divine guidance to know what the Divine plan for us is. If we feel secure in the knowledge that G-d wants us to advance to our optimum potential, we should not retreat because of the personal cost entailed.
Infants are fortunate; they do not have to choose whether to remain toothless or to accept the distress of teething. While we do have such choices, we also have the wisdom to make the right choice.
TODAY I SHALL ...
... pray for enlightenment as to what is G-d's will for me and for the fortitude and courage to achieve it.
You are reading from the book, Growing Each Day,by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D., a psychiatrist and ordained rabbi. He is the founder of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, a leading center for addiction treatment and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Touch Others to Find Faith and Reduce Anxiety
Fear of the unknown, often referred to as free-floating anxiety, catches up to us on occasion. But it needn't. The program offers us strength whenever we need it, and faith diminishes all fear. It is said that fear cannot exist where there is faith.
We have many days when we feel strong, in touch with our higher power, able to meet all situations. On those days, we are seldom conscious of how our faith is guiding us. But the hours of fear that we experience on other days make us aware of faith's absence. There is a simple solution: We can reach out to a friend. We can be attentive to our friend's needs, and the connection to God will be made.
Shifting our focus, from self-centered fears to another person's needs, offers us a perspective on our own life. It also offers us a chance to let God work through us. Our own faith is strengthened each time we offer our services to God and to a friend in need. What may frighten us seems less important the closer we are to the people in our lives.
When I touch someone else, God touches me in return.
You are reading from the book:
Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey
Copyright 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.
We have many days when we feel strong, in touch with our higher power, able to meet all situations. On those days, we are seldom conscious of how our faith is guiding us. But the hours of fear that we experience on other days make us aware of faith's absence. There is a simple solution: We can reach out to a friend. We can be attentive to our friend's needs, and the connection to God will be made.
Shifting our focus, from self-centered fears to another person's needs, offers us a perspective on our own life. It also offers us a chance to let God work through us. Our own faith is strengthened each time we offer our services to God and to a friend in need. What may frighten us seems less important the closer we are to the people in our lives.
When I touch someone else, God touches me in return.
You are reading from the book:
Each Day a New Beginning by Karen Casey
Copyright 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.
November 15, 2004
Stand Up for Yourself
Today's thought is:
Standing Up for Ourselves
When other people speak to me in ways that feel disrespectful or mean, I will tell them how I feel about it. I will tell them that what they've said has hurt my feelings or makes me feel sad or angry. I have the right to ask that others express themselves in ways that aren't hurtful.
Today I will write down what my response might be if someone hurts my feelings or speaks to me in an uncomfortable tone of voice. When I learn appropriate ways to respond, I'm better able to stand up for myself and let others know how I'm feeling. I don't have to hold my feelings inside and allow verbal abuse to continue. I have the right to stand up for myself in all situations.
You are reading from the book:
Time to Fly Free by Judith R. Smith
Copyright 2001 by Judith R. Smith. All rights reserved.
Standing Up for Ourselves
When other people speak to me in ways that feel disrespectful or mean, I will tell them how I feel about it. I will tell them that what they've said has hurt my feelings or makes me feel sad or angry. I have the right to ask that others express themselves in ways that aren't hurtful.
Today I will write down what my response might be if someone hurts my feelings or speaks to me in an uncomfortable tone of voice. When I learn appropriate ways to respond, I'm better able to stand up for myself and let others know how I'm feeling. I don't have to hold my feelings inside and allow verbal abuse to continue. I have the right to stand up for myself in all situations.
You are reading from the book:
Time to Fly Free by Judith R. Smith
Copyright 2001 by Judith R. Smith. All rights reserved.
When All Else Fails - Follow The Steps
Today's thought is:
I have to laugh at the times I've knocked myself out over a tough spot only to find out afterwards there was an easier way through.
--Robert Franklin Leslie
We receive messages throughout the day that tell us ways of doing things. The door to the store says, pull. The red light tells us not to drive through the intersection. The cereal box says, lift tab and open. Our car gas gauge tells us empty. With these messages, we are given the guidance on which to base our decisions.
We can choose not to pull the door. Then we'll spend a lot of time and energy pushing until we finally read the sign. All that effort expended, just because we couldn't stop to get some guidance!
The Twelve Steps offer guidance for an easier way through life. We don't have to knock ourselves out over these Steps; all we have to do is follow the direction they give us.
How can I use the Steps to make my life easier?
You are reading from the book:
Night Light by Amy E. Dean
Copyright 1986, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.
I have to laugh at the times I've knocked myself out over a tough spot only to find out afterwards there was an easier way through.
--Robert Franklin Leslie
We receive messages throughout the day that tell us ways of doing things. The door to the store says, pull. The red light tells us not to drive through the intersection. The cereal box says, lift tab and open. Our car gas gauge tells us empty. With these messages, we are given the guidance on which to base our decisions.
We can choose not to pull the door. Then we'll spend a lot of time and energy pushing until we finally read the sign. All that effort expended, just because we couldn't stop to get some guidance!
The Twelve Steps offer guidance for an easier way through life. We don't have to knock ourselves out over these Steps; all we have to do is follow the direction they give us.
How can I use the Steps to make my life easier?
You are reading from the book:
Night Light by Amy E. Dean
Copyright 1986, 1992 by Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.
November 14, 2004
A Lovely Day
"For me, a lovely day is any day I wake up."
Bernie S. Siegel
Prescriptions for Living
Word of the Day from A Network for Grateful Living
Bernie S. Siegel
Prescriptions for Living
Word of the Day from A Network for Grateful Living
On Awakening
"On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 86~
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Into Action, pg. 86~
It's Alcohol-ism Not Alcohol-wasm
"Iffy" Thinking
Alcoholism respects no ifs. It does not go away, not for a week, for a day, or even for an hour, leaving us nonalcoholic and able to drink again on some special occasion or for some extraordinary reason -- not even if it is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration, or if a big sorrow hits us, or if it rains in Spain or the stars fall on Alabama. Alcoholism is for us unconditional, with no dispensations available at any price.
c. 1998 AAWS, Living Sober, p. 63
Alcoholism respects no ifs. It does not go away, not for a week, for a day, or even for an hour, leaving us nonalcoholic and able to drink again on some special occasion or for some extraordinary reason -- not even if it is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration, or if a big sorrow hits us, or if it rains in Spain or the stars fall on Alabama. Alcoholism is for us unconditional, with no dispensations available at any price.
c. 1998 AAWS, Living Sober, p. 63
November 11, 2004
Today's Sobriety is a Precious Gift
Today
"I realize that all I'm guaranteed in life is today. The poorest person has no less
and the wealthiest has no more -- each of us has but one day. What we do with it is our own business; how we use it is up to us individually.
I feel that I have been restored to health and sanity these past years not through my own efforts nor as a result of anything I may have done, but because I've come to believe -- to really believe -- that alone I can do nothing. That my own innate selfishness and stubbornness are the evils which, if left unguarded, can drive me to alcohol.
I have come to believe that my illness is spiritual as well as physical and mental,
and I know that for help in the spiritual sphere I have to turn to a Higher Power."
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 473
"I realize that all I'm guaranteed in life is today. The poorest person has no less
and the wealthiest has no more -- each of us has but one day. What we do with it is our own business; how we use it is up to us individually.
I feel that I have been restored to health and sanity these past years not through my own efforts nor as a result of anything I may have done, but because I've come to believe -- to really believe -- that alone I can do nothing. That my own innate selfishness and stubbornness are the evils which, if left unguarded, can drive me to alcohol.
I have come to believe that my illness is spiritual as well as physical and mental,
and I know that for help in the spiritual sphere I have to turn to a Higher Power."
c. 1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 473
Surrender Becomes Acceptance
From "Just for Today"
"We surrender quietly and let the God of our understanding take care of us."
Basic Text p. 26
Surrender and acceptance are like infatuation and love. Infatuation begins when we encounter someone special. Infatuation requires nothing but the acknowledgement of the object of our infatuation. For infatuation to become love, however, requires a great deal of effort. That initial connection must be slowly, patiently nurtured into a lasting, durable bond.
It's the same with surrender and acceptance. We surrender when we acknowledge our powerlessness. Slowly, we come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves can give us the care we need. Surrender turns to acceptance when we let this Power into our lives. We examine ourselves and let our God see us as we are. Having allowed the God of our understanding access to the depths of ourselves, we accept more of God's care. We ask this Power to relieve us of our shortcomings and help us amend the wrongs we've done. Then, we embark on a new way of life, improving our conscious contact and accepting our Higher Power's continuing care, guidance, and strength.
Surrender, like infatuation, can be the beginning of a lifelong relationship. To turn surrender into acceptance, however, we must let the God of our understanding take care of us each day.
Just for today: My recovery is more than infatuation. I have surrendered. Today, I will nurture my conscious contact with my Higher Power and accept that Power's continuing care for me.
pg. 329
"Living just for today relieves the burden of the past and the fear of the future." Basic Text, pp. 90-91
Narcotics Anonymous, The Basic Text, and Just for Today are owned and copyright by Narcotics Anonymous.
"We surrender quietly and let the God of our understanding take care of us."
Basic Text p. 26
Surrender and acceptance are like infatuation and love. Infatuation begins when we encounter someone special. Infatuation requires nothing but the acknowledgement of the object of our infatuation. For infatuation to become love, however, requires a great deal of effort. That initial connection must be slowly, patiently nurtured into a lasting, durable bond.
It's the same with surrender and acceptance. We surrender when we acknowledge our powerlessness. Slowly, we come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves can give us the care we need. Surrender turns to acceptance when we let this Power into our lives. We examine ourselves and let our God see us as we are. Having allowed the God of our understanding access to the depths of ourselves, we accept more of God's care. We ask this Power to relieve us of our shortcomings and help us amend the wrongs we've done. Then, we embark on a new way of life, improving our conscious contact and accepting our Higher Power's continuing care, guidance, and strength.
Surrender, like infatuation, can be the beginning of a lifelong relationship. To turn surrender into acceptance, however, we must let the God of our understanding take care of us each day.
Just for today: My recovery is more than infatuation. I have surrendered. Today, I will nurture my conscious contact with my Higher Power and accept that Power's continuing care for me.
pg. 329
"Living just for today relieves the burden of the past and the fear of the future." Basic Text, pp. 90-91
Narcotics Anonymous, The Basic Text, and Just for Today are owned and copyright by Narcotics Anonymous.
Prayer for Inner Peace and Calm
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.
- John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.
- John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)
Nurture and Care for Yourself
I pray for the willingness to remember that I am a child of God, a divine soul in human form, and that my most basic and urgent life-task is to accept, know, love and nurture myself. As I accept myself, I am accepting God's will. As I know and love myself, I am knowing and loving God. As I nurture myself I am acting on God's guidance.
I pray for the willingness to let go of my arrogant self-criticism, and to praise God by humbly accepting and caring for myself.
©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
I pray for the willingness to let go of my arrogant self-criticism, and to praise God by humbly accepting and caring for myself.
©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
November 09, 2004
Prayer Gives Sense of Belonging
Prayer can have many rewards. One of the greatest rewards is the sense of belonging it brings to me. No longer do I live as a stranger in a strange land, alien in a completely hostile world. No longer am I lost, frightened and purposeless. I belong.
We find, in The Program, that the moment we catch a glimpse of God's will - the moment we begin to see truth, justice and love as the real and eternal things in life -we're no longer so deeply upset by all the seeming evidence to the contrary surrounding us in purely human affairs. Do I believe that God lovingly watches over me?
Today I Pray
May I be grateful for the comfort and peace of belonging - to God - the ultimately wise "parent" and to His family on earth. May I no longer need bumper stickers or boisterous gangs to give me my identity. Through prayer, I am God's.
Today I Will Remember I find my identity through prayer.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today's meditation comes from the book
A Day at a Time
Daily Reflections for Recovering People
by Anonymous © 1989
http://www.Open-Mind.org/Books/Spirit.htm
We find, in The Program, that the moment we catch a glimpse of God's will - the moment we begin to see truth, justice and love as the real and eternal things in life -we're no longer so deeply upset by all the seeming evidence to the contrary surrounding us in purely human affairs. Do I believe that God lovingly watches over me?
Today I Pray
May I be grateful for the comfort and peace of belonging - to God - the ultimately wise "parent" and to His family on earth. May I no longer need bumper stickers or boisterous gangs to give me my identity. Through prayer, I am God's.
Today I Will Remember I find my identity through prayer.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today's meditation comes from the book
A Day at a Time
Daily Reflections for Recovering People
by Anonymous © 1989
http://www.Open-Mind.org/Books/Spirit.htm
Step Into The Sunlight -- Make Time for Meditation
But first of all we shall want sunlight; nothing much can grow in the dark. Meditation is our step out into the sun.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10
Sometimes I think I don't have time for prayer and meditation, forgetting that I always found the time to drink. It is possible to make time for anything I want to do if I want it badly enough. When I start the routine of prayer and meditation, it's a good idea to plan to devote a small amount of time to it. I read a page from our Fellowship's books in the morning, and say "Thank You, God," when I go to bed at night. As prayer becomes a habit, I will increase the time spent on it, without even noticing the foray it makes into my busy day. If I have trouble praying, I just repeat the Lord's Prayer because it really covers everything. Then I think of what I can be grateful for and say a word of thanks.
I don't need to shut myself in a closet to pray. It can be done even in a room full of people. I just remove myself mentally for an instant. As the practice of prayer continues, I will find I don't need words, for God can, and does, hear my thoughts through silence.
©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10
Sometimes I think I don't have time for prayer and meditation, forgetting that I always found the time to drink. It is possible to make time for anything I want to do if I want it badly enough. When I start the routine of prayer and meditation, it's a good idea to plan to devote a small amount of time to it. I read a page from our Fellowship's books in the morning, and say "Thank You, God," when I go to bed at night. As prayer becomes a habit, I will increase the time spent on it, without even noticing the foray it makes into my busy day. If I have trouble praying, I just repeat the Lord's Prayer because it really covers everything. Then I think of what I can be grateful for and say a word of thanks.
I don't need to shut myself in a closet to pray. It can be done even in a room full of people. I just remove myself mentally for an instant. As the practice of prayer continues, I will find I don't need words, for God can, and does, hear my thoughts through silence.
©Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.©
To Change Your Life, Change Your Mind
'It seems to me that the primary object of any human being is to grow, as God intended,that being the nature of all growing things. Our search must be for what reality we can find,which includes the best definition and feeling of love that we can acquire.
If the capability of loving is in the human being, then it must surely be in his Creator.Theology helps me in that many of its concepts cause me to believe that I live in a rational universe under a loving God, and that my own irrationality can be chipped away,little by little. This is, I suppose, the process of growth for which we are intended.'
Bill W., Letter, 1958
c. 1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 295
Thought to consider:
All you have to do to change your life is change your mind."
If the capability of loving is in the human being, then it must surely be in his Creator.Theology helps me in that many of its concepts cause me to believe that I live in a rational universe under a loving God, and that my own irrationality can be chipped away,little by little. This is, I suppose, the process of growth for which we are intended.'
Bill W., Letter, 1958
c. 1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 295
Thought to consider:
All you have to do to change your life is change your mind."
November 07, 2004
What is Spirituality?
"Everything is spiritual which tends towards understanding, towards kindness, towards that which is productive of beauty and which can lead man on to a fuller expression of his divine potentialities.
All is evil which drives man deeper into materialism, which omits the higher values of living, which endorses selfishness, which sets up barriers to the establishing of
right human relations, and which feeds the spirit of separateness, of fear, of revenge."
The Externalization of the Hierarchy, 187 - Alice Bailey /
All is evil which drives man deeper into materialism, which omits the higher values of living, which endorses selfishness, which sets up barriers to the establishing of
right human relations, and which feeds the spirit of separateness, of fear, of revenge."
The Externalization of the Hierarchy, 187 - Alice Bailey /
God is God; and we are not
"Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
We need to be reminded that we are not God.
This seems pretty basic. You wouldn't think it would be hard to remember.
But we get so caught up in proving ourselves by performing, achieving and rescuing that we forget that we are humans with real limits. We fill our time so full of frenzied activity that there is no 'stillness'. And when there is no stillness, it is hard to remember who is God and who is not.
Fortunately, God does not forget who is God and who is not. God invites us to quiet ourselves, to slow ourselves down. God invites us to be still long enough to regain perspective. "Be still", God says, "and know that I am God."
In the stillness we can see again that there is a difference between our frenzy and God's kingdom. It is God's work to provide and protect and rescue.
It is not our work. We can do our part. But our part needs to be respectful of our human limits. Our part needs to actively acknowledge our dependence on God. God is God, and we are not.
Help me to slow down, Lord.
Help me to be quiet.
Help me to be still long enough to remember that you are God.
Help me to remember who is creature and who is Creator.
Let this truth free me, Lord, to accept my limits,
Amen."
From Sponsor to Sponsor Recovery Publications
We need to be reminded that we are not God.
This seems pretty basic. You wouldn't think it would be hard to remember.
But we get so caught up in proving ourselves by performing, achieving and rescuing that we forget that we are humans with real limits. We fill our time so full of frenzied activity that there is no 'stillness'. And when there is no stillness, it is hard to remember who is God and who is not.
Fortunately, God does not forget who is God and who is not. God invites us to quiet ourselves, to slow ourselves down. God invites us to be still long enough to regain perspective. "Be still", God says, "and know that I am God."
In the stillness we can see again that there is a difference between our frenzy and God's kingdom. It is God's work to provide and protect and rescue.
It is not our work. We can do our part. But our part needs to be respectful of our human limits. Our part needs to actively acknowledge our dependence on God. God is God, and we are not.
Help me to slow down, Lord.
Help me to be quiet.
Help me to be still long enough to remember that you are God.
Help me to remember who is creature and who is Creator.
Let this truth free me, Lord, to accept my limits,
Amen."
From Sponsor to Sponsor Recovery Publications
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