April 26, 2024 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Friday, April 26, 2024

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

July 7, 2023 - Readings in Recovery: A Day at a Time

 

A Day at a Time
Friday, July 7, 2023

Reflection for the Day
What wonderful things could happen in my life if I could get rid of my natural impulse to justify my actions. Is honesty so deeply repressed under layers of guilt that I can’t release it to understand my motives? Being honest with ourselves isn’t easy. It’s difficult to search out why I had this or that impulse and, more importantly, why I acted upon it. Nothing makes us feel so vulnerable as to give up the crutch of The Alibi, yet my willingness to be vulnerable will go a long way toward helping me grow in The Program.

Am I becoming more aware that self-deception multiplies my problems?

Today I Pray
May God remove my urge to make excuses. Help me to face up to the realities that surface when I am honest with myself. Help me to know, as certainly as day follows sunrise, that my difficulties will be lessened if I can only trust His will.

Today I Will Remember
I will be willing to do His will.

Hazelden Foundation

July 1, 2023 - Readings in Recovery; Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Saturday, July 1, 2023

AA Thought for the Day
In following the AA program with its twelve steps, we have the advantage of a better understanding of our problems. Day after day, our sobriety results in the formation of new habits, normal habits. As each 24-hour period ends, we find that the business of staying sober is a much less trying and fearsome ordeal than it seemed in the beginning.

Do I find it easier as I go along?

Meditation for the Day
Learn daily the lesson of trust and calm in the midst of the storms of life. Whatever of sorrow or difficulty the day may bring, God’s command to you is the same. Be grateful, humble, calm and loving to all people. Leave each soul the better for having met you or heard you. For all kinds of people, this should be your attitude: a loving desire to help and an infectious spirit of calmness and trust in God. You have the answer to loneliness and fear, which is calm faith in the goodness and purpose in the universe.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be calm in the midst of storms. I pray that I may pass on this calmness to others who are lonely and full of fear.

Hazelden Foundation

Sept. 14, 2022 – Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022

AA Thought for the Day
“How does AA grow? Some of us sell AA as we go about. Little clusters of twos and threes and fives keep springing up in different communities, through contact with the larger centers. Those of us who travel drop in at other groups as often as we can. This practice enables us to lend a hand to new groups which are springing up all over the land. New groups are being started each month. AA is even spreading outside the United States and is slowly becoming world-wide. Thus, we grow.”

Am I doing all I can to spread AA wherever I go?

Meditation for the Day
“Lord, we believe. Help Thou our unbelief.” This cry of the human heart is an expression of human frailty. It signifies the soul’s sincere desire for progress. As a person feels the existence of God and His power, that person believes in Him more and more. At the same time, a person is more conscious of his falling short of absolute trust in God. The soul’s progress is an increasing belief, then a cry for more faith, a plea to conquer all unbelief, all lack of trust. We can believe that that cry is heard by God and that prayer is answered in due time. And so our faith grows, little by little, day by day.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that with more power in my life will come more faith. I pray that I may come to trust God more each day.

Hazelden Foundation

Aug. 31, 2022 – Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022

AA Thought for the Day
“Call on new prospects while they are still jittery. They may be more receptive when depressed. See them alone if possible. Tell them enough about your drinking habits and experiences to encourage them to speak of themselves. If they wish to talk, let them do so. If they are not communicative, talk about the troubles liquor has caused you, being careful not to moralize or lecture. When they see you know all about the drinking game, commence to describe yourself as an alcoholic and tell them how you learned you were sick.”

Am I ready to talk about myself to new prospects?

Meditation for the Day
Try not to give way to criticism, blame, scorn or judgment of others, when you are trying to help them. Effectiveness in helping others depends on controlling yourself. You may be swept away by a temporary natural urge to criticize or blame, unless you keep a tight rein on your emotions. You should have a firm foundation of spiritual living which makes you truly humble, if you are going to really help other people. Go easy on them and be hard on yourself. That is the way you can be used most to uplift a despairing spirit. And seek no personal recognition for what you are used by God to accomplish.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may try to avoid judgment and criticism. I pray that I may always try to build up others instead of tearing them down.

Hazelden Foundation

March 17, 2022 - Readings in Recovery: Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Thursday, March 17, 2022

AA Thought for the Day

AA also helps us to hang onto sobriety. By having regular meetings so that we can associate with other alcoholics who have come through that same door in the wall, by encouraging us to tell the story of our own sad experiences with alcohol, and by showing us how to help other alcoholics, AA keeps us sober. Our attitude toward life changes from one of pride and selfishness to one of humility and gratitude.

Am I going to step back through that door in the wall to my old helpless, hopeless, drunken life?

Meditation for the Day

Withdraw into the calm of communion with God. Rest in that calm and peace. When the soul finds its home of rest in God, then it is that real life begins. Only when you are calm and serene can you do good work. Emotional upsets make you useless. The eternal life is calmness and when you enter into that, then you live as an eternal being. Calmness is based on complete trust in God. Nothing in this world can separate you from the love of God.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may wear the world like a loose garment. I pray that I may keep serene at the center of my being.

Hazelden Foundation