Daily Recovery Readings
November 17, 2022
Daily Reflection
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.
Big Book Quote
We meet frequently so that newcomers may find the fellowship they seek.
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Bill’s Story, pg. 15~
24 Hours a Day – The Little Black Book
Thought for the Day
Everyone has two personalities, a good and a bad. We are all dual personalities to some extent. When we were drinking, the bad personality was in control. We did things when we were drunk that we would never do when we were sober. When we sober up, we are different people. Then we wonder how we could have done the things we did. But we drink again, and again our bad side comes out. So we are back and forth, always in conflict with our other selves, always in a stew. This division of our selves is not good; we must somehow become unified. We do this by giving ourselves wholeheartedly to A.A. and to sobriety. Have I become unified?
Meditation for the Day
“Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of Thy Lord.” These words are for many ordinary people, whom the world may pass by, unrecognizing. Not to the world-famed, the proud, the wealthy, are these words spoken, but to the quiet followers who serve God unobtrusively yet faithfully, who bear their crosses bravely and put a smiling face to the world. “Enter into the joy of Thy Lord.” Pass into that fuller spiritual life, which is a life of joy and peace.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not desire the world’s applause. I pray that I may not seek rewards for doing what I believe is right.
The Language of Letting Go – Codependency
Grief and Action
Trust in God and do something.
—Mary Lyon
It’s important to let ourselves grieve as a passage between yesterday and tomorrow. But we do not have to be controlled unduly by our grief, or our pain.
There are times when we have grieved, surrendered to the heaviness, tiredness, and weariness of a circumstance long enough. It becomes time to break out. It comes time to take action.
We will know when it’s time to break the routine of grieving. There will be signs within and around us. We will become tired of the heaviness. An idea will occur; an opportunity will present itself. We may think: No. Too much effort… Do it anyway. Try something. Reach out. Stretch. Do something unusual, something different, and something special.
A new activity may help trigger the transformation process. Stay up two hours later than usual! Make an appointment to do something for yourself that is different from what you usually do. Visit someone you haven’t seen in years. Do something to encourage and help the new energy coming your way.
We may not feel like breaking out of grief. It may feel safer, easier, to remain in our cocoon. Begin pushing out anyway.
Test the walls of your cocoon. Push. Push a little harder. It may be time to emerge.
Today, I will trust God and the process, but I will also take action to help myself feel better.
Touchstone – Men’s Meditation
You cannot devalue the body and value the soul – or value anything else. The isolation of the body sets it into direct conflict with everything else in creation.
—Wendell Berry
Our bodies are part of creation as much as trees, lakes, mountains, flowers, and animals. Part of our growth into full manhood is treating ourselves respectfully. It is a spiritual practice to be fully accepting, active, and alive physically.
We can no longer be content to be only spectator sportsmen in front of the televisIon set. We need to get our own muscles moving. What we take in as food expresses the level of respect we feel for ourselves. Our sexual expressions reflect the value we feel for our own bodies and our partners’. Our spiritual feelings become part of all the basic details of our lives.
Today, I stand in God’s creation as a physical body. My spiritual experience includes all the ways I care for and accept my body.
Elder’s Meditation
Humbleness means peace and honesty — both mean Hopi. True, honest, perfect words — that’s what we call Hopi words. In all languages, not just in Hopi. We strive to be Hopi. We call ourselves Hopi because maybe one or two of us will become Hopi. Each person must look into their heart and make changes so that you may become Hopi when you reach your destination.”
–Percy Lomaquahu, HOPI
The Creator has made available to us all the laws, principles and values which we need to know to live in harmony. The Creator also designed each human being to learn and grow by trial and error. We have tools to help us live the right way. We have prayers, visions, nature, teachers, Elders, and we have the Great Spirit to talk to and ask for help when we have problems. We also have choice. To walk the Red Road takes courage and a lot of prayer.
Creator, give me courage to walk the Red Road.
Daily Horoscope – Cancer
Working alone is probably the best use of your time today. As motivated Mercury marches into your responsible 6th house, you’re fully equipped to power through your to-do list. Even so, you might be a little sensitive about the attitude toward responsibility you learned growing up. Snapping at anyone else who doesn’t live up to your high standards may be dangerously easy, especially if you’re not totally confident in your own performance. That’s your personal issue, though, so try to leave others out of it.
The Wandering Enigma 
Thanks, brother.
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