Offer Friendship and Fellowship

Come visit us at 202


DOING ANYTHING TO HELP

Offer him [the alcoholic] friendship and fellowship. Tell him that if he wants to get well you will do anything to help. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 95


I remember how attracted I was to the two men from A.A. who Twelfth-Stepped me. They said I could have what they had, with no conditions attached, that all I had to do was make my own decision to join them on the pathway to recovery. When I start convincing a newcomer to do things my way, I forget how helpful those two men were to me in their open-minded generosity.

****************************************************

Twenty-Four Hours A Day

A.A. Thought for the Day
Service to others makes the world a good place. Civilization would cease if all of us were always and only for ourselves. We alcoholics have a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the well-being of the world. We have a common problem. We find a common answer We are uniquely equipped to help others with the same problem. What a wonderful world it would be if we took our own greatest problem and found the answer to it and spent the rest of our lives helping others with the same problem in our spare time. Soon we would have the right kind of a world. Do I appreciate my unique opportunity to be of service?
Meditation for the Day
Today can be lived in the consciousness of God's contact, upholding you in all good thoughts, words, and deeds. If sometimes there seems to be a shadow on your life and you feel out of sorts, remember that this is not the withdrawal of God's presence, but only your own temporary unwillingness to realize it. The quiet gray days are the days for doing what you must do, but know that the consciousness of God's nearness will return and be with you again, when the gray days are past.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may face the dull days with courage. I pray that I may have faith that the bright days will return.
***********************************
Thought for Today
You can't stop a bird from crapping on your head; but you can stop it from building a nest

Imagine all the people, living for today - John Lennon (thanks John F.)
*************************************************************
Buddha/Zen Thoughts

If any recluses or followers do not understand objectively that the enjoyment of sense pleasures is enjoyment, that the unsatisfactoriness of their passing is unsatisfactoriness, and that liberation from their tyranny is liberation--then it's not possible that they will properly understand what the desire for sense pleasures is or that they will be able to bring anyone else to understand it. But if they do understand objectively the arising and ceasing of sense pleasures, their frequent unsatisfactoriness, and the way to freedom from attachment to them, they will be able to instruct other people to that end.

-Majjhima Nikaya

*************************************************************
Native American

"People say that crisis changes people and turns ordinary people into wiser or more responsible ones."
--Wilma Mankiller, CHEROKEE
There is a saying, conflict precedes clarity. The Medicine Wheel teachings say, in order for something to change it must first go through a struggle. When a crisis enters our lives, other powers are there to help us. We will learn some lessons. Will I honor and respect the next crisis?
Great Spirit, if a crisis occurs today, let me learn the lessons of wisdom.

***********************************************
Keep It Simple

As ass is beautiful to an ass, and a pig to a pig. --- English proverb.

When we see someone drunk and out of control, can we see the beautiful person inside them?
If we can't, who will? Step Twelve reminds us that we have to help the alcoholic or other drug addict who suffers. This task has been given to us because we, most of all, should be able to look past the drunkenness and see the person. We were there. We know what it's like to be trapped in a world without meaning. If these memories have faded, we may need to go back over Step One. We may find ourselves angry with the practicing drunk or other drug addict. This is a sign that we have gotten too far from our past. Remember, "But for the grace of God..."

Prayer for the Day: Higher Power, Help me remember my past and what it's like now. This helps me care about the person who still suffers.

Action for the Day: Today, I'll respect my illness. I'll look for the beauty inside every drunk and other drug addict.