The Forest And The Trees

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.  .  .  what comes to us alone may be garbled by our own rationalization and wishful thinking.  The benefits of talking to another person is that we can get his direct comment and counsel on our situation.  .  .  .

TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 60

I cannot count the times when I have been angry and frustrated and said to myself, "I can't see the forest for the trees!"  I finally realized that what I needed when I was in such pain was someone who could guide me in separating the forest and the trees; who could suggest a better path to follow; who could assist me in putting out fires; and help me avoid the rocks and pitfalls.

   I ask God, when I'm in the forest, to give me the courage to call upon a member of A.A.

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Twenty-Four Hours A Day

 

A.A. Thought for the Day

I had to show off and boast so that people would think I amounted to something, when, of course, both they and I knew that I really didn't amount to anything. I didn't fool anybody. Although I've been sober for quite a while, the old habit of building myself up is still with me. I still have a tendency to think too well of myself and to pretend to be more than I really am. Am I always in danger of becoming conceited just because I'm sober?

Meditation for the Day

I cannot ascertain the spiritual with my intellect. I can only do it by my own faith and spiritual faculties. I must think of God more with my heart than with my head. I can breathe in God's very spirit in the life around me. I can keep my eyes turned toward the good things in the world. I am shut up in a box of space and time, but I can open a window in that box by faith. I can empty my mind of all the limitations of material things. I can sense the Eternal.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that whatever is good I may have. I pray that I may leave to God the choice of what good will come to me.

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Thought for Today

 "Gratitude is the heart's memory."

--French Proverb

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Buddha/Zen Thoughts

There are six root delusions

Anger - highly disturbed aspect of mind that arises when we see something unpleasant - enemies, and so forth
Attachment - attachment to ego / self / others / things causes suffering (see attachment page)
Pride - is your inflated opinion of yourself and can manifest in relation to some good or bad object: your power, wealth, good qualities, family, wisdom, pure ethics - even your pleasant voice or physical prowess
Ignorance - not knowing, not seeing, not understanding, being unclear, and so forth. Ignorance is like blindness - not seeing the nature or mode of existence of something. Ignorance is the root of all delusions.
Doubt - directed towards the four truths, the Three Jewels, cause and effect

Deluded Views - there are 5

• The view that equates the self with the perishable
• Extreme Views - views such as the continuity of the 'I' as being discontinued at death
• The view of holding aggregates to be supreme
• Holding an ethic or mode of behaviour to be supreme
• Wrong views - such as Three Jewels do not exist, cause and effect do not exist

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Native American

"There are many things to be shared with the four colors of man in our common destiny as one family upon our Mother the Earth."

---- Traditional Circle of Elders, NORTHERN CHEYENNE

The Elders tell us the time will come when the four colors of Man will unite into one family. According to prophecies, we were told this would happen when the Sun was blocked in the Seventh Moon. There was an eclipse of the Sun in July, 1991. We are now in a new Springtime called the Coming Together Time. Each of the four colors of man has knowledge that the other colors need to heal their families. Let us all be willing to sit in a circle and respect our differences.

Creator, let me be willing to have an open mind.

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Keep It Simple

 Forgiveness is all-powerful. Forgiveness heals all ills.  ---  Catherine Ponder

We need to forgive so we can heal. Forgiveness means  not wanting to get even. Forgiveness  means letting go of self-will. Anger and hate are forms of self-will take up room in our heart. Yet, a still, small voice inside of us wants to forgive. Just as others have forgiven us, we need to forgive them. When we forgive, we give our will to our Higher Power. When we forgive, we make room in our heart for our Higher Power. By giving up our anger and our hate, we let that still, small voice come through a little louder. This is how we heal. This is why forgiving is so powerful for us.

Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, help me let go of self-will. Help me forgive people.

Action for the Day:  I will list any anger or hate I have. I will think about how this gets in my way, and I'll pray to have this removed.