DAILY PONDERABLES Together WE Trudge The Road OF Happy Destiny

Daily Reflections THE FOREST AND THE TREES . . . 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. From the book Daily Reflections © Copyright 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

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. From the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day © Copyright 1975 by Hazelden Foundation

NA - Just for Today Any lengths Page 131 "...I was ready to go to any lengths to stay clean." Basic Text, p. 132 "Any lengths?" newcomers ask. "What do you mean, any lengths?" Looking back at our active addiction and the lengths we were willing to go to in order to stay high can help to explain. Were we willing to drive many miles to get drugs? Yes, we usually were. Then it makes sense that, if we are as concerned about staying clean as we were about using, we will try anything to find a ride to a meeting. In our addiction, didn't we often do crazy, insane things or use unknown substances at the direction of others? Then why do we often find it so hard to take direction in recovery, especially when the direction is designed to help us grow? And when we used, didn't we often, in desperation, turn to our Higher Power, saying, "Please, just get me out of this one!" Then why do we find it so hard to ask for God's help in our recovery? When we used, we usually had an open mind when it came to finding ways and means to get more drugs. If we can apply this same principle of open-mindedness to our recovery, we may surprise ourselves by how easily we begin to grasp the NA program. Our best thinking, it is often said, got us into the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous. If we are willing to go to any lengths, follow directions, and stay open-minded, we can stay clean. Just for Today: I am willing to go to any lengths to stay clean. I will become as open-minded and ready to take direction as I need to be. From the book Just for Today © Copyright 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Thought for Today "Gratitude is the heart's memory."   --French Proverb "Willing to be willing to maybe believe"  Ann L. We who did not truly love wife or husband or parents or children or brother or sister who we could see, could not love God whom we could not see. Your Vibe determines your Tribe  (thanks Stu K.)

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 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

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.

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.

Big Book Chapter 4 We Agnostics (pg 55) Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself. We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us. We can only clear the ground a bit. If our testimony helps sweep away prejudice, enables you to think honestly, encourages you to search diligently within yourself, then, if you wish, you can join us on the Broad Highway. With this attitude you cannot fail. the consciousness of your belief is sure to come to you. In this book you will read the experience of a man who thought he was an atheist. His story is so interesting that some of it should be told now. His change of heart was dramatic, convincing, and moving.