Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Joshua 1:5-9
There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Read more Bible http://www.bookbindery.
My Prayer for the Day
"Heavenly Father, Thank You for relieving me of me. Thank You for taking over. Thank You for the real rest that comes in the certainty of You. Thank You for guiding me back to You after a long, dark, journey into darkness. Father, my search is over! Now all I must do is to grow in my Faith, grow in my Love, grow in my Trust, and grow in Your Word. I must also grow in my gifts that you gave me, grow in my knowledge of AA, grow in boldness, grow in steadfastness, grow in self discipline, grow in integrity. grow in meekness....Grow into the women that You would have me be Father. Thank You for setting the new stage as I go from here to do Your bidding-In Jesus name, Amen"
Today’s action
- Today I will not rehearse convervsations, instead I will allow God to give me the words when and if those conversations take place
- Today I will not deflect relatity by reliving, refeeling (resenting) nurseing past hurts, instead I will practice forgiveness and acceptace
- Today I will not look for things and situations to obsess over, instead I will DO the next right thing even if that means staying still and looking myself in a room to keep myself from creating drama! LOL
2nd STEP Prayer
God, I'm standing at the turning point right now. Give me your protection and care as I abandon myself to you and give up my old ways and my old ideas just for today. AMEN
More AA prayers http://silkworth.net/pages/aa/
Podcast of he Day
Charlie B
Listen to more AA Podcast http://podbay.fm/show/
12 x 12 on Step 3
“Made a decision to turn our will and our
lives over to the care of God, as we understood
Him.”
"PRACTICING Step Three is like the opening of a door which to all appearances is still closed and locked. All we need is a key, and the decision to swing the door open. There is only one key, and it is called willingness. Once unlocked by willingness, the door opens almost of itself, and looking through it, we shall see a pathway beside which is an inscription. It reads: “This is the way to a faith that works.” In the first two Steps we were engaged in reflection. We saw that we were powerless over alcohol, but we also perceived that faith of some kind, if only in A.A. itself, is possible to anyone. These conclusions did not require action;
they required only acceptance."
Hil's blah
The practice of doing anything beside drinking, obsessing and creating impossible problems for myself and others, was the only consistent thing I had going on. The willingness to NOT do that, and to turn my will over to God is a practice! It's a daily decision.
Am I going to turn my life over to God, or am I not?
Am I going to roll out of my bed onto my knees in surrender, or am I going to pop out of bed and start the thinking spree as I make coffee and scurry around the house plotting and scheming to get a desired outcome?
Am I going to accept God's will, or am I going to fight it tooth and nail because that's what I am "use" to?
Step 3 is not action-it's a decision not to act on primal fear and instinct-instead it's a choice to allow God's ease and peace enter us and take over...the realm of the Spirit doesn't scurry, plot or scheme....it allows and accepts.
God in His infinite wisdom then will do the necessary pruning of the tree in Steps 4-9 to get us right by Him...Then we work for Him. It's not that complicated. It's easy once it's accepted. I remember being SO frightened of living life sober...once I was sober, I honestly said out loud to my cousin "sobriety isn't bad at all...I don't know what I was so scared about" It was the willingness part that held me back for so long because I wouldn't allow myself to let go of my pattern.
Read more 12 X 12 http://www.portlandeyeopener.
Big Book There is a Solution...Cont
"Here was the terrible dilemma in which our friend found himself when he had the extraordinary experience, which as we have already told you, made him a free man. We, in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, “a design for living’’ that really works.
The distinguished American psychologist, William James, in his book “Varieties of Religious Experience,’’ indicates a multitude of ways in which men have discovered God. We have no desire to convince anyone that there is only one way by which faith can be acquired. If what we have learned and felt and seen means anything at all, it means that all of us, whatever our race, creed, or color are the children of a living Creator with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try. Those having religious affiliations will find here nothing disturbing to their beliefs or ceremonies. There is no friction among us over such matters.
We think it no concern of ours what religious bodies our members identify themselves with as individuals. This should be an entirely personal affair which each one decides for himself in the light of past associations, or his present choice. Not all of us join religious bodies, but most of us favor such memberships.
In the following chapter, there appears an explanation of alcoholism, as we understand it, then a chapter addressed to the agnostic. Many who once were in this class are now among our members. Surprisingly enough, we find such convictions no great obstacle to a spiritual experience.
Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered. These are followed by forty-two personal experiences.
Each individual, in the personal stories, describes in his own language and from his own point of view the way he established his relationship with God. These give a fair cross section of our membership and a clear- cut idea of what has actually happened in their lives.
We hope no one will consider these self-revealing accounts in bad taste. Our hope is that many alcoholic men and women, desperately in need, will see these pages, and we believe that it is only by fully disclosing ourselves and our problems that they will be persuaded to say, “Yes, I am one of them too; I must have this thing.”
Hil's blah-
My name is Hilarie and Yes, I am one of them too; I must have this thing!
Read more Big Book http://www.portlandeyeopener.
AA History
LETS ASK BILL W. Q&A NO.2
Question:
What is meant by mental obsession and the obsessional character of alcoholism?
Answer:
"Well, as I understand it, we are all born with the freedom of choice. The degree of this varies from person to person, and from area to area in our lives. In the case of neurotic people, our instincts take on certain patterns and directions, sometimes so compulsive they cannot be broken by any ordinary effort of the will. The alcoholic's compulsion to drink is like that.
As a smoker, for example, I have a deeply ingrained habit - I'm almost an addict. But I do not think that this habit is an actual obsession. Doubtless it could be broken by an act of my own will. If badly enough hurt, I could in all probability give up tobacco. Should smoking repeatedly land me in Bellevue Hospital, I doubt that I would make the trip many times before quitting. But with my alcoholism, well, that was something else again. No amount of desire to stop, no amount of punishment, could enable me to quit. What was once a habit of drinking became an obsession of drinking - genuine lunacy.
Perhaps a little more should be said about the obsessional character of alcoholism. When our fellowship was about three years old some of us called on Dr. Lawrence Kolb, then Assistant Surgeon General of the United States. He said that our report of progress had given him his first hope for alcoholics in general. Not long before, the U.S. Public Health Department had thought of trying to do something about the alcoholic situation. After a careful survey of the obsessional character of our malady, this had been given up. Indeed, Dr. Koib felt that dope addicts had a far better chance. Accordingly, the government had built a hospital for their treatment at Lexington, Kentucky. But for alcoholics - well, there simply wasn't any use at all, so he thought.
Nevertheless, many people still go on insisting that the alcoholic is not a sick man - that he is simply weak or willful, and sinful. Even today we often hear the remark "That drunk could get well if he wanted to."
There is no doubt, too, that the deeply obsessional character of the alcoholic's drinking is obscured by the fact that drinking is a socially acceptable custom. By contrast, stealing, or let us say shop-lifting, is not. Practically everybody has heard of that form of lunacy known as kleptomania. Oftentimes kleptomaniacs are splendid people in all other respects. Yet they are under an absolute compulsion to steal - just for the kick. A kleptomaniac enters a store and pockets a piece of merchandise. He is arrested and lands in the police station. The judge gives him a jail term. He is stigmatized and humiliated. Just like the alcoholic, he swears that never, never will he do this again.
On his release from the jail, he wanders down the street past a department store. Unaccountably he is drawn inside. He sees, for example, a red tin fire truck, a child's toy. He instantly forgets all about his misery in the jail. He begins to rationalize. He says, "Well, this little fire engine is of no real value. The store won't miss it." So he pockets the toy, the store detective collars him, he is right back in the clink. Everybody recognizes this type of stealing as sheer lunacy.
Now, let's compare this behavior with that of an alcoholic. He, too, has landed in jail. He has already lost family and friends. He suffers heavy stigma and guilt. He has been physically tortured by his hangover. Like the kleptomaniac he swears that he will never get into this fix again. Perhaps he actually knows that he is an alcoholic. He may understand just what that means and may be fully aware of what the fearful risk of that first drink is.
Upon his release from jail, the alcoholic behaves just like the kleptomaniac. He passes a bar and at the first temptation may say, "No, I must not go inside there; liquor is not for me." But when he arrives at the next drinking place, he is gripped by a rationalization. Perhaps he says, "Well, one beer won't hurt me. After all, beer isn't liquor." Completely unmindful of his recent miseries, he steps inside. He takes that fatal first drink. The following day, the police have him again. His fellow citizens continue to say that he is weak or willful. Actually he is just as crazy as the kleptomaniac ever was. At this stage, his free will in regard to alcoholism has evaporated. He cannot very well be held accountable for his behavior." (The N.C.C.A. 'Blue Book', Vol. 12, 1960)
Acts 26:25But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.