From My Mail Buoy: The Proper Path

The proper path is somewhere between hope and hopelessness.

Richard Rose

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I'll Try Again Tomorrow

Courage doesn't always roar.

Sometimes courage is that little voice at
the end of the day that says:

"I'll try again tomorrow."

 

Anne Hunninghake

 

Today I will stay in touch with my spiritual center to find the courage for another day.

 

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Ignorance Is Not A Virtue

Quite likely, it was St. Peter Chrysologus’s attitude toward learning that gave substance to his exhortations.

Next to virtue, learning, in his view, was the greatest improver of the human mind and the support of true religion.

Ignorance is not a virtue, nor is anti-intellectualism.

Knowledge is neither more nor less a source of pride than physical, administrative or financial prowess.

To be fully human is to expand our knowledge—whether sacred or secular—according to our talent and opportunity.

American Catholic.org

 

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The Journey

Words cannot begin to describe the feelings in my heart as I sometimes ponder how much my life has changed, how far I've come, and how much there is yet to discover.

And though I'm not sure where my journey may take me next,

I know I'll owe it to the grace of God, and to the words of the Twelve Steps:  continue, improve, and practice.

Oh, and one more thing they told me:  Humility is the key.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 511

 

Sobriety is a journey,

not a destination.

 

CHANGE = Choosing Humility Allows New Gifts and Energy.

 

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Rewards

Most importantly, I know who I am, I know my goals, dreams, values, and boundaries, and I know how to protect, nurture, and validate them.

Those are the true rewards of sobriety, and they're what I was looking for all along. . .

I came to AA in order to stop drinking; what I received in return was my life.

Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 327

 

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

 

STOP = Sobriety Tops Our Priorities.

An Unloved Flower

A weed is but an unloved flower.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

I must remember to nurture the rose within the friends and strangers who are walking my way today.

 

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Our Souls Yearn

Shower Thy grace upon us in
the moment of our greatest need,
protect us from ourselves, and
allow us to be a beacon of light rather
than a dark cloud for the ambience that surrounds us.
Only with Thy aid can
we create that peace within and
harmony with the outer environment,
both natural and social,
for which our souls yearn.

 

Seyyed Hossein Nasr
from Talking to God:
Portrait of a World at Prayer

 

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Hindu Proverb

Hindu Proverb

 

To try to extinguish the drive for riches with money is
like trying to quench a fire by pouring butterfat over it.

 

Today, I will ask myself what I want and listen with courage to my answer.

It will lead me in my spiritual progress.

 

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Prayer

When we open the door on a spiritual search with our whole lives thrown into it, we shall find Him always ready to receive our feeblest approaches and our most selfish and childish prayers and our always entirely unworthy selves.
He is always ready to get down to business with us.
The experimental approach seems to me to be the essence of our finding the help of a Higher Power.
We first lean on another human being who seems to be finding the answer, and then we lean on the Higher Power that stands behind him.

Alcoholics Anonymous Comes Of Age, p. 264

Joy is in knowing there is an answer.

HELP = His Ever-Loving Presence.

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Today

I realize that all I'm guaranteed in life is today.

The poorest person has no less and the wealthiest has no more -- each of us has but one day.

What we do with it is our own business; how we use it is up to us individually.

Experience, Strength and Hope,  p. 392

 

Every day is a gift. 
That is why we call it the present.

 

ODAAT = One Day At A Time.

 

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Step Eleven

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Step Eleven of AA

 

God, help me let go of my fears about living life one day at a time.

Help me trust that when life is lived simply and in trust, a beautiful mosaic called "my life" will be woven.

I am being divinely led, guided, and cared for.

 

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Created For Joy

Do not look for rest in any pleasure,
because you were not created for pleasure:
you were created for Joy.
And if you do not know the difference
between pleasure and joy
you have not yet begun to live.

 

Thomas Merton

 

Weekly Cleaning List

Monday:

Turn keyboard over and shake out crumbs.

Tuesday:

Wet finger and wipe off smuggles off monitor.

Wednesday: 

Arrange tubes in alphabetical order.

Thursday:

Cleanup cookies and temporary files.

Friday:

Do disc scan and defrag.

Saturday:

Time to shake out the keyboard again.

Sunday:

Day to play on computer you worked hard on all week.

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Patience

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

Lida Clarkson

 

My patience will pay off today.

I can be certain that what comes to me today is on time.

 

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Hope

The hope that is left after all your hopes are gone -- that is pure hope, rooted in the heart.

 

David Steindl-Rast
Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer

 

 

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fallible

Seven of our Twelve Steps state unequivocally that I have been, am, and will be wrong.

I have shortcomings and defects of character.

I never have been and never will be perfect.

As that realization became a part of me-- and it took time -- it brought me one of the greatest of many blessings that have come to me from AA.

I learned to accept myself as a fallible human being.

The Best Of The Grapevine [Vol. 2], p. 167

 

Give me the courage to be imperfect.

 

SWAT = Surrender, Willingness, Acceptance, Trust.

 

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Becoming A Healthy Parent

From HenriNouwen.org

 

On the Journey to Becoming a Healthy (God)Parent

written by RITA O'CONNOR

I'm not actually a parent. I'm an aunt, a teacher and, most important, godmother to a sweet child. I spend days at a time with her and her siblings. Here's my advice for parents of all kinds.

To be a healthy parent -

*Go out. Go out with your spouse or friends or by yourself. Talk to adults.

*Talk to other parents. Tell the truth, they'll understand.

*Know that your children will cause to rise within you what it was like for you to be a child, for you to have parents. Know this and work to heal it.

*Don't take things personally. When you set the lovingly prepared dinner before them and they say "Yuck," it is not a comment on your culinary skills. They may tell you that you are a bad mommy or daddy, don't take it personally.

*Don't be perfect. Your children need to see that you can be angry, sad, frustrated or discouraged and that you can deal with your feelings. Revealing your imperfection also teaches them an important lesson when you ask their forgiveness. It teaches them to ask yours.

*Pray. We speak of God as a parent, I'm sure God understands.

Like all worthwhile endeavors, what you are doing as a parent is hard and important. Immeasurably important. Remember what King Solomon used to say: "This too will pass."

 

- RITA O'CONNOR is a single, middle-aged teacher living in Richmond Hill, Ontario. 

She is a staunch Roman Catholic and attends a United church. She has been an assistant at L'Arche Daybreak and remains a friend of the community.

Saint Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene has been a victim of mistaken identity for almost 20 centuries. 

Yet she would no doubt insist that it makes no difference. 

We are all sinners in need of the saving power of God, whether our sins have been lurid or not.

 More importantly, we are all, with her, “unofficial” witnesses of the Resurrection. 

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To Love and Serve

The only right way:

to love and serve the man of the modern world,

but not simply to succumb, with him,

to all his illusions about the world.

 

Thomas Merton

A Search for Solitude

Willingness

I was told that I must want sobriety for my own sake, and I am convinced this is true.

There may be many reasons that bring one to AA for the first time, but the lasting one must be to want sobriety and the AA way of living for oneself.

Alcoholics Anonymous  pp. 354-55

 

The express elevator to sobriety doesn't work 

-- please use the Steps.

 

H O W = Honesty, Open-mindedness, Willingness.

 

 

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He Is Crazy About You!

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.

If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.

He sends you flowers every spring.

He sends you a sunrise every morning.

Face it, friend - He is crazy about you!

God didn't promise 

days without pain, 

laughter without sorrow, 

sun without rain, 

but He did promise 

strength for the day, 

comfort for the tears, 

and light for the way.

 

If God brings you to it,

He will bring you through it.