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God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
and Wisdom to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine, be done.

January 21

Daily Reflections


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As Bill Sees It

Citizens Again, p. 21

"Each of us in turn--that is, the member who gets the most out of the
program--spends a very large amount of time on Twelfth Step work in
the early years. That was my case, and perhaps I should not have
stayed sober with less work.

"However, sooner or later most of us are presented with other
obligations--to family, friends, and country. As you will remember, the
Twelfth Step also refers to 'practicing these principles in all our
affairs.' Therefore, I think your choice of whether to take a particular
Twelfth Step job is to be found in your own conscience. No one else
can tell you for certain what you ought to do at a particular time.

I just know that you are expected, at some point, to do more than
carry the message of A.A. to other alcoholics. In A.A. we aim not only
for sobriety--we try again to become citizens of the world that we
rejected, and of the world that once rejected us. This is the ultimate
demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work is the first but not the
final step."

Letter, 1959

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Walk In Dry Places
 
Giving Wisely is Safe___  Helping others.
Most of us admit that we were selfish people when we drank.  Even when we brought drinks for others, we did so either to seek their approval or in the expectancy that they would return the favor.
Our need in sobriety is to become unselfish by giving freely and cheerfully of ourselves.  This, too, has its pitfalls. Feeling guilty about past selfish-ness, we may go overboard in helping others do things that they need to do for themselves.  This can only lead to failure and disillusionment.  It is common to hear AA members complain about people who are not in recovery despite help extended to them in finding a job, a place to live, and other necessities.
But in giving, it is not always right tolook for a "guid pro quo"…  something in return….or even for the others person's recovery  and well-being. It's best to let the giving itself be its own reward.  If we fel good about what we have done, we probably are doing the right things. Later on, when additional and unexpected rewards come to us, we can accept them  as bonuses.
I can make progress in overcoming selfishness and self-centeredness if I give selflessly to others and take an honest interest in their problems.

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Keep It Simple

What is defeat?...Nothing but the first step to something better.------- Wendell Phillips
A man walks into a meeting. He says," I surrender. I can't drink like other folks." We smile and welcome him. We know that feeling. All of us in the program must admit defeat. Our illness is more powerful than we are. We begin recovery when we surrender. Admitting defeat is our first step into a beautiful world. Like all first steps, it's hard. But what a world we find ourselves in! A world where we count. A world where all are really equal! This first step brings us into God's world of care. We get love. We give love. We stay sober because daily we admit defeat.
Prayer for the Day:  In surrender, I can't drink and use other drugs. I'm different. Higher Power, help me surrender daily.
Action for the Day:  Every so often, I need to admit defeat and talk about what it was like, what happened, and where I am now.

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Each Day a New Beginning

Too many activities, and people, and things. Too many worthy activities, valuable things, and interesting people. For it is not merely the trivial which clutters our lives but the important as well.  --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
We need interaction with others, and we need activities. We have many gifts to offer those who cross our paths, and we need the many gifts they have to offer us. But we soon have little to share, to give to others, if we neglect the special times, the empty spaces needed for nurturing the soul.
Some time away from people, activities, and things, some time away to commune with God, to seek guidance, to seek security in the fullest sense, will prepare us to better give our gifts to others. That time alone will also ready us to accept others' gifts to us.
It is true we find God's message in others. But the time alone with God lowers the barriers that too often prevent us from hearing another of God's messages as expressed through the friends and even foes who cross our paths.
My gift to myself is some time alone. I deserve that gift today and every day.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 6 - INTO ACTION

Yes, there is a long period of reconstruction ahead. We must take the lead. A remorseful mumbling that we are sorry won’t fill the bill at all. We ought to sit down with the family and frankly analyze the past as we now see it, being very careful not to criticize them. Their defects may be glaring, but the chances are that our own actions are partly responsible. So we clean house with the family, asking each morning in meditation that our Creator show us the way of patience, tolerance, kindliness and love.

p. 83

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

Our Southern Friend

Pioneer A.A., minister's son, and southern farmer, he asked, "Who am I to say there is no God?"

I am at the hospital to see my wife. We have another child. But she is not glad to see me. I have been drinking while the baby was arriving. Her father stays with her.
It is a cold, bleak day in November. I have fought hard to stop drinking. Each battle has ended in defeat. I tell my wife I cannot stop drinking. She begs me to go to a hospital for alcoholics which has been recommended. I say I will go. She makes the arrangements, but I will not go. I'll do it all myself. This time I'm off of it for good. I'll just take a few beers now and then.

pp. 212-213

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Six - "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."

Self-righteous anger also can be very enjoyable. In a perverse way we can actually take satisfaction from the fact that many people annoy us, for it brings a comfortable feeling of superiority. Gossip barbed with our anger, a polite form of murder by character assassination, has its satisfactions for us, too. Here we are not trying to help those we criticize; we are trying to proclaim our own righteousness.

p. 67

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When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm.  --Sherrie R.

God claims by grace those who have no claim to grace.

"In any moment of decision, The best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing."  --President Theodore Roosevelt

"Forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one."  --Henry Ward Beecher

Someone once said that it's bad to suppress laughter; it goes back down and spreads to your hips! So, keep laughing, everyone!  --unknown

The best way to get the last word is to apologize.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

TOLERANCE

"The price of freedom of
religion or of speech or of the
press is that we must put up
with, and even pay for, a good
deal of rubbish."
-- Justice Robert Jackson

I need to be tolerant in my sobriety. I need to allow others to say what
they feel and live according to their standards.

I was intolerant towards people who were different from myself. Much
of what I criticized yesterday, I accept today; some things I still reject.

To love a person should not require "sameness"; equally, I can accept
a person without agreeing with what they say or how they behave.
Disagreements and conflicts lead to growth; change requires a variety
of forces.

Not everything I say to do is "pure" --- and that has become the key to
the acceptance of others. My history teaches me that I benefit from the
variety of opinions that are represented in mankind.

Lord, You have created many ways to Truth, may I appreciate them
through the experiences of others.

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"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock."  Matthew 7:24

"Beloved, we are God's children now."  1 John 3:2

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field God's building.
1 Corinthians 3:7-9

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Daily Inspiration

When your burdens seem heavier than usual, know that your blessings are more than usual. Lord, I call on You for the strength, the wisdom and the confidence that I will need today.

God values us so much that He gave us all that He has; His Son Jesus. Show that you value Him, too, by putting Him first in all aspects of your life. Lord, when I put You first in my life, order and peace follow.

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NA Just For Today

Unity And Uniformity

" Unity is a must in Narcotics Anonymous."
Basic Text p. 60

Unity is not uniformity. Unity springs from the fact that we have unity of purpose-to recover, and to help others stay clean. Even so, we often find that while we strive to fulfill the same purpose, our means and methods may be radically different.

We can't impose our ideas of unity on others or confuse unity with uniformity. In fact, a big attraction of the NA program is the absence of uniformity. Unity springs from our common purpose, not from standards imposed on the group by a few well-meaning members. A group that has the unity which springs from the loving hearts of its members allows each addict to carry the message in his or her own unique way.

In our dealings with each other in NA, we sometimes disagree rather vocally. We must remember that the details of how we get things done isn't always important, so long as we keep our focus on the group's primary purpose. We can watch members who vehemently disagree over trivial things pull together when a newcomer reaches out for help. Someone was there for us when we got to the rooms of NA. Now it is our turn to be there for others. We need unity to help show the newcomer that this way of life works.

Just for today: I will strive to be a part of unity. I know that unity does not equal uniformity.

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
If you realize you aren't so wise today as you thought you were yesterday, you're wiser today. --Olin Miller
Smug was a kitten who thought she knew everything. She knew how to clean herself with her sandpaper tongue, how to sleep, eat, and keep warm, and how to sharpen her tiny claws. One day, her mother wanted to teach Smug to climb trees. I don't need to learn this, thought Smug, I already know everything I need to know. Without much interest, Smug watched her mother climb a tall tree and come down again. When it was Smug's turn, she said, "I'll stay on the ground where it's safe." Just then, a large black dog came trotting around the corner. Aren't we often like Smug, certain that we know all we need to know, or that we really don't need to know something another is trying to teach us? When we rid ourselves of the pride that keeps us from learning these things, we'll feel a little safer if any big black dogs come around the corner. And we will have grown smarter by recognizing our need to know more.
Am I smart enough to admit my need to learn more today?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
There are things for which an uncompromising stand is worthwhile. --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
For many of us, a time came when we said; "I'm not going to live this way anymore!" This was a deep, internal decision for change, even though we didn't know how it would come about. Somehow we had reached bottom, and we no longer debated about whose fault our problems were. We quit negotiating over what we would change and what we would not change. We were willing to put all our energy into finding a better life, no matter what it would require. That is the kind of inner readiness that finally made real change possible.
Such willingness to take an uncompromising stand and give ourselves totally to a worthwhile cause is a model for our lives. It's the beginning of deep change. Many men and women have taken similar heroic stands for other causes, like world peace, compassion for the poor and hungry, human rights, and protection of the environment.
On this day, I will take a stand for what is worthwhile.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Too many activities, and people, and things. Too many worthy activities, valuable things, and interesting people. For it is not merely the trivial which clutters our lives but the important as well. --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
We need interaction with others, and we need activities. We have many gifts to offer those who cross our paths, and we need the many gifts they have to offer us. But we soon have little to share, to give to others, if we neglect the special times, the empty spaces needed for nurturing the soul.
Some time away from people, activities, and things, some time away to commune with God, to seek guidance, to seek security in the fullest sense, will prepare us to better give our gifts to others. That time alone will also ready us to accept others' gifts to us.
It is true we find God's message in others. But the time alone with God lowers the barriers that too often prevent us from hearing another of God's messages as expressed through the friends and even foes who cross our paths.
My gift to myself is some time alone. I deserve that gift today and every day.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Wants and Needs
Part of taking responsibility for us means taking responsibility for what we want and need, and knowing that's okay to do.
Learning to tune in to us, learning to listen to ourselves, is an art. It takes practice. We can use our ability to guess what others want and need/ and apply that skill to ourselves.
What does it sound like we might want and need? What would we guess would help us feel better? What are our feelings telling us? Our body? Our mind? Our intuition?
If we ask, then listen closely; well hear the answer.
We are wiser than we think, and we can be trusted.
What we want and need counts. It's important, and it's valid. It's okay to learn to participate in meeting our own needs.
We can learn to identify what we want and need and be patient with ourselves while we're learning.
Today, I will pay attention to what I want and need. I will not discount myself.


As I continue to grow on my spiritual path to recovery, I bask in the miracles of transformation and healing that are taking place in my life today. --Ruth Fishel

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Journey To The Heart

Discover Your Own Truth

No truth is ours until we make it our own.

All the truths in the world don’t matter unless and until we discover them to be true for ourselves. That’s what the journey is about. An insight, a lesson, a new belief is at the end of each adventure– whether that adventure happens in a moment, an hour, a day, or a year. This lesson doesn’t come from books, although books might help along the way. It doesn’t come from classes or lectures or well-meaning friends. The lesson we’re seeking comes from inside us, from our hearts, from our deep abiding connection to consciousness and the truth.

It springs quietly from within us as we notice one day that we believe something new, something different, something more free, more fun, and more life-enhancing than what we believed before. For a moment we may turn back and say, Why didn’t I know that? Why didn’t I see that before? Then we step back on our path, laugh, and go on our way understanding that is why we are really here. Not to know everything in advance. But to allow ourselves to go freely through all the lessons that teach us all we came here to learn.

You are on a journey of discovery. Find out what’s true for you. Remember. A truth isn’t yours until it rings true for you.

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More Language Of Letting Go

Try sharing with someone else

When we hoard what we have been given, we block the door to receiving more. If you are feeling stagnant in your life, share some of what has been given to you.

Let go of some of the sorrow that you have experienced by sharing your experience and the compassion that you have learned from it with another. Share your success by teaching someone else your methods. Share in the abundance given to you; donate to a favorite charity or church. Give of your time, your money, your abilities. When you give, you open the door to receive more.

Sharing your experience, strength, and hope is key in a Twelve Step program. It’s a key to all of life, whether we’re recovering from addictions or not.

Find some way to share yourself. Maybe it will be as simple as picking up the tab at lunch. Volunteer to help with a local project. Just find one small way to give. Give without any thought of compensation. Don’t look for a thank you; give without expectation. Be aware of how you feel in the act of sharing; be aware of the glow that you feel in the deepest part of your soul. Then, do it again. Keep sharing small pieces of your gifts– your experience, strength, and hope– until sharing becomes a natural part of you.

Open your heart to all you’ve been given by sharing your gifts with someone else. That small glow you first felt in the bottom of your soul will soon overflow in your life. Maybe we gave compulsively and without joy at some time in our lives. The answer isn’t to permanently stop giving, It’s to learn to give with joy.

God, help me give abundantly of what’s been given to me. Teach me how to give, so that both my giving and my receiving are healthy and free from attachments.

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

Every person, no matter what his or her balance for good or evil, is a part of the Divine economy. We are all children of God, and it is unlikely that He intends to favor one over another. So it is necessary for all of us to accept whatever positive gifts we receive with a deep humility, always bearing in mind that our negative attitudes were first necessary as a means of reducing us to such a state that we would be ready for a gift of the positive ones via the conversion experience. Do I accept the fact that my addiction and the bottom I finally reached are the bedrock upon which my spiritual foundation rests?

Today I Pray

May I know that from the first moment I admitted my powerlessness, God-give power was mine. Every step taken from that moment of defeat has been a step in the right direction. The First Step is a giant st4ep. Though it is often taken in despair, may I realize that I must be drained of hope before I can be refilled with fresh hope, sapped of wilfulness before I can feel the will of God.

Today I Will Remember

Power through powerlessness.

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One More Day

Historic continuity with the past is not a duty, it is a necessity.
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

Our personal histories mark the pathways of life. Our having lived and loved and worked makes a difference in thousands of ways. This impact on life is a history and heritage for our loved ones and for ourselves. What memories have we created for those we love? Perhaps quilts that will be treasured as family heirlooms. A family farm or profession? But what else?

Even more important than heirlooms and family jobs are loving memories and personal histories. Recorded histories, especially anecdotal, can be written or tape recorded. Pictures can be taken, and older photos can be labeled for the generations to come. What will we leave when we die? Communication, tradition, and the ability to love unconditionally.

This small but important moment is a good time to record my journey thus far and to affirm my sense of continuity.

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Food For Thought

Service

We compulsive overeaters have often spent our lifetimes being most concerned with getting, taking in, and consuming. Nourishing ourselves is necessary, but it is also necessary that we give. To stay alive, one must breathe out as well as in.

As we recover, we become stronger each day and better able to serve others. When we stop eating compulsively, we are amazed at the amount of time and energy we have available for useful activities. For one thing, we feel much better physically, since we are eating the amount and type of food, which our bodies need for optimum functioning. For another, we become stronger emotionally and spiritually as we work the Twelve Steps.

Each day, we can be open to opportunities to serve our OA groups, families, and friends. As we give out more and take in less, we gain new satisfaction and self-respect.

Show me where I may serve, Lord.

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One Day At A Time

~ POSITIVE THINKING ~

Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.
Zig Ziglar

I came into Twelve Step meetings after descending into a well of negative thinking. It was a vicious cycle, one I wasn't even aware of for the longest time. My negative thinking fostered many resentments, hurts and binges. Once I became aware of this and started to work on changing my destructive thinking, I discovered that letting in just one negative thought opened the door to more negative thinking.

Then one day in a meeting I heard a longtimer say that negative thinking attracted negative (thinking and actions) and positive thinking attracted positive (thinking and actions). That made sense with what I was experiencing. As I walked out of that meeting, I determined that I would do everything I could to keep all my thoughts positive in order to attract more positives to my life.

It worked! The more positive I could keep my thoughts, the better I felt about everything, and the more good things happened to me. My general attitude soared. When a bad thing happened (and they do happen) I found good things about it and focused on the good. Many many times I discovered that the "bad" thing had actually been a new good direction in disguise.

Positive attracts positive. Negative attracts negative. I'd rather attract positive.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will remember to turn to the program to help maintain my peace and serenity, especially through the bad times.
~ Rhonda ~

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

But there was always the curious mental phenomenon that parallel with our sound reasoning there inevitably ran some insanely trivial excuse for taking the first drink. Our sound reasoning failed to hold us in check. The insane idea won out. Next day we would ask ourselves, in all earnestness and sincerity, how it could have happened. - Pg. 37 - More About Alcoholism

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Learning to be tolerant of others, a difficult task at best, does not mean that we have to agree with them! Tolerance disagrees agreeably, we think. If someone disagrees with us right now, we can agree to disagree.

Right now I ask for the serenity to agree to disagree because my discomfort for prolonged times could lead me to pick up that first fix, pill, or drink!

Bearing Witness

When I have an undesirable thought today, like jealousy, anger or self doubt I will just observe it in my mind. I will allow the thought to really be there. I won't try to deny it or eradicate it. I will simply give it space and witness it. As I do this, the thought transforms. As I see it for what it is and accept it as a part of me, I give it the breathing room it needs to play itself through, to change into something else. I cannot hide from me, nor do I wish to. I can be my own best friend by allowing myself the space to think what I am really thinking and feel what I am really feeling knowing that it doesn't have to lead to blind action. There is another more powerful and fruitful action that I can take. It is in simply witnessing, allowing and trusting that this process will lead to awareness, transformation and a more permanent change than is possible through denial. Today I will give myself the gift of self reflection.

I observe the workings of my inner mind

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Today you are leading a life. When you were drinking and drugging, you were a life being led.

It is God's job to make miracles and I am one of them.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Being recovered from alcoholism is like getting a gunshot wound. You can recover from it, but it does NOT make you bulletproof.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

As I continue to grow on my spiritual path to recovery, I bask in the miracles of transformation and healing that are taking place in my life today.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

Other diseases have blood tests and X-rays. We have an inventory. And if you stick around long enough to do it, you'll be actually able take a picture of your alcoholism. You'll actually be able to see your disease. - Scott R.

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AA Thought for the Day

January 21

Not Afraid
The First Step and I have always been great friends.
I repeated it every five seconds and thanked God each day for my sobriety --
the only grace, maybe, for that day.
Gradually, I began to see another part of me emerging -- a grateful me,
expecting nothing, but sure that another power was beginning to guide me,
counsel me, and direct my ways.  I was not afraid.
- Came To Believe . . ., p. 45

Thought to Ponder . . .
Take the first step in faith.
You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
O D A A T = One Day At A Time.

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~

Illusion
No person likes to think he is bodily
and mentally different from his fellows.
Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers
have been characterized by countless vain attempts
to prove we could drink like other people.
The idea that somehow, someday he will control
and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession
of every abnormal drinker.
The persistence of this illusion is astonishing.
Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.
c. 1976, 2001 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 30

Thought to Consider . . . .
The two most dangerous words
in a recovering alcoholic's vocabulary are,
"I'm different."

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
A A  =  Absolute Abstinence

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

Experience
>From "More about Alcoholism":
"To us it is not far-fetched, for this kind of thinking has been characteristic of every single one of us. There was always
the curious mental phenomenon that parallel with our sound reasoning there inevitably ran some insanely trivial excuse
for taking the first drink. Our sound reasoning failed to hold us in check. The insane idea won out. Next day we would
ask ourselves, in all earnestness and sincerity, how it could have happened."
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 37

*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"We shall always have to deal with the fearful forces which are released when the human ego runs amok -- the same forces that are shattering the world of our time. Deliver us from temptation must therefore continue to be a prime ingredient of our every attitude, practice, and prayer."
AA Co-Founder, Bill W., November 1960
"Freedom Under God: The Choice Is Ours,"
The Language of the Heart3

~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*

"'My old manner of life was by no means a bad one, but I would not
exchange its best moments for the worst I have now. I would not go
back to it even if I could.'"
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 43~

"Our liquor was but a symptom."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, pg. 64~\

The actual experience of meditation and prayer across the centuries is, of course, immense.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 98

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Each of us in turn - that is, the member who gets the most out of the program - spends a very large amount of time on
Twelfth Step work in the early years. That was my case, and perhaps I should not have stayed sober with less work.
'However, sooner or later most of us are presented with other obligations - to family, friends, and country. As you will
remember, the Twelfth Step also refers to 'practicing these principles in all our affairs.' Therefore, I think your choice of
whether to take a particular Twelfth Step job is to be found in your own conscience. No one else can tell you for certain
what you ought to do at a particular time.
'I just know that you are expected, at some point, to do more than carry the message of A.A. to other alcoholics. In A.A.
we aim not only for sobriety - we try again to become citizens of the world that we rejected, and of the world that once
rejected us. This is the ultimate demonstration toward which Twelfth Step work is the first but not the final step.

Prayer for the Day:  Lord, inspire me to live in such a way that I always give of my best and be welcoming and generous
towards others. Amen.

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