PRAYER: IT WORKS

It has been well said that "almost the only scoffers at prayer are those
who never tried it enough."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 97

Having grown up in an agnostic household, I felt somewhat foolish
when I first tried praying. I knew there was a Higher Power working
in my life -- how else was I staying sober? -- but I certainly wasn't
convinced he/she/it wanted to hear my prayers. People who had what
I wanted said prayer was an important part of practicing the program,
so I persevered. With a commitment to daily prayer, I was amazed
to find myself becoming more serene and comfortable with my place in the
world. In other words, life became easier and less of a struggle. I'm still
not sure who, or what, listens to my prayers, but I'd never stop saying them
for the simple reason that they work.
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As Bill Sees It

Clearing A Channel, p. 78

During the day, we can pause where situations must be met and
decisions made, and renew the simple request "Thy will, not mine, be
done."

If at these points our emotional disturbances happens to be great, we
will more surely keep our balance provided we remember, and repeat
to ourselves, a particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to us in
our reading or meditation. Just saying it over and over will often
enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration,
or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of
all--our search for God's will, not our own, in the moment of stress.

12 & 12, pp. 102-103

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Walk in Dry Places
 
Where is God?
Guidance.
AA members have always had a difficult time explaining the "God business".  We didn't want to be considered religious, but at the same time we've always believed some contact with a Higher Power is necessary for real personal growth.
There's nothing wrong… for our purposes… in simply visualizing God as a  Higher Power that has always been within us and around us.  "Before they call, I will answer," goes an old saying, and that was true even in our darkest days.  Many of us also believe that a higher power helped bring AA into being and move it along to become a worldwide force for good.
But God works in ways that can seem to come from change or coincidence. Quite often, we'll find that little events had far-reaching results in our lives. When we review how such things happened, we should not conclude that this happens only to certain  "special" people. All human beings are part of God's creation and can avail themselves of guidance and direction.  The more serious problem is that guidance and direction are sometimes ignored or rejected.
I'll go about my affairs today with the knowledge that my Higher Power is making the important decisions in my life.  I'll come out about where God wants me to be.

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Keep It Simple

Speak when you're angry and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret. Lawrence J. Peter
When we used alcohol or other drugs, most of us were hotheads. We thought we were right. If we were proven wrong, we may have made life hell for everyone. People knew enough to stay away from us. In recovery, things will still go badly at times. We'll get hurt. And we'll get angry. But now, we turn our anger to our Higher Power. In our groups, we talk about what makes us angry. Then we leave the anger behind when the meeting is over. We find that being at peace is now more important than getting even.
Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, when I'm angry, help me slow down, Help me remember it's okay to be angry, but its not okay to abuse people.
Action for the Day:  I will remember a time when I turned anger, into rage and hurt someone. I will also remember a time I was angry in a respectful way.

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Each Day a New Beginning

I realized a long time ago that a belief which does not spring from a conviction in the emotions is no belief at all.  --Evelyn Scott
>From pillar to post we bounced, most of us not knowing what we actually believed about nearly any situation before getting to this program. Perhaps we believed what was most convenient at the time because of the people we were with. And maybe we jumped the fence quickly when in a new setting. Values were sometimes talked about but not defined, and certainly not adhered to.
It's difficult to develop a strong sense of self, to have a very secure self-image when the parameters offered by a value system are lacking. Our values define who we are. They offer us direction when making choices. They quietly demand that we behave responsibly. Living in concert with our values brings peace to our souls.
Gone are the days when we rode first one fence and then another, never knowing what side of any issue we honestly believed in. The program has offered us a plan for living, a plan that erases the many uncertainties, the inner turmoil of past years.

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

Chapter 7 - WORKING WITH OTHERS

Many of us keep liquor in our homes. We often need it to carry green recruits through a severe hangover. Some of us still serve it to our friends provided they are not alcoholic. But some of us think we should not serve liquor to anyone. We never argue this question. We feel that each family, in the light of their own circumstances, ought to decide for themselves.

pp. 102-103

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Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition Stories

This physician, one of the earliest members of A.A.'s first black group, tells of how freedom came as he worked among his people.

I knew I wasn't capable of keeping the bulk of the money myself, so I gave it to a white fellow who owned the bar I frequented.  He kept the money for me, but I worried him to death for it.  Finally, I broke the last one hundred dollar bill the Saturday before I left.  I got out of that bill one pair of shoes, and the rest of that money was blown.  I took the last of it to buy my railroad ticket.

p. 242

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Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Step Ten - "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it."

A spot-check inventory taken in the midst of such disturbances can be of very great help in quieting stormy emotions. Today's spot check finds its chief application to situations which arise in each day's march. The consideration of long-standing difficulties had better be postponed, when possible, to times deliberately set aside for that purpose. The quick inventory is aimed at our daily ups and downs, especially those where people or new events throw us off balance and tempt us to make mistakes.

pp. 90-91

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"All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to
receive help from other people."
-Alexis Carrel, Reflections on Life

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
--Helen Keller

"If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect
yourself."
--Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"A closed mouth gathers no feet."
--Anon.

We cannot think our way into sober living. We live our way into sober thinking.

We in AA don't carry the alcoholic; we carry the message.

Listening feeds the spirit.

When I am too busy to pray - I am just too busy.

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Father Leo's Daily Meditation

MADNESS

"Sanity is madness put to good use."
-- George Santayana

I heard the phrase "make the disease work for you". It made a great
deal of sense to me and still does. I am a recovering alcoholic. My
alcoholism is still within me and every day I take the necessary steps
to stay sober. My disease is that "mad" part of me that wants to
destroy my life, relationships and understanding of God. What I need
to do is accept my "madness" and turn it around so that it works for me.
My suffering is the key to my spiritual growth. My anger and manipulation
helps me to understand the imperfections of others. My powerlessness over
alcohol give me an understanding of humility that is based on reality.
The acceptance of my "madness" keeps me sane!

O God, give me the sanity to accept my imperfections so that I can
grow into the "best" that I can be.

***********************************************************

"From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is
overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
Psalms 61:2

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Psalms 141:3

Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.
John 14:1

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Daily Inspiration

When you meet God in prayer, everything becomes new. Lord, may I be humbly joyful in my faith.

Take less for granted and you will become very busy enjoying all that you have. Lord, thank you for my blessings and for all those that I am able to share them with.

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NA Just For Today

Something Valuable To Share

"A simple, honest message of recovery from addiction rings true."
Basic Text p. 50

You're in a meeting. The sharing has been going on for some time. One or two members have described their spiritual experiences in an especially meaningful way. Another has had us all rolling in the aisles with entertaining stories. And then the leader calls on you.., gulp. You shyly introduce yourself, apologetically stammer out a few lines, thank everyone for listening, and sit out the rest of the meeting in embarrassed silence. Sound familiar? Well, you're not alone.

We've all had times when we've felt that what we had to share wasn't spiritual enough, wasn't entertaining enough, wasn't something enough. But sharing is not a competitive sport. The meat of our meetings is identification and experience, something all of us have in abundance. When we share from our hearts the truth of our experience, other addicts feel they can trust us because they know we're just like them. When we simply share what's been effective in our lives, we can be sure that our message will be helpful to others.

Our sharing doesn't have to be either fancy or funny to ring true. Every addict working an honest program that brings meaningful recovery has something of immense value to share, something no one else can give: his or her own experience.

Just for today: I have something valuable to share. I will attend a meeting today and share my experience in recovery from addiction.

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You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Where is the yesterday that worried us so? --Joan Walsh Anglund
In the fairy tale The Last Dream of the Old Oak Tree, the oak tree felt sorry for the day-fly. The day-fly only lives for one day, and the tree was already 365 years old. But the day-fly was so enjoying his one day that the tree's sympathy puzzled him. The day-fly said to the tree, "You may have thousands of my days, but I have thousands of moments to be pleased and happy in."
And so the day-fly continued to dance in the sun and smell the clover and honeysuckle. His day ended as happily as he spent it, and he settled down on a blade of grass.
If all of us could approach our day the way the day-fly does, as though this were our only day, we would spend less time worrying about yesterday and tomorrow.
How can I show my gratitude for the gift of this day?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
There seemed not to be another living thing in all the world. There was something of bliss in this stillness, and something ominous too. It was the kind of stillness that beckons us to turn inward, toward the beginnings of our existence. --Paul Gruchow
We cannot create profound stillness. We can allow it. We can move into it. We can receive it. Many of us have been frightened by such a stillness because we are not familiar with the spiritual moment. We felt moved, awestruck, and we may have run to escape that inward moment. Some men are endlessly busy just keeping the stillness at a comfortable distance. Many recovering men have unwittingly thrown themselves into a workaholic life because they were frightened by their emerging spirits.
We can change this pattern by allowing ourselves a little quiet at a time. At first, it may be just a few minutes alone. We may be more able to meet the stillness outdoors, or we can learn to be still in the presence of someone else. The stillness is a moment of meditation. It is contact with God.
God, give me the courage to allow spiritual experiences to be part of my life.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
I realized a long time ago that a belief which does not spring from a conviction in the emotions is no belief at all. --Evelyn Scott
>From pillar to post we bounced, most of us not knowing what we actually believed about nearly any situation before getting to this program. Perhaps we believed what was most convenient at the time because of the people we were with. And maybe we jumped the fence quickly when in a new setting. Values were sometimes talked about but not defined, and certainly not adhered to.
It's difficult to develop a strong sense of self, to have a very secure self-image when the parameters offered by a value system are lacking. Our values define who we are. They offer us direction when making choices. They quietly demand that we behave responsibly. Living in concert with our values brings peace to our souls.
Gone are the days when we rode first one fence and then another, never knowing what side of any issue we honestly believed in. The program has offered us a plan for living, a plan that erases the many uncertainties, the inner turmoil of past years.


You are reading from the book The Language Of Letting Go.
Staying Out of the Middle
I don't want to get in the middle, but . . . is a sign that we may have just stepped into the middle.
We do not have to get caught in the middle of other peoples issues, problems, or communication. We can let others take responsibility for themselves in their relationships. We can let them work out their issues with each other.
Being a peacemaker does not mean we get in the middle. We are bearers of peace by staying peaceful ourselves and not harboring turmoil. We are peacemakers by not causing the extra chaos created when we get in the middle of other peoples affairs and relationships.
Don't get in the middle unless you want to be there.
Today, I will refuse to accept any invitations to jump in the middle of others affairs, issues, and relationships. I will trust others to work out their own affairs, including the ideas and feelings they want to communicate to each other.
Today will have a clarity about it that I can appreciate. I know who I am. I know what I believe. All I need do is act accordingly.


Today I dare to openly express my needs and find healthy ways to get them met. I like feeling good today. I like myself today.
--Ruth Fishel

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Journey to the Heart

Learn to Heal Yourself

Sometimes we trick ourselves. If we feel unhappy, troubled, or scared, we race toward what we think will make us feel better. In desperation, in fear, we grasp for something, anything to stop our pain. Finding that job. Making more money. Getting married. Having a relationship. If I get that one thing I need, then I’ll be happy. Then my pain will stop.

Sometimes it’s true that finding the solution to a problem improves the quality of our lives. Having enough money enables us to fix the furnace when it breaks. Having people in our lives we love and who love us can be an important part of our happiness. Having work to do that we enjoy and that we feel is worthwhile helps us feel good about ourselves.

But when we’re in pain– no matter what’s causing it– the way to heal that pain doesn’t come from outside of ourselves. External circumstances don’t make internal emotions disappear. Even if we get what we think we want, the painful emotion we haven’t had the strength or courage to face will still be there.

The way to heal pain, the only way, is to feel and release it. Your pain is your pain. Your fear, desperation, and resentments are yours, too. All these emotions belong to you. Feel them, learn from them, and let them go.

Walk courageously each step of the path on the journey to the heart. Emjoy when the universe sends you its gifts– a lover, some money, a good job. But know the ultimate key to happiness lies not in external things, but within you. Feel all your feelings. Learn to heal yourself.

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More Language Of Letting Go

Lighten up

The matter at hand is serious. It’s grave. We need to get serious about the relationship. We need to get serious about the task.

Maybe what we really need to do is learn to lighten up.

Nations rise and fall, heroes are born and die, the sun rises and sets, and you want me to take seriously the notion that arriving to church wearing the right clothes is going to make any difference at all.

What matters is what’s in our hearts.

“The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly,” G.K. Chesterton once wrote. Once you stop taking yourself so seriously and let go of the gravity of all that you do, you can learn to fly,too.

God, help me lighten up.

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Working with Space
Intuit Your Home’s Decor

by Madisyn Taylor

When decorating spaces in your home, allow the space to speak to you by being still and observing each room.


When we decide the time has come to change the look or feel of our personal spaces, it is the spaces themselves that can provide us with the most useful guidance. Working with a single room, an apartment, or an entire house allows us to unearth the innate potential of these spaces and also better understand how we want to relate to them. To be conscious of the possibilities of a space, we need to listen to, look at, and bond with that space in a deep and personal way. Just as no two people are alike, no two rooms, however similar, are identical. The more we know about the spaces we wish to change, the better equipped we are to make them both beautiful and functional.

Before you contemplate colors and layouts, spend some time in the rooms you plan to modify. Observe the way light moves through each space at different times of day. In the course of a week or so, note those times when you feel drawn to a particular space. You may naturally gravitate toward one room when you want to relax and toward another when you want to socialize. Also, remember that not all rooms have to be used as originally planed, for example a dining room may make a wonderful sitting area. As you make these observations, think about whether the spaces under consideration remind you of anything or bring certain thoughts to mind. Writing your thoughts down can make the process of examination simpler. The discoveries you make regarding the rooms in your home can help guide you as you choose color schemes, furniture layouts, and decorative styles, so that you bring out the natural qualities of each using your creativity and eye for detail. Using the cues you pick up, yo! u can design a beautiful room that is bright and exciting, or one that calms the soul and invites meditation.

By treating the layout and décor of your personal spaces in this mindful way, you can honor their natural rhythms while creating a cohesive and comfortable home through which energy can flow unencumbered. The design elements you subsequently choose will work together like the diverse instruments that come together to form a symphony orchestra. Each will resonate harmoniously with the next, ensuring that your home resounds with a lasting message of beauty, serenity, reassurance, and comfort. Published with permission from Daily OM

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A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

I know today that “stopping in fo9r a drink” will never again be — for me — simply killing a few minutes and leaving a luck on the air. In exchange for the first drink, what I’d plunk down now would be my bank account, my family, our home, or car, my job, my sanity, and probably my life. It’s too big a price, and too great a risk. Do you remember your last drunk?

Today I Pray

May I be strong in the knowledge that God’s spirit is with me at all times. May I learn to feel His presence. May I know that nothing is hidden from Him. Unlike the world which approves or disapproves of my outward behavior, God sees all that I do, think or feel. If I seek to do His will, I can always count on His reward for me — peace of mind.

Today I Will Remember

God Knows all.

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One More Day

Faith is a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves.
– Eric Hoffer

Busy! Busy! Busy! We might feel as though we’re living our lives on a treadmill — always on the go, helping, and giving our time to people and causes.

Service and volunteerism can be wonderful ways to help, but only if they augment an already full life. We truly are living on a treadmill if our involvement is an escape from facing our inner-most thought and fears. We are getting nowhere if our outside activities are all we have to wake up for each morning.

We begin to change when we honestly face our greatest fears. We can search our personalities to find our vulnerable points and then strive to correct what defects we can. It is then that we regain faith in ourselves and in our abilities.

Once I regain faith in myself I can open my heart to help others.

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Food For Thought

Strength

In the past, we relied on our own strength to get us where we thought we wanted to go. We were afraid, since deep down we knew how weak and undependable our own strength really was.

When we turn our lives over, we no longer have to go it alone. We have tapped the limitless reservoir of strength provided by our Higher Power, and when we are operating under His guidance we feel confident. What we could not do ourselves can be done when we admit our weakness and ask for help.

Through working the OA program and through closer contact with our Higher Power, we may find that we are going in a new direction. The things we thought we wanted may turn out to be unnecessary, and we may have new goals. Wherever our journey leads, we will have the strength we need, since it does not come from ourselves but from a Power greater than ourselves.

I need Your strength, Lord.

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One Day At A Time

Commitment

Shallow men believe in luck ~
Strong men believe in cause and effect.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Abstinence did not happen for me until I made a commitment to it. I realized that I would have abstinence until something was a bit too uncomfortable for me to face or feel. Then I would have a slip. So it became a game for me. Was this event or circumstance enough to justify another slip? Sure, why not? That's the nature of the disease. Everything and anything was an excuse to eat.
It wasn't until I made a commitment to abstinence that I was forced to find my solutions in the Twelve Steps and really let go of my addiction. I'm grateful to my Higher Power that I hit the bottom I did. By accepting the truth about myself and my food addiction, I am now free to live in the solution.

One Day at a Time . . .
I will renew my commitment by receiving the gift of abstinence and practicing my program to the best of my ability.
Christine S.

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AA 'Big Book' - Quote

Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic. Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn't done so yet. - Pg. 31 - More About Alcoholism

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

Nothing comes easy for us right now. A lot of energy goes into just staying put and accepting this new way of life. We say that when the going gets tough, we hang tough! We know that it will pass, we make that promise to you. But it will be in God's time, not yours.

Let me believe in myself, in this program, and in You, my Spiritual Source.

Looking Toward What is Good

I am a creative being. I have the power of reason, the ability to think, hope and dream. I can envision my life not only as it is, but as I might wish it to be. I can then think through the steps I might need to become more of who I am. I have the power to think my way into a happy point of view, to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. My mind can be my greatest enemy or my greatest ally. It depends on how I choose to use it.

I hold a beautiful vision of life.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

Grateful addicts don't drink and drug and drinking and drugging addicts aren't grateful.

My gratitude is not the word but my desire to say the word. My desire to say the word is a corner stone of my recovery.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

Is it odd or is it God?

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I dare to openly express my needs and find healthy ways to get them met. I like feeling good today. I like myself today.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

My sponsor says 'Mark the places where you find God and go there often.' AA meetings are a place where I find God - I think that the power of God is in the group. - Chris C.

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AA Thought for the Day

March 19

Why AA?
Wouldn't you rather recognize you have a health condition which can be successfully treated,
than spend a lot of time miserably wondering about what's wrong with you?
We have found this is a better-looking, and better-feeling picture of ourselves
than the old gloomy selves we used to see. It is truer, too. We know.
The proof of it is in the way we feel, act, and think -- now.
- Living Sober, p. 10

Thought to Ponder . . .
Within our wonderful new world, we have found freedom from our fatal malady.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Always Alive.

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

Release
"Who can render an account of all the miseries that have once been ours, and who can estimate the release and joy
that the later years have brought to us? Who could possibly tell the vast consequences of what God's work through AA
had already set in motion?
"Bill W., Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pp. 44-5
As Bill Sees It, p. 163

Thought to Consider . . .
"I have been given a quiet place in bright sunshine.
"Bill W., Box 1980: The AA Grapevine, Jan. 1958.
The Language of the Heart, p. 238

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
PUSH
Pray Until Something Happens

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

Power
>From "Listening to the Wind":
"Alcohol was only a symptom of much deeper problems of dishonesty and denial. Now it was a matter of coming to
grips with a Power greater than myself. That was very hard for me. How could all these white people even begin to think
they could understand me? So they brought a sober Indian woman up to work with me for a day. That was a very
powerful day. That Indian woman cut me no slack at all. I will never forget her. She convinced me I was not unique. She
said these white folks were the best thing that ever happened to me.
"Where would you be without them?" she asked. "What are the alternatives? You got any better ideas for yourself? How
many Indians do you know who are going to help you sober up?" At the time, I couldn't think of any. I surrendered behind
the tears of no answers and decided to do it their way. I found the Power greater than myself to be the magic above the
heads of the people in the meetings. I chose to call that magic Great Spirit."
2001 AAWS, Inc., Fourth Edition; Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 467

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

"New people are the lifeblood of AA. I am eternally grateful to them. By extension I am, therefore, grateful to Tradition
Three for making it possible for all who want what we have to come to AA."
Los Gatos, Calif., February 1993
"A Part of the Whole"
AA Grapevine

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

Remember that we deal with alcohol, cunning, baffling, powerful!
Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all
power that One is God. May you find Him now!"
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, How It Works, Page 58~

"Though we work out our solution on the spiritual as well as an
altruistic plane, we favor hospitalization for the alcoholic who is
very jittery or befogged. More often than not, it is imperative that
a man's brain be cleared before he is approached, as he has then
a better chance of understanding and accepting what we have to offer."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Doctor's Opinion, pg. xxvi~

Then it is explained that the other Steps of the A.A. program can be practiced with Success only when Step Three is
given a determined and persistent trial.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 40

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

Clearing a Channel
During the day, we can pause where situations must be met and decisions made, and renew the simple request 'Thy will, not mine, be done.'
If at these points our emotional disturbances happens to be great, we will more surely keep our balance provided we remember, and repeat to ourselves, a particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to us in our reading or meditations. Just saying it over and over will often enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of all -- our search for God's will, not our own, in the moment of stress. TWELVE AND TWELVE, PP. 102-103

Prayer For The Day: Father, help us to see and love in others what you see and love in them. Amen.