Daily Reflection

MARCH 24
ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE
Man is supposed to think, and act He wasn't made in God's
image to be an automaton.
AS BILL SEES IT, p. 55
Before I joined A.A., I often did not think, and reacted to
people and situations. When not reacting I acted in a
mechanical fashion. After joining A. A., I started seeking
daily guidance from a Power greater than myself, and
learning to listen for that guidance. Then I began to make
decisions and act on them, rather than react to them. The
results have been constructive; I no longer allow others to
make decisions for me and then criticize me for it.
Today—and every day—with a heart full of gratitude,
and a desire for God's will to be done through me, my life
is worth sharing, especially with my fellow alcoholics!
Above all, if I do not make a religion out of anything, even
A.A., then I can be an open channel for God's expression.

Daily Reflection

MARCH 23
. . . AND NO MORE RESERVATIONS
We have seen the truth again and again: "Once an alcoholic,
always an alcoholic.". . . If we are planning to stop
drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any
lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.
. . . To be gravely affected, one does not necessarily have
to drink a long time nor take the quantities some of us have.
This is particularly true of women. Potential female alcoholics
often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond
recall in a few years.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 33
These words are underlined in my book. They are true for
men and women alcoholics. On many occasions I've turned
to this page and reflected on this passage. I need never fool
myself by recalling my sometimes differing drinking
patterns, or by believing I am "cured." I like to think that, if
sobriety is God's gift to me, then my sober life is my gift to
God. I hope God is as happy with His gift as I am with
mine.

Daily Reflection

MARCH 22
NO MORE STRUGGLE. . .
And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone— even
alcohol.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84
When A.A. found me, I thought I was in for a struggle, and
that A.A. might provide the strength I needed to beat
alcohol. Victorious in that fight, who knows what other
battles I could win. I would need to be strong, though. All
my previous experience with life proved that. Today I do
not have to struggle or exert my will. If I take those Twelve
Steps and let my Higher Power do the real work, my
alcohol problem disappears all by itself. My living
problems also cease to be struggles. I just have to ask
whether acceptance—or change—is required. It is not my
will, but His, that needs doing.

Daily Reflection

MARCH 21
MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING
Fear . . . of economic insecurity will leave us.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84
Having fear reduced or eliminated and having economic
circumstances improve, are two different things. When I
was new in A.A., I had those two ideas confused. I thought
fear would leave me only when I started making money.
However, another line from the Big Book jumped off the
page one day when I was chewing on my financial
difficulties: "For us, material well-being always followed
spiritual progress; it never preceded." (p. 127). I suddenly
understood that this promise was a guarantee. I saw that it
put priorities in the correct order, that spiritual progress
would diminish that terrible fear of being destitute, just as it
diminished many other fears.
Today I try to use the talents God gave me to benefit
others. I've found that is what others valued all along. I try
to remember that I no longer work for myself. I only get the
use of the wealth God created, I never have "owned" it. My
life's purpose is much clearer when I just work to help, not
to possess.

Daily Reflection

MARCH 20
LOVE AND TOLERANCE
Love and tolerance of others is our code.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84
I have found that I have to forgive others in all situations to
maintain any real spiritual progress. The vital importance
of forgiving may not be obvious to me at first sight, but my
studies tell me that every great spiritual teacher has insisted
strongly upon it.
I must forgive injuries, not just in words, or as a matter
of form, but in my heart. I do this not for the other persons'
sake, but for my own sake. Resentment, anger, or a desire
to see someone punished, are things that rot my soul. Such
things fasten my troubles to me with chains. They tie me to
other problems that have nothing to do with my original
problem.

Daily Reflection

MARCH 19
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.

Daily Reflection

MARCH 18
REAL INDEPENDENCE
The more we become willing to depend upon a Higher
Power, the more independent we actually are.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 36
I start with a little willingness to trust God and He causes
that willingness to grow. The more willingness I have, the
more trust I gain, and the more trust I gain, the more
willingness I have. My dependence on God grows as my
trust in Him grows. Before I became willing, I depended on
myself for all my needs and I was restricted by my incompleteness.
Through my willingness to depend upon my
Higher Power, whom I choose to call God, all my needs are
provided for by Someone Who knows me better than I
know myself—even the needs I may not realize, as well as
the ones yet to come. Only Someone Who knows me that
well could bring me to be myself and to help me fill the
need in someone else that only I am meant to fill. There
never will be another exactly like me. And that is real
independence.

Daily Reflection

MARCH 17
MYSTERIOUS WAYS
. . . out of every season of grief or suffering when the hand
of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living
were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered,
and that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God
does "move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform."
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 105
After losing my career, family and health, I remained
unconvinced that my way of life needed a second look. My
drinking and other drug use were killing me, but I had never
met a recovering person or an A.A. member. I thought I was
destined to die alone and that I deserved it. At the peak of
my despair, my infant son became critically ill with a rare
disease. Doctors' efforts to help him proved useless. I
redoubled my efforts to block my feelings, but now the
alcohol had stopped working. I was left staring into God's
eyes, begging for help. My introduction to A.A. came
within days, through an odd series of coincidences, and I
have remained sober ever since. My son lived and his
disease is in remission. The entire episode convinced me of
my powerlessness and the unmanageability of my life.
Today my son and I thank God for His intervention.

Daily Reflection

MARCH 16
AS WE UNDERSTAND HIM
My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. . . .
"Why don't you choose your own conception of God?"
That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual
mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many
years I stood in the sunlight at last. It was only a matter of
being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself.
Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 12
I remember the times I looked up into the sky and reflected
on who started it all, and how. When I came to A.A., an
understanding of some description of the spiritual
dimension became a necessary adjunct to a stable sobriety.
After reading a variety of versions, including the scientific,
of a great explosion, I went for simplicity and made the
God of my understanding the Great Power that made the
explosion possible. With the vastness of the universe under
His command, He would, no doubt, be able to guide my
thinking and actions if I was prepared to accept His
guidance. But I could not expect help if I turned my back
on that help and went my own way. I became willing to
believe and I have had 26 years of stable and satisfying

Daily Reflection

MARCH 15
THE GOD IDEA
When we saw others solve their problems by a simple
reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop
doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the
God idea did.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 52
Like a blind man gradually being restored to sight, I slowly
groped my way to the Third Step. Having realized that only
a Power greater than myself could rescue me from the
hopeless abyss I was in, I knew that this was a Power that I
had to grasp, and that it would be my anchor in the midst of
a sea of woes. Even though my faith at that time was minuscule,
it was big enough to make me see that it was time
for me to discard my reliance on my prideful ego and
replace it with the steadying strength that could only come
from a Power far greater than myself.

Daily Reflection

MARCH 14
THE KEYSTONE
He is the Father, and we are His children. Most good ideas
are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new
and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 62
A keystone is the wedge-shaped piece at the highest part of
an arch that locks the other pieces in place. The "other
pieces" are Steps One, Two, and Four through Twelve. In
one sense this sounds like Step Three is the most important
Step, that the other eleven depend on the third for support.
In reality however, Step Three is just one of twelve. It is the
keystone, but without eleven other stones to build the base
and arms, keystone or not, there will be no arch. Through
daily working of all Twelve Steps, I find that triumphant
arch waiting for me to pass through to another day of
freedom.

Daily Reflection

MARCH 13
A WORLD OF THE SPIRIT
We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is
to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an
overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 84
The word "entered" . . . and the phrase "entered into the
world of the Spirit" are very significant. They imply action,
a beginning, getting into, a prerequisite to maintaining my
spiritual growth, the "Spirit" being the immaterial part of
me. Barriers to my spiritual growth are self-centeredness
and a materialistic focus on worldly things. Spirituality
means devotion to spiritual instead of worldly things, it
means obedience to God's will for me. I understand
spiritual things to be: unconditional love, joy, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control and humility.
Any time I allow selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and
fear to be a part of me, I block out spiritual things. As I
maintain my sobriety, growing spiritually becomes a
lifelong process. My goal is spiritual growth, accepting that
I'll never have spiritual perfection.