WHERE ALL ROADS SHOULD LEAD TO – “At the moment we are trying to put our lives in order. But this is not an end in itself.” Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to [our H.P.] and the people about us.” (12 & 12, p. 80)
“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” – Arthur Ashe (1943 – 1993) Afro-American Tennis Champion & Social Activist
Acting Upon our Spiritual Principals- “To a degree, he has done this when taking a moral inventory, but now the time has come when he ought to redouble his efforts to see how many people he has hurt and in what ways.” (12 & 12, p. 77)
“A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case, he is justly accountable to them for the injury.” John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873) British economist/philosopher
THE PRECIOUS MOMENTS THAT TEACH – “Since defective relations with other human beings have nearly always been the immediate cause of our woes … no field of investigation could yield more satisfying and valuable rewards than this one.” (12 & 12, p. 80)“Success is meaningless if you can’t sleep at night because of harsh things said, petty secrets sharpened against hard and stony regret, just waiting to be plunged into the soft underbelly of a ‘friendship.’ ” – Margaret Cho (1968 – ) Korean-American actor/comedian
WE DIVE WITHIN TO FEED THE HIGHER SELF – “As we have seen, self-searching is the means by which we bring new vision, action, and grace to bear upon the dark and negative side of our natures.” “We will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us, to flower and to grow.” (12 & 12, p. 52)
“He who learns must suffer, and, even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.” – Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC) Greek tragic dramatist
“When you burn a bridge sometimes — it doesn’t matter if it’s a significant player on a team, especially a significant player like Kobe — you might say let bygones be bygones, (but) there’s always that underlying, ‘Oh, you talked about me.’ Me personally, I don’t think it’ll work out. But who knows? Crazier things have happened.” – Robert Horry (1970 – ) U.S. Laker star basketball player
LETTING THE SUNSHINE IN – “This improved perception of humility starts another revolutionary change in our outlook. Our eyes begin to open to the immense values which have come straight out of painful ego-puncturing.” (12 & 12, p. 52)
“Tis better to be lowly born, And range with humble livers in content, Than to be perked up in a glistering grief. And wear a golden sorrow.”
– William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616), UK, “King Henry VIII”, Act 2 scene 3
What’s the scariest thing about your own ego you’ve discovered, lately?
The Arrogant Swans:
In a far away kingdom, there was a river. This river was home to many golden swans. The swans spent most of their time on the banks of the river. Every six months, the swans would leave a golden feather as a fee for using the lake. The soldiers of the kingdom would collect the feathers and deposit them in the royal treasury.
One day, a homeless bird saw the river. “The water in this river seems so cool and soothing. I will make my home here,” thought the bird.
As soon as the bird settled down near the river, the golden swans noticed her. They came shouting. “This river belongs to us. We pay a golden feather to the King to use this river. You can not live here.”
“I am homeless, brothers. I too will pay the rent. Please give me shelter,” the bird pleaded. “How will you pay the rent? You do not have golden feathers,” said the swans laughing. They further added, “Stop dreaming and leave once.” The humble bird pleaded many times. But the arrogant swans drove the bird away.
“I will teach them a lesson!”
decided the humiliated bird.
She went to the King and said, “O King! The swans in your river are impolite and unkind. I begged for shelter but they said that they had purchased the river with golden feathers.”
The King was angry with the arrogant swans for having insulted the homeless bird. He ordered his soldiers to bring the arrogant swans to his court. In no time, all the golden swans were brought to the King’s court.
“Do you think the royal treasury depends upon your golden feathers? You can not decide who lives by the river. Leave the river at once or you all will be beheaded!” shouted the King.
The swans shivered with fear on hearing the King. They flew away never to return. The bird built her home near the river and lived there happily forever. The bird gave shelter to all other birds in the river.
LITTLE THINGS LIKE ASKING FOR HELP – “Humbly asking for the removal of our shortcomings means we are giving complete license to that loving Power to work in our lives, believing that God’s [or your H.P.’s] wisdom far exceeds our own.” “We ask for help because we cannot do it alone.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 49)
“Do little things now; so big things shall come to thee by and by asking to be done.”
What little things have you done to aid in the removal of your own shortcomings?
1 Kings 17:13 – 14
“Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.
For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’”
WELCOME HOME – “Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends – this is an experience you must not miss.” (The Big Book, p. 89)
“The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.” Mark Twain (1835 – 1910) U.S. novelist/satirist
What are the things that make you feel like you belong in your own spiritual community, lately?
Sonnet 29
by Wm. Shakespear
When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
