Rigorous Honesty
Who wishes to be rigorously honest and tolerant? Who wants to confess his faults to another and make restitution for harm done? Who cares anything about a Higher Power, let alone meditation and prayer? Who wants to sacrifice time and energy in trying to carry A.A.’s message to the next sufferer?
No, the average alcoholic, self–centered in the extreme, doesn’t care for this prospect – unless he has to do these things in order to stay alive himself.

I am an alcoholic. If I drink I will die. My, what power, energy, and emotion this simple statement generates in me! But it’s really all I need to know for today. Am I willing to stay alive today? Am I willing to stay sober today? Am I willing to ask for help and am I willing to be a help to another suffering alcoholic today? Have I discovered the fatal nature of my situation? What must I do, today, to stay sober?

Twenty–Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought for The Day
As we became alcoholics, the bad effects of drinking came more and more to outweigh the good effects. But the strange part of it is that, no matter what drinking did to us, loss of our health, our jobs, our money and our homes, we still stuck to it and depended on it. Our dependence on drinking became an obsession. In A.A., we find a new outlook on life. We learn how to change from alcoholic thinking to sober thinking. And we find out that we can no longer depend on drinking for anything. We depend on a Higher Power instead. Have I entirely given up that dependence on drinking?

Meditation for The Day
I will try to keep my life calm and unruffled. This is my great task, to find peace and acquire serenity. I must not harbour disturbing thoughts. No matter what fears, worries and resentments I may have, I must try to think of constructive things, until calmness comes. Only when I am calm can I act as a channel for God’s spirit.

Prayer for The Day
I pray that I may build up instead of tearing down. I pray that I may be constructive and not destructive.

Walk in Dry Places
Pray for Potatoes–Faith and Works
One of the sayings heard at AA meetings is “Pray for potatoes but grab a hoe.” This says that both prayer and action are needed to get favourable results in our lives.

But recovering alcoholics do not really need to be told to “Grab a hoe.” One of our problems is that we often worked too hard for certain ends, only to lose out in the long run. What we really need to know is that our prayers work with our actions to bring about good results. The saying should be “Pray for potatoes and grab a hoe.” Faith and actions are both needed.

In the strong belief that God is working through us, we can do our own work with confidence and gratitude. Our own efforts are strengthened when we know that we are not alone. We may even receive inspiration and new understanding as we continue on this path. Changes in our lives will turn out to be positive and beneficial if we remind ourselves that God is in charge of the process.

Under the right conditions, potatoes grow in a miraculous way. Other projects will also come to maturity in our lives under God’s direction.

I will be grateful for the opportunity to work today. Moreover, I will know that a Higher Power is living and working in my life.