Prayers & Meditations

[majestyjo]

HE CHOSE YOUR HEART

He could have chosen anywhere

Throughout this world to live

He could have chosen any heart

With the many gifts He's given.

He could have come to anyone

Of any color, size or form

He could have come as anyone

But He came as a new-born.

He chose the humble nature

Of a blessed little babe

As He began His mission

Many troubled souls to save.

He walked upon this earth 

we share

Touching people near and far

And for His final resting place

He thoughtfully chose 

YOUR heart.

So when you feel troubled

Or perhaps you are in pain

In silence God will bless You

If you let Him lead the way

[majestyjo]

Be There!

"We can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

2 Corinthians 1:4 NIV

The loving thing we can do when someone is in pain is to share the pain - to "be there," even when we've nothing to offer except our presence, even when being there is painful to ourselves. Paul says that God "comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."


One of the fastest and surest routes to spiritual health is taking the focus off ourselves and helping others. In fact we were born with a natural empathy for those who are hurting. Ever notice that babies in a nursery start crying when other infants cry?

Compassion, which literally means "to suffer with," is the ability to be moved by the troubles of others. When we reach out from our own pain to help others it comes back to us in healing, fulfillment and a sense of worth.

Jack Canfield says, "You take it all in. You let the pain touch your heart and you turn it into compassion. What a splendid way to go through life, bringing blessing to all we touch." One cancer patient said, "What helps me most is just to have somebody try and understand what I'm feeling." Another said, "Just sit here and let me hold your hand. It helps when someone's close."

Today ask God to make you more sensitive to the needs and hurts of those around you. And when He answers your prayer and puts someone into your path, don't be too busy to care. In other words, "be there!"

짤Bob Gass

[majestyjo]

God Forgive Me When I Whine



Today upon a bus I saw a lovely girl with golden hair. I envied her - she seemed so gay - and wished I were as fair.

But suddenly she rose to leave. I saw her hobble down the isle, she had only one leg and wore a crutch, but as she passed, a smile…

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I have two legs, the world is mine.

I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold them had such charm. I stopped to talk to him, he seemed so glad - if I was late could do no harm. As I left he said to me, “I thank-you, you had been so kind. It’s nice to talk to folks like you, you see,” he said, “I am Blind.”

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I have two eyes, the world is mine.

Later while walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue. He stood and watched the others play, he did not know what to do. I stopped a moment and said, “Why don’t you join the others, dear?” He looked ahead without a word and then I knew, he couldn't hear.

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I have two ears, the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I go, with eyes to see the sun-set glow, with ears to hear what I would know.

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I am blessed indeed, the world is mine!

-unknown

[majestyjo]

God Found Me

I believe that God found me, more than I found Him. It was similar to watching a child walk; he falls down again and again, but it is better not to try to help him until he comes to realize that he cannot do it alone---

and extends his hand. I had gotten myself into a position where I had no other place to turn; I was at a point of almost complete despair. Then, and only then, did I honestly and simply ask God to help me. He came to me instantly, and I could feel his presence,even as I do this moment.

Nashville, Tennessee

"Came To Believe" page 24 © Alcoholics Anonymous World Services

Fifteenth printing 1989

God didn't go away, I did. But for His Grace, I would not be here today.

[majestyjo]

There would be no accumulation of strength inside if the choices that you make did not require discipline and intention.

- Gary Zukav

Burdens Give Us Wings

An old legend relates that long ago God had a great many burdens which He wished to have carried from one place to another on earth, so He asked the animals to lend a hand. But all of them began to make excuses for not helping: the elephant was too dignified; the lion, too
proud; and so on.

Finally the birds came to God and said, "If you will tie the burdens into small bundles, we'll be glad to carry them for You. We are small but we would like to help."

So God fastened upon the back of each one a small bundle, and they all set out walking across the plain to their destination. They sang as they went, and did not seem to feel the weight of their burdens at all.

Every day the burdens seemed lighter and lighter, until the loads seem to be lifting the birds, instead of the birds carrying the burdens.

When they arrived at their destination, they discovered that when they removed their loads, there were wings in their place, wings which enabled them to fly to the sky and the tree tops.

They had learned how to carry their burdens, and their loads had become wings to carry them nearer to God.

Burdens we carry for others may become wings of the spirit, to lift us into happiness such as we have never known.

Author Unknown

[majestyjo]

Soul Perspectives

On...
Keeping Score

Generosity is a soul prompted spontaneous response. It is an attitude, a way of being present, an inner response that is imbued with love. There is some distance though between the generosity response within and the actions we perform to reflect that generosity. The actions are carried out by the personality, which may or may not be totally aligned with the loving impetus from within.

When we focus on the actions we perform, rather than on the unconditional love that inspired them initially, we typically keep score. This means that we account for what we do for others and expect something in return from them. When this is the case what started out as generosity degenerates into self-serving acts disguised as generosity. We sometimes call this giving with strings attached. When we do this we usually deny that we are doing it because we do not want to admit to our selfishness.

When we give we might not even expect anything in return. This is when personality is sufficiently aligned with soul. This can be maintained for some period of time. But then comes a time when the personality is not feeling loved, appreciated or valued and instead of doing the inner work necessary to change this condition we, in our victim state, begin to demand repayment from others to whom we have been generous. ‘Look at all I have done for you.’ ‘Why have you abandoned me?’ ‘You don’t love me anymore.’ ‘You owe me.’ ‘You don’t deserve my generosity.’ These, and many other feelings and thoughts begin to surface. They might be expressed or not.

These expressions have the effect of alienating the one to whom they are expressed or about whom they are felt because they imply a demand for a particular kind of response. They try to create guilt in the other and are therefore manipulative.
Whenever we feel obligated to respond to someone else because of guilt or the idea that we owe them something we are keeping score. This is purely a personality game to keep things even. How generous it is depends on the extent of unconditional love and freedom there is in one’s response, and the lack of expectations.

Whenever we feel that giving is a burden then we need to question our motivation because we are feeling resistance within ourself. Soul expression as generosity is not felt as burdensome, but instead feels like a privilege and gives us joy.

Exercises:
1. Who do you feel owes you? Why?
2. Who do you feel you owe? Why?
3. Examine your motivations in the relationships where you feel there is an unpaid debt. Resolve to change your motivations so that you and others in your relationships are freer to give and receive as each chooses.

As they say in AA, "You have to give it away in order to keep it."  If you don't share and keep everything to yourself, it slips away.

Attachments:

[majestyjo]

SOUL'S PERSPECTIVE

On...
The Two Selves

Even though the majority of people express themselves through their personalities with some degree of soul influence, it can be useful to contrast these two aspects of our identity. In this way we learn to discriminate between them, know when our expression is dominated by one or the other, and are more able then to choose which influence to increase and which to decrease.

Even though you might normally be a beautiful blend of these two levels of identity, when you are most stressed, in fear or not centred you will be clearly dominated by ego or personality. Everyone has the potential to be dominated by ego at any time. Our state at any given time is always some degree of both personality and soul. Self-awareness enables us to be aware of this and then to create greater integration between the two. That is the path of evolution of consciousness.

Whenever anything happens that we do not like, are challenged, or that is unexpected, we always have two responses within ourselves. These responses begin as two perspectives.

a.) The one is a subconscious perspective that arises from our conditioned ego. This is typically a perspective that says something is wrong or bad. Fear is inevitably aroused. What follows might be defensiveness, criticism, aggression, anger, depression or a number of other reactions that reveal a lack of acceptance and a desire to reject or deny.

b.) The other response arises from soul within and is usually more subtle, and therefore we are often not even aware that it exists. But it is always there. It tells us things like: this is part of a bigger plan, this is a challenge that you can handle and learn from, this is an opportunity to change your life for the better, this is a result of past karma that you can now heal, this is a step to expand your consciousness to become more understanding, loving or empowering.

Since the subconscious response is the one that initially usually prevails, you can always stop it by focusing on the other possible responses. The sooner you do that, the easier it will likely be. The subconscious response typically prompts us to take some kind of action, which might be a useful thing to do. The other response requires us to reflect and try to gain some understanding. And it usually necessitates a letting go and allowing the higher intelligence or plan of our life to unfold. The ideal is to blend the two so that appropriate action follows the deeper understanding of what it is all about.

Exercises:
Recall a situation that recently occurred. Examine your response to it, and notice the degree of or presence of the egoic response and soul response. If there was a significant ego reaction, then reflect now on what the soul response would possibly be. Do this exercise regularly until it becomes habitual in order to become more soul-centered in your way of handling life’s challenges.

Sounds like battling ourselves instead of surrendering to a Higher Power.  As the program says, "EGO - Easing God Out!"

Attachments:

[majestyjo]

Cards of Faith:

[majestyjo]

Be joyful in hope patient in affliction faithful in prayer.

One of the most powerful catalyst in anyones life is the hope that they have in life, and the belief that if they keep their hope at a high level, even in times that life is testing them, that they will be blessed enough to go places in life that they could have never foresaw. A lot of us dont have a clear vision of where we are going in life, but as long as there is some sort of vision, a lot of motivation in their heart, and a flame of hope inside of them selves that will never go out, chances are they will achieve great things, and will go very far in their lives.

[majestyjo]

[majestyjo]

Once an unhappy young man came to an old master and told he had a very sad life and asked for a solution.

The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it.

“How does it taste?” – the Master asked.

“Terrible.” – spat the apprentice.

The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake.

The old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”

As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the Master asked, “How does it taste?”

“Good!” – remarked the apprentice.

“Do you taste the salt?” – asked the Master.

“No.” – said the young man.

The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the ‘pain’ depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

[majestyjo]

"Thank you, home, for allowing me to live within your walls. Thank you for giving me shelter, warmth, and security. Thank you for allowing me to live my life in your womb, for staying strong and sturdy, for supporting me, and for your beauty.

Thank you, earth, for the land that I live on and for allowing me to steward life with you. Thank you for allowing me to walk upon your soil, cultivate you, and live in partnership with you. Thank you for supporting my home and my family.

Thank you, plants, minerals, and animals that dwell on the land that I steward. Thank you for allowing me to experience your beauty, share in your wonderment of life, and for the honor of living with all of you on this earth. Thank you for the wisdom and joy you bring to humanity.

I honor you."

[majestyjo]

[majestyjo]

[majestyjo]

[majestyjo]

Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.
-Alexander Smith

One reason our program has such power to change lives is that it is based on the principle of sharing between people with similar problem and experiences. We are able to help each other when nothing else seems to work because we can identify with one another.We recognize ourselves in each other, making it easier to love one another

God made us all equal. It is hard for us to believe this until we see others who seem so different, but are really just like us. The knowledge that we are essentially alike -that God gave each of us the same feelings, the same inner needs -comforts us and gives us confidence. That's why it's important that we share ourselves by revealing our feelings.

I will share my feelings with others today and delight in the recognition it brings.

In God's Care

PRAYER FOR TODAY: I pray that I may recognize the goodness I see in others. May I acknowledge and affirm the source is reflected from within me.

From my site The Five As.

[majestyjo]

DON’T QUIT

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low, and debts are high,
And you want to smile, but have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worse, that you must not quit.

Author Unknown

[majestyjo]

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

[majestyjo]

Great Spirit


Whose voice I hear in the winds
whose breath give life to all the world, hear me
I am small and weak, I need your strength and wisdom
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes 
ever behold the red and purple sunset
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice
Make me wise so that I may understand the things 
you have taught my people
Let me learn the lesson you have hidden in every leaf and rock
I seek strengthnot to be greater than my brother
but to fight my greatest enemy --- myself
Make me always ready to come to you with clean
hands and straight eyes
So when life fades the fading sunset
my spirit may come to you without shame.

Traditional Native American Prayer

[majestyjo]

The Mystery

People, please listen, and hear what I say
For although there are barriers that hinder the way
There is a solution to the plight that you feel
An answer to the anger, the pain, and the fear

For I was once lost in the depth of despair
With no one to turn to, and no one to care
Filled with pain, humiliation and shame
Isolated, confused, frightened - insane
Caught in a web of self-doubt and deceit
Fooling myself with expectations to meet
Nurturing, caring, fulfilling each need
Of everyone, anyone, but least of all, me

Into oblivion - a way to escape
The bottle,-the answer-oh what a mistake
Further and further to hell I did slide
Until only a ghost of myself did survive

Now, what happened next is a mystery, unsolved to this day
For something or someone silently showed me the way
A way to be free from the shackles of drink
To be able to feel; to be able to think

And gave me a guideline-so simple, so true
Of honesty, openness, and willingness to
Look into yourself and accept what you see
A genuine HERO just waiting to be free

So just open your heart, your mind, and your soul
To a life of sobriety, to shape and to mould
Fore there by the grace of God, you will find
Acceptance, Serenity, and true Peach of Mind.

- Lois Stargratt



I was fortunate to be given some of her work in early recovery. I have more, and I think some of them are already posted, but always going back to affirm that I am on track.

More on giving and receiving. Look at your body language. Are you arms and legs crossed? Where is your mind when someone else is sharing?