Pater Noster

http://m.youtube.com/watch?sns=fb&v=1hWE52zsOaA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D1hWE52zsOaA%26sns%3Dfb

Into Christmas, He comes

The LORD has come! He has come into the celebration of His birth; has come into the frantic, the frenzied, the joys, the pains, the relationships that have need of reconciliation. He has come into the hearts of those that are mourning; those who have suffered loss, the death or absence of a loved one. He has come to fill the gaps in our less than perfect relationships; into our misunderstandings..., our grieves and our sorrows. He has come into the poignant moments of children's joy and the knowledge of how rich these moments are. He has come to fill in all the deficits of our inability to get it all right. He comes as the mortar that upholds all things by the words of His power. He comes to refresh us and strengthen us and renew us. He comes to fulfill us and cleanse us from the stain of our fallen humanity; he forgives us all.
And in Him we are empowered to forgive all. This is the essence of Christmas. This is why He comes! What a marvelous mystery.

It's the truth, anyhow

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December 8

Calling a defect a defect

“When we see how our defects exist in our lives and accept them, we can let go of them and get on with our new life.” Basic Text, p. 35 ––––=–––– Sometimes our readiness to have our character defects removed depends on what we call them.  If misnaming our defects makes them seem less “defective,” we may be unable to see the damage they cause.  And if they seem to be causing no harm, why would we ever ask our Higher Power to remove them from our lives? Take “people pleasing,” for example.  Doesn’t really sound all that bad, does it?  It just means we’re nice to people, right?  Not quite.  To put it bluntly, it means we’re dishonest and manipulative.  We lie about our feelings, our beliefs, and our needs, trying to soothe others into compliance with our wishes. Or perhaps we think we’re “easygoing.”  But does “easygoing” mean we ignore our housework, avoid confrontations, and stay put in a comfortable rut?  Then a better name for it would be “laziness,” or “procrastination,” or “fear.” Many of us have trouble identifying our character defects.  If this is the case for us, we can talk with our sponsor or our NA friends.  We clearly and honestly describe our behavior to them and ask for their help in identifying our defects.  As time passes, we’ll become progressively better able to identify our own character defects, calling them by their true names. ––––=–––– Just for today:  I will call my defects by their true names.  If I have trouble doing this, I will ask my sponsor for help.

 

Copyright © 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

New Memories

Daily Meditation for Wednesday 04th of December 2013 

The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. "
1 Corinthians 11:24

People in the recovery process are people with painful memories. We remember our losses. We remember our sins. We remember the sins which have been committed against us. It is part of the hard work of recovery to face these memories, to grieve them and to come to terms with them. But sometimes the painful memories become so powerful that it seems like nothing will be able to compete with them for our attention. The memory of pain consumes us. In times like this we need a powerful new memory that can challenge the dominance of our painful memories.

Jesus invites us to receive a new and startling memory. "Remember me," Jesus says, "Eat the bread and drink the wine and remember that I gave my life for you. I gave my life because I love you. Take this new memory. Allow it to shape the way you think about yourself and about life and about me. Allow yourself to remember me."

It is not that the memory of Jesus' sacrificial love erases all of our painful memories. Painful memories still have to be faced and grieved if healing is to come. But God offers us in Jesus a memory powerful enough to compete with the most powerful of painful memories. The death-grip which painful memories have on our attention can be broken by the powerful memory of God's love.

Help me to remember you, Lord.
Help me to find a place
in my mind and heart
for the memory of your love for me.
I want the memory of your love, Lord,
to be the most powerful of my memories.
I want it to be 
The Memory
that shapes me.
Help me to remember you.
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

Thanksgiving Blessings from Dayspring

Thanksgiving Blessings

Praying you are...

Blessed in a way that brings God's presence closer than you have ever known it...

Blessed in a way that assures you of the plans He has for your life...

Blessed in a way that fills your heart with a thousand"thank-yous" for all that His hand will bring your way.

May the Lord continually BLESS YOU with Heaven's blessings as well as with human joys. Psalm 128:5 TLB

The Giving Life

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38 NKJV) November 4

Exchanging love

“...we give love because it was given so freely to us.  New frontiers are open to us as we learn how to love.  Love can be the flow of life energy from one person to another.” Basic Text, p. 105 ––––=–––– Love given, and love received, is the essence of life itself.  It is the universal common denominator, connecting us to those around us.  Addiction deprived us of that connection, locking us within ourselves. The love we find in the NA program reopens the world to us.  It unlocks the cage of addiction which once imprisoned us.  By receiving love from other NA members, we find out—perhaps for the first time—what love is and what it can do.  We hear fellow members talk about the sharing of love, and we sense the substance it lends to their lives. We begin to suspect that, if giving and receiving love means so much to others, maybe it can give meaning to our lives, too.  We sense that we are on the verge of a great discovery, yet we also sense that we won’t fully understand the meaning of love unless we give ours away.  We try it, and discover the missing connection between ourselves and the world. Today, we realize that what they said was true:  “We keep what we have only by giving it away.” ––––=–––– Just for today:  Life is a new frontier for me, and the vehicle I will use to explore it is love.  I will give freely the love I have received.

An Honest look at Religious Addiction

Daily Meditation for Saturday 02nd of November 2013 

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
I Corinthians 13:3

We need to experience loving relationships in order to heal and grow. In loving relationships we experience the safety that allows us to face the truth. In loving relationships we experience the support we need to begin to change. And in loving relationships we learn that we are lovable and valuable.

Because we have been wounded in relationships, our instinct is often to run from relationships. We don't want to be hurt again. This leaves an enormous void in our souls. And it is this void which we desperately try to fill with addictions and compulsions of various kinds. This text focuses on two manifestations of religious addiction (compulsive altruism and religiously motivated self-abuse) and sums up the result: I gain nothing. The same could be said of all of our addictions. "I deliver my body to be burned" and "I gain nothing" are an accurate description not only of a particular kind of religious addiction but also of chemial addiction, work addiction, sexual addiction and relationship addiction, as well as many self-abusive compulsions.

We gain nothing for all the time and effort we spend on trying to numb the pain. It does not achieve the desired result. The void remains.

Although loving fellowship may be frightening for us, it is the path to recovery. The vulnerabilities of intimacy may remind us of earlier times of terror in life, but there is no way to recover in isolation. The net result of compulsions and addictions is "I gain nothing." But the net result of recovery is very different. There is something to be gained by all the hard work that recovery requires. Recovery builds in us a capacity to receive love and a capacity to give love to others. And that is a real gain.

May God grant you the courage you need today to pursue loving fellowship.

Lord, you see my guarded heart. 
You see the fears that make me run from love.
What I fear is what I want most.
I want to love and to be loved.
Give me courage to open my heart to love today.
Amen.<

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

Freedom from Shame ( through self-acceptance)

 

October 26

The path to self-acceptance

“The most effective means of achieving self-acceptance is through applying the Twelve Steps of recovery.” IP No. 19, Self-Acceptance ––––=–––– Our addiction has been a source of shame to many of us.  We have hidden ourselves from others, sure that if anyone got to know who we really were they would reject us.  NA helps us learn self-acceptance. Many of us find a great deal of relief just from attending meetings, hearing fellow addicts share their stories, and discovering that others have felt the same way we feel about ourselves.  When others share honestly with us who they are, we feel free to do the same.  As we learn to tell others the truth about ourselves, we learn to accept ourselves. Self-disclosure, however, is only the beginning.  Once we’ve shared the things that make us uncomfortable with our lives, we need to find a different way to live—and that’s where the steps come in.  We develop a concept of a Higher Power.  We inventory our lives, in detail, and discuss our inventory with our sponsor.  We ask the God of our understanding to remove our character defects, the shortcomings that are the source of our troubles.  We take responsibility for the things we’ve done and make amends for them.  And we incorporate all these disciplines into our daily lives, “practicing these principles in all our affairs.” By working the steps, we can become people we are proud to be.  We can freely tell the truth about ourselves, for we have nothing to hide. ––––=–––– Just for today:  I will walk the path to self-acceptance.  I will show up, tell the truth, and work the steps.

 

Copyright © 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Principles before Personalities

October 25

Principles before personalities

“Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.” Tradition Twelve ––––=–––– “Principles before personalities.”  Many of us chant these words along with the reader whenever the Twelve Traditions are read.  The fact that these words have become a cliche of sorts doesn’t make them any less important, either in service or in our lives.  These words are an affirmation:  “We listen to our conscience and do what’s right, no matter who’s involved.”  And that principle serves as one of the cornerstones of recovery as well as our traditions. What does “principles before personalities” really mean?  It means we practice honesty, humility, compassion, tolerance, and patience with everyone, whether we like them or not.  Putting principles before personalities teaches us to treat everyone equally.  The Twelfth Step asks us to apply principles in allour affairs; the Twelfth Tradition suggests we apply them to our relations with everyone. Practicing principles doesn’t stop with our friends or when we leave a meeting.  It’s for every day, for everyone… in all areas of our lives. ––––=–––– Just for today:  I will listen to my conscience and do what’s right.  My focus will be on principles, not on people’s personalities.

 

Copyright © 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Righ

From the elijahlist.com

Great Expectation in the Lord for Increase.

In an atmosphere of His presence and power, love takes hold more deeply, joy springs forth like a river, peace is established by the Prince of Peace, and people are empowered to live above their natural ability. They are enabled to live in the Spirit and by the Spirit—cultivating, nurturing, and developing His nature and attributes from glory to glory. In His presence, His gifts and the fruit of His Spirit are continually increasing and flowing with rivers of His goodness that provide all we need for life and godliness.

His presence is also a place of genuine hunger for the Word of God, hunger for fresh bread from the Word every day. There the Word comes alive and mysteries are revealed as the Word becomes like fire in the bones. Within us arises a holy boldness to decree the Word of God to shift the unseen realm and break down every barrier of the enemy with the power of the Word.

Yes, dear friends, we are about to behold even greater things. I am so very grateful for all He has already done thus far for His Body upon the earth. But we are about to see increase—increase of His ability that releases us to be all we are to be and to accomplish all He purposes for us to accomplish.

Your future comes from God’s possibilities and from His potential, not the world’s, not your own. His potential and all of His promises of possibility flow through the Holy Spirit into you, and He will strengthen you with His might to accomplish those things, to be who you are called to be, to do what you are called to do, and to have what you are promised to have.

In this event, The Unlimited Anointing Conference we have set our hearts and focus on the presence of the Lord and His now Word that brings divine impartation to all who come. To that end, we feel this team we have put together will move in the Word and the glory for impartation that will enable you to flourish into a season of great fruitfulness for the glory of the Lord.

The Holy Spirit desires us to live every day in the fullness of the Lord, by seeing above and beyond what we can do, and He desires for Jesus to receive glory and honor through His great power that works in us and through us. This is the essence of what Paul writes about in Ephesians 3:20–21: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

We will see you there in great expectation in the Lord,

Keith & Janet

When She Looks Like Jesus Oct 19, 2013 • By Amber Haines

Once she loved me. She had held my face and known me like a mother knows a child: the smirk, the thumb smearing dirt from the face, leaning her forehead into mine. She was with me. She put her hand on my back and prayed for me deep. She made a home for me, served hot bread and good wine, but it’s been a long time.

Our baby has been sick again, and I’ve travelled. I’ve fallen in love with Jesus’ people from all over. Mybrothers and sisters here have had to divide and conquer. I don’t have a group here anymore. On Sunday mornings, I’ve gone back to her, and when she opened the door, she didn’t know my name, and I had a hard time recognizing her face.

I haven’t known how to find my way back home.

—

Waking in the morning, waiting for the coffee, I’m not sure the exact thing that makes me so angry. It feels chronic, like green eyes and Scottish blood. My heart beats like stomping feet. I pour the drink and go to the quiet room for my routine time alone, my quiet time. I’ve said that I’m not afraid anymore. I threw fear off like an ugly coat. I’m afraid my fear turned to anger. I peal it back – down to the anger. Down to the fear beneath. The fear that always, every single time, opposes love.

—

This pilgrim thing is not my favorite part.

I cling to the ones who share my strange taste in music. I cling to those of you who write in the same vein. I touch the spines of my favorite books like pictures of old friends. Once a couple asked why I don’t ever just write what I mean. I cling to you okay with the I-don’t-knows. I keep kilter with the ones who are a little off a rocker, more comfortable on porches with ashtrays and melting ice cubes.

I don’t belong here. I’m the girl from the woods with a Bible in her hand, and I don’t always understand why I don’t much feel at home.

I walk with Jesus, and the more I do, the more homesick I am. Are you a wanderer, too?

—

I have friends who have never understood the struggle with love for church. I’m not sure people understand that I don’t mean THE church. The picture I have of the spotless bride of Christ (she is me), and then that after party? Oh I am so good with that. I love her now and forever. It’s just the going to church thing, like it’s a place on a mountain where God hovers like a cloud.

Church is not what happens on Sunday mornings, is it? Is it?

Maybe it is. Maybe that’s a big part of it. Maybe I wanted it to be the whole. Maybe I wanted Sunday mornings to mean nothing at all.

—

If a hammered dulcimer plays, you can guarantee that my husband and I are about three seconds from a good lip quiver, because hammered dulcimers sound like Rich Mullins, and his music points home. At church, Josh had the dulcimer, and Seth had guitar, and then Shelly put her hands in the air exactly how I know we’ll all be doing when we see Jesus face to face. We were throne-room singing. That’s usually why I go.

When I first sat down, I looked around and saw in the sea of people only two that I know. But next to me were two of the only people of color in the room. At the awkward meet-and-greet part, I couldn’t place her accent, but she’s not from anywhere close to here. I wondered how far away from home she felt, her Spirit-Filled Bible in her lap. I felt close to her.

On my other side came to sit one of our elders, and he is one of those tender-tough ones, looks like he could beat your face in or kiss it – either one. When we sang our Rich Mullins, he might have been deaf for the tones, but he sang like he had written every word. I fell in love with him there, a man who is tender-tough. When I turned to him at the awkward meet-and-greet, he said my name and asked of my sons.

—

I was angry because church hasn’t felt like home in a long time. I’m starting to think it was never meant to feel like home, not any more than Rich’s music and my Mama’s banana pudding. But at church, when I got Titus early from nursery, and I asked the people in the back to pray, he limped his unfed body into mine like he would fall asleep. They gathered around us, and one whispered over us in praise. One said Jesus is Healer; that is His name. One said Seth and I were brought together to bring forth a godly generation. One prayed against the fear and brought the Bible verses out. They put their hands on my back, called me Moses.

Once in a while you find yourself in the arms of your broken church, and she looks exactly like THE church, and THE church looks like Jesus. It’s worth pressing on, going to commune with the homesick ones, going to find a hand to hold, a bag to carry, wine to taste.

I am a pilgrim, and I get so homesick.

Little church, you don’t have to know my name to be beautiful. I just want to see Jesus. Let me be like the child to you.

Suffer me not.

God's Love, Presence, and Rest

Daily Meditation for Thursday 17th of October 2013 

The Lord replied, 'My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.' Then Moses said to him, 'If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.'
Exodus 33:14-15

God promised to be with Moses and to provide him with rest. But no doubt other people had made promises to Moses that were like God's promise. People had promised to be with him but had later abandoned him. So, Moses' fears were not completely vanquished when God promised to be present and to provide rest.

We are like Moses. We are facing a difficult journey. If God goes on ahead and waits for us at the destination, we will never make it. We need God to make the journey with us. We will need God every day. If God does not come, it would better not to go. The dangers are too great. The pain, too overwhelming. We will surely lose our way unless God comes as our guide.

Moses' prayer to God is a good model for us. It is not a sign of doubt or faithlessness to pray for what we need, even if our needs are things which God has already promised to provide. Praying for what we need is good communication. If we are afraid that God will not be faithful, we can share this with God. God will not be shocked. God will not punish. God understands that our capacity for trust has been damaged.

Honestly communicating our fears to God, will build our capacity for trusting God's promises. God has promised to be present with us. And God has promised to provide rest. We will need both to survive the transitions and changes that come with recovery.

Thank you, Lord, for the promise of your presence today.
If you will not go with me,
please don't send me.
Because I can't make it on my own.
The journey is a difficult one.
The path leads through deep valleys.
And, I am sure to lose my way
without your presence to comfort and guide.
Help me to rest today in your promises.
Help me to rest in your loving presence.
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

Equal

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October 12

Being right

“When we admit that our lives have become unmanageable, we don’t have to argue our point of view....  We no longer have to be right all the time.” Basic Text, p. 58 ––––=–––– Nothing isolates us more quickly from the warmth and camaraderie of our fellow NA members than having to be “right.”  Insecure, we pretend to be some kind of authority figure.  Suffering from low self-esteem, we try to build ourselves up by putting others down.  At best, such tactics push others away from us; at worst, they draw attack.  The more we try to impress others with how “right” we are, the more wrong we become. We don’t have to be “right” to be secure; we don’t have to pretend to have all the answers for others to love or respect us.  In fact, just the opposite is true.  None of us have all the answers.  We depend upon one another to help bridge the gaps in our understanding of things, and we depend upon a Power greater than our own to make up for our personal powerlessness.  We live easily with others when we offer what we know, admit what we don’t, and seek to learn from our peers.  We live securely in ourselves when we cease relying on our own power and start relying on the God we’ve come to understand in recovery. We don’t have to be “right” all the time, just recovering. ––––=–––– Just for today:  God, I admit my powerlessness and the unmanageability of my life.  Help me live with others as an equal, dependent upon you for direction and strength.

 

Copyright © 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Spiritual Abuse: What it is and Why it hurts by Phil Monroe, Psy.D

Spiritual Abuse: What it is and Why it Hurts

Phil Monroe, Psy.D.

In the 21^st century United States, does spiritual abuse really happen? Can’t we all just choose churches where we feel safe? No one makes us (adults) go to church, so shouldn’t spiritual abuse be nonexistent in this day—or at least happen only once (e.g., fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…)?

Sadly, spiritual abuse happens in all sorts of churches and for all sorts of reasons.

What is spiritual abuse?

Spiritual abuse is the use of faith, belief, and/or religious practices to coerce, control, or damage another for a purpose beyond the victim’s well-being (i.e., church discipline for the purpose of love of the offender need not be abuse).

Like child abuse, spiritual abuse comes in many forms. It can take the form of neglect or intentional harm of another. It can take the form of naïve manipulation or predatory “feeding on the sheep.” Consider some of these examples:

• Refusing to provide pastoral care to women on the basis of gender alone
• Coercing reconciliation of victim to offender
• Dictating basic decisions (marriage, home ownership, jobs, giving practices, etc.)
• Binding conscience on matters that are in the realm of Christian freedom
• Using threats to maintain control of another
• Using deceptive language to coerce into sexual activity
• Denying the right to divorce despite having grounds to do so

For a short review, consider Mary DeMuth’s 2011 post on 10 Ways to Spot Spiritual Abuse.

Why is it so harmful?

If someone demands your wallet, you may give it, but you do not think they have a right to it. You have no doubt that an injustice has occurred. You have been robbed! When someone abuses, it is a robbery, but often wrapped up in a deceptive package to make the victim feel as if the robbery was actually a gift. Spiritual abuse almost always is couched in several layers of deception. Here’s a few of those layers:

•  Speaking falsely for God. Spiritual leaders or shepherds abuse most frequently by presenting their words as if they were the words of God himself. They may not say “Thus sayeth the Lord” in so many ways, but they speak with authority. When leaders fail to communicate God’s words and attitudes, they are called false teachers and prophets. Some of these false words include squelching dissent and concern in the name of “unity.”

• Over-emphasizing one doctrinal point while minimizing another. Consider the example of Paul, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). In three other places in the NT, Paul says similar phrases. The application is that our leaders are to exemplify the character of Christ. Sadly, it is easy to turn this into “do what I want you to do.” Paul does not say to imitate him. He says to imitate him when he imitates Christ. There are other examples as well: forcing forgiveness, demanding victims of abuse to confront their abusers in private so that they will meet the letter of Matthew 18, and so forth.

• Good ends justifying means. It is a sad fact that many victims of other kinds of abuse have been asked to be silent for the sake of community comfort. Indeed, community comfort is important. But forcing a victim of abuse to be silent and to forego seeking justice is a form of spiritual abuse.

• Pretending to provide pastoral care. I have talked with several pastors who crossed into sexual behavior with those they have been charged to counsel. All too commonly, the pastor deceived himself and other into thinking that the special attention given to the parishioner was love and compassion. In fact, their actions were always self-serving. However, the layer of deception made it feel (to both parties) like love in the beginning stages.

The reason why spiritual abuse hurts so much is that it always fosters confusion, self-doubt, and shame. This recipe encourages isolation, self-hatred, and questioning of God. When shepherds abuse, the sheep are scattered and confused. They no longer discern the voice of the true Shepherd.

This is exactly why the Old Testament and New Testament speak in such harsh terms against abusive and neglectful shepherds (see Ezekiel 34:2; Jeremiah 50:6; John 10:9). Words like, “Woe to you…” and “You blind guides…” reveal that spiritual abuse for any reason is destructive and is not of God. And it gets no harsher than, “Better than a millstone be tied to your neck and thrown into the sea” to illustrate the depth of evil in harming vulnerable people.

 Talk Back: Have you encountered or confronted spiritual abuse in your work as a Christian counselor? Share your thoughts and feedback by leaving a comment below.



Phil Monroe is Professor of Counseling & Psychology and Director of the Masters of Arts in Counseling Program at Biblical Seminary.
retrieved from: http://www.aacc.net/2013/10/07/spiritual-abuse-what-it-is-and-why-it-hurts/ on 10/10/2013

Being ourselves

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September 30

Being ourselves

“Our real value is in being ourselves.” Basic Text, p. 105 ––––=–––– Over and over, we have tried to live up to the expectations of those around us.  We may have been raised believing that we were okay if we earned good grades in school, cleaned our rooms, or dressed a certain way.  Always wanting to belong and be loved, many of us spent a lot of time trying to fit in—yet we never quite seemed to measure up. Now, in recovery, we are accepted as we are.  Our real value to others is in being ourselves.  As we work the steps, we learn to accept ourselves just as we are.  Once this happens, we gain the freedom to become who we want to be. We each have many good qualities we can share with others.  Our experiences, honestly shared, help others find the level of identification they need to begin their recovery.  We discover that we all have special gifts to offer those around us. ––––=–––– Just for today:  My experience in recovery is the greatest gift I can give another addict.  I will share myself honestly with others.

 

Copyright © 1991-2013 by Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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The Fourth Step: A fearless and searching moral inventory of ourselves:

Thank God for the past & you can trust Him for the future. Trust is a bridge from past to future built with planks of thanks~Ann Voskamp. #1000gifts   September 25, 2013 From Just for Today The Fourth Step - fearing our feelings Page 279 "We may fear that being in touch with our feelings will trigger an overwhelming chain reaction of pain and panic." Basic Text, p.30   Just for Today: I won't be afraid of my feelings. With the help of my Higher Power, I'll continue in my recovery. A common complaint about the Fourth Step is that it makes us painfully conscious of our defects of character. We may be tempted to falter in our program of recovery. Through surrender and acceptance, we can find the resources we need to keep working the steps. It's not the awareness of our defects that causes the most agony-it's the defects themselves. When we were using, all we felt was the drugs; we could ignore the suffering our defects were causing us. Now that the drugs are gone, we feel that pain. Refusing to acknowledge the source of our anguish doesn't make it go away; denial protects the pain and makes it stronger. The Twelve Steps help us deal with the misery caused by our defects by dealing directly with the defects themselves. If we hurt from the pain of our defects, we can remind ourselves of the nightmare of addiction, a nightmare from which we've now awakened. We can recall the hope for release the Second Step gave us. We can again turn our will and our lives over, through the Third Step, to the care of the God of our understanding. Our Higher Power cares for us by giving us the help we need to work the rest of the Twelve Steps. We don't have to fear our feelings. Just for today, we can continue in our recovery.

Just for Today: I won't be afraid of my feelings. With the help of my Higher Power, I'll continue in my recovery.



A Man of Sorrows

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Isaiah 53:3
Many people have the impression that good Christians are happy, joyful, victorious people. In this fantasy, good Christians are people whose problems seem to vanish when they trust God and pray about it. Unaffected by the pain of life, these relentlessly cheerful people read the Bible, sing praise songs and feel no pain.
Yet Christians are at heart the followers of a man who was named 'man of sorrows.' Jesus was not relentlessly cheerful. He did not practice a mood altering, pain-numbing religion. He grieved. He wept. He was familiar with suffering. Our God is a God who knows suffering. God grieves.
In those times when we shame ourselves for our sorrow, it can be an enormous encouragement to remember that God is personally familiar with grief. If God grieves, we can expect to do the same.
God, you surprise me again!
When I grieve, I think that if I could just cheer up,
you would be pleased.
But, you grieve also.
Man of Sorrows you are acquainted with sorrow.
Thank you for understanding.
Thank you for grieving.
Help me to experience your presence in my time of grief.
Amen.
Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

My Reflection on Reflection on Faith, Culture, and Reason by The Reverend James F. Kauffmann, Pastor

"Christians “pursued the arts and sciences because they were believers. They had confidence they could know human things because they had seen divine things".(Kauffman, 2013)

"“Christianity cannot send down deep roots, be handed on from one generation to the next, or flourish without language. Reason is unthinkable without language.… In an individual believer, faith can exist without reason. ... Yet, as a community, the Church needs reason to give faith cultural heft... Reason, for its part, needs faith because the natural powers of the human intellect easily lose sight of their goal, which is the fullness of truth, and can become susceptible to various forms of authoritarianism and intolerance… Athens and Jerusalem belong together,” says Wilken. “Christian culture is never solely religious; it embraces what is best in thought, literature, art, and the sciences—a truth St. Paul saw at the very beginning of the Church’s history.”" (Kauffman quoting Wilken)

I love this thought: "Christian culture is never solely religious; it embraces what is best in thought, literature, art and the sciences..."

Recalling this about our Christian, and Western, heritage, must be done in this day, but we are the people to do it. The world has nearly lost the vocabulary of these, because it has lost the ‘why.‘ The good news is, "There lives the dearest freshness deep down things." (Hopkins, “The Grandeur of God”). We have the “why” of things.

Recalling this about our Christian, and Western, heritage, must be done in this day, but we are the people to do it. The world has nearly lost the vocabulary of these, because it has lost the ‘why.‘ The good news is, "There lives the dearest freshness deep down things." (Hopkins, “The Grandeur of God”). We have the “why” of things. As Wilken says, Christians “pursued the arts and sciences because they were believers. They had confidence they could know human things because they had seen divine things.” We have the beauty of 2500 years of the exceptional inherited culture that we call Western.

We should by no means adopt a siege mentality if we meet hostility. Instead we can take on the attitude of Mary (the sister of Martha and Lazarus) who sits at the feet of Jesus to feed on his words, and to embrace the hostile world with love and with a boldness that comes from the Gospel.

Father Kauffman's Reflection (accessed on Sept. 19,2013) can be found at http://www.saintbenedictparish.org/church/from_fathers_study.php 

Wilken's article can be found at  (http://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/01/culture-and-the-light-of-faith)

The Idolatry of Self:Roots of Addiction

 Self effort (which fails often with the complex dynamics of addiction) alone cannot set one free-- in fact, some have called that a form of "self" idolatry ( which is therefore) destined to fail... But coming to believe God can and will relieve the captive of the bondage of self (all addictions are based on this)- this is the breakthrough. Many fail to grasp that flesh cannot be cast out (only the demonic can be cast out in Jesus' name) but flesh ( where most addictions feed and originate) must be brought to the cross of Christ for crucifixion! Then through God's grace only can new, resurrected life be brought forth in the liberated soul! Where Intercessors are needed most is to minister the power of the Cross and in helping and praying the individual come to the cross where the diabolical self can there be brought to death! "I am crucified with Christ, yet I live; but it is no longer I that lives but Christ in me, and the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son oh God who loved me and gave Himself for me."

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envying, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 KJV)"

You cannot cast out flesh... Flesh can only be crucified.  We are told if we confess our sins ( the works of the flesh),  God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we are cleansed by God the demonic will flee because there is nothing left for it to feed upon.

There is so much more that scripture has to say about this!

We Need to be Reminded: We are not God...

Be still, and know that I am God.
Psalm 46:10

We need to be reminded that we are not God.

This seems pretty basic. You wouldn't think it would be hard to remember. But we get so caught up in proving ourselves by performing, achieving and rescuing that we forget that we are humans with real limits. We fill our time so full of frenzied activity that there is no 'stillness'. And when there is no stillness, it is hard to remember who is God and who is not.

Fortunately, God does not forget who is God and who is not. God invites us to quiet ourselves, to slow ourselves down. God invites us to be still long enough to regain perspective. "Be still", God says, "and know that I am God."

In the stillness we can see again that there is a difference between our frenzy and God's kingdom. It is God's work to provide and protect and rescue. It is not our work. We can do our part. But our part needs to be respectful of our human limits. Our part needs to actively acknowledge our dependence on God. God is God, and we are not.

Help me to slow down, Lord.
Help me to be quiet.
Help me to be still long enough to remember that you are God.
Help me to remember who is creature and who is Creator.
Let this truth free me, Lord, to accept my limits,
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

Daily Meditation for Thursday 19th of September 2013 

He sings over us with real joy...

When you are accepted in the Beloved; invited into the dance of life with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; there is no more achievement greater.  Keep in step and keep in tune with the song He is singing, for He sings over you with joy....

Zeph. 3:17 The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silentand make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.

You don’t need anyone’s affection or approval in order to be good enough. When someone rejects or abandons or judges you, it isn’t actually about you. It’s about them and their own insecurities, limitations, and needs, and you don’t have to internalize that. Your worth isn’t contingent upon other people’s acceptance of you — it’s something inherent.

You exist, and therefore, you matter. You’re allowed to voice your thoughts and feelings. You’re allowed to assert your needs and take up space. You’re allowed to hold onto the truth that who you are is exactly enough. And you’re allowed to remove anyone from your life who makes you feel otherwise.

Daniell Koepke  (via elige)