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.

 

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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