Your Daily Reprieve 03.26.17

Your Daily Reprieve for Sunday  March   26 ,  2017 From Waynesville, NC

""Every night I go to sleep and I'm grateful for my life,  and I wake up and I feel the same thing. I just accept everything as it is -- whatever happens is what I'm supposed to deal with." --Ellen DeGeneres What price have you PAID to earn your seat in the Rooms?   "Pitiful And Incomprehensible Demoralization" Pg 30 Big Book "Surrender has nothing to do with giving up.  It means to stop fighting." ~Grapevine: Carrollton, Texas, February 1993 "Afterism (n) – A concise, clever statement you don't think of until it's too late." ~John Alexander Thom "You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was." - Irish Proverb

Big Book Quote "We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself, Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition." ~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, More About Alcoholism, pg. 31~

Daily Share! AA Speaker of the Day By Request Patty Ochoa @ Sacramento CA 08.13.83 http://bit.ly/2nCCBFR Wee Willie’s Sobriety First Media AA CD’s Literature and tapes https://www.mediafire.com/sobrietyfirst

Celebrate Your Anniversary Here SHOW NEWCOMERS HOW IT WORKS!! MARCH 2017 Anniversaries 3/1 Erich O. (Honolulu, HI).....5 3/1 Rich W. (Astoria, NY).....2 3/1 Mike Mc. (White Plains, NY).....6 3/2 Liz C. (White Plains, NY).....8 3/2 Rusty S. (Trenton, NJ).....8 3/3 Ilene W. (Los Angeles, CA).....42 3/3 Steve H. (Middletown, NJ).....11 3/3 Kelly T. (Newmarket, NH).....26 3/3 Evelyn T. (Troy, NY).....2 3/4 Michelle C. (Surrey, BC).....4 3/5 Russel N. (Hermosa Beach, CA).....3 3/5 Tom M. (Stuart, FL/Waynesville, NC).....23 3/6 Courtney C. (Brunswick, GA).....6 3/7 Dave G. (White Rock BC, Canada).....14 3/7 George(Milwaukee, WI).....9 3/9 Andy W. (City Island / WFMG).....30 3/9 Phil S. (Dripping Springs, TX).....7 3/9 Tony C. (Punta Gorda, FL).....38 3/11 John M. (Succasunna, NJ).....8 3/12 Athol (Cardigan, PEI, CA).....7 3/12 Mark W. (Phoenix, AZ).....16 3/13 Sue S. (Naples, FL).....5 3/13 Thomas V. (East Hanover, NJ).....10 3/14 Kay Z. (North Port, FL).....24 3/14 Frank X. (Shamrocks and Serenity, SF, CA).....26 3/15 Brian G. (Harpwell, ME).....27 3/16 John S. (Boonton, NJ).....4 3/16 Billy I. (Islington, MA).....32 3/17 Dan D. (Tortola, BVI).....38 3/17 Susan C. P. (North Port, FL).....27 3/17 Nard B. (Bridgewater, NJ).....4 3/17 Carolyn W. (Nantucket., MA).....20 3/17 Judy D. (Good Morning Carmel, CA).....2 3/17 Jennifer B. (Fort Mill, SC).....2 3/18 Shannon L. (Cardigan, PEI, CA).....1 3/19 Mike B. (Purchase, NY).....17 3/20 Carlos L. Jr. (Carolina, PR).....7 3/20 Kathryn D. ().....29 3/20 Michelle O. (Palm Springs, CA).....18 3/21 Margie W. (Sant Cruz, CA).....30 3/21 Kate A. (Nyack, NY).....29 3/21 Pamela B. (New Jersey).....33 3/21 Carlos L. Sr. (Bridgeport, CT).....22 3/21 Norm A. (Boston, MA).....28 3/22 Charlie P. (Austin, TX).....32 3/22 Sally S. (NYC/Nantucket).....29 3/23 David C. (Boca Raton, FL).....4 3/25 Buffy H. (Gambier, OH/Nantucket, MA).....25 3/27 Chuck L. (Key Largo, FL).....30 3/27 Cathy C-T (Palm City, FL).....9 3/27 Steve H. (East Hampton, NY).....30 3/28 Tara S. (Pasadena, CA).....33 3/28 Mike H. (Lexington, KY).....30 3/28 Steve S. (Summit, NJ).....7 3/29 Cliff k. (Philadelphia, PA).....12 3/29 Francis G. (Southampton, UK).....41 3/29 Robin S. (NYC, NY).....24 3/29 Billy M. (Mendham, NJ).....9 3/30 Joyce G. (Michigan/Florida).....7 3/30 Ralph B. (Port St. Lucie, FL).....35 3/31 Sally H. (NYC, NY).....6 1049  Total Years of Sobriety

12&12 Tradition One - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. Unity." Those who look closely soon have the key to this strange paradox. The A.A. member has to conform to the principles of recovery. His life actually depends upon obedience to spiritual principles. If he deviates too far, the penalty is sure and swift; he sickens and dies. At first he goes along because he must, but later he discovers a way of life he really wants to live. Moreover, he finds he cannot keep this priceless gift unless he gives it away. Neither he nor anybody else can survive unless he carries the A.A. message. The moment this Twelfth Step work forms a group, another discovery is made - that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group. Realization dawns that he is but a small part of a great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of the Fellowship. He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group. It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not. p. 130

Twenty-Four Hours A.A. Thought For The Day Strength comes also from working with other alcoholics. When you are trying to help a new prospect with the program, you are building up your own strength at the same time. You see the other person in the condition you might be in yourself and it makes your resolve to stay sober stronger than ever. Often, you help yourself more than the other person, but if you do succeed in helping the prospect to get sober, you are stronger from the experience of having helped another person. Am I receiving strength from helping others? Meditation For The Day Faith is the bridge between you and God. It is the bridge which God had ordained. If all were seen and known, there would be no merit in doing right. Therefore God has ordained that we do not see or know directly. But we can experience the power of His spirit through our faith. It is the bridge between us and Him, which we can take or not, as we will. There could be no morality without free will. We must make the choice ourselves. We must make the venture of belief. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may choose and decide to cross the bridge of faith. I pray that by crossing this bridge I may receive the spiritual power I need.

Daily Thought ^*^*^*^*^ (\  ~~~  /) (    \(AA)/    ) (_ /AA\ _) /AA\ ^*^*^*^*^ Humility "The attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of AA's Twelve Steps. For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all." Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 70 Thought to Consider . . . As I thus get down to my right size and stature, my self-concern and importance become amusing. Bill W., Box 1980 The AA Grapevine, June 1961 As Bill Sees It, p. 106 *~*AACRONYMS*~* FEAR False Expectations Appearing Real

Daily Reflection THE TEACHING IS NEVER OVER Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. May God bless you and keep you—until then. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 164 These words put a lump in my throat each time I read them. In the beginning it was because I felt, "Oh no! The teaching is over. Now I'm on my own. It will never be this new again." Today I feel deep affection for our A.A. pioneers when I read this passage, realizing that it sums up all of what I believe in, and strive for, and that—with God's blessing—the teaching is never over, I'm never on my own, and every day is brand new.

Pot Luck http://bit.ly/2nObrep The Big Book's Case of Mistaken Identity By Susan Cheever 11/20/12 The story of how one of AA's most famous slogans—"contempt before investigation"—took a long series of wrong turns to end up in the right place. Herbert Spencer  photo For many alcoholics encountering the book Alcoholics Anonymous for the first time, a shock of recognition comes at the end of Appendix II—“Spiritual Experience”—when they read: There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation. —Herbert Spencer Appendix II is a redefinition of spiritual experiences as they are mentioned in the first phrase of AAs Twelfth Step: having had "a spiritual awakening." Concerned that others might think an experience like his own—a lightning flash and a stentorian voice from above—was a necessary entry to sobriety, Bill Wilson explained in Appendix II  that spiritual experiences can “develop over time.” In fact, Bill wrote, anyone who is honest, willing and open to the idea of recovery has already had a kind of spiritual experience. Contempt prior to investigation, he implies, is the only barrier to spiritual recovery. In fact, contempt prior to investigation is as much a symptom of alcoholism as cirrhosis of the liver, lying to your doctor or hiding the vodka bottle. What is the work of an obscure 19th-century British philosopher doing in Alcoholics Anonymous? The Big Book was written by a group of Americans, including Bill Wilson and other early members of AA (many relatively uneducated), and was published in 1938. The Spencer quotation is one of the few references to outside thinkers in the entire book. How did it get there? A little investigation shows that this foundation pillar of the Big Book is as stable as the famous boiler that burst in Wombley’s clapboard factory in AA’s Tradition Four, a reference to the chaos that ensued when a group of alcoholics decided to establish an “alcoholic center,” which would serve as a bank, a hospital and an educational system for drinkers. In fact, Herbert Spencer did not write the quotation in Appendix II at all, and Bill Wilson did not choose it for inclusion in Alcoholics Anonymous. Furthermore the quote itself is mangled and incorrect. Contempt prior to investigation is as much a symptom of alcoholism as cirrhosis of the liver. Spencer, who coined the phrase “survival of the fittest” and who wrote that in marriage a ring is put on the finger of the bride and in the nose of the groom, was a liberal agnostic thinker whose many works on philosophy, psychology and sociology made him famous in 19th-century England. But one thing Spencer did not write is the immortal words about contempt and investigation, according to Michael St. George, who searched the digitized library of papers that Spencer left after his death and who detailed his findings in the essay “The Survival of a Fitting Quotation.” “Contempt before investigation” was penned almost a century earlier by another British philosopher, William Paley, whose book Evidences of Christianity contains the following sentence: “Contempt prior to examination is an intellectual vice, from which the greatest faculties of mind are not free.” Paley was writing about Romans who scoffed at early Christianity. The Paley quotation, misattributed to Spencer, appeared in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous as the epigraph to one of the personal stories. Ray Campbell, an artist who got sober through AA in 1938 and who was responsible for designing the first cover of Alcoholics Anonymous, wrote the story “An Artist’s Concept.” Probably 12-stepped by Bill Wilson himself, Campbell relates that the next day he met 20 men who were staying sober in AA. Campbell, who had rejected religion as a cure for his drinking problem, was deeply moved by the group. “It was not so much what these men told me in regard to their experiences that was impressive as it was a sense or feeling that an invisible influence was at work,” he wrote. Campbell’s story was dropped from the second edition of the Big Book, but Bill Wilson salvaged the epigraph as an afterword to the new Appendix II. In “The Survival of a Fitting Quotation,” St. George traces the unlikely series of mistakes by which the phrase in Paley’s Evidence of Christianity made its way into Alcoholics Anonymous. The first misattribution was in a 1931 edition of The Homeopathic World by John Henry Clark. Bill Wilson’s mother, Emily Griffith, was an osteopathic physician, and she may have given Clark’s book to her son. (Both homeopaths and osteopaths practice holistic medicine.) Also in 1931, the phrase was misattributed to Spencer in Miracles of Healing and How They Are Done by J. Ellis Barker. St. George guesses that Ray Chapman may have read Ellis’s book and been struck by the quotation. Who really came up with the phrase “contempt before investigation” and how it ended up in Appendix II in Alcoholics Anonymous may not matter much to anyone's actual recovery. Alcoholics love to scoff—at rules and regulations, at religion and God—until suddenly their lives are saved in spite of their scoffing. The quotation may be misattributed and mangled, but it still jumps off the page for anyone who thinks like an alcoholic. You read it. You see yourself. You know you are in the right place. Susan Cheever, a regular columnist for The Fix, is the author of many books, including the memoirs Home Before Dark and Note Found in a Bottle, and the biography My Name Is Bill: Bill Wilson—His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous.

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One Day Step Series Saturday April 1st 2017 Peter M. From Fort Lauderdale and Stevie B. Deerfield 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. includes a potluck lunch Passing the basket between each meeting Location: Jensen Beach Community Church 3900 Skyline Drive Jensen Beach Florida For more information email: recovered111684@gmail.com

Beyond Your Wildest Dreams  11th Annual Women’s AA Retreat “A Journey Through the Steps” When:   Saturday, April 29, 2017, 9:00 am to 9:00 pm  Cost: Simple 7th Tradition Basket for Donation before each meeting What to Bring:   An Open Mind, A Covered dish to Share, The 12/12 Step Book Where:  Tierney Auditorium (Formerly Maris Stella) 50th and Ocean Drive, Avalon, NJ Details:   There will be speakers for the 12 Steps, along with food and fellowship.  We will cover Steps 1 - 7 in the morning, break for lunch and a beach walk from 12:30 to 2, and then begin with Step 8 through 12 in the afternoon, early evening  is for fun!    AA Skit Planned and other fun things!  Bring a friend!!       Like and Follow Us on Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/BeyondYourWildestDreams/ Contact for Questions or to Get involved:  Valerie or Suzanne beyondmywildestdreamsavalon@gmail.com

" Nueva Libertad, Nueva Alegría " New Freedom, New Happiness http://www.convencionaapr.com/ The Condado Plaza Hilton San Juan, Puerto Rico MAY 5, 6, 7 English Speaking Meetings Included

LOON MOUNTAIN 12 STEP FESTIVAL MAY 5,6,7 2017 At Woodward’s Resort Lincoln, NH COME JOIN US FOR SPEAKERS, FELLOWSHIP, AND FUN!! Whole Weekend is only $190 per person D.O. or $265 Single v  Includes Two night’s lodging (Friday & Saturday) at Woodward’s Inn of Lincoln or Woodward’s Resort. v  Two breakfasts and Two lunches (Saturday & Sunday) v  One dinner (Saturday). v  NH Room Tax & Resort Fee. For Flyer email Maddie madcelia@aol.com

Van Devender Middle School                                                         918 31st St, Parkersburg, WV 26104 More Information: Call Corey C. 304-834-5513 or Brandi B. 304-893-4018

Online registration for the 2017 AA Convention is now open! Register Here! http://aaconvention.eventbee.com/event?eid=169348274

“THERE IS A SOLUTION” 3 DAYS OF BIG BOOK EXPERIENCE June 23rd, 24th, 25th 2017 Presented by: Worldly Traveled Big Book Technicians Charlie P. and Katie P. from Austin Texas A weekend adventure through the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous you won’t want to miss. LOCATION: Watson Homestead, 9620 Dry Run Rd. Painted Post N.Y. http://fingerlakesaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/BB-Weekend-2017-Flyer-1.pdf http://www.thereisasolution2017.com/

Speaker Recordings Wee Willie’s Sobriety First Media AA CD’s Literature and tapes https://www.mediafire.com/sobrietyfirst ***** The Lights are On http://xa-speakers.org/ AA Speaker Tapes http://www.aaspeakers.org/AA_Speaker_Tapes Recovery Speakers http://recoveryspeakers.com/

ARCHIVES Daily Meditations Group Home http://groups.google.com/group/Your_Daily_Reprieve?hl=en Daily Meditations Archive http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/7AMmeeting/ Blog http://todaysreprieve.blogspot.com/

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AA Membership Survey http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/p-48_membershipsurvey.pdf

Meditation Resources http://www.peterrussell.com/TV/3Min.php ***** Loving Kindness Meditations With Music http://www.excelatlife.com/mp3/direct_download.php?file=lovingkindnessmusic.mp3 Voice only http://www.excelatlife.com/mp3/direct_download.php?file=lovingkindness.mp3 ***** Free Guided Meditations http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22

Resources Great Minds Quotes https://twitter.com/GreatestQuotes BIG BOOK SEARCH ENGINE: http://www.whytehou se.com/big_ book_search/ Twenty Four Hours a Day Since 1954, Twenty-Four Hours a Day has become a stable force in the recovery of many alcoholics throughout the world. With over nine million copies in print (the original text has been revised), this "little black book" offers daily thoughts, meditations, and prayers for living a clean and sober life. A spiritual resource with practical applications to fit our daily lives. Copyright 1975 Hazeleden Foundation Tammy’s recovery links http://www.bluidkiti.com/forums/ NEW! Twisted Thinking Making Sense Out of Nonsense: Change Happens by Changing Your Perception by Georgia Hughes amazon.com/author/georgiahughes AA Photo Archives http://www.rewritables.net/cybriety/aa_photos.htm Heard at A Meeting https://twitter.com/heardinameeting Breast Cancer Site Take a minute and click to provide free mammograms http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ MEN FIGHTING CANCER TOGETHER America’s largest volunteer men’s cancer support group and advocacy national nonprofit organization. http://malecare.org/ Big Book Quotes http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/BigBookQuotes/ The Universe https://www.facebook.com/scherie.dee Prayables http://prayables.org/ As We See It (AWSI) http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AsWeSeeIt/ Keep It Simple Hazelden Meditations ePrayer http://www.eprayer.com/dailyinspiration.htm Daily Thought http://groups.google.com/group/TransitionsDaily Speaker Recordings http://storiesofrecovery.org/Workshops.htm Wisdom of the Room http://www.theWisdomoftheRooms.com

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