Your Daily Reprieve 121.20.25

 

 

 

 

 

Your Daily Reprieve for Saturday  December 20, 2025   From Waynesville, NC

“Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” ~Chinese Proverb   The best way to be more free is to grant more freedom to others. Carlo Dossi   Anything you strive to hold captive will hold you captive, and if you desire freedom you must give freedom. ~Peace Pilgrim   If you limit your actions in life to things that nobody can possibly find fault with, you will not do much. ~Charles Lutwidge Dodgson     On the Seventh Day of Christmas…   “Peace on earth will come to stay when we live Christmas every day." ~Roy L. Smith   "He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree." ~Deborah Whipp “Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance— each beautiful, unique, and gone too soon.” ~Agnes M. Pahro

Big Book Quote   We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him.   P46

Daily Share!     AA Speaker of the Day   AL F. Serenity Improvement Group 10.05.2021   https://bit.ly/4pwcVcM

Celebrate Your Anniversary Here SHOW NEWCOMERS HOW IT WORKS!!   DECEMBER 2025 Miracles     12/1 Beth S. (Conway, NH)…..30 12/1 Arsenia R. (Coral Gables, FL)…..23 12/1 Nina S. (Bradenton, FL)…..18 12/3 Brooks F. …..1 12/3 Walter S. (Jacksonville, FL)…..32 12/3 Cindy S. (Leesburg, FL)…..12 12/3 Lorine M. (Indian Harbour Beach, FL)…..6 12/4 Lisa B. (Trenton, MI)…..30 12/4 John Q. (Rochester, NY)…..44 12/5 David E. (Costa Rica)…..18 12/5 Sophie G. (Punta Gorda, FL)…..13 12/5 Barry L. (Wimauma, FL)…..37 12/6 Wylie H. (Stony Brook, NY) …..10 12/6 Sissy V. (Kingsland, GA)…..14 12/6 Bill M. (Gilboa, NY)…..23 12/6 Jimmie C. (River Falls, WI)…..41 12/7 Tom L. (Moorestown, NJ)…..12 12/7 Chris K. (Davidson, NC)…..2 12/7 Mike B. …..40 12/7 Nan G. (Decent 7th Los Altos/Nantucket)…..29 12/7 Michelle S. (Bluffton, SC)…..5 12/7 Stephen S. (Chang Mai, Thailand)…..36 12/8 Kelli E. (Waynesville, NC)…..2 12/9 Heidi H. (Nantucket, MA)…..4 12/10 Mary J. (Port St. Lucie, FL)…..25 12/10 Kathy R. (Basking Ridge, NJ)…..15 12/10 Paul K. (Nantucket/Anguilla)…..19 12/10 Amanda T. (Vancouver, BC)…..6 12/10 Kim B. (Patrick Space Force Base)…..1 12/10 Peter D. (Dallas, TX)…..5 12/12 Shannon K. (Marshall, NC)…..27 12/12 Rich H. (Hanover, PA)…..42 12/13 Wendell M. (Bothell, WA)…..12 12/13 Tom O’. (Milwaukee, WI)…..19 12/13 Lou H. (Clermont, FL)…..2 12/14 Bob P. (Carolina, RI/Cullman, AL)…..35 12/15 Carrie F. (Selinsgrove, PA)…..21 12/15 John M. (Paros, Greece)…..23 12/15 Steve S. (Garnerville, NY)…..42 12/16 Jim J. (NYC)…..52 12/16 Susie U. (Starkville, MS)…..6 12/16 Jorge B. (Houston, TX)…..5 12/16 Susan G. (Stamford, CT)…..15 12/17 Peter W. …..1 12/18 Chris V. (Royal Oak, MI)…..18 12/18 Jay A. …..21 12/18 Mike H. (Freemont, NH)…..8 12/19 Autumn M. (Jacksonville, FL)…..9 12/20 Lory W. (Winchester, UK)…..25 12/21 Deb S. (North Hampton, NH)…..35 12/21 Oakie O. (Ocean Gate, NJ)…..46 12/21 Scott G. (Waterford, CT)…..9 12/21 Bridget C. (Albany, NY)…..23 12/22 Dick M. (New York City)…..48 12/22 Bob O. (Stuart, FL)…..31 12/23 Ms. Lee H. (San Francisco, CA)…..35 12/23 Pete G. (Punta Gorda, FL)…..45 12/25 Joe D. (Salem, NH)…..14 12/25 Sharon G. (Palos Heights, IL)…..25 12/25 Eric F. (Kansas City)…..13 12/25 Jeremy B. …..9 12/26 Koko S. (Anderson SC)…..1 12/26 Chick R. (Oak Forest, IL)…..28 12/26 Rick J. (Waynesville, NC)…..8 12/26 Donna V. (Clinton, NJ)…..6 12/27 Neil R. (Queens, NY)…..11 12/28 Julie V. …..12 12/29 Diana S. …..39 12/30 Rufus W. (Coppell, TX)…..52 12/31 Larry S. (Marietta, GA)…..38   1422 Total Years of Sobriety       Drop a Buck in the Basket? PayPal paypal.me/TomMurphy Venmo @Tom-Murphy-160

12&12     Tradition Two - "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience." Where does A.A. get its direction? Who runs it? This, too, is a puzzler for every friend and newcomer. When told that our Society has no president having authority to govern it, no treasurer who can compel the payment of any dues, no board of directors who can cast an erring member into outer darkness, when indeed no A.A. can give another a directive and enforce obedience, our friends gasp and exclaim, "This simply can't be. There must be an angle somewhere." These practical folk then read Tradition Two, and learn that the sole authority in A.A. is a loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience. They dubiously ask an experienced A.A. member if this really works. The member, sane to all appearances, immediately answers, "Yes! It definitely does." The friends mutter that this looks vague, nebulous, pretty naive to them. Then they commence to watch us with speculative eyes, pick up a fragment of A.A. history, and soon have the solid facts. p. 132

Twenty-Four Hours                                             A.A. Thought For The Day Our faith should control the whole of our life. We alcoholics were living a divided life. We had to find a way to make it whole. When we were drinking, our lives were made up of a lot of scattered and unrelated pieces. We must pick up our lives and put them back together again. We do it by recovering a faith in a Divine Principle in the universe which hold us together and holds the whole universe together and gives it meaning and purpose. We surrender our disorganized lives to that Power, we get into harmony with the Divine Spirit, and our lives are made whole again. Is my life whole again? Meditation For The Day Avoid fear as you would a plague. Fear, even the smallest fear, is a hacking at the cords of faith that bind you to God. However small the fraying, in time those cords will wear thin, and then one disappointment or shock will make them snap. But for the little fears, the cords of faith would have held firm. Avoid depression, which is allied to fear. Remember that all fear is disloyalty to God. It is a denial of His care and protection. Prayer For The Day I pray that I may have such trust in God today that I will not fear anything too greatly. I pray that I may have assurance that God will take care of me in the long run.

Daily Thought ^*^*^*^*^ (\    ~~    /) (     \(AA)/     ) (_ /AA\ _) /AA\ ^*^*^*^*^ Touchy "Many of us have been so touchy that even casual reference to spiritual things make us bristle with antagonism. This sort of thinking had to be abandoned. Though some of us resisted, we found no great difficulty in casting aside such feelings. Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions. In this respect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. Sometimes this was a tedious process; we hope no one else will prejudiced for as long as some of us were."   c.1976 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 48 Thought to Consider . . . The solution is simple. The solution is spiritual. *~*AACRONYMS*~* B O G G L E Bad Or Good, God Loves Everyone

DAILY REFLECTIONS   THE REWARDS OF GIVING This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands nothing. He does not expect his brother sufferer to pay him, or even to love him. And then he discovers that by the divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether his brother has yet received anything or not. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 109 Through experience with Twelfth Step work, I came to understand the rewards of giving that demands nothing in return. At first I expected recovery in others, but I soon learned that this did not happen. Once I acquired the humility to accept the fact that every Twelfth Step call was not going to result in a success, then I was open to receive the rewards of selfless giving.

POT LUCK   Today's Meditation: I knew some parents once who were so afraid that their teenage daughter was going to get into trouble that they micro-managed her life, allowing her virtually no freedom at all.  They gave her rides to everything and picked her up, they didn't allow her to stay over at friends' houses, the whole deal.  The girl was miserable, and needless to say, the parents were pretty miserable, too.  It got to be so stressful when the daughter finally rebelled that the parents just threw up their hands and said "Fine, do what you want." The parents were amazed--and quite humbled--when it turned out that their daughter was a pretty responsible young lady.  She made a few mistakes, but none that were drastic.  The parents learned that when they gave her the freedom to be who she was, they no longer had to try to mold her into who they thought she should be, and their lives became much, much easier.  We see the same things in relationships between spouses, lovers, siblings, and friends--try to control the other person's behaviors and actions and thoughts and reactions, and you're only setting yourself up for misery. If I want to be truly free, I have to let others be free to be who they are and do what they want.  When I try to control others, I suffer just as much as they do.  I see this often in my classroom--when I'm able to let the students be because they're behaving well, my stress level is very low.  When someone starts acting up, though, my stress level rises because I now have to take away another person's freedom because they're abusing their freedom in an inappropriate situation. If you want to be truly free, then let others be free.  Otherwise, freedom is just a word or a dream, but not a true experience.

**NEW** Excellent Resource Blogs, Audio and Video Articles   https://takethe12.org/   *****   "AA Recovery Interviews" Podcast https://aarecoveryinterviews.com   Blog http://todaysreprieve.blogspot.com/     Wee Willie’s Sobriety First Media AA CD’s Literature and tapes https://www.mediafire.com/sobrietyfirst     AA Membership Survey 2022 Alcoholics Anonymous 2022 Membership Survey | Alcoholics Anonymous     Committee Consideration from the 73rd General Service Conference In response to a Committee Consideration from the 73rd General Service Conference regarding any possible future changes to literature written by A.A.’s founders,  that committee agreed it would be beneficial to gather shared experience from the Fellowship regarding this topic. Questionaire   How Should We Treat A.A. Founders' Writings?  https://bit.ly/3uhEPBK       DR. PAUL O. There is More to Quitting Drinking Than Quitting Drinking (Audio Book) Introduction http://bit.ly/1IlFBbp Part I http://bit.ly/1MPV5Za Part II http://bit.ly/1Ksd9eA Part III http://bit.ly/1GQCGGE Part IV http://bit.ly/1Ip0hn8 AA CDs Literature and tapes https://www.mediafire.com/sobrietyfirst       ZOOM MEETINGS   Loose Garment Group https://us02web.zoom.us/j/238977518 Saturday & Sunday….Pot Luck…0900 ID: 238 977 518 PW: 004 394       ARCHIVES     AA World Service Board Meeting Highlights October 2023  https://bit.ly/3GlcOvE       A New Pair of Glasses in PDF (download) is available at: https://bit.ly/4bUr0Js     Bill Schaberg Writing The Big Book Video Readings https://www.youtube.com/@billschaberg8911/videos   BIG BOOK for DUMMIES https://bigbookfordummies.com/       *Angel Force USA www.AngelForceUSA.com   Angel Force USA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. OUR MISSION STOP SUISILENCE The avoidance of discussion about suicide Our goal is to raise awareness of the military suicide epidemic.       RICHMOND WALKER & THE TWENTY-FOUR HOUR BOOK Glenn C. (South Bend, Indiana) Talk given at the 8th Annual National A.A. Archives Workshop, Fort Lauderdale, Florida Sept. 27, 2003 https://www.prestongroup.org/aa_docs/24_hours_a_day.txt       MEDITATIONS http://www.11thstepmeditation.org/   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       MOOJI GUIDED Meditation http://bit.ly/2Ogwe9v     **Podcasts** https://boiledowlaa.org/ https://www.aagrapevine.org/podcast     12 Step Meditations  www.stepmeditation.com   These are 12 meditations, each about 12 minutes long and the content (other than the meditation instructions) are straight from the text of the big book and 12 & 12 (created by Matt H.)     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/     Recovery Speakers http://recoveryspeakers.com/   Miscellaneous Sources Living Life Fully http://www.livinglifefully.com/     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/   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 https://thebreastcancersite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/bcs/home   MEN FIGHTING CANCER TOGETHER America’s largest volunteer men’s cancer support group and advocacy national nonprofit organization. http://malecare.org/     Prayables http://prayables.org/     Daily Thought http://groups.google.com/group/TransitionsDaily   Speaker Recordings Stories of Recovery - A 12-Step Collection https://storiesofrecovery.org/index.html