(This one REALLY HITS HOME FOR ME AT THIS TIME IN MY LIFE!! Thank you ALL for your support, and the FOG is lifting!!!!)
If I ever think that I am above another alcoholic, or that he has fallen further than I ever could go, I am fooling myself. Nor can I judge another’s inability to maintain sobriety, nor proclaim the exact nature of his shortcomings. Within me lies a thousand relapses, years in prison, bodily damage and every other ravage of alcoholism. It is very important that I do not forget the infinite power of alcohol to take me lower than I ever thought possible. Sometimes I sit in meetings with people whose stories I have heard, and I marvel at their serenity, integrity, dedication and wisdom. I try to imagine them doing the horrible things they have described in their shares, but I cannot. The body can forget, society can forget, our families can forget, but we must never, never forget. If we turn our will and our lives over to alcohol, we will be at the mercy of a tyrant who will not be satisfied until we are consumed entirely. That is why we look back, remember what it was like, and retell it to one another. Not because we have one foot in the past, but because we must always keep one eye trained on it. This is a disease of forgetting. One that makes the man at the bus stop seem a stranger and not our brother. There, but for the grace of God, go I.
THIS24 
Thought for the Day
We had become hopelessly sick people, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. The power that controlled us was greater than ourselves – it was John Barleycorn. Many drinkers have said: “I hadn’t gone that far; I hadn’t lost my job on account of drink; I still had my family; I managed to keep out of jail. True, I took too much sometimes and I guess I managed to make quite an ass of myself when I did, but I still thought I could control my drinking. I didn’t really believe that I was an alcoholic.” If I was one of these, have I fully changed my mind?
Meditation for the Day
Painful as the present time may be, you will one day see the reason for it. You will see that it was not only testing, but also a preparation for the life work, which you are to do. Have faith that your prayers and aspirations will some day be answered. Answered in a way that perhaps seems painful to you but is the only right way. Selfishness and pride often make us want things that are not good for us. They need to be burned out of our natures. We must be rid of the blocks, which are holding us back, before we can expect our prayers to be answered.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may be willing to go through a time of testing. I pray that I may trust God for the outcome.
I’ve read and pondered the thoughts and words in the “Little Black Book” almost every day since the spring of 1988.
I’m Harry, a sober alcoholic.
Thanks Harry for your share and Thank you for being a witness for recovery by sharing the readings from the black book. I can’t decipher if this is your birthday m9nth, but I think it is and Congratulations should be 8n order.
Top of the morning family,
Lack of power, that was our dilemma, BB page 45
– Can a wild mustang can’t tame itself /free itself.
– Self: will always abuse free will.
– Divine Mercy: only desires a relationship and not a performance.
I do my best and stay on the path as He has planned. However, I will stumble. What I must remember in those times is that even though I stumble, Divine Mercy will never leave me, fail me, nor forsake me.
It’s a good day for a stepping stone/stumbling block day.