Activity

NOVEMBER 26 Reflection for the Day
During our first days in Gamblers Anonymous, we got rid of the trappings and environments of gambling. We had to get rid of these, for we knew they surely would have killed us. We got rid of the situations, but we couldn’t get rid of our addiction until we took further action. So we also had to learn to toss self-pity, self-justification, self-righteousness, and self-will straight out the window. We had to get off the rickety ladder that supposedly was the easy way to money, property, and prestige. And we had to take personal responsibility. To gain enough humility and self-respect to stay alive at all, we had to give up our most familiar possessions – our driven ambition and our unrealistic pride.

Am I well rid of the weights and chains that once bound me?

Today I Pray

May I give credit to my Higher Power not only for removing my gambling compulsion, but for teaching me to remove my old demanding, pushy “self” from all my spiritual and earthly relationships. For all the things I have learned and unlearned, for my own faith and for the grace of God, I am fully and heartily thankful.

Today I Will Remember
Gratitude for the grace of God.

NOVEMBER 27 Reflection for the Day
The Gamblers Anonymous Program shows us how to transform the pipe-dreams of our pasts into a comfortable reality and true sense of purpose, together with a growing consciousness of the power of God in our lives. It’s all right to keep our heads in the clouds with Him, we’re taught, but our feet should remain firmly planted here on earth. Here’s where other people are; here’s where our work must be accomplished.

Do I see anything incompatible between my God-consciousness and a useful life in the here-and-now?

Today I Pray
May my new “reality” include not only the nuts and bolts and pots and pans of daily living, but also my spiritual reality, my growing knowledge of the presence of God. May this new reality have room, too, for my dreams – not the mind-drifting fantasies of the past or the remnants of my delusions, but the products of a healthy imagination. May I respect those dreams, anchor them in earth’s possibilities, and turn them into useful creativity.

Today I Will Remember
Heaven has a place in the here-and-now.