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Please keep Alan H. in your prayers.

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> From: NewParadigmFund@aol.com
> Date: February 2, 2011 12:42:02 PM EST
> To: perowan@gmail.com, skovaleski@hunton.com, tjd@larashullmay.com, cjtfarrell@gmail.com
> , dcduplessis@mlaworldwide.com, peter.judge@cox.net, icelandfish@msn.com
> , nick_yacoub@yahoo.com, azizasis@yahoo.com, gregtafe@yahoo.com, dshapiro@umw.edu
> , chriskennemer@gmail.com, jeff@motternmasonry.com
> Subject: Fwd: Today, Wednesday, February 2, 2011
>

>
>
> Subj: Today, Wednesday, February 2, 2011
>
>
> February 2: In AA., am I getting real pleasure and serenity and
> peace?
> This is February, the 2nd month of the year;
> • The 2nd Tradition: For our group purpose there is but one
> ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our gro
> up conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not gov
> ern.
> • The 2nd Step: Came to believe that a Power greater than ou
> rselves could restore us to sanity.
> • The 2nd Promise: We are going to know a new freedom and a n
> ew happiness.
> __________________
> A.A. Thought for the Day
>
> We got a kick out of the first few drinks, before we got stupefied
> by alcohol. For a while, the world seemed to look brighter. But how
> about the letdown, the terrible depression that comes the morning
> after? In A.A., we get a real kick: not a false feeling of
> exhilaration, but a real feeling of satisfaction with ourselves,
> self respect, and a feeling of friendliness toward the world. We got
> a sort of pleasure from drinking. For a while we thought we were
> happy. But it's only an illusion. The hangover the next day is the
> opposite of pleasure. In AA., am I getting real pleasure and
> serenity and peace?
>
> Meditation for the Day
>
> I will practice love, because lack of love will block the way. I
> will try to see good in all people, those I like and also those who
> fret me and go against the grain. They are all children of God. I
> will try to give love; otherwise, how can I dwell in God's spirit
> whence nothing unloving can come? I will try to get along with all
> people, because the more love I give away, the more I will have.
>
> Prayer for the Day
>
> I pray that I may do all I can to love others, in spite of their
> many faults. I pray that as I love, so will I be loved.
>
> Source: Twenty-Four Hours a Day, Richmond Walker, Copyright © 197
> 5, Hazeldon Foundation, printed in the USA. Editor’s note: This bo
> ok was compiled by Richmond Walker (1892–1965) of the Group at Dayto
> na Beach, Florida. I get the text from the following website: http://www.anonymityone.com/h24/0403EN.htm
> Note 4 numbers after “h24/”: the first two are the day of the
> month and the second two are the month. Example: To get daily read
> ing for December 21st, you would change the URL to http://www.anonymityone.com/h24/2112EN.htm
>
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>
> It’s All Gratuitous
>
>
> This is what binds all people and all creation together-the gratuity
> of the gift of being. –Matthew Fox
>
>
> My only son died five years ago; he was four and a half,” writes a c
> ontributor to Slowing Down in a Speeded Up World. “One of the gifts
> his death brought was an excuse to stop the rush. For the first ye
> ar, I allowed grief to wash over me whenever I needed to, and I let
> myself be open to the healing that surrounds us in this incredible w
> orld. I had time for a hug and to talk with my friends; I had vast
> amounts of time to cherish four and a half years of memories.
> “Nowadays it isn’t unusual for me to stop in my tracks
> when a rainbow arches over the bay outside my office window, or a ti
> ny feather drifts down to me from the sky, or a child’s laugh at McD
> onald’s brings tears to my eyes.
> “I realize how lucky I am, not to have lost my son but to ha
> ve had him for as long as I did. I’m lucky to have known the import
> ance of certain moments that catch your soul and may never come agai
> n.”
> “Gratefulness, or “great fullness” as Brother David
> Steindl-Rast calls it, “is the full response of the human heart to t
> he gratuitousness of all that is.” He and Matthew Fox remind us tha
> t truly every single thing we have has been given to us, not necessa
> rily because we deserve it, but gratuitously, for no known reason, a
> nd that the same is true for every living thing. We are connected o
> ne to another, to sky and water and tree, and snake, by virtue of be
> ing here together as part of the wheel of life. Whatever source we
> believe is the giver–some concept of God or the randomness of the Bi
> g Bang–the fact of our incarnation, the fact of the lizard’s
> skin, the rose’s scent, the blueness of the sky, is an incredible gi
> ft. None of us–bee, flower, person–did anything to earn this
> gift, nor is anything required of us in return.
> When, in a sudden moment–gazing at a field of daffodils, per
> haps, or moving luxuriously through warm water, or listening to the
> painfully beautiful voice of Billie Holiday–we are stuck by the trut
> h of this amazingly free “no strings attached” gift, gratitude
> flows naturally from us, without effort. At such times, we don’t ne
> ed to work at feeling thankful; we just are.
> In such transcendent moments, we take our place in the great
> wheel of life, recognizing our connection to one another and to all
> of creation. More than that, we actually become part of everything,
> so that we experience the truth that there is no separation between
> us and everything else, sound, sight, and feeling.
> At such times, gratitude opens our hearts fully and we take
> in the love, the beauty, the joy that is ours to possess in every
> moment, in all circumstances. Through the gift of a grateful heart,
> we merge with the All and remember our rightful home.
>
> From: Attitudes of gratitude -How to Give and Receive Joy Every Day
> of Your Life, M.J. Ryan, Barnes & Noble Books, New York, 1999, page
>
>
> As Stan B. would often quote:
>
> “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for
> you in Jesus Christ.”
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> Thes 5:1