FOR SUNDAY JULY 5

HAPPY 24th SOBER ANNIVERSARY TO

PRAYER GIRL

Sunday July 5 1985, PRAYER GIRL had her last drink of alcohol. Several distilleries closed down, laying off thousands of workers. Havoc ruled on Wall Street. President Reagan issued a proclamation that the US government will begin taking over the liquor industry, to soothe unsettled national fear and nerves. The world was in panic. Should PG drink again, all would be well, that sense of ease and comfort in the world would come at once. The globe would be no longer restless, irritable, and discontented...

24 years later, the world is still restless, irritable, and discontented.

NOTE: This will be my blog until Sunday night. Thanks blog-friends, for your understanding.

STEVE'S GRATITUDE LIST
FOR JULY 2009

That Prayer Girl is happily sober 24 years Sunday July 5, 2009

That Prayer Girl has stuck by me, loved me, through these past 18 years of that sobriety

That Prayer Girl is "PRAYER" girl

That God answers her prayers, and mine...in God's time

That God put in front of me again today a man who wanted what we have

That God allowed this person to "listen"

That I realize "being grateful" means being useful in God's world

That by being very involved in Alcoholics Anonymous is for me the best showing of "gratitude" which I can imagine of

(I'm grateful to Mary Christine for showing me it's all right (legal!) to end a sentence with a preposition even though it irritates me to do so)

That an eight-months-long misunderstanding has been reconciled

That God will, when asked, melt two cold human hearts in one fell swoop

That God does not mind if I silently and happily weep

That God does for me daily what I cannot do for myself

That I can practice "acceptance" to become more "acceptable" to you Peeps and finally to God

That I realize it is not too late to get back and work on family love and unity

For many friends in many rooms of AA

For (God loves you, too!) my friend-Peeps here on the blogroll

For those who for some reason are not yet ON my blogroll

To God for giving me Flex, my Guardian Angel

For God allowing me to SO enjoy life here on earth. I never imagined such fun really existed, outside of the movies.

For being shown that I can recognize things which I am grateful for

TRIVIA

PICASSO defined art as "a lie that let's us see the truth."

SO grateful, SO happy, SO sober today am I...and I wish the same for all the blog-peeps everywhere, and for you, my special peeps right here:

Peace, and Love,

Steve E

Trivia from L.M. Boyd's "Curiosity Shop" Page 77

ONE MORE TIME

WHAT A BACK YARD!

IN THE MOUNTAINS

Fellow at an AA meeting received his 24-hour white chip Thursday at noon. Friday at noon he went up to get another. Naturally, the group members figured he drank again Thursday night--he told me he has a dozen white chips so far! Well, no, he had not had a thing to drink, he just wanted to get a chip every day for thirty days, so he could at least get "that far along" for once!

When I was asked my thoughts on that, my first temptation was to say, "Absolutely not. Those white chips serve a function in AA, and it is not to fill your pocket with them."

Then I finally did answer that, "You know, if it takes thirty little white poker chips to keep a guy sober for thirty little days--well, let it be so! What harm does it cause AA, or the group, as long as his peeps know what's up. He might just end up with a sponsor and thirty days of a head full of AA."

And so they decided to let him be, with a chip each day--my guess is that he will get tired of "faking it" before a week is out. We are not God. I learn something new every day. And I'm now even more "...willing to grow along spiritual lines." (One of my favorite sets of Big Book "six-word-phrases". Another set-of-six is "We absolutely insist on enjoying life.")

Went square dancing tonight, on top of another mountain, included with a really interesting and thoroughly enjoyable dining experience--country-style! Well, I danced with Anna's sponsee, because Anna has a sore, sore big toe. Complete honesty begs me to divulge that my legs lasted about ten minutes. Is that what age has done to me? Or is it blogging? Hmmm? Well, also I was wearing sandals, not your usual clogging gear.

It is after midnight, and we leave early in morning, so that's it for tonight, Peeps!

DAILY TRIVIA

There are as many molecules in a teaspoonful of water, as there are teaspoonfuls of water in the Atlantic ocean.

SERIOUS MUSIC

Does anyone remember these words to a ditty?
"If the ocean were whiskey and I was a duck,
I'd swim to the bottom and never come up."

Guess you can tell how tired I am. -grin!

Peace, and Love, from
Steve E

THE VIEW

OUR VIEW OF MAGGIE VALLEY, NC

Another day is history. I wonder if history books are being revised with more frequency? Because the days/years are sure flying by more rapidly. OK, I must blog this. We are visiting with one of PG's sponsees. She and hubby built a house on top a mountain. More like a castle. It IS at the top. The road stops here.

Driving up here was scary. PG was behind the wheel. But here we are. Now, how are we gonna get back down--and back up, etc? I guess it's my turn tomorrow. Sheeesh!
Something about the house. It is two-stories plus basement, exquisitely built on the order of an exclusive, rustic country club. More than that simply defies description. I could live here snowed in for the winter--roads closed then. Enough. We are here until Saturday! Maybe time to blog tomorrow? And comment!

ONE FOR ME

On a bitterly cold day, a Rabbi and his disciples were huddled around a fire.

One of the disciples, echoing his master's teachings, said, "On a freezing day like this, I know exactly what to do!"

"What?" asked the others.

Keep warm! And if that is not possible then I still know what to do."

"What?"

"Freeze!"

Present reality cannot really be rejected or accepted. To run away from it is like running away from your feet. To accept it is like kissing your own lips.

All you need to do is see, understand, and be at rest.

DAILY TRIVIA

Those who band birds now say they've learned that many migratory birds each season go back not only to the same tree they left the previous year (you knew that!), but to the same branch.

Sleepily Posted.
Peace to you,
And Love, too.
Steve E

Daily Trivia taken from L.M. Boyd's "Curiosity Shop"
One For Me is from A. De Mello "Taking Flight