Elder’s Meditation May 27 2026

“One of the things the old people taught me about the spirits was to never have a doubt.”

–Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA

The spirit world is sometimes hard to believe in because we can’t see it. Our minds convince us to seek proof for everything. We need to believe that the Unseen World exists and the Unseen World is guided by principles, laws, and values. If we have doubts, we can pray to the Great Spirit to remove the doubt. He understands how difficult it can be sometimes, so He’s always ready to help us during our doubtful times. We are lucky to have such an understanding and helpful Father.

Great Spirit, today, divorce me from doubt.

A Day At A Time - May 10 2026

Reflection For The Day

As the doubter tries to process of prayer, he would do well to add up the results. If he persists, he’ll almost surely find more serenity, more tolerance, less fear, and less anger. He’ll acquire a quiet courage — the kind that isn’t tension-ridden. He’ll be able to look at “failure” and “success” for what they really are. Problems and calamity will begin to mean his instruction, instead of his destruction. He’ll feel freer and saner. Have wonderful and unaccountable things begun to happen to me in my new life?

Today I Pray

Through prayer, communion with a Higher Power, may I begin to see my lfie sort itself out. May I become less tense, more sane, more open, more courageous, more loving, less tangled in problems, less afraid of losing, less afraid of living. May I know that God, too, wants these things for me. May His will be done.

Today I Will Remember

Be still and know that He is God.

A WOMAN’S SPIRIT - April 19 2026

I’m not very different from others. We all have dark days of fear and doubt, but it’s okay.

~ JoAnn Reed
The beauty of living a Twelve Step program is that we don’t have to dwell in the darkness ever again. We can be free of doubt over the smallest or gravest situations if we make the decision to turn our lives and will over to the care of a loving Higher Power. To receive this gift, all we need to do is ask for the help our Higher Power has promised.

We begin to feel grateful when we develop trust in the promises of this program. We knew fear and heartache all too well. Feeling, maybe for the first lime, real joy and freedom from incessant worry is no exhilarating, energizing, gratifying.

We are given only the knowledge and information we need for these twenty-four hours. But we can feel certain that the day will unfold according to the plan of our Higher Power. We have nothing to fear. This day will not be dark if we walk with our friends in this program and let God lead the way.

My day will be dark only if I shut out the light of my Higher Power. Through my faith and my friends I can know peace.

© 1994 by Hazelden Foundation

FR. LEO'S DAILY MEDITATION #essentialsofrecovery

DOUBT

“Sixty years ago, I knew everything; now I know nothing. Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”

~ Will Durant ~

Spirituality is knowing I do not know. It is waking up in the morning with my eyes fully open, awaiting the adventure of the new day. New things, theories, and facts are discovered every day, and this makes for a glorious and exciting world.

There was a time when I used knowledge to protect myself from the challenges and inconsistencies of life. God had to be a proven fact, evidenced in theory and dogma. As such, the mystery was lost.

Today my relationship with God is real. Doubt has become part of my faith. The state of not knowing is creative and stimulating. To not know is the beginning of wisdom.

You who have spoken through wind and fire, speak through my doubts. 

© 2008 Leo Booth 

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

FR.LEO'S DAILY MEDITATION #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Doubt

DOUBT

“Sixty years ago, I knew everything; now I know nothing. Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”
~ Will Durant ~

Spirituality is knowing I do not know. It is waking up in the morning with my eyes fully open, awaiting the adventure of the new day. New things, theories, and facts are discovered every day, and this makes for a glorious and exciting world.

There was a time when I used knowledge to protect myself from the challenges and inconsistencies of life. God had to be a proven fact, evidenced in theory and dogma. As such, the mystery was lost.

Today my relationship with God is real. Doubt has become part of my faith. The state of not knowing is creative and stimulating. To not know is the beginning of wisdom.

You who have spoken through wind and fire, speak through my doubts. 

© 2008 Leo Booth

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

The Eye Opener #essentialsofrecovery

Doubt is the opposite of Faith. No man has either one completely, but even those of little faith have by far more faith than doubt. He may not admit a belief in God or the inherent good in mankind, but still there are numberless things in which he has no doubt.

If he did not have some faith, he would be afraid to go to sleep for fear he wouldn’t waken; he would refuse to eat a meal unless he cooked it himself. He would be afraid to leave his wife to go to work or to leave his job to return to his wife for fear they would not be there when he returned.

Reduced to its simplest form, life is good or bad in proportion to our faith and our doubts.

Hazelden Foundation

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

A Day At A Time #essentialsofrecovery

Reflection For The Day

If I believe that it’s hopeless to expect any improvement in my life, I’m doubting the power of God.  If I believe I have reason for despair, I’m confessing personal failure, for I do have the power to change myself;  nothing can prevent it but my own unwillingness.  I can learn in The Program to avail myself of the immense, inexhaustible power of God — if I’m willing to be continually aware of God’s nearness.  Do I still imagine that my satisfaction with life depends on what someone else may do?

Today I Pray

May I give over my life to the will of God, not to the whims and insensitivities of others.  When I counted solely on what other people did and thought and felt for my own happiness, I became nothing more than a cheap mirror reflecting others’ lives.  May I remain close to God in all things.  I value msyelf because He values me.  May I have my being in his Being and be dependent only upon Him.

Today I Will Remember

Stay close to God. 

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Father Leo’s Daily Meditation

DOUBT

“I respect faith but doubt is what gets you an education.”

–Wilson Mizner

It is okay to question things. It is okay to say that I do not agree. Today I have the freedom to doubt opinions and attitudes.


In my childhood I was never allowed to do this. I had to accept the Bible because the preacher said it was God’s word. I had to accept that only Christians went to Heaven because Grandma said so! I had to believe that Jews and Blacks were “inferior” because family and friends said so – and to doubt them was to be different. I was dependent upon an attitude towards life that I was uncomfortable with. It brought me pain, anger, loneliness and guilt in later life.


Then I learned that growth comes to those who are prepared to doubt or disagree with an existing system. God is to be found in the questions. Spirituality is discovered in the shades of life.

O God, part of Your glory and splendor is Your unending mystery.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrecovery

Walk In Dry Places #essentialsofrec

Confidence In the next phase.
Assurance

“God has carried me this far. I will not be let down now.” These are brave words of recovering people who find themselves facing new doubts and fears.

There’s nothing unrealistic about this attitude. Those of us in 12 Step programs and beneficiaries of a miraculous chain of events that brought our movement into being. Our responsibility is to continue carrying the message by proving how the program works.

It’s our success in dealing with life’s problems that eventually attracts others to our fellow ship. The best proof of how our spiritual program works is showing how our Higher Power continues to solve problems in our lives.

We don’t always know what the next phase in our lies will bring. We can only know that with God, all sorts of wonderful things continue to be possible.

Though I can’t see around the corner, I’ll know today that my Higher Power will guide me smoothly and safely through the next phase. 

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Dounbt #understanding

A.A. Thought For The Day

If you have any doubt, just ask any of the older members of the A.A. group, and they will readily tell you that since they turned their lives over to the care of God as they understand Him, many of their problems have been banished into the forgotten yesterdays. When you allow yourself to be upset over one thing, you succeed only in opening the door to the coming of hundreds of other upsetting things. Am I allowing myself to be upset over little things?

Meditation For The Day

I would do well not to think of the Red Sea of difficulties that lies ahead. I am sure that when I come to that Red Sea, the waters will part and I will be given all the power I need to face and overcome many difficulties and meet what is in store for me with courage. I believe that I will pass through that Red Sea to the promised land, the land of the spirit where many souls meet in perfect comradeship. I believe that when that time comes, I will be freed of all the dross of material things and find peace.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may face the future with courage. I pray that I may be given strength to face both life and death fearlessly. 

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Doubt

DOUBT

“I respect faith but doubt is what gets you an education.”

–Wilson Mizner

It is okay to question things. It is okay to say that I do not agree.  Today I have the freedom to doubt opinions and attitudes.

In my childhood I was never allowed to do this. I had to accept the Bible because the preacher said it was God’s word. I had to accept that only Christians went to Heaven because Grandma said so! I had to believe that Jews and Blacks were “inferior” because family and friends said so – and to doubt them was to be different. I was dependent upon an attitude towards life that I was uncomfortable with. It brought me pain, anger, loneliness and guilt in later life.

Then I learned that growth comes to those who are prepared to doubt or disagree with an existing system. God is to be found in the questions. Spirituality is discovered in the shades of life.

O God, part of Your glory and splendor is Your unending mystery. 

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

Twenty-Four Hours A Day #essentialsofrec #Recovery #AA #Group

22
June 

A.A. Thought For The Day

If you have any doubt, just ask any of the older members of the A.A. group, and they will readily tell you that since they turned their lives over to the care of God as they understand Him, many of their problems have been banished into the forgotten yesterdays. When you allow yourself to be upset over one thing, you succeed only in opening the door to the coming of hundreds of other upsetting things. Am I allowing myself to be upset over little things?

Meditation For The Day

I would do well not to think of the Red Sea of difficulties that lies ahead. I am sure that when I come to that Red Sea, the waters will part and I will be given all the power I need to face and overcome many difficulties and meet what is in store for me with courage. I believe that I will pass through that Red Sea to the promised land, the land of the spirit where many souls meet in perfect comradeship. I believe that when that time comes, I will be freed of all the dross of material things and find peace.

Prayer For The Day

I pray that I may face the future with courage. I pray that I may be given strength to face both life and death fearlessly.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

Just For Today #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Change

15
 June

Resistance To Change

“Many of us cling to our fears, doubts, self-loathing, or hatred because there is a certain distorted security in familiar pain. It seems safer to embrace what we know than to let go of it for the unknown.” 

Basic Text, p.33

We have often heard it said that “when the pain of remaining the same becomes greater than the pain of changing, we will change” Our fear can keep us from growing, afraid to end relationships, change careers, attend new meetings, begin new friendships, or attempt anything out of the ordinary. We stay in situations that are no longer working far longer than we have to simply because what is familiar feels safer than the unknown. Any change involves overcoming fear. “What if I’m alone forever?” we might think if we consider leaving our lover. “What if I find out I’m incompetent?” we may wonder when we contemplate changing careers. We may balk at attending new meetings because we will have to reach out. Our minds manufacture a hundred excuses for remaining right where we are, afraid to try something new.

We find that most of our pain comes not from change but from resistance to change. In NA, we learn that change is how we move forward in our lives. New friends, new relationships, new interests and challenges will replace the old. With these new things in our lives, we find new joys and loves.

Just for today: I will release the old, embrace the new, and grow.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Recovery #Doubt

 8
June 

DOUBT


“I respect faith but doubt is what gets you an education.”

–Wilson Mizner

It is okay to question things. It is okay to say that I do not agree. Today I have the freedom to doubt opinions and attitudes.

In my childhood I was never allowed to do this. I had to accept the Bible because the preacher said it was God’s word. I had to accept that only Christians went to Heaven because Grandma said so! I had to believe that Jews and Blacks were “inferior” because family and friends said so – and to doubt them was to be different. I was dependent upon an attitude towards life that I was uncomfortable with. It brought me pain, anger, loneliness and guilt in later life.

Then I learned that growth comes to those who are prepared to doubt or disagree with an existing system. God is to be found in the questions. Spirituality is discovered in the shades of life.

O God, part of Your glory and splendor is Your unending mystery.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?
Or Follow Us On Twitter #essentialsofrec

Father Leo’s Daily Meditation #essentialsofrec #Doubt #FrLeo

 8
March 

DOUBT

“Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”

— Will Durant

Spirituality is the art of knowing that we do not know. It is waking up in the morning with our eyes fully opened and awaiting the adventure of the new day. New things, new theories, new facts are being discovered every day and it makes for a glorious, confusing and exciting world.

There was a time when I could not say this; a time when knowledge and facts were collected and regurgitated. I used knowledge to protect myself from the challenge and inconsistencies of life. God had to be not only a proven fact but evidenced in theories and dogmas —the mystery was lost.

Today I believe that God cannot be contained by dogma and rules. The doubts have become part of my faith. The state of “not knowing” becomes creative and stimulating. My relationship with God today is real. To “not know” is the beginning of wisdom.

You, who have spoken through the wind and the fire, speak through my doubts.

Why not sign up to get emails with all daily posts included?