SLOW ME DOWN
THE TOUCH OF THE MASTER'S HAND
A LETTER FROM GOD
LET GO
I Took a Step.
Please Hear What I Am Not Saying
Personal Positive Affirmations
THE MAGIC RING
Planting a Special Garden
SOMEDAY STREET
Someday Street is a one-way street that leads to the gates of hell,
It's littered with broken bottles, and stories no one can tell.
It's the street of human derelicts, the place of forgotten men,
Who stagger and sway along the way, and are never seen again.
Someday Street is a sun-less street, where the days and nights are one,
And each tomorrow brings pain and sorrow, till the life of men is done.
It's a fearful street, a hidden street, that lives in each drunken brain,
That screams and cries, and tries and tires, to find somebody again.
Someday Street is a lonely street, it's always dark and drear',
Where the eyes of men are dull and tired, and ever filled with fear.
There's not a smile in that last cruel mile, but death in every block,
And the devil smiles and the devil beguiles the soul he has in "hock".
Someday Street is an age old street, it claims, it maims and stays,
Men toss and turn, sob and yearn for the memory of other days.
Of days before they hit the street, when life was good and new,
When each day and night was clear and bright, and dreams did oft' come true.
Someday Street is a hellish street, it's full of broken dreams,
It smells of broken bodies, it laughs at drunken screams.
It's a timeless street, a faceless street, it's men are faceless too,
They're there to stay, till laid away in a box just six by two.
Someday Street is a jealous street, that holds it's victims fast,
Each step you take, each drink you take, will lead to death at last.
It's a dim lit street, a lying street, that fools each seeking heart,
It shapes each one, and when it's done, it tears each one apart.
Someday Street is a one-way street, that lets few people go,
I've lived on Someday Street myself, and that is how I know.
The wino, the outcast, the big shot and the bum,
The mack-a-roo, the B-girl too, I've swilled their wine and rum.
I know the garish lights, I know the hellish dreams,
I know the alleys and jails, I know the cries and screams.
I know the filth of Someday Street, I know the cry of shame,
Because I came from Someday Street, a man without a name.
I crawled up, up from Someday Street, with all it's hell and pain,
I've found a way to live each day, and not go back again.
There was this man who drifted through, who told me there was a way,
To leave the hell of Someday Street, that way is the AA Way.
I've not been back to Someday Street, in weeks, in months and years,
I fear the hellish street no more, it's blackouts and it's tears.
Some new friends showed me a path, a path I'll gladly trod.
And for today the AA Way, helps me to trust in God
SLOW ME DOWN
Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind. Steady my hurried pace.
Give me, amidst the day's confusion, the calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of singing streams that live in my memory. Help me to know the magical, restoring power of sleep.
Teach me the art of taking "minute vacations"...slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me of the fable of the hare and tortoise; that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than measuring its speed.
Let me look up at the branches of the towering oak and know that it grew slowly and well.
Inspire me to send my own roots down deep into the soil of life's endearing values... that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.
Slow me down, Lord.
THE TOUCH OF THE MASTER'S HAND
It was battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice,
going for three",
But, No,
From the room far back a grey bearded man Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.
The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.
"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.
The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."
And many a man with life out of tune
All battered with bourbon and gin
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Masters' Hand.
I was given this letter last year by a very good friend and I thought that you might enjoy it..........
A LETTER FROM GOD
Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone--to have a deep soul relationship with another--to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God says to us: No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and content with being loved by Me alone--and giving yourself totally and unreservedly to Me--to having an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone, discovering that only in Me is your own satisfaction to be found, will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with Me-exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any desires or longings.
I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you. You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things. Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I am. Keep listening and learning the things that I tell you. You just wait. That's all. Don't be anxious, don't worry. Don't look around at the thing others have gotten or that I've given them.
Don't look at the things you think that you want. You just keep looking off and away up to Me, or you'll miss what I want to show you. And then, when you're ready, I'll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you would dream of. You see, until you are ready, and until the one I have for you is ready, until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I have prepared for you, you won't be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me and thus the perfect love.
And, dear one, I want you to have this wonderful love. I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your everlasting union of beauty, perfection and love that I offer you with Myself.
Know that I love you utterly, and that I am the King. Believe it and be satisfied.
Your friend,
God
LET GO
To "let go"......
does not mean to stop caring, it means I cannot do it for someone else.
is not to cut myself off, it's the realization I cannot control another.
is not to enable, but to allow learning for natural consequences.
is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.
is not to try to change or blame another, it's to make the most of myself.
is not to care for, but to care about.
is not to fix, but to be supportive.
is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.
is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect thier own destinies.
is not to protective, it's to permit another to face reality.
is not to nag, scold or argue, but instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.
is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to take each day as it comes and cherish myself in it.
is not to critisize and regulate everybody, but to try to become what I dream I can be.
is not to regret the pasat, but to grow and live for the future.
is to fear less and to love more.
I Took a Step...
I took a step, began to moan
I can't do this on my own
I took two steps, began to pray
Restore me God, today
I took three steps, give up my will
Maybe God loves me still
I took a fourth, I looked inside
Nothing more would I hide
And on the fifth, I said aloud
I've done some wrong, and I'm not proud
I took six steps, and got prepared
To lose the defects, I was scared
Now I'm at seven, take them away
God, for this I pray
And on eight, the list was long
Amends to make, for all the wrong
I took nine steps, put down my pride
Forgiveness asked, I will not hide
Ten steps I take, each day I pray
Make amends along the way
And on eleven, I pray to know
Each day, His will, which way to go
I took twelve steps, I'm like a bird
To others now, I spread the word
Please Hear What I Am Not Saying
Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by this mask that I wear.
For I wear a thousand masks and none of them are really me.
Masks that I'm too afraid to take off,
fearing that you'll get to know me.
Pretending is an art that is second nature to me.
I'm pretending that I am in command and that I need no one.
That I'm cool and that my surface is so smooth and
I cannot be shaken by anything.
I act as if I am in control, but please don't for one moment
be fooled by my surface, that's only my mask.
Beneath this mask lies no smugness, no complacence.
Beneath this mask dwells the real me in confusion, loneliness, and fear.
But I don't dare tell you that.
I don't dare tell you that this is my mask.
I'm frightened by all the possibilities of my weaknesses being exposed.
I think about it all the time. Will I look like a fool?
That's why I work frantically to create this mask
to hide behind in my relationship with people.
This nonchalant, sophisticated facade helps me pretend and shields me from the glance that knows me.
But such a glance is precisely my only salvation.
It's my only salvation if, however, the glance is followed by acceptance and love.
It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself, from my own self-built prison...from the barriers that I have so painstakingly created.
It is only that glance that will assure me of what I cannot assure in myself and, that is, that I am really worth something.
But I don't tell you this. I don't dare to. I'm afraid to.
I'm afraid that your glance will not be followed by acceptance and love.
I'm afraid that you'll think less of me...that you'll laugh and that your laugh would kill me. I'm afraid that deep-down I am nothing.
That I'm just no good and soon you're going to find out and you'll no longer love me...that you'll reject me.
So I play my game. My desperate, pretending game with the facades of assurance from without and that of a trembling little child from within.
And my life becomes a front.
And I idly chatter to you in suave tones about anything that really means nothing.
And yet I can never tell about the crying inside of me...
of my greatest hurts...of my deepest fears...my concerns.
I can't tell you that because I am afraid.
So please listen carefully not to what I am saying,
but to what I am not saying.
To what I'd like to be able to say. And for what my very own survival I need to say.
I dislike this hiding...honestly.
I dislike this phony, superficial game I'm playing.
I really would like to be genuine and spontaneous and me.
But you've got to help me.
You've got to hold out your hand.
You've got to hold out your hand even when it appears to you that it's the last thing I want from you, because I am going to share a secret with you about myself; the moment I act like I need you the least is the moment I need you the most.
The moment I act like I need you the least is the moment I need you the most.
Don't be fooled by this mask. When you see anger in this mask, don't be fooled for one second...that's not anger, that's hurt.
The mask of anger is easier to show than the mask of hurt.
And if we make the error of looking at people's masks only to see anger on their face, we may end up in a confrontation only because we missed the point.
You have the power to wipe away this blank stare of the "breathing dead" beneath this mask.
It will not be easy for you.
Long felt hurts make my masks endure.
The nearer you approach me the harder I may strike back.
Irrationally, I fight against the very thing that I cry out for - my identity.
You may wonder who I am. You shouldn't. Don't be fooled by the face I wear.
I am someone you know very well.
I am every man and woman and child.
I am you.
Love and Hugs
The Nugget
Personal Positive Affirmations
Just for today I will respect my own and other's boundaries.
Just for today I will be vulnarable with someone I trust.
Just for today I will take one compliment and hold it in my heart for more than just a fleeting moment.
I will let it nurture me.
I am a child of God.
I am a precious person.
I am a worthwhile person.
I am beautiful inside and outside.
I love myself unconditionally.
I can allow myself ample leisure time without feeling guilty.
I deserve to be loved by myself and others.
I am loved because I deserve love.
I am a child of God and I deserve love, peace, prosperity and serenity.
I forgive myself for hurting myself and others.
I forgive myself for letting others hurt me.
I forgive myself for accepting sex when I wanted love.
I am willing to accept love.
I am not alone. I am one with God and the Universe.
I am whole and good.
I am capable of changing.
The pain that I might feel by remembering can't be any worse than the pain I feel by knowing and not remembering.
I am enough.
Just to share................
THE MAGIC RING
A powerful king, ruler of many domains, was in a position of such magnificence that wise men were his mere employees. And yet one day he felt himself confused and called the sages to him.
He said, "I do not know the cause, but something impels me to seek a certain ring, one that will enable me to stabilize my state.
"I must have such a ring. And this ring must be one which, when I am unhappy, will make me joyful. At the same time, if I am happy and look upon it, I must be made sad."
The wise men consulted one another, and threw themselves into deep contemplation, and finally they came to a decision as to the character of the ring which would suit their king.
The ring which they devised was one upon which was inscribed the legend:
THIS, TOO, WILL PASS
Planting a Special Garden
First plant 5 rows of peas
Preparedness
Promptness
Perseverence
Politeness
Prayer
Next to them,plant 3 rows of squash
Squash Gossip
Squash Criticism
Squash Indifference
Then 5 rows of lettuce
Let us be Faithful
Let us be Unselfish
Let us be Loyal
Let us be Truthful
Let us Love One Another
And no garden is complete without turnips
Turn up for Church
Turn up with a smile
Turn up with Determination
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