Enjoy the Years

      Light is sweet,
     and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
     However many years a man may live,
     let him enjoy them all.
     But let him remember the days of darkness,
     for they will be many.
     Everything to come is meaningless.

Be happy, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart
and whatever your eyes see,
but know that for all these things
God will bring you to judgment. So then, banish anxiety from your heart
and cast off the troubles of your body,
for youth and vigor are meaningless. ~ Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 (NIV)

Shadow makes the painting.
Sorrow colors life, gives it depth.
A child draws with bright colors,
side by side
and we see it with loving eyes
so it touches us.
Youth and vigor offer great joy and fun
perhaps,
but who would go back
and live it again without change?
Life is good.
Live it.
Rejoice in life,
no matter what.

God, we can’t see the full tapestry
of our lives
but we trust you, the master weaver.
I believe.
Heal my unbelief.

A Time for Verse: Poetic Ponderings on Ecclesiastes by Barbara B. Rollins

Please Excuse, Life’s Getting in the Way

 Blessed be Thou, O my God, because though I be unworthy of all Thy benefits, Thy bountiful and infinite goodness never ceaseth to do good even to ingrates and to those who are turned far from Thee. Turn Thou us unto Thyself, that we may be grateful, humble, and godly, for Thou art our salvation, our courage, and our strength. ~ Kempis, Thomas à. The Imitation of Christ (Illustrated) (p. 100). LiberWriter.com. Kindle Edition.

Blessed be Thou, O my God,
because though I am unworthy
of all Your benefits,
Your bountiful and infinite goodness never ceases
to do good even to ingrates and to me
who turned far from You.
Turn me unto You,
that I may be grateful, humble, and godly,
for You are my salvation, my courage, and my strength.
And with Your guidance I will let You lead this dance
in the day to come and seek You and Your guidance
with every thought and action I entertain in this new day!

Meaningless"

 Now all has been heard; 

here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil. ~Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 (NIV)

Of making many books, no end.
I’ve added to the pile.
Much study wearies the body,
makes the eyes burn,
but sometimes,
just occasionally,
an idea springs forward,
a light,
a beacon.
Fear God.
Keep his commandments.
This is your whole duty.
What a glorious duty it is.
Praise God for life as it comes.
Praise him in sorrow,
in joy,
in loneliness,
from the masses,
hidden in my closet.

Praise God for giving life meaning
even when it all seems
meaningless.

Not in their Footsteps

 Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise men of old. Seek what they sought. ~ Matsuo Munefusa

You think if you eat my food plan,
you’ll recover. But I’ve seen you eat…
When a piece of bread rests on my plate
it means nothing to me. I may eat it,
might not…I don’t need it,
it doesn’t call my name. But you…
I’ve watched you, seen you eat bread,
then grab mine when we stand to leave.
Trigger foods differ. Our needs differ,
the character defects, resentments…
You can’t find your recovery in my footsteps…
only in taking the twelve steps for yourself.

 

The Next Right Thing

 Wanted to stop in cafeteria and keep eating but did not. I brushed my teeth and [am] walking out. 

Not a binge but a slip I want you to know

 I had already been feeling like a busted can o' biscuits in my clothes

And I started my reading in the bathroom before I left. ~ Anonymous

End of a long shift,
two disagreeable conversations
to wrap it up…
Food is a drug of choice,
though no longer the choices made,
but then, temptation beckons.
Wrong choices, not like days of yore…
No! Not like days of yore!
What do I do to stop?
The next right thing!
For me, reading her tale,
my next right thing here at home
is to put a toothbrush in my purse!
How powerful is that?
Not a binge but a slip…so —
I brushed my teeth and walked out
but read Recovery literature
in the bathroom first.
The next right thing
keeps a slip from becoming a binge! 

And today God keeps on loving the world. He keeps on sending you and me to prove that He loves the world, that He still has that compassion for the world. It is we who have to be His love, His compassion in the world of today. But to be able to love we must have faith, for faith in action is love, and love in action is service.” ~ Mother Teresa speech in Rome, October 31, 1982.

But to be able to love we must have faith,
for faith in action is love,
and love in action is service.
Are you aware God is sending you and me
to prove that He loves the world,
that He still has that compassion for the world?
Do you have faith? Faith in action that is love?
Do you have love in action, aka service?
God, I want to answer yes.
Please give me the faith to set it all in action.

 

 

Simplify, Simplify!

 Our life is frittered away by detail… simplify, simplify. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Keep it simple is a program truth...
and excellent advice, around
theRooms of Recovery since
Dr. Bob to Bill W., “Let’s not
louse this thing up.
Let’s keep it simple.”
Details we're good at
but simplifying,
not so much.
Our life is frittered away
by detail… simplify, simplify!

From Quotefancy.com

Success Is Mine

 Success is mine today, no matter what the undertaking, when I tap the power of God within me and allow myself to be an open channel for the expression of His good. ~ Anonymous. A Day at a Time: Daily Reflections for Recovering People (Hazelden Meditations) (Kindle Locations 3219-3220). Hazelden Publishing.

How can we be an open channel
for the Power within us?
The other option is a closed channel
which looks like a pipe. An open channel
looks like a canal, a culvert, a flume,
or a stream not up to the banks.
Would I choose to be a pipe or a canal?
It seems a pipe determines the quantity,
the maximum volume,
where the source sets the capacity
in a channel. I know me. If I were a pipe
I’d be too limited because I would doubt
the Power chose to be magnanimous,
lavish, unselfish. I might expect
a stingy Power out of low self-esteem,
But that’s not the Power I serve.
“Lord, make me a channel of thy peace—
that where there is hatred, I may bring love—
that where there is wrong, I may bring
the spirit of forgiveness—
that where there is discord,
I may bring harmony—
that where there is error,
I may bring truth—
that where there is doubt,
I may bring faith—
that where there is despair,
I may bring hope—
that where there are shadows,
I may bring light—
that where there is sadness,
I may bring joy…”*

*St. Francis of Assisi

Sold Out for a Meal

See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ~ Hebrews 12:16

How many compulsive overeaters
have changed the whole course
of their lives because of the compulsion?
Maybe not many for a single meal,
but putting the obsession above all else
in their lives? That’s true for most of us!
We are essentially in bondage to food.
The obsession controls our lives
until we learn to surrender,
to turn our lives and our wills
over to a positive power
greater than ourselves!

Image copyright: avemario

 

Great People

 …we gravitate toward people who aren’t intent on behaving as if they are better than us, even when they have achieved great success. These individuals appreciate us for who we are, and in the process, we are inspired to see them as gracious, loving men and women. ~ Casey, Karen. Each Day a Renewed Beginning (p. 207). Mango Media. Kindle Edition.

Have you met someone important?
I have several times. One governor
kissed my cheek expressing gratitude
for my work in putting an event together
then weeks later recognized me in a crowd
and brought his wife forward to meet me.
One senator sat beside me and fumed
that a dessert wasn’t at his plate.
Several of us offered ours
but he felt it necessary to lambast
the server assigned to our table.
I remember how I felt and
the contribution each made
to those feelings.
I want to appreciate individuals
for who they are, and know
in the process, we’ll all feel better
among gracious, loving men and women.

Image Copyright: fuzzbones

For Michael

 A friend’s still a friend when the shit hits the fan.
You can count on my caring when life’s road is rough.
When you’re down here’s my hand, not just once but again
and again till your confidence rebounds enough.

Disappointment aside, what you do is not you.
A friend’s still a friend when the shit hits the fan,
and I’ll back you up when you’re life’s a snafu.
When you’re down here’s my hand, not just once but again.

I’m not saying it’s fine, all the things that you’ve done;
disappointment aside, what you do is not you.
To do well’s a fine end, an objective begun
and I’ll back you up when you’re life’s a snafu.

Don’t give up. Set a goal. The naysayers defy.
I’m not saying it’s fine, all the things that you’ve done,
but look forward, climb upward, there’s hope if you’ll try.
To do well’s a fine end, an objective begun.

Image Copyright : annebel146 

Trading Worry for Peace

 

God took my worry; I received His peace. Now I could understand what living one day at a time truly meant. ~ Overeaters Anonymous. Voices of Recovery. Overeaters Anonymous. Kindle Edition.

One Day at a Time.
The phrase appears
in the Big Book thirteen times,
nine in the Twelve and Twelve of OA,
fourteen in For Today,
fifty-five in Voices of Recovery,
nine in Each Day a New Beginning…
but I like this explanation best!
“God took my worry;
I received His peace.
Now I could understand
what living one day at a time
truly meant.”

Never Normal Eaters

Recovery in OA is based on the recognition that we are not—and never can be—normal eaters. ~ Anonymous, Overeaters. For Today (Kindle Locations 3101-3102). Overeaters Anonymous, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

All my life...
at least the last sixty years...
I've imagined living
in a right-sized body.
But having reached 
a BMI below obesity
I understand I'm never
more than a binge or two away
from again facing
the trauma of total relapse!
Recovery in OA
is based on the recognition
that we are not—
and never can be—
normal eaters. 

The Wildness of God

Sometimes it is the wildness of God, the untamable energies of the divine within creation, that the creatures alert us to. (Christ of the Celts, J. Philip Newell, p. 34)

I need a wild god!
I long to slough off
the formal, the trite,
the straitjacket tight
constraints. I want
a dancing god,
a rapscallion,
a co-conspirator,
a giggling god.
I need a life-loving
audacious god.
Joy to the world!

Image Copyright: rolffimages

Struggling with the World

 Nothing, I am sure, calls forth the faculties so much as the being obliged to struggle with the world. ~ Mary Wollstonecraft

Do you feel obliged
to struggle with the world?
Why would someone need
to grapple with our planet?
to wrestle all we know?
Or is the need to redefine
our juxtaposition
with attitudes and needs
we attribute to our kind?

Image copyright: malchev

It's Human Nature

 Once a sweet treat
begins to lessen pain,
and the cookie jar
takes the place of hugs...
as baby fat refuses
the infantile implication,
and ample clothing is chosen,
for chubby legs
wearing out clothes...
when other children
become cruel, and
change becomes a goal,
the pattern seems set for life,
fat causing misery
and food used for comfort...
the time has come
to  give up failed remedies
exchanging them for
for sanity found
in twelve simple steps
leading to sanity, 
satisfaction and recovery!

Image Copyright: nuzza1

 

Burden Past Tolerance

 a speck of dust
a grain of sand
one after one
two piled on two
day follows day
and builds into months
years of accretion
crush fossil to dust

a faux pas not mentioned
a truth tinted pink
a falseness foisted by
yesterlie

one after one
two piled on two
day follows day
and builds into months
years of accretion
crush life from life

a fossil forgotten
a crystallized heart
a dormant dread deadly
sarcophagus

spade after spade
two piled on two
pound upon pound
weights crushing constricting
force Teutonic shift

The burden surpasses both cipher
and scope, yet a marble-weight
added induces relief.
Mass matter lies shattered,
the heart wriggles out,
the weight of the ages through truth
flutters free.

Special Rest

 

Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. ~ Hebrews 4:8-11 (NLT)

As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day “Thy will be done.” We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.~ Alcoholics Anonymous, Pages 87-88

Special rest
waits for us,
for God’s folk.
Special rest in a pause,
a reality check on show-running,
in trading will-power
for the will of God.
Danger dissipates,
fear dissolves,
foot-in-mouth syndrome cured.
Special rest
rewarded by more energy
than ever could be crammed
in any minuscule bottle
for ransom at cash registers.

God, lead me by still waters,
restore my soul,
fill my cup brimful.

Shut Off from the Sunlight of the Spirit

 

Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. ~ Hebrews 2:15 (New LivingTranslation)

But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die.  ~ Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 66

Slaves to the fear of dying?
Maybe. But how about the fear
of living?
Talk about scary!
Death, I know. Death is living
in fear
in resentment.
But fear is not the end —
resentments can vanish —
Jesus sets us free,
recovery sets us free
to the sunlight of the Spirit
to live,
to life.

Thank you
for resentments prayed away,
for Spirit’s sunlight.

Distracted from God's Love

 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. ~ Hebrews 1:1-2 (NASB) 

Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. ~ Alcoholics Anonymous, Page 55

God’s out there, up there, everywhere
power beyond power
love beyond love
shouting through thunderstorms
whispering through a cricket’s chirp
speaking to us though we don’t listen
sending his essence, his doppelganger,
his son
to show us, help us hear,
get the fundamental truth
to echo the eternal song of love,
of acceptance, of peace,
of hope.
He molds the world —
he cares for me.

God – calamity, pomp, other things
distract me from
truth around me – in me – of me
the me that is
You and Your
word.

 

Bread. Upon the Waters

Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. ~ Ecclesiastes 11:1 NIV

Bread upon the waters.
Bread. Food, sustenance.
Bread, the basics.
Bread, money, buying power.
Bread, life, hope,
our daily needs. Bread. Alone.
The side it’s buttered on. So toss it.
Where?
Waters. Muddy, cool clear.
The Roman spa at Bath.
Oceans, streams,
down by the crick.
Any waters,
that’s the point,
waters move, leave,
change, evolve.
Beyond my control.

What I value most,
what’s most basic to me,
I release, I toss,
trusting I’ll get it back,
in spades, God. But remind me
the point is I don’t keep control,
can’t do it for the promise. Just believe. 

Okay, God, Send Me

A

ll this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. Then too, I saw the wicked buried – those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless. ~ Ecclesiastes 8:9-10 NIV

“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary....” Tough times bring out the best — and the worst — in us. But wait a minute. Go back to the first, to “When.” To The Teacher’s “a time.” Simple words? No. Not simple, not here. When’s it when? Who told the scared patriots in Philadelphia heat? “With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” I’m scared now like they were then. God, I feel like Isaiah. Woe is me. But if you say so, here I am. Send me.

Cannot Fail? Really??

…the Third Step corresponds to the principle of faith. Once we truly make the leap to believe, no matter what, that a power greater than ourselves will restore us to sanity and will take care of every other issue in our lives as well, we cannot ever fail to recover, and the compulsion to binge disappears. ~ Overeaters Anonymous. Voices of Recovery . Overeaters Anonymous. Kindle Edition.

Step Three: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” How do we know exactly when we have actually made a decision to believe, no matter what, that a power greater than ourselves will restore us to sanity? Is it once and for all times? Or is there wiggle room? Are we entitled to sometimes run hot, fully convinced, and sometimes be riddled with doubt? I find encouragement in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions’ assertion, “Once we compulsive overeaters truly take the Third Step we cannot fail to recover.” So somewhere there’s inevitability assured, but as long as I find wiggle room, I can usually find it!

Inside and Outside

How wonderful to be wise, to analyze and interpret things Wisdom lights up a personʼs face, softening its harshness. ~ Ecclesiastes 8:1

Dogs know good people. People can, too. We become on the outside as we are inside. God, fix me, inside and out.

To Ready for the Day

To “ready for” is to set up for success, so do you plan ahead to ready for each new day? Do you start with, “Good morning,” to God? Do you think about the day and plan to let God be in charge? So you think about your day, the challenges ahead? Is a time to meditate in your plan? Do you look back at the end of the day to see how “ready for” you really were? Do you intend to ready for tomorrow?

Dear God,

Okay,I’ve tried for years… was prescribed diet pills at thirteen, tried intermittent fasting before the term was in use, bought cookbooks by Weight Watchers (times 3), by Metabolic Research Center (times 3), Barbara Kraus’ Calories and Carbohydrates, UNForbidded Favorites, Lean and Luscious, The New Cook Right & eat light cookbook, Butter Busters The Cookbook, and who knows how many more? I drove four hundred miles for a month’s amphetamines, was hypnotized, had a pin in my earlobe, charted multiple times what I’d weigh when… committed to write a book when I’d lost a hundred more pounds… but nothing fixed me. Then I learned of twelve steps beginning with the idea, “I can’t, God can, I think I’ll let God.” And letting God does work. It’s high time I wrote you this Thank You note! So, THANKS!!!!

Not Timid

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. ~ 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)

Are you timid? I am by my nature. But that’s not God’s doing. God gives us power, love, and self-discipline. And my proclivity is to deny I have power. shy away from expressing love… even when I feel loving I disbelieve they would choose to talk with me, but rather wallow in meaningless triviality, avoiding interaction, burying my head in sand. Yet I need not. I can reach out, find companionship, love. For the Spirit God gave us does not make me timid. I have God-given power, love and self-discipline built in, mine for the claiming. I will reach out today to the saints who surround me this All Saints Day!