These are the words of the Teacher, King Davidʼs son, who ruled in Jerusalem. ~ Ecclesiastes 1:1 (NLT)

Solomon, the Teacher? son of David, Jerusalem’s ruler, or son of son of Solomon son of David of some generation? Odd statement of credentials, starting with teacher, not king, not lineage. Or did the writer lead with the strongest title? Hey, The Teacher here! And I’ll be your Writer for this book. The slanted light in which we see ourselves jerks the world to “Huh?” God named him Jedidiah, God’s beloved. Who named him Solomon or peaceful, complete, prosperous? Did The Teacher feel beloved of God? His words belie peace, completion. Can prosperity survive without love, peace, completion? God, you’ve told me I’m your beloved. Teach me to accept the love. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

Help Me To Help Them Love

17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. ~ Ecclesiastes 2.17-23 (NIV)

Giving away things seems easier for the old. What I treasured at twenty — would fight to keep — sixty years later can easily go to a youngster who will treasure it. What if I’d passed it by for fear of having to give it up? Both would be robbed – I of the joy of holding and passing the joy, the youth of treasuring it for it was mine. Meaningless? Worry is meaningless. God, help me see those people miserable as The Teacher. Help me to help them love.

Call Someone

If your telephone doesn’t ring, pick it up and call someone. ~ L., Elisabeth. Inner Harvest: Daily Meditations for Recovery from Eating Disorders (Hazelden Meditations) (p. 57). Hazelden Publishing. Kindle Edition.

I get lonely sitting day after day with two of us plus to dogs. We humans talk but just to establish the situation, to communicate what is or should be happening. The telephone rings often, but seldom for me. I have a new resolution. If your telephone doesn’t ring for me, I will pick it up and call someone.

I Am an Addict

I am an addict whether I want to be or not. I am an addict whether I work program or not, whether I am abstinent or not, and whether I am in recovery or not. I can be an addict in recovery, or I can be an addict in hell. I choose to be an addict in recovery. Once I broke through the denial, I had nothing left but the truth. ~ Overeaters Anonymous. Taste of Lifeline. Overeaters Anonymous, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

I am an Addict. Fifteen years ago, December 17, 2007, I stopped at a convenience store named Skinny's...yes, really! You can't make these facts up! It was a Sunday morning and and my pattern on Sundays on my way to teach Sunday School was to stop there (different places served the purpose weekdays!) I got back in the car with a cappuccino and sweet rolland announced aloud to God, "This Is Stupid" Earlier that month Psychotherapist Peggy Martin had given me the book Overeaters Anonymous, 2d edition. I had read it and knew I belonged there but who starts a "diet" a week before Christmas Eve? Well, I did! And I was right. I belonged in OA then and I belong there now! It's been a wild ride, and sometimes I've clung on while not complying, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! Do you belong too? Welcome to OA! Welcome home!! I can be an addict in recovery, or I can be an addict in hell. I choose to be an addict in recovery. Once I broke through the denial, I had nothing left but the truth.

A Suggestion of Action

A “suggestion of death” means the person is dead. A suggestion of action means action taken. How do you follow the path? By walking the Steps. When? Oh, the timing’s up to you... “a course of vigorous action” “at once” “next” Procrastination’s an option: chronic, low intensity fear. You want to be miserable? Okay. Procrastinate. Live in the fear. You want recovery? Walk the walk, step the Steps, all twelve of them, all the way to recovery.

It's aTool I Use

It’s a Tool I Use Overeaters Anonymous recognizes nine tools: a plan of eating, sponsorship, meetings, telephone, writing, literature, action plan, anonymity and service. This Recovery Daily Dose Has continued now for three thousand one hundred seven days, of using tools. The tool of writing, yes, but perhaps more than that The tool of service. I offer this up to the public trusting the people who might need it will, at the time it might be an act of service to them.

DR. BOB ON "EASY DOES IT."

“ ‘You know, Dan,’ he (Dr. Bob) told me, ‘many people coming into A.A. get the wrong conception of “Easy Does It,” and I hope you don’t. It doesn’t mean that you sit on your fanny, stay home from meetings, and let other people work the program for you. It doesn’t mean you have an easy life without drinking. “Easy Does It” means you take it a day at a time.’ “He told me that before I could be honest with him or my sponsor or anyone else, I had to ‘get honest with that joker in the glass.’~ Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers (p. 258). Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Wisdom, personality, integrity, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous understood humility and practiced it! Easy does it didn't mean standing aside after years of hard work... It meant honesty, integrity, and usefulness, continued hard work when others might choose leisure in the glow of past achievements!