Higher Thoughts for Down Days: September 23rd, 2014

AFFIRMATION

“My God is a God of mercy not of vengeance and punishment.”

“Indeed, the greater the misery , the more I believed God was putting me on trial.”

REFLECTION

One of the steps that I decided to take to get out of my prison of was to get myself involved in this Twelve Step spiritual program. It was hard at first to get involved with the program because I didn’t and wasn’t able to have immediate relief from my sadness. I wanted the program to work right now. I wanted someone to say hang on and in a day or two, it will start to work. Instead, I hear that the more meetings I attend, the more I listen and share at my meetings, the more my attitudes about God will start to change and I will understand how God is truly walking with me out of this prison of sadness, one day at a time.

I do believe that my depression was one of the greatest miseries that I have ever experienced in my life. I know that if I didn’t have a hope that it would be a temporary misery, I would have given up hope of ever feeling better. It is now my experience and my personal truth that I can feel better and that I am feeling better, thanks to the fact that I have admitted my powerlessness over depression. By doing just that, I have learned the rest of the ways I have to live and think to be free from the anguish. My greatest addiction was to the belief that I would never feel happy ever again.

MEDITATION

“But I will always hope and praise you forever more and more.” Psalm 71:24

We know that the more our thoughts go to a larger field, namely the consciousness of God’s presence, the more we get beyond the narrow focus of our own little world of pain and isolation. By letting our minds be open to God’s energy and direction, we are open to a new life lived with hope and healing.”

Hugh