~The ABC's of Life~

~THE ABC's OF A FRUITFUL LIFE~
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Always put your Higher Power first in your life.
Be a true friend and you will have many friends.
Count and thank your Higher Power for your many blessings daily.
Discipline yourself. Decide to make your life count.
Edify and encourage others consistently.
Follow great leaders and then become one.
Give liberally and joyfully of your time, talents and means.
Have an attitude of gratitude.
Invert any negatives thrown your way. Turn them into positives.
Journey through life One Step and One Day At A Time.
Keep written goals set ahead. Make specific plans to accomplish them.
Love and forgive everybody.
Maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
Never, never, never give up!
Open the door wide when opportunity knocks.
Practice patience. Promote peace.
Quit bad habits by replacing them with good habits.
Read your BigBook and other profitable material every chance you get.
Share your Experience, Strength and Hope whenever and wherever possible.
Take time to appreciate everything your Higher Power has given you.
Use your God given common sense.
Visualize your dreams and stretch to reach for them.
Watch, listen and pray to your Higher Power.
Xamine your motives on a regular basis.
Yield to your Higher Power when He prompts you.
Zoom in on your Higher Power's real purpose for your life.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A.A. Step 12 from the Original Manuscript -- Having had a spiritual experience as a result of this
course of action, we tried to carry this message to others, especially alcoholics, and to practice
these principles in all our affairs.
I read this to mean that I am, by example, to carry a message of Love and Hope and Peace into
this world to all other struggling souls, as it has never been carried before.
( by Windwalker®...) from a friend to a friend...R.I.P.
'Praise God'

The co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous met through the Oxford Group, and codified several of its tenets into AA, the first twelve-step program.

The Oxford Group was a Christian organization founded by the American Christian missionary Frank Buchman. Buchman believed that the root of all problems were the personal problems of fear and selfishness. Further, Buchman believed that the solution to living with fear and selfishness was to surrender one's life over to God's Plan.

William Temple, Archbishop of York, paid tribute to the Oxford Groups which "are being used to demonstrate the power of God to change lives and give to personal witness its place in true discipleship. ( CO Wikipedia)

~The Gift of Tears~

Joanne Liaw Avatar ©

Tears bring relief to a heavy heart
A heart clogged with unspoken sorrows
Why do we wish that tears would depart?
Tears heal the soul like a lush, green meadow

God has given us the gift of tears
No tears that wet His feet are wasted
Cry if you must; without shame and fear
Christ comforts the broken-hearted

Divine tears fell at Gethsemane
Can you feel the anguish of Christ's tears?
Tears and blood mingled in agony
Because of Christ, to God, we can draw near

Tears brought relief to my heavy heart
A heart clogged with unexpressed sorrows
God's love has caused sorrows to depart
God's love gives me hope for tomorrow

For a Velvet Revolution

The winds of change dance in our lives,
Like northern lights chasing their own shadows in the sky.
We can see better ways and easier days,
We know there must be a more honorable and humane way.
It is for us to pick the flower in our minds,
It is matter of standing up and not just standing behind.

We dream the soft solution alive,
With the strains of peace and duty with which we strive.
It is the wind of time that crosses our path,
It is the scarred skin of our souls that know human wrath.
We, standing together, are the solution,
We are the warf, weave and frame for a velvet revolution.
™
Negug, ®
Timm
Ondamitagos

<<<What is a Warrior>>>

A Warrior is the protector of
his family,clan and his tribe

A Warrior is the guardian of the
old ways so that they are not
forgotten

A Warrior is not motivated by
greed, political ambition or
fame

A Warrior will not put himself
above others in need

And above all
A Warrior is the living spirit of
our Grandfathers

"We Are In His Care Always
As We Trudge The Road To Happy Destiny
And leave our Footprints In The Sand of Time!!"
'Praise God'

The Wyoming Rancher
The rancher went one day to fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty and the clouds rolled, gray and dense,
As he pounded the last staples in and gathered tools to go,
The temperature had fallen and the snow began to blow.
When he finally reached his pickup, he felt a heavy heart,
From the sound of that ignition, he knew it wouldn't start.
So Jake did what most of us would do, if only we'd been there.
He humbly bowed his balding head and sent aloft a prayer.
As he turned the key for the last time, he softly cursed his luck.
They found him 3 days later, frozen stiff in that old truck.
Now Jake had been around in life, and done his share of roaming.
But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked -- it looked just like Wyoming.
Of all the saints in Heaven, his favorite was St. Peter.
[Now, this line, it ain't needed but it helps with rhyme and meter.]
So they sat and talked a minute or 2, or maybe it was 3,
Nobody was keepin' score -- in Heaven time is free.
"I've always heard," Jake said to Pete, "that God will answer prayer,
But one time I asked for help, and, well He just plain wasn't there.
Does God answer prayers of some, and ignore the prayers of others?
That don't seem exactly square -- I know all men are brothers.
Or does he randomly reply, without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it's the time of day, the weather or the season.
Now I just ain't trying to act smart, it's just the way I feel,
And I was wondering', could you tell me -- what the heck's the deal?"
Peter listened very patiently and when Jake was done,
There were smiles of recognition, and he said, "So, you're the one!
That day your truck wouldn't start, and you sent your prayer a flying,
You gave us all a real bad time, with hundreds of us a trying.
A thousand angels rushed to check the status of your file,
But you know, Jake - - - we hadn't heard from you in quite a while.
And though all prayers are answered, and God ain't got no quota,
He didn't recognize your voice, and started a truck in South Dakota."

***So remember to keep in touch.***

'So use all that is called Fortune. Most men gamble with her, and gain all, and lose all, as her wheel rolls. But do thou leave as unlawful these winnings, and deal with Cause and Effect, the chancellors of God. In the Will work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance, and shalt sit hereafter out of fear from her rotations. A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick or the return of your absent friend, or some other favorable event raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.'

Man is his own star; and the soul that can
Render an honest and a perfect man,
Commands all light, all inhuence, all fate,
Nothing to him falls early or too late.
Our acts our angels are, or good or ill,
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.

Epilogue to Beaumont and Fletcher's
"Honest Man's Fortune"


Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803-1882

~Stop and Think~

Never is a long time
be careful what you say
don't break the ties that bind you
you might just go astray

Remember to say words
that will comfort and relay
the very thoughts right from your heart
when you kneel down to pray

words in anger spoken
can cut you like a knife
please stop and think
before you speak
As you go through this life

All
Because
Christ
Died for
Everyone.
Forgiving
Grace
Has saved me
In
Jesus.
Kindness,
Love, and
Mercy.
No
Opposition to
Powerful.
Quiet
Rest,
Saving
Trust.
Under your
Victory.
Xerox
Your
Zen is my prayer.

~The Quest~

I've searched,
I've searched the avenues of life,
the pristine chapels, the Bowery flophouses.
I've searched the Halls of Justice, on both sides.
I've looked under the leaves and behind the clouds.
I've searched through the rain and pain of forgotten memories,
broken promises and shattered dreams.
I've yearned for the answers to all the questions,
some as yet unasked.
I've loved,
the earth, the sky, and all the animals,
and, I've hated myself!
I've dreamed,
I've dreamed of dancing on moonlight and traveling to the stars.
I've dreamed of worldly delights, while searching through the bars.
I've dreamed of better worlds, with peace and tranquillity.
I've seen the cold shoulder of inhumanity,
and,
Sometimes I've found it to be mine.
I've been,
I've been in and out of jails, in and out of Hell.
I've been ostracized, penalized, deluded, denuded,
and institutionalized.
I've seen,
I've seen the deathly gray pall of time passing uselessly by.
I've seen the fire of a new dawn,
when,
Through an alcoholics' haze,
I witnessed the birth of a new life,
My own!
And now,
I have seen --GOD-- and --MYSELF--,
and,
I am FREE,
FREE to be ME


( data archive from rooms of AA ) R.I. P.

The Rose
Lyrics by Amanda McBroom

Some say love, it is a river,
That drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor,
That leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger,
An endless aching need.
I say Love, it is a flower
And you, its only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking,
That never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking,
That never takes the chance.
It's the one who won't be taken,
Who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dyin',
That never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely,
And the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong,
Just remember, that in the winter,
Far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed, that with a sun's love
In the spring becomes...
The Rose

[Compiled from Web sources]

The Calling
By Gerald Fisher

The fire is dancing tonight and the winds are talking
Dancers from past lives enter the circle
Leading me back and forth through the history of myself
The mind searches as the spirit dances

The drums...dancing to the heartbeat
Memories of long ago insights to the future
I hear the winds whispering my sweat lodge dreams
I see Sungmanitu tanka (the wolf) my guide

He shows me the ancestors, not mine
They are not Lakota, or Tsalagi, or Iroquois
But they are all Nations, one Nation
Speaking with wisdom to share with each other

Yesterdays create todays and promises of tomorrow
The lies will die with the smoke
And the whispers of the winds are clear and loud
And we shall all see the return of the buffalo
AHO

~Kiss The Wind~
Perception is a wonderful thing.
So unfortunate are we to be caught in a web of loneliness.
Struggling in this uncaring snare, we yearn for a loving heart to call our own.
Speak into the wind for it will carry our cries to the right ears.

Is there an escape?
Perhaps, yes If only in the recesses of our minds.
Wait and listen Hear the one searching for you.
Reach out with your soul and touch another to embrace it ever so close.

Restless, empty hearts Stand still!
Listen to the sounds of silence as the wind softly kisses your skin.
Reach out Eyes closed To touch another just like you.
They too need one to trust To share themselves Not wanting to be alone.

Love is like the wind with many ways to go and so many stories yet to tell.
Speak Then listen Someone is waiting to hear and answer your pleas.
Open your arms to welcome the one calling for you.
Like a kiss in the wind, they're feelings are there Carried by and through the wind.

Answer the heart that is YOUR heart.
They too are alone and have need of someone they can trust with their love.
Reach out Hear and FEEL them speaking to you!
Softly, yet so loudly Hear the voice say, "Just kiss the wind For I AM HERE."


[Compiled from Web sources]

A PRAYER ON HIGHWAY 12

Thank you, Great Spirit,
for the opportunity to walk with you,
To be with those who have great knowledge
And for the privilege of glimpsing that knowledge.
Allow me to be the Warrior I was meant to be,
Let me have the wisdom to be wise.
I am here, Great Spirit, take me home,
back to the beginning,
Show me the rudiments of life, and of love.
Teach me the elements of nature, pure and simple.
Give me understanding,
to give it to others.
Let me be as you,
I am part of you.
Peace and harmony,
oneness, togetherness, a natural order.
This is the path which was intended for us.
Guide me, Great Spirit,
I give my life to you alone,
Take it, and give my spirit to the people.
We all need you ... and each other.

( from Web resources )

Spirit of Yesterday

I've walked the lands of the ancient ones ..
Long since gone Generations
I can still feel their laughter .........their pain
I can still hear their songs.....
Hear their drums beating against a darken sky.....
I can see them dancing...
I can still see horses painted up for war
Still see Mothers and Wives with Tears in their eyes
But Pride in their hearts...
I can hear their Chants........their prayers
Still the memories and pride run deep in my own heart and soul as it did
the People....Medicine and holy men.....and the Chiefs....
This is My heritage.......the American Indians
Spirit of Yesterday........Is the Spirit of Tomorrow .......

( By Brenda Cloud Dancer July 3,'96 )