“The freedom to live life without a chemical solution filled our spirits.”

Three readings. A song that says the rest. And inspiration for whatever this day is here to teach.

A lone surfer riding inside a great curling wave

Read — the readings that opened the day

A Deep Breath of Life

Alan Cohen

“After you’ve prayed sincerely, release your prayer to God. Let go and Let God! When you mail a letter, you must let go so it can be delivered to where it is going. After dropping the letter in the mailbox, you do not stand there and make sure no one tampers with it, watch to see that the letter carrier tucks it away safely, and then trail the letter through the sorting process or insist on sitting next to the mail sack while it’s being flown across country. At some point you must just let go and trust the postal service to do its job. Today, I let go and let God; I release my sense of struggle and trust You to answer my prayers and fulfill my dreams.”

The Art of Meditation

Joel Goldsmith

“In order to enter into the mystical life, we must master the ability to remain in the silence without thought.”

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Hazelden Foundation

“There are two things that we must have if we are going to change our way of life. One is faith, the confidence in things unseen, the fundamental goodness and purpose in the universe. The other is obedience: that is, living according to our faith, living each day as we believe that God wants us to live, with gratitude, humility, honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love. Faith and obedience - these two will give us all the strength we need to overcome sin and temptation and to live a new and more abundant life. Prayer for the Day I pray that I may have more faith and obedience. I pray that I may live a more abundant life as a result of these things.”

Reflect — Steve L.'s own words

Waking up yesterday, I decided to take a long walk up to the base of Camelback Mountain. With the Passover and Easter holidays coming up, I thought about the Exodus and the Jews walking in the desert into freedom. They wandered for 40 years; it’s been even longer for me; some days I still don’t have a clue. Today, that’s OK; for freedom, I do my best to let go and let God. The gifts of freedom strike at the most unsuspected moment. Going to the 5 Guys meeting at Franciscan Renewal Center, I joined some other members of my lost tribe as we talked about the craziness in the world, Tiger Woods accident, and the solution we’ve been given. A yellow butterfly flew by, a reminder of my Mom’s Spirit. I gave thanks to God for the gifts of her life; she was only bedridden for 4 days before passing on into freedom.

As I listened to others sharing their solution to a living problem, I drove away with added support for the upcoming Men’s Fellowship Retreat in Pinetop, Our annual getaway is filled with fellowship, love and a solution to live clean and sober with people who normally would not mix - felons, preppies, Country Club people and Native Americans. Bring me a Club soda and a book with the 12 Steps with a solution to freedom. Driving away, I received a call from Josh from Albania and headed to his house to help with the renters. I left with accolades and a 5-star review for his webpage. A deep sense of gratitude and Freedom followed. Driving to dinner with Gail at Grimaldi’s, <grimaldispizzeria.com/location/old-town> my son Aaron had already gotten us on the list for a table. As we walked up, we started to talk, and just a few minutes later were seated outside at a great table in the patio area. We had a great time sharing about the week, teasing each other about our personality quirks, the world, and life in AZ. The freedom to live life without a chemical solution filled our spirits. Walking out, we ran into Ward & Bob H. and their group in the dining room, and we all got to laugh even more. Come on, really, does this work? You told me to let go & I asked, “of what?” You said, “everything!” You told me then it was the answer to Freedom. Wow, thank you.And thank God for a life that expands into freedom as I continue to learn how to let go.