A man in a hot air balloon realizes that he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man below. He goes closer and yells out, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend that I would meet him a half and hour ago, but I don't know where I am!" The man below says, "Yes, you are in a hot air balloon, hovering about thirty feet above the ground. You are at latitude 42 degrees north and longitude 58 degrees west." "You must be a sponsor," said the man in the balloon. "I am," replies the man on the ground, "How did you know?" "Well," he says to the sponsor, "everything you have told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is that I am still lost." "You must be a sponsee," the man on the ground stated. "That's right, but how did you know?" asked the balloonist. "Well," replies the sponsor, "you do not know where you are or where you are going. You have made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is, you have the same problem you had when we met except now it is somehow my fault." -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------A.A. Thought for the Day As we look back over our drinking careers, we must realize that our lives were a mess because we were a mess inside. The trouble was in us, not in life itself. Life itself was good enough, but we were looking at it the wrong way. We were looking at life through the bottom of a whiskey glass, and it was distorted. We could not see all the beauty and goodness and purpose in the world because our vision was blurred. We were in a house with one-way glass in the windows. People could see us but we could not look out and see them and see what life meant to them and should mean to us. We were blind then, but now we can see. Can I now look at life as it really is? Meditation for the Day Fear no evil, because the power of God can conquer evil. Evil has power to seriously hurt only those who do not place themselves under the protection of the Higher Power. This is not a question of feeling; it is an assured fact of our experience. Say to yourself with assurance that whatever it is, no evil can seriously harm you as long as you depend on the Higher Power. Be sure of the protection of God's grace. Prayer for the Day I pray that fear of evil will not get me down. I pray that I may try to place myself today under the protection of God's grace