Jun
30
SACRIFICE UNITY SURVIVAL
June 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The unity, the effectiveness, and even the survival of A.A. will always depend upon our continued willingness to give up some of our personal ambitions and desires for the common safety and welfare. Just as sacrifice means survival for the individual alcoholic, so does sacrifice mean unity and survival for the group and for A.A.’s [...]
Jun
29
A RIPPLING EFFECT
June 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Having learned to live so happily, we’d show everyone else how. . . . Yes, we of A.A. did dream those dreams. How natural that was, since most alcoholics are bankrupt idealists. . . . So why shouldn’t we share our way of life with everyone? TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 156
The great [...]
Jun
28
THE DETERMINATION OF OUR FOUNDERS
June 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
A year and six months later these three had succeeded with seven more. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 159
If it had not been for the fierce determination of our founders, A.A. would have quickly faded like so many other so-called good causes. I look at the hundreds of meetings weekly in the city where I live and [...]
Jun
27
CONFORMING TO THE A.A. WAY
June 27, 2008 | 2 Comments
We obey A.A.’s Steps and Traditions because we really want them for ourselves. It is no longer a question of good or evil; we conform because we genuinely want to conform. Such is our process of growth in unity and function. Such is the evidence of God’s grace and love among us. A.A. COMES OF [...]
Jun
26
A GIFT THAT GROWS WITH TIME
June 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
For most normal folks, drinking means conviviality, companionship and colorful imagination. It means release from care, boredom and worry. It is joyous intimacy with friends and a feeling that life is good. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 151
The longer I chased these elusive feelings with alcohol, the more out of reach they were. However, by applying this [...]
Jun
25
A TWO-WAY STREET
June 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment
If we ask, God will certainly forgive our derelictions. But in no case does He render us white as snow and keep us that way without our cooperation. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 65
When I prayed, I used to omit a lot of things for which I needed to be forgiven. I thought that [...]
Jun
24
A SPIRITUAL KINDERGARTEN
June 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
We are only operating a spiritual kindergarten in which people are enabled to get over drinking and find the grace to go on living to better effect. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 95
When I came to A.A., I was run down by the bottle and wanted to lose the obsession to drink, but I didn’t [...]