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then because we ought to, and ultimately because we love
the kind of life such obedience brings. Great suffering and
great love are A.A.'s disciplinarians; we need no others.
Troublemakers Can Be Teachers
Few of us are any longer afraid of what any newcomer can do
to our A.A. reputation or effectiveness. Those who slip, those
with mental twists, those who rebel at the program, those
who trade on the A.A. reputation -- all such persons seldom
harm an A.A. group for long.
Some of these have become our most respected and best
loved. Some have remained to try our patience, sober
nevertheless. Others have drifted away. We have begun to
regard the troublesome ones not as menaces, but rather as
our teachers. They oblige us to cultivate patience, tolerance,
and humility. We finally see that they are only people sicker
than the rest of us, that we who condemn them are the
Pharisees whose false rightousness does our group the
deeper spiritual damage.
GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1946
Gratitude Should Go Forward
"Gratitude should go forward, rather than backward.
"In other words, if you carry the message to still others, you
will be making the best possible repayment for the help given
to you."
No satisfaction has been deeper and no joy greater than in a
Twelfth Step job well done. To watch the eyes of men and
women open with wonder as they move from darkness into
light, to see their lives quickly fill with new purpose and
meaning, and above all to watch them awaken to the
presence of a loving God in their lives -- these things are the
substance of what we receive as we carry A.A.'s message.
Getting off a "Dry Bender"
"Sometimes, we become depressed. I ought to know; I have
been a champion dry-bender case myself. While the surface
causes were a part of the picture -- trigger-events that
precipitated depression -- the underlying causes, I am
satisfied, ran much deeper.
"Intellectually, I could accept my situation. Emotionally, I
could not.
"To these problems, there are certainly no pat answers. But
part of the answer surely lies in the constant effort to
practice all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps."
In God's Economy
"In God's economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we
learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful
though it is."
We did not always come closer to wisdom by reason of our
virtues; our better understanding is often rooted in the pains
of our former follies. Because this has been the essence of
our individual experience, it is also the essence of our
experience as a fellowship.
Moral Responsibility
"Some strongly object to the A.A. position that alcoholism is
an illness. This concept, they feel, removes moral
responsibility from alcoholics. As any A.A. knows, this is far
from true. We do not use the concept of sickness to absolve
our members from responsibility. On the contrary, we use
the fact of fatal illness to clamp the heaviest kind of moral
obligation onto the sufferer, the obligation to use A.A.'s
Twelve Steps to get well.
"In the early days of his drinking, the alcoholic is often guilty
of irresponsibility. But once the time of compulsive drinking
has arrived, he can't very well be held fully accountable for
his conduct. He then has an obsession that condemns him to
drink, and a bodily sensitivity to alcohol that guarantees his
final madness and death.
"But when he is made aware of this condition, he is under
pressure to accept A.A.'s program of moral regeneration."
TALK, 1960
Foundation for Life
We discover that we receive guidance for our lives to just
about the extent that we stop making demands upon God to
give it to us on order and on our terms.
In praying, we ask simply that throughout the day God place
in us the best understanding of His will that we can have for
the day, and that we be given the grace by which we may
carry it out.
There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation,
and prayer. Taken separately, these practices can bring
much relief and benefit. But when they are logically related
and interwoven, the result is an unshakable foundation for
life.
TWELVE AND TWELVE
"Not Allied with Any Sect..."
"While A.A. has restored thousands of poor Christians to
their churches, and has made believers out of atheists and
agnostics, it has also made good A.A.'s out of those
belonging to the Buddhist, Islamic, and Jewish faiths. For
example, we question very much whether our Buddhist
members in Japan would ever have joined this Society had
A.A. officially stamped itself a strictly Christian movement.
"You can easily convince yourself of this by imagining that
A.A. started among the Buddhists and that they then told you
you couldn't join them unless you become a Buddhist, too. If
you were a Christian alcoholic under these circumstances,
you might well turn your face to the wall and die."
Suffering Transmuted
"A.A. is no success story in the ordinary sense of the word. It
is a story of suffering transmuted, under grace, into spiritual
progress."

then because we ought to, and ultimately because we love

the kind of life such obedience brings. Great suffering and

great love are A.A.'s disciplinarians; we need no others.

Troublemakers Can Be Teachers

Few of us are any longer afraid of what any newcomer can do

to our A.A. reputation or effectiveness. Those who slip, those

with mental twists, those who rebel at the program, those

who trade on the A.A. reputation -- all such persons seldom

harm an A.A. group for long.

Some of these have become our most respected and best

loved. Some have remained to try our patience, sober

nevertheless. Others have drifted away. We have begun to

regard the troublesome ones not as menaces, but rather as

our teachers. They oblige us to cultivate patience, tolerance,

and humility. We finally see that they are only people sicker

than the rest of us, that we who condemn them are the

Pharisees whose false rightousness does our group the

deeper spiritual damage.

GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1946

Gratitude Should Go Forward

"Gratitude should go forward, rather than backward.

"In other words, if you carry the message to still others, you

will be making the best possible repayment for the help given

to you."

No satisfaction has been deeper and no joy greater than in a

Twelfth Step job well done. To watch the eyes of men and

women open with wonder as they move from darkness into

light, to see their lives quickly fill with new purpose and

meaning, and above all to watch them awaken to the

presence of a loving God in their lives -- these things are the

substance of what we receive as we carry A.A.'s message.

Getting off a "Dry Bender"

"Sometimes, we become depressed. I ought to know; I have

been a champion dry-bender case myself. While the surface

causes were a part of the picture -- trigger-events that

precipitated depression -- the underlying causes, I am

satisfied, ran much deeper.

"Intellectually, I could accept my situation. Emotionally, I

could not.

"To these problems, there are certainly no pat answers. But

part of the answer surely lies in the constant effort to

practice all of A.A.'s Twelve Steps."

In God's Economy

"In God's economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we

learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful

though it is."

We did not always come closer to wisdom by reason of our

virtues; our better understanding is often rooted in the pains

of our former follies. Because this has been the essence of

our individual experience, it is also the essence of our

experience as a fellowship.

Moral Responsibility

"Some strongly object to the A.A. position that alcoholism is

an illness. This concept, they feel, removes moral

responsibility from alcoholics. As any A.A. knows, this is far

from true. We do not use the concept of sickness to absolve

our members from responsibility. On the contrary, we use

the fact of fatal illness to clamp the heaviest kind of moral

obligation onto the sufferer, the obligation to use A.A.'s

Twelve Steps to get well.

"In the early days of his drinking, the alcoholic is often guilty

of irresponsibility. But once the time of compulsive drinking

has arrived, he can't very well be held fully accountable for

his conduct. He then has an obsession that condemns him to

drink, and a bodily sensitivity to alcohol that guarantees his

final madness and death.

"But when he is made aware of this condition, he is under

pressure to accept A.A.'s program of moral regeneration."

TALK, 1960

Foundation for Life

We discover that we receive guidance for our lives to just

about the extent that we stop making demands upon God to

give it to us on order and on our terms.

In praying, we ask simply that throughout the day God place

in us the best understanding of His will that we can have for

the day, and that we be given the grace by which we may

carry it out.

There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation,

and prayer. Taken separately, these practices can bring

much relief and benefit. But when they are logically related

and interwoven, the result is an unshakable foundation for

life.

TWELVE AND TWELVE

"Not Allied with Any Sect..."

"While A.A. has restored thousands of poor Christians to

their churches, and has made believers out of atheists and

agnostics, it has also made good A.A.'s out of those

belonging to the Buddhist, Islamic, and Jewish faiths. For

example, we question very much whether our Buddhist

members in Japan would ever have joined this Society had

A.A. officially stamped itself a strictly Christian movement.

"You can easily convince yourself of this by imagining that

A.A. started among the Buddhists and that they then told you

you couldn't join them unless you become a Buddhist, too. If

you were a Christian alcoholic under these circumstances,

you might well turn your face to the wall and die."

Suffering Transmuted

"A.A. is no success story in the ordinary sense of the word. It

is a story of suffering transmuted, under grace, into spiritual

progress."