"It was a beehive of activity, all right, but unlike a beehive, it was confusion compounded. An AA group, as such, simply couldn't handle this sort of project....
"A newcomer appeared at one of these groups, knocked on the door and asked to be let in. He talked frankly with that group's oldest member. He soon proved that...
"The elder statesman is the one who sees the wisdom of the group's decision, who holds no resentment over his reduced status, whose judgment, fortified by...
"So, practicing these Steps, we had a spiritual awakening about which finally there was no question. Looking at those who were only beginning and still doubted...
"In all these situations we need self-restraint, honest analysis of what is involved, a willingness to admit when the fault is ours, and an equal willingness...
"Many a razor-edged question can arise in other departments of life where this same principle is involved. Suppose, for instance, that we have drunk up a good...
"We might next ask ourselves what we mean when we say that we have 'harmed' other people. What kinds of 'harm' do people do one another, anyway? To define the...
"So it is that we first see humility as a necessity. But this is the barest beginning. To get completely away from our aversion to the idea of being humble, to...
"So Step Six--'Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character'--is AA's way of stating the best possible attitude one can take in order...
"This vital Step was also the means by which we began to get the feeling that we could be forgiven, no matter what we had thought or done. Often it was while...
"If temperamentally we are on the depressive side, we are apt to be swamped with quilt and self-loathing. We wallow in this messy bog, often getting a...
"Should his own image in the mirror be too awful to contemplate (and it usually is), he might first take a look at the results normal people are getting from...
"Why all this insistence that every AA must hit bottom first? The answer is that few people will sincerely try to practice the AA program unless they have hit...
"Then came our first few excursions into major publicity, which were breathtaking. Cleveland's Plain Dealer articles about us ran that town's membership from a...
"This, in brief, is the process by which AA's Tradition Eleven was constructed. To us, however, it represents far more than a sound public relations policy. It...
"Just as the aim of each AA member is personal sobriety, the aim of our services is to bring sobriety within reach of all who want it. If nobody does the...
"At the Foundation, the same story repeats itself. Eight tons of books and literature per month do not package and channel themselves all over the world. Sacks...
"I heard all this quite plainly, as I was piously trying to convert a newcomer who sat next to me. The hat came in my direction, and I reached into my pocket....
"In one of their trade associations, the question arose of just how this campaign should be handled. Of course, they would use the resources of radio, press,...
"Thank heaven I came up with the right answer for that one. It was based foursquare on the single purpose of AA. 'You have faith,' I said. 'Perhaps far deeper...
"But alas, this bright scene was not long in darkening. Confusion replaced serenity. It was found that some drunks yearned for education, but doubted if they...
"As group after group saw these possibilities, they finally abandoned all membership regulations. One dramatic experience after another clinched this...
"This brings us straight to the question 'Does AA have a real leadership?' Most emphatically the answer is 'Yes, notwithstanding the apparent lack of it.'...
"By this time, at Step Ten, we had begun to get a basis for daily living, and we keenly realized that we would need to continue taking personal inventory, and...
"The actual experience of meditation and prayer across the centuries is, of course, immense. The world's libraries and places of worship are a treasure trove...
"A spot-check inventory taken in the midst of such disturbances can be of very great help in quieting stormy emotions. Today's spot check finds its chief...
"There can only be one consideration which should qualify our desire for a complete disclosure of the damage we have done. That will arise in the occasional...
"While the purpose of making restitution to others is paramount, it is equally necessary that we extricate from an examination of our personal relations every...
"For us, the process of gaining a new perspective was unbelievably painful. It was only by repeated humiliations that we were forced to learn something about...
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