"Before we ask what a spot-check inventory is, let's look at the kind of setting in which such an inventory can do its work. It is a spiritual axiom that every...
"As we have seen, self-searching is the means by which we bring new vision, action, and grace to bear upon the dark and negative side of our natures. It is a...
"At Step Six, many of us balked--for the practical reason that we did not wish to have all our defects of character removed, because we still loved some of...
"Countless times, in as many cities and hamlets, we reenacted the story of Eddie Rickenbacker and his courageous company when their plane crashed in the...
"Now comes the election. If the founder and his friends have served well, they may--to their surprise--be reinstated for a time. If, however, they have heavily...
"Why did AA finally drop all its membership regulations? Why did we leave it to each newcomer to decide himself whether he was an alcoholic and whether he...
"'How much does your scheme cost?' I was thankful I could tell him, 'Nothing at all.' His next question: 'What are you getting out of it?' Of course, my answer...
"To my surprise, the response of the groups was slow. I got mighty sore about it. Looking at this avalanche of mail one morning at the office, I paced up and...
"Neither could AA itself function without fulltime workers. At the Foundation and inter-group offices, we couldn't employ non-alcoholics as secretaries; we had...
"The same stern threat applies to the group itself. Unless there is approximate conformity to AA's Twelve Traditions, the group, too, can deteriorate and die....
"But this didn't happen. Instead, the Washingtonians permitted politicians and reformers, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, to use the society for their own...
"There was actually a time when the press of America thought the anonymity of AA was better for us than some of our own members did. At one point, about a...
"As a rule, the average newcomer wanted his family to know immediately what he was trying to do. He also wanted to tell others who had tried to help him--his...
"It was obviously necessary to raise the bottom the rest of us had hit to the point where it would hit them. By going back in our own drinking histories, we...
"This is only one man's opinion based on his own experience, of course. I must quickly assure you that AA's tread innumerable paths in their quest for faith....
"Let's examine for a moment this idea of dependence at the level of everyday living. In this area it is startling to discover how dependent we really are, and...
"When an individual's desire for prestige becomes uncontrollable, whether in the sewing circle or at the international conference table, other people suffer...
"What are we likely to receive from Step Five? For one thing, we shall get rid of that terrible sense of isolation we've always had. Almost without exception,...
"Since most of us are born with an abundance of natural desires, it isn't strange that we often let these far exceed their intended purpose. When they drive us...
"This lack of anchorage to any permanent values, this blindness to the true purpose of our lives, produced another bad result. For just so long as we were...
"This attitude, of course, is the end result of purposeful forgetting. It is an attitude which can only be changed by a deep and honest search of our motives...
"As soon as we begin to feel confident in our new way of life and have begun, by our behavior and example, to convince those about us that we are indeed...
"Few people have been more victimized by resentments than we alcoholics. It mattered little whether our resentments were justified or not. A burst of temper...
"We will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us, to flower and to grow. Most certainly we shall need bracing air and an abundance of food....
"Then, in Step Seven, we humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings such as He could or would under the conditions of the day we asked. In Step Eight, we...
"Headed by the chairman, they look after public relations and arrange meetings. Their treasurer, strictly accountable, takes money from the hat that is passed,...
"The answer, now seen in Tradition Three, was simplicity itself. At last experience taught us that to take away any alcoholic's full chance was sometimes to...
"Of course, there was a promoter in the deal--a super-promoter. By his eloquence he allayed all fears, despite advice from the Foundation that it could issue...
"Then, hesitantly, I ventured to talk about the spiritual side of our program. What a freeze that drunk gave me! I'd no sooner got the word 'spiritual' out of...
"Years ago this principle of 'no endorsement' was put to a vital test. Some of the great distilling companies proposed to go into the field of alcohol...
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