Spirituality is essential to our sobriety.
Step Discussion > Step 7: Humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings. December 1966 By: T. P. Jr. | Hankins, New York PEOPLE often think that the Eleventh Step is the only one which suggests prayer; but this isn’t so. The Seventh Step is a prayer Step. Although prayer is not mentioned as such in … Read more
January 1966 “I AM the same person I was when I came into AA.” This statement, made recently at a meeting by a member with over three years’ sobriety, yielded a vigorous and quite unexpected reaction. “Whadya mean, you’re the same person?” most of the comments went. “You couldn’t possibly be the same person if … Read more
July 1977 – A.H. from Naples, FL THE BIG BOOK says, “At some of these we balked,” and I did. Not at the first few Steps. Powerless over alcohol? Life unmanageable? Jolly correct. When you’ve lost an $800-per job with promise of unlimited advancement, plus one wife and one son, plus the last red cent … Read more
I think that many oldsters who have put our AA “booze cure” to severe but successful tests still find they often lack emotional sobriety. Perhaps they will be the spearhead for the next major development in AA–the development of much more real maturity and balance (which is to say, humility) in our relations with ourselves, … Read more
In March 1941, a feature article written by Jack Alexander entitled “Alcoholics Anonymous” appeared in the “Saturday Evening Post.” This is how it came about.
Fragments of AA History – Origin of the Twelve Steps I well remember the evening on which the Twelve Steps were written. I was lying in bed quite dejected and suffering from one of my imaginary ulcer attacks. Four chapters of the book, Alcoholics Anonymous, had been roughed out and read in meetings in Akron … Read more
On New Year’s Eve, an e-mail arrived from my older sister, addressed to the whole family, announcing that she would no longer communicate with me about our mother’s recent diagnosis of cancer.
BY: GEORGE B. | ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA Tradition Twelve When I first found Alcoholics Anonymous, part of its appeal lay in the second word of its name. Anonymity about my own alcoholism was something that I certainly wanted. Even though my friends and co-workers had seen me drunk often enough, I didn’t want them to know … Read more
One may say that anonymity is the spiritual base, the sure key to all the rest of our Traditions. It has come to stand for prudence and, most importantly, for self-effacement.
When I finished my Step work, I knew something was different, but I wasn’t sure if it was a spiritual awakening.
BY: TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS – August 1998 Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with God’s help, the knowledge that at home or in the world outside we are partners in a common effort, the well-understood fact that in God’s sight all human beings are important, the proof that … Read more
BY: ART V. | JOHNS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA – August 2002 Time for one more. . . Every morning as I pour water into my coffee maker, I’m filled with gratitude because I’m reminded of what it was like fourteen years ago. Every morning, I filled a glass with brandy just to get my day … Read more