Category Archives: AA Comes Of Age

Let Go Absolutely – As Bill Sees It #242

After failure on my part to dry up any drunks, Dr. Silkworth reminded me of Professor William James’s observation that truly transforming spiritual experiences are nearly always founded on calamity and collapse. “Stop preaching at them,” Dr. Silkworth said, “and give them the hard medical facts first. This may soften them up at depth soContinue reading “Let Go Absolutely – As Bill Sees It #242”

Mysterious Paradoxes – A.A. Daily Reflection February 23rd

Such is the paradox of A.A. regeneration: strength arising out of complete defeat and weakness, the loss of one’s old life as a condition for finding a new one.A.A. COMES OF AGE, p. 46 What glorious mysteries paradoxes are! They do not compute, yet when recognized and accepted, they reaffirm something in the universe beyondContinue reading “Mysterious Paradoxes – A.A. Daily Reflection February 23rd”

Happiness Comes Quietly – Daily Reflection January 17th

When we examine what we demand and what we desire to possess, we have a great starting point for revealing our self-centered fears that may be unconscious and in need of healing. This can be a tremendous aid in our 4th step inventory. Click on the links to demands in this meditation to understand thisContinue reading “Happiness Comes Quietly – Daily Reflection January 17th”

In The Sunlight At Last – As Bill Sees It #313

When the thought was expressed that there might be a God personal to me, I didn’t like the idea. So my friend Ebby made what then seemed a novel suggestion. He said, “Why don’t you choose your own conception of God?” That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadowContinue reading “In The Sunlight At Last – As Bill Sees It #313”

Spiritual Kindergarten – As Bill Sees It #95

“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. Each man’s theology has to be his own quest, his own affair.” << << << >> >> >> When the Big Book was being planned, some members thoughtContinue reading “Spiritual Kindergarten – As Bill Sees It #95”

Discovering True Worth – Humility’s Role In Overcoming Shame and Pride – Practicing These Principles by Ray A.

Feeling that we are different, that we don’t belong or fit in, is a staple of the alcoholic story. However, few openly connect the feeling with shame. Bill W does. In Pass It On and Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, we read about two circumstances that fostered the emotion in him growing up. The firstContinue reading “Discovering True Worth – Humility’s Role In Overcoming Shame and Pride – Practicing These Principles by Ray A.”

Release And Joy – As Bill Sees It # 163

Who can render an account of all the miseries that once were ours, and who can estimate the release and joy that later years have brought to us? Who can possibly tell the vast consequences of what God’s work through A.A. has already set in motion? And who can penetrate the deeper mystery of ourContinue reading “Release And Joy – As Bill Sees It # 163”

4th Step Fear Inventory – Practice These Principles by Ray A.

Healthy and Unhealthy Fear Overcoming our fear is not always a good thing. We ought to have feared drinking, suggests the Big Book, for we knew how much suffering and humiliation it had wrought. But we did not. We lacked “the kind of defense that keeps one from putting his hand on a hot stove”Continue reading “4th Step Fear Inventory – Practice These Principles by Ray A.”

Never The Same Again – As Bill Sees It #209

It was discovered that when one alcoholic had planted in the mind of another the true nature of his malady, that person could never be the same again. Following every spree, he would have to say to himself, “Maybe those A.A.’s were right.” After a few such experiences, often before the onset of extreme difficulties,Continue reading “Never The Same Again – As Bill Sees It #209”

Powerless Over Alcohol – As Bill Sees It #283

I had gone steadily downhill, and on that day in 1934 I lay upstairs in the hospital, knowing for the first time that I was utterly hopeless. Lois was downstairs, and Dr. Silkworth was trying in his gentle way to tell her what was wrong with me and that I was hopeless. “But Bill hasContinue reading “Powerless Over Alcohol – As Bill Sees It #283”