Category Archives: Belonging

Difficulty Reveals Character – Grapevine Article October 2021 by Ron B.

A member shares some powerful thoughts about AA’s patience, resilience and creativity during COVID-19 When I first read Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions with my sponsor some 10 years ago, I was struck by Bill W.’s description of AA members in the armed forces during World War II. Even though they were far from homeContinue reading “Difficulty Reveals Character – Grapevine Article October 2021 by Ron B.”

Starting My Day – Grapevine Article March 2023 by Paul M

A past delegate recalls how he learned that a good day of service can begin with a well-made bed When I was a boy, my mother insisted that I make my bed every morning. Well, I didn’t want to since I was just going to mess it up again that night. Many years later, whenContinue reading “Starting My Day – Grapevine Article March 2023 by Paul M”

Hidden Strength – Grapevine Article February 1997 by Donna G.

Solutions in Sobriety Getting through each sober day is an extra challenge for me. I was first diagnosed with an incurable arthritic condition when I was forty years old and sober a few years. At first the doctor told me that my case was mild, but over the years the physical pain and discomfort hasContinue reading “Hidden Strength – Grapevine Article February 1997 by Donna G.”

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”

No Struggle Is Really New – Each Day A New Beginning – December 14th

A theme may seem to have been put aside, but it keeps returning–the same thing modulated, somewhat changed in form.-Muriel Rukeyser No struggle we have is really new. It’s another shade of the struggle that plagued us last week or perhaps last year. And we’ll stumble again and again until we learn to quit struggling.Continue reading “No Struggle Is Really New – Each Day A New Beginning – December 14th”

Spiritual Honesty – Grapevine Article April 1985 by W.H.

AS A RECOVERING member of Alcoholics Anonymous and an agnostic, I would like to present a few thoughts on our Fellowship from an agnostic viewpoint. One thing that makes my own experience unusual is that I came into the program eighteen years ago professing a conventional belief in God and had no problem accepting theContinue reading “Spiritual Honesty – Grapevine Article April 1985 by W.H.”

A Dose Of Reality – Grapevine Article November 2005 by Jill L.

I recently went on a Twelfth Step call with another recovering alcoholic to a woman’s home. What I saw and felt there is almost impossible to put into words, but I felt the need to try for those in the Fellowship who may be getting somewhat complacent. After many years of sobriety it’s easy toContinue reading “A Dose Of Reality – Grapevine Article November 2005 by Jill L.”

We Never Give Up – Grapevine Article February 2020 by Alex M.

A man from Nepal reminds him that we don’t have the power to get people sober. We just hope and keep reaching out On a cold morning in February, I got a call from an AA friend who was working with a local ministry group that helped refugees and immigrants who had been given asylumContinue reading “We Never Give Up – Grapevine Article February 2020 by Alex M.”

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”