The Little Big Book - AA - GSO Watch

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spect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. Sometimes this was a tedious process; we hope no one else will be prejudiced for as long as some of us were. The reader may still ask why he should believe in a Power greater than himself. We think there are good reasons. Let us have a look at some of them. The practical individual of today is a stickler for facts and results. Nevertheless, the twentieth century readily accepts theories of all kinds, provided they are firmly grounded in fact. We have numerous theories, for example, about electricity. Everybody believes them without a murmur of doubt. Why this ready acceptance? Simply because it is impossible to explain what we see, feel, direct, and use, without a reasonable assumption as a starting point. Everybody nowadays, believes in scores of assumptions for which there is good evidence, but no perfect visual proof. And does not science demonstrate that visual proof is the weakest proof? It is being constantly revealed, as mankind studies the material world, that outward appearances are not inward reality at all. To illustrate: The prosaic steel girder is a mass of electrons whirl- WE AGNOSTICS 49 ing around each other at incredible speed. These tiny bodies are governed by precise laws, and these laws hold true throughout the material world. Science tells us so. We have no reason to doubt it. When, however, the perfectly logical assumption is suggested that underneath the material world and life as we see it, there is an All Powerful, Guiding, Creative Intelligence, right there our perverse streak comes to the surface and we laboriously set out to convince ourselves it isn’t so. We read wordy books and indulge 50
in windy arguments, thinking we believe this universe needs no God to explain it. Were our contentions true, it would follow that life originated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds nowhere. Instead of regarding ourselves as intelligent agents, spearheads of God’s ever advancing Creation, we agnostics and atheists chose to believe that our human intelligence was the last word, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end of all. Rather vain of us, wasn’t it? We, who have traveled the dubious path, beg you to lay aside prejudice, even against organized religion. We have learned that whatever the human frailties of various faiths may be, those faiths have given purpose and direction to millions. People of faith have a logical idea of what life is all about. Actually, we used to have no reasonable conception whatever. We used to amuse ourselves by cynically dissecting spiritual beliefs and practices when we might have observed that many spiritually-minded persons of all races, colors, and creeds were demonstrating a degree of stability, happiness and usefulness which we should have sought ourselves. 50 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Instead, we looked at the human defects of these people, and sometimes used their shortcomings as a basis of wholesale condemnation. We talked of intolerance, while we were intolerant ourselves. We missed the reality and the beauty of the forest because we were diverted by the ugliness of some of its trees. We never gave the spiritual side of life a fair hearing. In our personal stories you will find a wide variation in the way each teller approaches and conceives of the Power which is greater than himself. Whether we agree with a particular approach or conception seems 51
Page 1 and 2: THE DOCTOR’S OPINION We of Alcoho
Page 3 and 4: of alcohol on these chronic alcohol
Page 5 and 6: This immediately precipitates us in
Page 7 and 8: lost money—but some became very r
Page 9 and 10: New York stock exchange. After one
Page 11 and 12: there was a terrible sense of impen
Page 13 and 14: Trembling, I stepped from the hospi
Page 15 and 16: I had always believed in a Power gr
Page 17 and 18: It was only a matter of being willi
Page 19 and 20: have such experiences. He knows tha
Page 21 and 22: just as hopeless as Bill. Nearly al
Page 23 and 24: the problem would hardly be scratch
Page 25 and 26: Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He is seldom m
Page 27 and 28: Once in a while he may tell the tru
Page 29 and 30: The central fact of our lives today
Page 31 and 32: you. With many individuals the meth
Page 33 and 34: that somehow, someday he will contr
Page 35 and 36: these bouts and quieted himself wit
Page 37 and 38: question is how to stop altogether.
Page 39 and 40: eing any too smart, but felt reassu
Page 41 and 42: Some of you are thinking: ”Yes, w
Page 43 and 44: „In this frame of mind, I went ab
Page 45 and 46: ”Quite as important was the disco
Page 47 and 48: needed power wasn’t there. Our hu
Page 49: first conscious relation with God a
Page 53 and 54: Students of ancient history tell us
Page 55 and 56: When we became alcoholics, crushed
Page 57 and 58: We finally saw that faith in some k
Page 59 and 60: Chapter 5 58 HOW IT WORKS R ARELY H
Page 61 and 62: The point is, that we are willing t
Page 63 and 64: have made decisions based on self w
Page 65 and 66: goods, to get rid of them promptly
Page 67 and 68: finitely grave. We found that it is
Page 69 and 70: our Creator. We can laugh at those
Page 71 and 72: selves. It quiets the imperious urg
Page 73 and 74: one might have observed him. As fas
Page 75 and 76: quiet for an hour, carefully review
Page 77 and 78: than to a friend, but we find it mu
Page 79 and 80: ing for either family. We suggested
Page 81 and 82: justifiable exceptions, and though
Page 83 and 84: way through. We are going to know a
Page 85 and 86: shouldn’t be shy on this matter o
Page 87 and 88: 88 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS running the
Page 89 and 90: If he does not want to see you, nev
Page 91 and 92: alcoholism because you offer a solu
Page 93 and 94: taken action. On your first visit t
Page 95 and 96: WORKING WITH OTHERS 97 You may be a
Page 97 and 98: most incompatible people discover t
Page 99 and 100: Our experience shows that this is n
Page 101 and 102:
urners. A spirit of intolerance mig
Page 103 and 104:
We seldom had friends at our homes,
Page 105 and 106:
were so inaccessible that it seemed
Page 107 and 108:
alcoholic. Perhaps he can still ten
Page 109 and 110:
yourself in his place. Let him see
Page 111 and 112:
114 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS There are
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Ask him what you should do if he pl
Page 115 and 116:
of either to smile and say, ”This
Page 117 and 118:
fied he really wants to get over dr
Page 119 and 120:
family of an alcoholic longs for th
Page 121 and 122:
We families of Alcoholics Anonymous
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will disappear when there is tolera
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include his family obligations may
Page 127 and 128:
The family may feel they hold a mor
Page 129 and 130:
we have seen remarkable transformat
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fences. Though he is now a most eff
Page 133 and 134:
employer has sometimes kept such a
Page 135 and 136:
he not work hard and have a knack o
Page 137 and 138:
lecture, moralize, or condemn; that
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all, are you not looking for result
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ment to a life which knows no alcoh
Page 143 and 144:
It boils right down to this: No man
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drinking. The old pleasures were go
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Our hope is that when this chip of
Page 149 and 150:
how he lived in constant worry abou
Page 151 and 152:
once, but I’m a nobody now. From
Page 153 and 154:
ceeded with seven more. Seeing much
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Under only slightly different condi
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to face life again, there will be n
Page 159 and 160:
Salisbury (410) 543-2266 Massa-chus
Page 161 and 162:
FOREWORD We, of Alcoholics Anonymou
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The Little Big Book - AA - GSO Watch

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