Sunday, January 16, 2022
AA Promises & More
Can’t see the Trees because of all the leaves?
May 2012
The Promises, that are read in many A.A. Meetings can be found on page 83-84 in the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. There are so many more to find.
THE A.A. PROMISES
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us— sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.
There are many promises throughout the Big Book. Here are some more.
Big Book page #25
[PROMISES OF STEP TWO]
1) There is a solution. Almost none of us likes the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation. But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet.
2) We have found much of heaven and
3) we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not
even dreamed.
4) The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective
spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward
our fellows and toward God's universe.
5) The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has
entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous.
6) He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do
by ourselves.
Big Book page #27:
7) Here and there, once in a while, alcoholics have had what are called vital spiritual experiences. To me these occurrences are phenomena. They appear to be in the
nature of huge emotional displacements and rearrangements.
8) Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives
of these men are suddenly cast to one side,
9) and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them.
Big Book page #28:
10) We, in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand
of God.
11) A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, "a design for living" that really works.
Big Book page #46:
Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another's conception of
God.
12) Our own conception, however inadequate, was sufficient to make the approach
13) and to effect a contact with Him.
14) As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of
the Universe underlying the totality of things, we began to be possessed of a new
sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps.
15) We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him.
16) To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or
forbidding to those who earnestly seek.
17) It is open, we believe, to all men. Big Book page #47:
18) Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from
honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. At the start, this was all we needed to
commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with God as we
understood Him.
19) Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many things which then seemed
entirely out of reach.
20) That was growth, but if we wished to grow we had to begin somewhere. So we used our own conception, however limited it was. We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. "Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater
Page 2!
than myself?" As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe,
we emphatically assure him that he is on his way.
21) It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this simple cornerstone a
wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built.
Big Book page #48:
22) Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual
matters as we had tried to be on other questions. In this respect alcohol was a great
persuader.
23) 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.
Big Book page #50:
24) Here are thousands of men and women, worldly indeed. They flatly declare that
since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves, to take a certain
attitude toward the Power, and to do certain simple things, there has been a
revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking.
25) In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human
resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction
flowed into them.
26) This happened soon after they whole-heartedly met a few simple requirements.
Once confused and baffled by the seeming futility of existence, they show the
underlying reasons why they were making heavy going of life. Leaving aside the drink
question, they tell why living was so unsatisfactory. They show how the change came
over them. When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of
the Presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a
powerful reason why one should have faith.
Big Book page #55:
27) We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us.
Big Book page #57:
28) Even so has God restored us all to our right minds. To this man, the revelation
was sudden. Some of us grow into it more slowly.
29) But He has come to all who have honestly sought Him.
30) When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to us! [contributed by Joe Mc.]
Big Book page #63. [contributed by Kay G. and Jon T.] [PROMISES OF STEP THREE]
31) When we sincerely took such a position, all sort of remarkable things followed. Page 3!
32) We had a new Employer.
33) He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work
well.
34) Established on such a footing we became less and less interested in ourselves,
our little plans and designs.
35) More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to
life.
36) As we felt new power flow in,
37) as we enjoyed peace of mind,
38) as we discovered we could face life successfully,
39) as we became conscious of His presence,
40) we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter.
41) We were reborn.
42) an effect, sometimes a very great one, was felt at once.
Big Book page #68. [ contributed by Kay G.]
43) At once, we commence to outgrow fear.
Big Book page #70. [ contributed by Tom T. of Omaha.]
43a) We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on the them as sick people.
Big Book page #75:
[PROMISES OF STEP FIVE]
Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing,
44) we are delighted.
45) We can look the world in the eye.
46) We can be alone at perfect peace and ease.
47) Our fears fall from us.
48) We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator.
49) We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual
experience.
50) The feeling that the drink problem has disappeared will often come strongly.
51) We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of
the Universe.
Big Book page #78:
[PROMISES OF STEP EIGHT]
52) If our manner is calm, frank, and open, we will be gratified with the result.
53) In nine cases out of ten the unexpected happens. Sometimes the man we are
calling upon admits his own faults,
54) so feuds of years' standing melt away in an hour.
Page 4!
55) Rarely do we fail to make satisfactory progress.
56) Our former enemies sometimes praise what we are doing and wish us well.
57) Occasionally, they will offer assistance.
Big Book page #83:
[ PROMISES OF STEP NINE]
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development,
58) we will be amazed before we are half way through.
59) We are going to know a new freedom
60) and a new happiness.
61) We will not regret the past
62) nor wish to shut the door on it.
63) We will comprehend the word serenity and
64) we will know peace.
65) No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience
can benefit others.
66) That feeling of uselessness (will disappear)
67) and self-pity will disappear.
68) We will lose interest in selfish things and
69) (We will) gain interest in our fellows.
70) Self-seeking will slip away.
71) Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
72) Fear of people (will leave us) and
73) (fear) of economic insecurity will leave us.
74) We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
75) We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for
ourselves.
76) Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us
—sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.
77) They will always materialize if we work for them.
Big Book page #84 :
[PROMISES OF STEP TEN]
64) And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone —even alcohol.
65) For by this time sanity will have returned.
66) We will seldom be interested in liquor.
67) If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame.
68) We react sanely and normally, and
69) we will find that this has happened automatically.
Page 5!
70 We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any
thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it.
71) We are not fighting it,
72) neither are we avoiding temptation.
73) We feel as though we had been places in a position of neutrality—safe and protected.
74) We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us.
75) We are neither cocky nor are we afraid.
76) That is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual
condition.
Big Book page #86:
[PROMISES OF STEP ELEVEN]
On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for
the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be
divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives. Under these conditions
77) we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us
brains to use.
78) Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is
cleared of wrong motives.
79) In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine
which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision.
We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right
answers come after we have tried this for a while.
Big Book page #87 :
80) What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind.
81) Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration.
82) We come to rely upon it.
83) We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends. Many of us have wasted a lot
of time doing that and it doesn't work. You can easily see why.
As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show,
Page 6!
humbly saying to ourselves many times each day "Thy will be done."
84) We are then in much less danger of excitement,
85) fear,
86) anger,
87) worry,
88) self-pity,
89) or foolish decisions.
90) We become much more efficient.
91 We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when
we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves.
92) It works—it really does.
Big Book page #97 :
93) PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail.
-
94) You can help when no one else can.
-
95) You can secure their confidence when others fail.
-
96) Life will take on new meaning.
-
97) To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see
a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends—this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.
Big Book page #100 :
[PROMISES OF STEP TWELVE]
98) Both you and the new man must walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress. If
you persist, remarkable things will happen. [contributed by Kate O.]
99) When we look back, we realize that the things which came to us when we put
ourselves in God's hands were better than anything we could have planned.
[contributed by Kate O.]
100) Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and
wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances! [contributed by Beth]
101) Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of things alcoholics are not
supposed to do. [contributed by Kate O.]
Big Book page #102 :
102) Your job now is to be at the place where you may be of maximum helpfulness to others, so never hesitate to go anywhere if you can be helpful. You should not hesitate to visit the most sordid spot on earth on such an errand. Keep on the firing line of life with these motives and God will keep you unharmed. (contributed by Beth)
103) The power of God goes deep! [contributed by Kate O.]
Page 7!
Big Book page #114:
104) But sometimes you must start life anew. We know women who have done it. If such women adopt a spiritual way of life their road will be smoother. [contributed by
Kate O.]
Big Book page #116:
105) how much better life is when lived on a spiritual plane.
Big Book page #117:
106) These work-outs should be regarded as part of your education, for thus you will
be learning to live. [contributed by Kate O.]
107) You will make mistakes, but if you are in earnest they will not drag you down.
[contributed by Kate O.]
108) Instead, you will capitalize them. [contributed by Kate O.]
109) A better way of life will emerge when they are overcome.
Page 8!
Monday, December 20, 2021
Charlie Brown is way too christian to be safe
Charlie Brown is way too christian to be safe
This program contains wrong Christian messages and may be offensive to some viewers.
Viewer discretion advised.
Romans 8:8-10
https://my.bible.com/bible/116/ROM.8.8-10
'That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature.
You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.
(And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ
living in them do not belong to him at all.)
And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin,
the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. '
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
HISTORY OF EARLY A. A. Find God and He will keep you sober
HISTORY OF EARLY A. A.
IN MARYLAND & BALTIMORE
More History of AA
-The following articles are from one of AAs leading historians, Dick B. It was a pleasant surprise when I stumbled accross some of his articles a few 24 hrs ago. I have spent many hours reading his articles and books and have learned much about early AA from his research.-
https://www.recoveredalcoholics.net/AAHistory/histlnks.htm
-
Call upon the Name Of GOD
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Could it be? - from Dick B.
http://dickb-blog.com/resources.html
© 2005. Paradise Research Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.
This website post was stolen from the designs of American Creations of Maui
From the web site location:
http://dickb-blog.com/resources.html
Contact Andy J. @ 916-202-9994 to complain
American Creations of Maui
11/08/2012
Sunday, October 20, 2019
What's in your tool box?
My Tool Box
· Go to an AA meeting
· Don’t drink
· Steps 1 – 12
· The Serenity Prayer
· The Twelve Principles
1. Honesty
2. Hope
3. Faith
4. Courage
5. Integrity
6. Willingness
7. Humility
8. Brotherly Love
9. Discipline
10. Perseverance
11. Awareness of God
12. Service
· Call my sponsor or another person in recovery
· Meet with my sponsor as regularly as possible
· Change people, places and things as necessary
· My sobriety is my priority above all else
· The chip in my pocket
· Beware of H.A.L.T. (hungry, angry, lonely, tired)
· Pause when agitated
· Prayer
· Go to an AA meeting
· Meditate
· Set personal boundaries and keep them
· Read the literature
· Service work
· Surrender
· Remember what got me here
· Forgive
· Let it go
· Spend time alone
· Keep it simple
· Restraint of pen and tongue
· Do not take other people’s inventory
· Try not to judge others
· Go to an AA meeting
· Make the effort, especially when I don’t want to
· Don’t give up
· Avoid expectations
· Journal or write
· Gratitude list
· Be compassionate and tolerant
· Live and let live
· I can start my day over at any time
· Remember that some others are sicker than I am
· Know that most people (in recovery) are trying their best
· Don’t take the bait
· Go to an AA meeting
· Do not turn down any reasonable request
· Where and when possible, avoid stressful situations
· This too shall pass
· At meetings -- go early, stay late
· Give out and collect phone numbers
· Meet and greet people I don’t know
· I’d rather be Happy than Right
· Be consistent
· Do my best at all times
· Put away the sledgehammer
· Don’t drink
· Steps 1 – 12
· The Serenity Prayer
· The Twelve Principles
1. Honesty
2. Hope
3. Faith
4. Courage
5. Integrity
6. Willingness
7. Humility
8. Brotherly Love
9. Discipline
10. Perseverance
11. Awareness of God
12. Service
· Call my sponsor or another person in recovery
· Meet with my sponsor as regularly as possible
· Change people, places and things as necessary
· My sobriety is my priority above all else
· The chip in my pocket
· Beware of H.A.L.T. (hungry, angry, lonely, tired)
· Pause when agitated
· Prayer
· Go to an AA meeting
· Meditate
· Set personal boundaries and keep them
· Read the literature
· Service work
· Surrender
· Remember what got me here
· Forgive
· Let it go
· Spend time alone
· Keep it simple
· Restraint of pen and tongue
· Do not take other people’s inventory
· Try not to judge others
· Go to an AA meeting
· Make the effort, especially when I don’t want to
· Don’t give up
· Avoid expectations
· Journal or write
· Gratitude list
· Be compassionate and tolerant
· Live and let live
· I can start my day over at any time
· Remember that some others are sicker than I am
· Know that most people (in recovery) are trying their best
· Don’t take the bait
· Go to an AA meeting
· Do not turn down any reasonable request
· Where and when possible, avoid stressful situations
· This too shall pass
· At meetings -- go early, stay late
· Give out and collect phone numbers
· Meet and greet people I don’t know
· I’d rather be Happy than Right
· Be consistent
· Do my best at all times
· Put away the sledgehammer
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