Posts

Showing posts from August, 2022
Image
Tuesday spiritual literature post, from Hasidic Anthology by Louis I. Newman: The Example of Self-Restraint "Of what avail is mere study of the Torah when he who learns is contaminated by pride and temper? The good man should himself be the Torah, and people should be able to learn good conduct from observing him." Self-Forgiveness in old age "We often see an old man who has spent his life in excesses, imitating in his declining years the works of the pious. He does not indulge himself in food; he rises early to pray and to recite the Psalms. He imagines he has become a pious man by the performance of acts which simulate piety. But he forgets that his abstinence from food and sleep is due chiefly to his weakened desires. He becomes so self-satisfied that he 'forgives himself his own sins.' The result, however, is that he dies without true repentance. May the Lord preserve us from such a fate!" Patience Under Annoyance "The truly humble man is unable to
Image
Spiritual thoughts for the week:  August 28 Happiness cannot be sought directly; it is a by-product of love and service. Service is a law of our being. With love in your heart, there is always some service to other people. A life of power and joy and satisfaction is built on love and service... Little acts of love and encouragement, of service and help, erase the rough places of life and help to make the path smoother. If we do these thigs, we cannot help having our share of happiness. 24 Hours a Day August 31 Try not to give in to criticism, blame, scorn, or judgment of others when you are trying to help them. Effectiveness in helping others depends on controlling yourself. You may be swept away by a temporary natural urge to criticize or blame, unless you keep a tight rein on your emotions. You should have a firm foundation of spiritual living which makes you truly humble, if you are going to really help other people. Go easy on them and be hard on yourself. That is the way you can b
Image
Saturday speaker link - Father Joe Martin "Chalk Talk": Fr. Joe M , 'Chalk Talk' | RecoveryAudio.org
Image
Lois Wilson speaks on the early days of AA and Al-Anon, 1969: Lois Wilson, Al-Anon 19th World Service Conference, 4-21-1969 - Recovery Speakers
Image
Bill W's original 1948 Grapevine article on Tradition Eight: Tradition Eight                   Throughout the world AAs are twelfth-stepping with thousands                    of new prospects a month. Between one and two thousand of                    these sick on our first presentation; past experience shows t                   hat most of the remainder will come back to us later on.                    Almost entirely unorganized and completely non professional,                    this mighty spiritual current is now flowing from alcoholics                    who are well to those who are sick. One alcoholic talking to                    another; that's all.                   Could this vast and vital face-to-face effort ever be                    professionalized or even organized? Most emphatically, it                    could not. The few efforts to professionalized straight                    twelfth Step work have always failed quickly. Today, no AA                    w
Image
Spiritual thoughts for the week: August 22  You can make use of your mistakes, failures, losses and sufferings. It is not what happens to you so much as what you make of it. Take your sufferings, difficulties, and hardships and make use of them to help some unfortunate soul who is faced with the same suffering and the world will be a better place because of it. The good you do each day will live on, after the trouble and distress have gone, after the difficulty and the pain have passed away.  24 Hours a Day August 23  Your Invisible Dictaphone Your destiny depends entirely upon your own mental conduct. You may think that you know this already, but if you do not act upon it, it is certain that you do not really know it. Most people would be amazed to discover how much negative thinking they indulge in. Thought is so swift and habit is so strong that unless you are very careful you will constantly transgress. Suppose that an invisible dictaphone were strapped to your shoulders the first
Image
Saturday speaker link - Mark H. on Recovery, spirituality and Meditation: Mark H on Recovery, Spirituality, and Meditation | RecoveryAudio.org
Image
Throwback Thursday AA history link - from the blog of recovery researcher William H. White, on the literature and history of secular AA: The Secular Wing of AA | Emeritus Senior Research Consultant Chestnut Health Systems | William L. White (williamwhitepapers.com)
Image
Tuesday AA literature link - Mike F. speaks on the history of the Second Edition of the Big Book: RecoverySpeakers.com Mike F. speaks on the history of the Big Book's Second Edition
Image
Spiritual thoughts for the week: August 7 Every fear, worry, or doubt is disloyalty to God. You must endeavor to trust God wholly. Practice saying: "All is going to be well." Say it to yourself until you feel it deeply. 24 Hours a Day August 8 All of life is a fluctuation between effort and rest. You need both every day. But effort is not truly effective until first you have had the proper preparation for it, by resting in a time of quiet meditation. This daily time of rest and meditation gives you the power necessary to make your best effort. There are days when you are called on for much effort and then comes a time when you need much rest. It is not good to rest too long and it is not good to carry on great effort too long without rest. The successful life is a proper balance between the two. 24 Hours a Day August 10  God's Abundance For Your Need Much of the evil ithe world is caused by wanting something to which one is not entitled. Moses knew what covetousness does
Image
Saturday speaker link - Earl H. on Steps 8 and 9: Earl H. on Steps 8 and 9
Image
From William Schaberg's Writing The Big Book, Page 78-79:    In his report to John D. Rockefeller Jr. on the Akron visit [February 1938], [Frank] Amos provides a detailed, seven step outline of exactly how he understood the "alcoholic set up" in Akron to be working:          They told me varying stories, many of them almost miraculous, but all remarkably alike in the                   technique used and the system followed. Briefly this system is:          1.  An alcoholic must realize that he is an alcoholic, incurable from a medical viewpoint and                          that he must never again drink anything with alcohol in it;          2.  He must surrender himself absolutely to God realizing that in himself there is no hope;          3.  Not only must he want to stop drinking permanently, but he must remove from his life                              other sins such as hatred, adultery and others which frequently accompany alcoholism.                                
Image
From our website AABookClub.org, an analysis of the Big Book, Chapter Eight - To Wives: Chapter Eight - To Wives (aabookclub.org)
Image
  Spiritual thoughts for the week: August 1 Raised Consciousness The mountain means prayer - the elevated consciousness. We are told that the general public were not allowed to go up to Mount Sinai, but that does not mean that certain poeple were not good enough to go up. It means that if we want to go up the mountain - if we want to raise our consciousness, if we want to get closer to God - we must prepare ourselves by prayer. If we want to go up the mountain, we have to become a high priest spiritually and we must rid ourselves of our faults and weaknesses - otherwise we cannot elevate our consciousness and get our contact with God. Moses had his revelation, and then he realized it as the experience that God and man are one. When he got that revelation, Moses brought back the laws of life, beginning with the First Commandment, as we call it. Around the Year with Emmet Fox (Excerpt) August 2 Pocket Gods and Graven Images Whenever we give power to anything but God, we are making that t
Image
 Saturday speaker link - Dr. Paul O. ("Acceptance Was The Answer"), 1973: Dr. Paul O. from Laguna Niguel, CA - Lake Brownwood Texas Conference - 1/15/1973 - Recovery Speakers
Image
  Throwback Thursday history post - A documentary on Bill W., co-founder of A.A. :   ** If you like this post, please consider following AA Book Club Blog by clicking the icon in the upper left corner of the homepage, then clicking the blue 'follow' button. We feature new posts every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and will never have ads or give out user info. Check out our AA literature guide at AABookClub.org **
Image
Tuesday spiritual literature post - from You Are Greater Than You Know by Lou Austin: In Anger Anger is the handmaiden of frustration. In the heat of anger, bitter words are said; injuries are done; crimes are committed. In the prevention of anger's terrible damage, the habit of breathing out ego, breathing in God, is an immensely valuable help. Angry deeds and words are withheld when you practice the presence of God for any length of time.  Anger is simply ego taking over. It is a very stubborn difficulty. People with a low boiling point need the help of a Power greater than their own. A quick temper can be overcome only when a sincere effort is made to submerge one's ego. But how about righteous anger? Is that not justifiable? Anger is righteous only if it is entirely selfless. Righteous anger is never hot or uncontrollable. Righteous anger is aroused only by man's inhumanity to man. It is productive of no sudden violence or desire to harm, but only a sincere effort to me