AA Book Club

  From our online AA literature study guide at AA Book Club.org , a few Big Book topics for study, meditation or to use with newcomers:     Whistling in the Dark Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks--drinks which they see others taking with impunity. After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his...

  Spiritual thoughts for the week: January 29 The Law Of Growth What you think upon grows. This is an Eastern maxim, and it sums up neatly the greatest and most fundamental of all laws of the mind. WHAT YOU THINK UPON GROWS. Whatever you allow to occupy your mind you magnify in your own life. Whether the subject of your thought be good or bad, the law works and the condition grows. Any subject that you keep out of your mind tends to diminish in your life, because what you do not use atrophies... This is the basic, fundamental, all-inclusive law of the mind, and actually all psychological and metaphysical teaching is little more than commentary upon this. Around the Year with Emmet Fox (Excerpt) January 31 I believe that all sacrifice and all suffering are of value to me. When I am in pain, I am being tested. Can I trust God, no matter how low I feel? Can I say, "Thy will be done," no matter how much I am distressed? If I can, my faith is real and practical. It works in bad ti...

  Saturday AA speaker link - Adam T., Hilarious Recovery Share (2013):    

  Throwback Thursday AA history link - Henrietta Sieberling and the Oxford Group:    

  From our online AA literature study guide at AA Book Club.org , an analysis of Tradition One, and a link to that chapter of the Twelve and Twelve for side-by-side comparison:     AA Book Club study Guide for Tradition One   Twelve and Twelve: Read or download Tradition One  

  Spiritual thoughts for the week: January 22 If The Key Sticks We have said that the Golden Key [of prayer] is simple, and so it is, but, of course, it is not always easy to turn. If you are very frightened or worried it may be difficult, at first, to get your thoughts away from material things. But by constantly repeating some statement of absolute Truth that appeals to you,... you will soon find that your mind is clearing. Do not struggle, be quiet but insistent... Do not try to think out in advance what the solution of your difficulty will probaby turn out to be, This is technically called 'outlining,' and will only delay the demonstration. Leave the question of ways and means to God. Around the Year with Emmet Fox (Excerpt) January 24 I know that the vision and power that I receive from God are limitless, as far as spiritual things are concerned. But in temporal and material things, I must submit to limitations. I know that I cannot see the road ahead, I must go just one s...

  Saturday AA speaker/history link - Frank S., one of the first 100 AA members, shares his story (you may have to scroll down to play the recording): Frank S., one of the first 100 AA members, shares his story

  Throwback Thursday AA history link - a talk by Mitchell K., author of  How It Worked, a biography of Clarence S., founder of the Cleveland group (you may have to scroll down the page to play the recording):   Mitchell K., author of How It Worked, on AA history

   From writing The Big Book by William Schaberg, page 462-463:   Hank Loses the argument to Completely Remove God from the Steps      ...Once Fitz's pleas for a Christian book had been successfully demolished, Parkhurst began to attack Wilson for his constant, explicit references to God in both the Steps and throughout the book.  He was convinced this would not only drive people away from their solution, but even worse, destroy any hope of the book being a bestseller. Despite the fact that so much was already written, Hank still had not given up hope that they would publish a psychological book, one that "would lure the alcoholic in" and that "once in, the prospect could take God or leave Him alone as he wished." Bill found this to be a shocking proposal and refused to even consider it...     Finally, after a "hellish fight," Hank realized there was no hope of convincing Bill all of these references to God should be removed from th...

  Spiritual thoughts for the week: January 15 I will relax and not get tense. I will have no fear, because everything will work out in the end. I will learn soul-balance and poise in a vacillating, changing world. I will claim God's power and use it because if I do not use it, it will be withdrawn. As long as I get back to God and replenish my strength after each task, no work can be too much. 24 Hours A Day January 17 God Is Spirit The sixth main aspect of God is Spirit... Spirit is that which cannot be destroyed or damaged. It is the opposite of matter. Matter wears out, but Spirit does not because Spirit is substance... You are Spirit. Spirit cannot die and was never born. Your true self was never born and will never die. You are eternal, divine, unchanging Spirit, in your true nature. The whole universe is a spiritual creation but we see it in a limited way. Around the Year with Emmet Fox (Excerpt) January 18 God Is Principle The seventh main aspect of God is Principle, and thi...

  Saturday AA speaker post - Julie M. ("This talk will bring you to tears"):

  Throwback Thursday AA history link - 12 Steps by 12 AA members with Ed Wheeler (Little Red Book), Richmond Walker (24 Hours A Day) and others, 1960 International Convention: Recovery Speakers - 12 Steps by 12 AA members, EdWheeler, Richmond Walker and others, 1960 International Convention

  From The Way of the Fathers - Praying with The Early Christians by Mike Aquilina: Freedom  See how the Father attracts. He delights in teaching, and not in imposing necessity on men. - St. Augustine He who is good is free, even if he is a slave. He who is evil is a slave, even if he is free. - St Augustine He who created you without your cooperation does not justify you without your cooperation. He created you without your knowing it; He does not justify you without your wanting it.  - St Augustine Christians are forbidden to correct the stumblings of sinners by force... It is necessary to make a man better not by force but by persuasion. We neither have authority granted us by law to restrain sinners, nor, if it were, should we know how to use it, since God gives the crown to those who are kept from evil not by force, but by choice. -St. John Chrysostom It depends on us whether we wish to be saved. - Anonymous In all our actions, God considers the intention: whether ...

  Spiritual Thoughts for the week: January 8 I know that my new life will not be immune from difficulties, but I will have peace even in difficulties. I know that serenity is the result of faithful, trusting acceptance of God's will, even in the midst of difficulties. 24 Hours A Day January 11 The Seven Main Aspects Of God To define God would be to limit Him, but we can get an excellent working knowledge of God by considering different aspects of His nature. Of these there are seven main aspects more important than any of the others... Thinking of any aspect of God will solve a problem in time, but if you select the right aspect you will get your result more quickly and more easily. Around the Year with Emmet Fox (Excerpt) January 12 God Is Life The first main aspect of God is Life. God is not just living, nor does God give life, but God is Life. Wherever God is, there Life is. Around the Year with Emmet Fox (Excerpt) January 13 God Is Truth The second main aspect of God is Truth. ...

  Saturday speaker/history link - Ed A. of Cleveland, one of the first 100 AA members, tells his story: Ed A. of Cleveland, one of the first 100 AA members tells his story

  Throwback Thursday AA history link - The argument in Toronto, Canada over listing agnostic/atheist groups in the Intergroup meeting guide and how it was resolved:   Toronto, Canada disagreement over listing agnostic/atheist groups  

  Cleveland, OH became the home of AA Group #3 and created AA's very first intergroup committee. From that intergroup website, reflections on Step One, as well as a link to the Twelve and Twelve chapter:   Cleveland Intergroup reflections on Step One: "Choice in Drink?"     Twelve and Twelve: Step One  

      HAPPY NEW YEAR!   Spiritual thoughts for the week:    January 1 Liberation There exists a mystic Power that is able to transform your life so thoroughly, so radically, so completely, that when the process is completed yor own friends would hardly recognize you, and, in fact, you would scarcely be able to recognize yourself... This Power can do for you that which is probably the most important thing in your present stage: it can find your true place in life for you, and put you into it. This Power is really no less than the primal Power of Being, and to discover that Power is the divine birthright of all men. Around the Year with Emmet Fox (Excerpt) January 1 In the new year, I will live one day at a time. I will make each day one of preparation for better things ahead. I will not dwell on the past or the future, only on the present. I will bury fear of the future, all thoughts of unkindness and bitterness, all my dislikes, my resentments, my sense of ...