Sobriety Meme of the Week:
Posts
Dr. Bob is not known for his writings, but here is an article he wrote in 1944 for the Grapevine: On Cultivating Tolerance By Dr. Bob S. Copyright © AA Grapevine, Inc, July 1944 During nine years in AA, I have observed that those who follow the Alcoholics Anonymous program with the greatest earnestness and zeal not only maintain sobriety but often acquire finer characteristics and attitudes as well. One of these is tolerance. Tolerance expresses itself in a variety of ways: in kindness and consideration toward the man or woman who is just beginning the march along the spiritual path; in the understanding of those who perhaps have been less fortunate in education advantages; and in sympathy toward those whose religious ideas may seem to be at great variance with our own. I am reminded in this connection of the picture of a hub with its radiating spokes. We all start at the outer circum...
Buddhism and the Big Book is our original study of AA's Twelve Steps, comparing them with the Buddhist spiritual teachings in the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. Here is an except: Though these terms are understood differently, the journey from delusion to awakening in each tradition [AA and Buddhism] includes several common principles. For example: * Realization of the need for a spiritual solution * Commitment to pursue that solution * Assessments of one's personal faults * Willingness and effort to be rid of these faults * Continuous monitoring of one's mental and emotional state * Practice and improvement in awareness of a Reality greater than the physical. These and other principles are practiced in different ways, often in ...
Real People of the Big Book - looking at the individuals behind aa folklore: Edwin T. "Ebby" Thacher (1896-1966), who passed the message of recovery to Bill: "My musing was interrupted by the telephone. The cheery voice of an old school friend asked if he might come over. He was sober . It was years since I could re member his coming to New York in that condition. I was amazed. Rumor had it that he had been committed for alcoholic insanity. I wondered how he had escaped... In a matter of fact way he told how two men had appeared in court, persuading the judge to suspend his commitment. They had told of a simple religious idea and a practical program of action. That was two months ago and the result was self-evident. It worked! He had come to pass his experience along to me—if I cared to have it. I was shocked, but interested. Certainly I was interested. I had to be, for I was hopeless. Big Book page 9-10 Ebby relapsed before Bill began writing the Big Book and struggled...
