"As this tidal offering of top public approval swept in, we realized that it could do us incalculable good or great harm. Everything would depend upon how it was channeled. We simply could not afford to take the chance of letting self-appointed members present themselves as messiahs representing A.A. before the whole public. The promoter instinct in us might be our undoing. If even one such person publicly got drunk or was lured into using A.A.'s name for his own purposes, the damage might be irreparable. At this altitude (press, radio, films, and television [and the internet] ), anonymity 100 per cent anonymity was the only possible answer. Here principles would have to come before personalities, without exception.
"These experiences taught us
that anonymity is real humility at work. It is an all-pervading spiritual
quality which today keynotes A.A. life everywhere."
2001 AAWS, Inc.
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pg.
134
"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. 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. He has commenced to accomplish those
things for us which we could never do by
ourselves."
Alcoholics
Anonymous, 4th Edition
There Is A Solution, pg.
25
*^Twenty
Four
Hours A
Day^*
A.A. Thought for the Day
Before I
met A.A., I was very dishonest. I lied to my spouse constantly about where I had
been and what I'd been doing. I took time off from my work and pretended I'd
been sick or gave some other dishonest excuse. I was dishonest with myself, as
well as with other people. I would never face myself as I really was or admit
when I was wrong. I pretended to myself that I was as good as the next person,
although I suspected I wasn't. Am I now really honest?
Meditation for the Day
I must live in the world and yet
live apart with God. I can go forth from my secret times of communion with God
to the work of the world. To get the spiritual strength I need, my inner life
must be lived apart from the world. I must wear the world as a loose garment.
Nothing in the world should seriously upset me, as long as my inner life is
lived with God. All successful living arises from this inner life.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that
I may live my inner life with God. I pray that nothing shall invade or destroy
that secret place of peace.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN
55012