Happy Valentine's
Day!
"Maybe A.A. was just a Yankee gadget that would be no good for
Ireland, England, Holland, Scandinavia, Australia, and the Pacific. Since their
countries were so different, maybe their alcoholics were different too. 'Will
A.A. work in our cultures?' they asked. We became heavily involved in
correspondence, much helped by our American members in New York who could
translate for us. We searched out and briefed A.A. travelers going abroad.
Gradually headway was made. It was a long time, however, before we knew for sure
that A.A. could cross the barriers of distance, race, creed, and language. But
today [1957], the A.A. map shows our society in more than seventy countries and
the U.S. possessions."
2001 AAWS, Inc.
Alcoholics
Anonymous Comes of Age, pg. 200;
*~*^Big Book Quote^*~*
"We are careful never to show
intolerance or hatred of drinking as an institution. Experience shows that
such an attitude is not helpful to anyone. Every new alcoholic looks for this
spirit among us and is immensely relieved when he finds we are not
witch-burners. A spirit of intolerance might repel alcoholics whose lives
could have been saved, had it not been for such
stupidity."
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th
Edition
Working With Others, pg. 103
*^Twenty
Four
Hours A
Day^*
A.A. Thought for the Day
After that first drink, we had a
single track mind. It was like a railroad train. The first drink started it off
and it kept going on the single track until it got to the end of the line,
drunkenness. We alcoholics knew this was the inevitable result when we took the
first drink, but still we couldn't keep away from liquor. Our willpower was
gone. We had become helpless and hopeless before the power of alcohol. It's not
the second drink or the tenth drink that does the damage. It's the first drink.
Will I ever take that first drink again?
Meditation for the Day
I must keep a time apart with God every day.
Gradually I will be transformed mentally and spiritually. It is not the praying
so much as just being in God's presence. The strengthening and curative powers
of this I cannot understand, because such knowledge is beyond human
understanding, but I can experience them. The poor, sick world would be cured if
every day each soul waited before God for the inspiration to live aright. My
greatest spiritual growth occurs in this time apart with God.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may faithfully keep a quiet time
apart with God. I pray that I may grow spiritually each
day.
Hazelden Foundation PO Box 176 Center City, MN
55012