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How often do we sit in AA meetings and hear the speaker declare, “But I haven’t yet got the spiritual angle.” Prior to this statement, he had described a miracle of transformation which had occurred in him-not only his release from alcohol, but a complete change in his whole attitude toward life and the living of it. It is apparent to nearly everyone else present that he has received a great gift; “. . . except that he doesn’t seem to know it yet!” We well know that this questioning individual will tell us six months or a year hence that he has found faith in God.
When we became alcoholics, crushed by a selfimposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn’t. What was our choice to be?
We asked ourselves why we had them [fears]. Wasn’t it because self-reliance failed us?
Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
To the intellectually self-sufficient man or woman, many A.A.’s can say, “Yes, we were like you-far too smart for our own good. . . . Secretly, we felt we could float above the rest of the folks on our brain power alone.”
Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house.
Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us-sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.
Understanding is the key to right principles and attitudes, and right action is the key to good living.