AA Thought for the Day
(courtesy AA-Alive.net)
March 29, 2017
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Spiritual Growth
At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth,
to effect our first conscious relation with God as we understood Him.
. . .if we wished to grow we had to begin somewhere. So we used our
own conception, however limited it was.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p 47
Thought to Ponder . . .
Spiritual progress isn't what gets us sober, it's what keeps us sober.
AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
G O D = Gift Of Desperation.
A Member Shares:
I'm Larry and I'm an alcoholic. My memory isn't what it should be, but I believe it was Father Martin who told Bill W. that what made the Big Book great isn't what was written into it, but, rather what was left out of it. The implication was that when we spend too much energy on telling others our personal spiritual beliefs, we risk losing them. Rather, AA was designed to guide us into a personal walk with a God of our own understanding. That was pretty important for this defiant agnostic. I wasn't looking for religion in the beginning and those who couldn't separate their religion from AA were not the people that I cared to listen to. The Big Book has prayers throughout for each of the Steps. That helped me because my basic prayer, and even it was hard for me to utter in the beginning, was simply "Help me." And it isn't even necessary that we use the recommended prayers verbatim…it's the sincerity and the intent that matter. Anyway, my goal is to show newcomers that we aren't trying to convert anyone, but rather to offer a simple spiritual solution to an otherwise unsolvable problem. How, where, and when you pray are your own business. Your conception of God is your own business. The only thing pertinent is the benefit from them, not the identity. And THAT, my friends, saved my life. Pushing religion would have sent me packing. Old Slim used to coax me. He'd say, "Just try prayer, Larry. Give God a shot. You don't have to tell anyone you did it." And that helped me. That showed me it was a personal approach and a personal journey. And for that I am forever grateful and forever indebted.
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(All shares are reproduced with the kind permission of the person sharing)
Thanks to all of you for sharing so generously of your experience, strength and hope in carrying the AA message.
In grateful service,
peyton h
dailythought@aa-alive.org
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