kobe-ja/AsBillSeesIt · Datasets at Hugging Face

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Thousands of "Founders"
"While I thank God that I was privileged to be an early
member of A.A., I honestly wish that the word `founder' could
be eliminated from the A.A. vocabulary.
"When you get right down to it, everyone who has done any
amount of successful Twelfth Step work is bound to be the
founder of a new life for other alcoholics."
"A.A. was not invented! Its basics were brought to us
through the experience and wisdom of many great friends.
We simply borrowed and adapted their ideas."
"Thankfully, we have accepted the devoted services of many
nonalcoholics. We owe our very lives to the men and women
of medicine and religion. And, speaking for Dr. Bob and
myself, I gratefully declare that had it not been for our wives,
Anne and Lois, neither of us could have lived to see A.A.'s
beginning."
Renew Your Effort
"Though I know how hurt and sorry you must be after this
slip, please do not worry about a temporary loss of your
inner peace. As calmly as you can, just renew your effort on
the A.A. program, especially those parts of it which have to
do with meditationand self-analysis.
"Could I also suggest that you look at excessive guilt for
what it is? Nothing but a sort of reverse pride. A decent
regret for what has happened is fine. But guilt -- no.
"Indeed, the slip could well have been brought about by
unreasonable feelings of guilt because of other moral
failures, so called. Surely, you ought to look into this
possibility. Even here you should not blame yourself for
failure; you can be penalized only for refusing to try for
better things."
Giving Without Demand
Watch any A.A. of six months workingwith a Twelfth Step
prospect. If the newcomer says, "To the devil with you," the
twelfth-stepper only smiles and finds another alcoholic to
help. He doesn't feel frustrated or rejected. If this next drunk
responds, and in turn starts to give love and attention to
other sufferers, yet gives none back to him, the sponsor is
happy about it anyway. He still doesn't feel rejected; instead
he rejoices that his former prospect is sober and happy.
And he well knows that his own life has been made richer, as
an extra dividend of giving to another without any demand
for a return.
GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1958
Truth, the Liberator
How truth makes us free is something that we A.A.'s can well
understand. It cut the shackles that once bound us to
alcohol. It continues to release us from conflicts and
miseries beyond reckoning; it banishes fear and isolation.
The unity of our Fellowship, the love we cherish for each
other, the esteem in which the world holds us -- all of these
are products of the truth which, under God, we have been
privileged to perceive.
Just how and when we tell the truth -- or keep silent -- can
often reveal the difference between genuine integrity and
none at all.
Step Nine emphatically cautions us against misusing the
truth when it states: "We made direct amends to such people
wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them
or others." Because it points up the fact that the truth can be
used to injure as well as to heal, this valuable principle
certainly has a wide-ranging application to the problem of the
developing integrity.
GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961
"How Can You Roll with a Punch?"
On the day that the calamity of Pearl Harbor fell upon our
country, a great friend of A.A. was walking alone a St. Louis
street. Father Edward Dowling was not an alcoholic, but he
had been one of the founders of the struggling A.A. group in
his city. Because many of his usually sober friends had
already taken to their bottles that they might blot out the
implications of the Pearl Harbor disaster, Father Ed was
anguished by the thought that his cherished A.A. group
would probably do the same.
Then a member, sober less than a year, stepped alongside
and engaged Father Ed in a spirited conversation -- mostly
about A.A. Father Ed saw, with relief, that his companion was
perfectly sober.
"How is it that you have nothing to say about Pearl Harbor?
How can you roll with a punch like that?"
"Well," replied the yearling, "each of us in A.A. has already
had his own private Pearl Harbor. So why should we drunks
crack up over this one?"
GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1962
Dependence -- Unhealthy or Healthy
"Nothing can be more demoralizing than a clinging and
abject dependence upon another human being. This often
amounts to the demand for a degree of protection and love
that no one could possibly satisfy. So our hoped-for
protectors finally flee, and once more we are left alone --
either to grow up or to disintegrate."
We discovered the best source of emotional stability to be
God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect
justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would
work where nothing else would.
If we really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play
God to our fellows, nor would we feel the urge to rely wholly
on human protection and care.
Two-Way Tolerance
"Your point of view was once mine. Fortunately, A.A. is

Thousands of "Founders"

"While I thank God that I was privileged to be an early

member of A.A., I honestly wish that the word `founder' could

be eliminated from the A.A. vocabulary.

"When you get right down to it, everyone who has done any

amount of successful Twelfth Step work is bound to be the

founder of a new life for other alcoholics."

"A.A. was not invented! Its basics were brought to us

through the experience and wisdom of many great friends.

We simply borrowed and adapted their ideas."

"Thankfully, we have accepted the devoted services of many

nonalcoholics. We owe our very lives to the men and women

of medicine and religion. And, speaking for Dr. Bob and

myself, I gratefully declare that had it not been for our wives,

Anne and Lois, neither of us could have lived to see A.A.'s

beginning."

Renew Your Effort

"Though I know how hurt and sorry you must be after this

slip, please do not worry about a temporary loss of your

inner peace. As calmly as you can, just renew your effort on

the A.A. program, especially those parts of it which have to

do with meditationand self-analysis.

"Could I also suggest that you look at excessive guilt for

what it is? Nothing but a sort of reverse pride. A decent

regret for what has happened is fine. But guilt -- no.

"Indeed, the slip could well have been brought about by

unreasonable feelings of guilt because of other moral

failures, so called. Surely, you ought to look into this

possibility. Even here you should not blame yourself for

failure; you can be penalized only for refusing to try for

better things."

Giving Without Demand

Watch any A.A. of six months workingwith a Twelfth Step

prospect. If the newcomer says, "To the devil with you," the

twelfth-stepper only smiles and finds another alcoholic to

help. He doesn't feel frustrated or rejected. If this next drunk

responds, and in turn starts to give love and attention to

other sufferers, yet gives none back to him, the sponsor is

happy about it anyway. He still doesn't feel rejected; instead

he rejoices that his former prospect is sober and happy.

And he well knows that his own life has been made richer, as

an extra dividend of giving to another without any demand

for a return.

GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1958

Truth, the Liberator

How truth makes us free is something that we A.A.'s can well

understand. It cut the shackles that once bound us to

alcohol. It continues to release us from conflicts and

miseries beyond reckoning; it banishes fear and isolation.

The unity of our Fellowship, the love we cherish for each

other, the esteem in which the world holds us -- all of these

are products of the truth which, under God, we have been

privileged to perceive.

Just how and when we tell the truth -- or keep silent -- can

often reveal the difference between genuine integrity and

none at all.

Step Nine emphatically cautions us against misusing the

truth when it states: "We made direct amends to such people

wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them

or others." Because it points up the fact that the truth can be

used to injure as well as to heal, this valuable principle

certainly has a wide-ranging application to the problem of the

developing integrity.

GRAPEVINE, AUGUST 1961

"How Can You Roll with a Punch?"

On the day that the calamity of Pearl Harbor fell upon our

country, a great friend of A.A. was walking alone a St. Louis

street. Father Edward Dowling was not an alcoholic, but he

had been one of the founders of the struggling A.A. group in

his city. Because many of his usually sober friends had

already taken to their bottles that they might blot out the

implications of the Pearl Harbor disaster, Father Ed was

anguished by the thought that his cherished A.A. group

would probably do the same.

Then a member, sober less than a year, stepped alongside

and engaged Father Ed in a spirited conversation -- mostly

about A.A. Father Ed saw, with relief, that his companion was

perfectly sober.

"How is it that you have nothing to say about Pearl Harbor?

How can you roll with a punch like that?"

"Well," replied the yearling, "each of us in A.A. has already

had his own private Pearl Harbor. So why should we drunks

crack up over this one?"

GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1962

Dependence -- Unhealthy or Healthy

"Nothing can be more demoralizing than a clinging and

abject dependence upon another human being. This often

amounts to the demand for a degree of protection and love

that no one could possibly satisfy. So our hoped-for

protectors finally flee, and once more we are left alone --

either to grow up or to disintegrate."

We discovered the best source of emotional stability to be

God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect

justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would

work where nothing else would.

If we really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play

God to our fellows, nor would we feel the urge to rely wholly

on human protection and care.

Two-Way Tolerance

"Your point of view was once mine. Fortunately, A.A. is