"BY FAITH AND BY WORKS" On anvils of experience, the structure of our Society was hammered out. . . . Thus has it been with A.A. By faith and by works we have been able to build upon the lessons of an incredible experience. They live today in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, which — God willing — shall sustain us in unity for so long as He may need us. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 131 God has allowed me the right to...
WHAT WE KNOW BEST "Shoemaker, stick to thy last!" . . . better do one thing supremely well than many badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition . Around it our Society gathers in unity. The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of this principle. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 150 The survival of A.A. depends upon unity. What would happen if a group decided to become an employment agency, a treatment center or a...
TRUE TOLERANCE Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves, are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong, and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for our fellows actually means. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 92 The thought occurred to me that all people are emotionally ill to some extent. How could we not be? Who among us is spiritually perfect? Who among us is physically perfect?...
NOTHING GROWS IN THE DARK We will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us, to flower and to grow. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 10 With the self-discipline and insight gained from practicing Step Ten, I begin to know the gratifications of sobriety — not as mere abstinence from alcohol, but as recovery in every department of my life. I renew hope, regenerate faith, and regain the dignity of self-respect. I discover the word "and" in the...
SOLACE FOR CONFUSION Obviously, the dilemma of the wanderer from faith is that of profound confusion. He thinks himself lost to the comfort of any conviction at all. He cannot attain in even a small degree the assurance of the believer, the agnostic, or the atheist. He is the bewildered one. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 28 The concept of God was one that I struggled with during my early years of sobriety. The images that came to me,...
