We
found that as soon as we were able to
lay aside prejudice and express even a
willingness to believe in a Power
greater than ourselves, we commenced
to get results, even though it was
impossible for any of us to fully
define or comprehend that Power, which
is God. (pg.46)As soon as we
admitted the possible existence of a
Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the
Universe underlying the totality of
things, we began to be possessed of a
new sense of power and direction,
provided we took other simple steps.
(pg.46)
It has been repeatedly
proven among us that upon this simple
cornerstone a wonderfully effective
spiritual structure can be built.
(pg.47)
Here are thousands of men
and women, worldly indeed. They flatly
declare that since they have come to
believe in a Power greater than
themselves, to take a certain attitude
toward that Power, and to do certain
simple things, there has been a
revolutionary change in their way of
living and thinking. In the face of
collapse and despair, in the face of
the total failure of their human
resources, they found that a new
power, peace, happiness, and sense of
direction flowed into them. This
happened soon after they
wholeheartedly met a few simple
requirements. (pg.50)
But He has
come to all who have honestly sought
Him. When we drew near to Him He
disclosed Himself to us! (pg.57)
When
we sincerely took such a position, all
sorts of remarkable things followed.
We had a new Employer. Being all
powerful, He provided what we needed,
if we kept close to Him and performed
His work well. Established on such a
footing we became less and less
interested in ourselves, our little
plans and designs. More and more we
became interested in seeing what we
could contribute to life. As we felt
new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace
of mind, as we discovered we could
face life successfully, as we became
conscious of His presence, we began to
lose our fear of today, tomorrow or
the hereafter. We were reborn. (pg.63)
When
the spiritual malady is overcome, we
straighten out mentally and
physically.(pg.64)
We can look the
world in the eye. We can be alone at
perfect peace and ease. Our fears fall
from us. We begin to feel the nearness
of our Creator. We may have had
certain spiritual beliefs, but now we
begin to have a spiritual experience.
The feeling that the drink problem has
disappeared will often come strongly.
We feel we are on the Broad Highway,
walking hand in hand with the Spirit
of the Universe. (pg.75)
If we are
painstaking about this phase of our
development, we will be amazed before
we are half way through. We are going
to know a new freedom and a new
happiness. We will not regret the past
nor wish to shut the door on it. We
will comprehend the word serenity and
we will know peace. No matter how far
down the scale we have gone, we will
see how our experience can benefit
others. That feeling of uselessness
and self-pity will disappear. We will
lose interest in selfish things and
gain interest in our fellows.
Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole
attitude and outlook upon life will
change. Fear of people and of economic
insecurity will leave us. We will
intuitively know how to handle
situations which used to baffle us. We
will suddenly realize that God is
doing for us what we could not do for
ourselves. (Pg.83-84)
And we have
ceased fighting anything or anyone -
even alcohol. For by this time sanity
will have returned. We will seldom be
interested in liquor. If tempted, we
recoil from it as from a hot flame. We
react sanely and normally, and we will
find that this has happened
automatically. We will see that our
new attitude toward liquor has been
given us without any thought or effort
on our part. It just comes! That is
the miracle of it. We are not fighting
it, neither are we avoiding
temptation. We feel as though we had
been placed in a position of
neutrality - safe and protected. We
have not even sworn off. Instead, the
problem has been removed. It does not
exist for us. We are neither cocky nor
are we afraid. That is our experience.
That is how we react so long as we
keep in fit spiritual condition.
(pg.84)
We are then in much less
danger of excitement, fear, anger,
worry, self-pity, or foolish
decisions. We become much more
efficient. We do not tire so easily,
for we are not burning up energy
foolishly as we did when we were
trying to arrange life to suit
ourselves. (pg.88)
Life will take on
new meaning. To watch people recover,
to see them help others, to watch
loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship
grow up about you, to have a host of
friends - this is an experience you
must not miss. We know you will not
want to miss it. Frequent contact with
newcomers and with each other is the
bright spot of our lives. (pg.89)
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