Route164.net

P. 76 of AA's basic text says,"Let's look at Steps Eight and Nine. We have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took inventory. We subjected ourselves to a drastic self-appraisal. Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we haven't the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol."

AA's "Big Book" then explains how to make amends where others have been harmed by ones behavior. P. 83 says, "A remorseful mumbling that we are sorry won't fill the bill at all." It's possible to misunderstand the difference between apologizing and making amends. Here are definitions:

Alcoholism is a disease, a hopeless state of mind and body that only a spiritual solution can overcome. A problem in the body causes the loss of control; a problem in the mind takes away the power of choice. Alcoholism is a two-part disease. (Page numbers refer to the 'big book' -- “Alcoholics Anonymous - The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered From Alcoholism”, 4th Ed.) The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our so-called will power becomes practically nonexistent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink. (p. 24:1)

• The physical part – an allergy produces a craving – When alcohol enters my body, an allergic reaction produces a craving—my body wants more and more. The [poorly understood] phenomenon of craving is limited to [alcoholics] and never occurs in the average temperate drinker (Dr. Silkworth, p. xxviii). Moderate drinkers and the hard drinker do not have this allergic reaction; the hard drinker… given sufficiently strong reason, can stop or moderate… but at some stage of his drinking career [the real alcoholic] begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink. (p.20-21)

I found it helpful to hear a fellow say something like: "I know God, but I do not pretend to understand God." That sent me to the dictionary once again.

NOTE: 'Clicking' on the highlighted words "know" and "understand" above will take you to the new "Glossary" function of this website. The Glossary feature offers definitions or notes regarding highlighted words or phrases in this website. You might want to right-click your mouse button to open a new window or tab to see them quickly without being distracted from the main idea.

Big Book Study Tools!

In my experience, happiness comes after taking the steps outlined in the basic text of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous -- whether or not one is an alcoholic as described on page 21 of Alcoholics Anonymous. The experience requires taking action after understanding of the program and the basic text of the "Big Book - everything from the Title Page and the Foreword to the First Edition through Page 164.

Unfortunately, the skill of reading seems less important now than it was when they wrote the Big Book in 1938-39. Radio was new then; families gathered around the radio to get information and entertainment on occasion, but the primary means of learning was to read.

"To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded. " ~ Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century. Among the core beliefs of Transcendentalists was the conception that an ideal spiritual state 'transcends' the physical and empirical [provable by means of observation or experiment] and is only realized through the individual's intuition [contemplation or meditation], rather than through the doctrines of established religions.

The Big Book says that our "relationship" with with God as we understand him is crucial. That suggests we ought to understand the meaning of the word "relationship" before we jump to the wrong conclusion.

Some definitions:
1. A particular type of connection existing between people related to or having dealings with each other: has a close relationship with his siblings.
2. Significant connection or similarity between two or more things, or the state of being related to something else.
3. A state of affairs existing between those having relations or dealings .

A helpful book for those who wish to understand and apply the Twelve Step Program...a Hazelden Book.