dickb
03-14-2008, 03:14 AM
'Get Honest With Yourself, Pray,' Alcoholics Anonymous Advise
Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith (cofounders of A.A.) were both in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium, with their wives accompanying them; and the enclosed report by the Roman Catholic newspaper about the event shows the remarkable continuity of friendship and agreement that these two great men had even up to the years shortly before the death of Dr. Bob's wife and then Dr. Bob:
Reprinted from The Tidings: Friday, March 26, 1948 page 17
Los Angeles -- "It takes cultivation of a habit of prayer and development of a spirit of service to overcome the obsession of alcoholism. this straight advise mixed with plenty of common sense was given t some 4500 alcoholics, their friends and relatives, last Sunday night at a public Meeting in Shrine Auditorium. the speaker was a man known publicly only as Bill. In direct, soft spoken narrative he told his story -- "the story of a drunk" -- and then described the origin of the method that has brought recovery to him and to more than 60,000 alcoholics throughout the nation.
The method is simple, effective:
"I got honest with myself," Bill said. "I straightened out my relations with others. I'm trying to help others without asking 'gimme' -- and I pray."
It Does the Job
Speaking with the calm of a man who enjoys peace of mind, tall, spare, middle aged Bill went on.
"It starts when you get to a point in life where you can't go over, above or around any more and you appeal to a higher power."
"You'd call it a conversion," he said, "although most of us drunks still gag on that one. But whatever it is, it does the job."
"I'd had one of those dandy modern educations that taught me I was self sufficient and religion was only a sop for sissies."
Religion Out of a Bottle
An alcoholic, Bill said, is a fellow who is "trying to get his religion out of a bottle," when what he really wants is unity within himself, unity with God. But he is suffering from a "cancer of the emotions, maybe of the soul."
Alcoholics Anonymous recommends a return to religion, resumption of Church attendance.
"There is a definite religious element here," Bill said. "I pray and I feel released."
He emphasized that Divine Aid was AA's greatest asset, more effective than confinement, environment changes and dietary experiments.
Bill advised alcoholics to talk over their problems in confidence, "make what amounts to a confession--an internal house cleaning.
Make Amends
"Make amends to people you have hurt: give yourself in a way that demands nothing in return."
He placed particular emphasis on this last point, for in effect, Alcoholics Anonymous are their brother's keepers. Clergymen and doctors are able to aid alcoholics to a certain extent, Bill said, but somehow only another alcoholic can transmit with impact and convincing authority the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Dr. Bob, another founder of AA, also addressed the Shrine assembly. As he was introduced the audience rose to its feet in tribute. the fame of Dr. bob is great in AA.
In soft, confident and unhurried words he too reiterated the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous:
"Read religious literature Resume church attendance, cultivate the habit of prayer, and transmit the desires and principles of Alcoholics Anonymous to others." He particularly recommended reding the Bible.
Dr. Bob told how perseverance in such a program had aided him overcoming alcoholism at a time when his whole professional career was in jeopardy.
In the name of Alcoholics Anonymous he paid high tribute to the Sisters of St. Augustine in Akron, Ohio who have greatly aided the work of AA by turning over to alcoholics an entire ward of their hospital. as many as 500 men a year are treated here.
Of Sister Ignatia, superior of the hospital, he said: "They don't make many like her."
"We are stewards of our time," he declared, "and we should give a good account of it."
Alcoholics Anonymous, he explained, is not an entertainment program, not a nursery. "It is an opportunity--an opportunity to acquire and maintain sobriety."
Statistics have shown that members of AA are giving a good account of their time.
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Editor's Note: This article was sent to us from Dick B., an A.A. archivist.
Here's an exciting piece of evidence just revived. It is the long sought Tidings article on the address of Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith (their wives were also present) to an audience of 4500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Friday, March 26, 1948. Note what Bob and Bill said about conversion, Divine Aid, prayer, reading the Bible, reading religious literature, religion, and the resumption of church attendance as favored.
The article contents make even more clear the findings in our two most recent books about the younger years of Bill Wilson and of Dr. Bob--conversion, the power of God, the importance of prayer, the required Bible reading, the suggested reading of religious literature, and the "resumption" of church attendance (something that Dr. Bob had certainly accomplished, while Bill never got much farther along than presence in Sam Shoemaker's Calvary Episcopal Church where he met Sam and also served as a godfather.
God Bless, Dick B. http://DrBob.info:195:
Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith (cofounders of A.A.) were both in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium, with their wives accompanying them; and the enclosed report by the Roman Catholic newspaper about the event shows the remarkable continuity of friendship and agreement that these two great men had even up to the years shortly before the death of Dr. Bob's wife and then Dr. Bob:
Reprinted from The Tidings: Friday, March 26, 1948 page 17
Los Angeles -- "It takes cultivation of a habit of prayer and development of a spirit of service to overcome the obsession of alcoholism. this straight advise mixed with plenty of common sense was given t some 4500 alcoholics, their friends and relatives, last Sunday night at a public Meeting in Shrine Auditorium. the speaker was a man known publicly only as Bill. In direct, soft spoken narrative he told his story -- "the story of a drunk" -- and then described the origin of the method that has brought recovery to him and to more than 60,000 alcoholics throughout the nation.
The method is simple, effective:
"I got honest with myself," Bill said. "I straightened out my relations with others. I'm trying to help others without asking 'gimme' -- and I pray."
It Does the Job
Speaking with the calm of a man who enjoys peace of mind, tall, spare, middle aged Bill went on.
"It starts when you get to a point in life where you can't go over, above or around any more and you appeal to a higher power."
"You'd call it a conversion," he said, "although most of us drunks still gag on that one. But whatever it is, it does the job."
"I'd had one of those dandy modern educations that taught me I was self sufficient and religion was only a sop for sissies."
Religion Out of a Bottle
An alcoholic, Bill said, is a fellow who is "trying to get his religion out of a bottle," when what he really wants is unity within himself, unity with God. But he is suffering from a "cancer of the emotions, maybe of the soul."
Alcoholics Anonymous recommends a return to religion, resumption of Church attendance.
"There is a definite religious element here," Bill said. "I pray and I feel released."
He emphasized that Divine Aid was AA's greatest asset, more effective than confinement, environment changes and dietary experiments.
Bill advised alcoholics to talk over their problems in confidence, "make what amounts to a confession--an internal house cleaning.
Make Amends
"Make amends to people you have hurt: give yourself in a way that demands nothing in return."
He placed particular emphasis on this last point, for in effect, Alcoholics Anonymous are their brother's keepers. Clergymen and doctors are able to aid alcoholics to a certain extent, Bill said, but somehow only another alcoholic can transmit with impact and convincing authority the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Dr. Bob, another founder of AA, also addressed the Shrine assembly. As he was introduced the audience rose to its feet in tribute. the fame of Dr. bob is great in AA.
In soft, confident and unhurried words he too reiterated the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous:
"Read religious literature Resume church attendance, cultivate the habit of prayer, and transmit the desires and principles of Alcoholics Anonymous to others." He particularly recommended reding the Bible.
Dr. Bob told how perseverance in such a program had aided him overcoming alcoholism at a time when his whole professional career was in jeopardy.
In the name of Alcoholics Anonymous he paid high tribute to the Sisters of St. Augustine in Akron, Ohio who have greatly aided the work of AA by turning over to alcoholics an entire ward of their hospital. as many as 500 men a year are treated here.
Of Sister Ignatia, superior of the hospital, he said: "They don't make many like her."
"We are stewards of our time," he declared, "and we should give a good account of it."
Alcoholics Anonymous, he explained, is not an entertainment program, not a nursery. "It is an opportunity--an opportunity to acquire and maintain sobriety."
Statistics have shown that members of AA are giving a good account of their time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor's Note: This article was sent to us from Dick B., an A.A. archivist.
Here's an exciting piece of evidence just revived. It is the long sought Tidings article on the address of Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith (their wives were also present) to an audience of 4500 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Friday, March 26, 1948. Note what Bob and Bill said about conversion, Divine Aid, prayer, reading the Bible, reading religious literature, religion, and the resumption of church attendance as favored.
The article contents make even more clear the findings in our two most recent books about the younger years of Bill Wilson and of Dr. Bob--conversion, the power of God, the importance of prayer, the required Bible reading, the suggested reading of religious literature, and the "resumption" of church attendance (something that Dr. Bob had certainly accomplished, while Bill never got much farther along than presence in Sam Shoemaker's Calvary Episcopal Church where he met Sam and also served as a godfather.
God Bless, Dick B. http://DrBob.info:195: