Recovery Thoughts & Quotes 6/1

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~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~
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Four Horsemen
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"The less people tolerated us,
the more we withdrew from society, from life itself.
As we became subjects of King Alcohol,
shivering denizens of his mad realm,
the chilling vapor that is loneliness settled down.
It thickened, ever becoming blacker.
Some of us sought out sordid places,
hoping to find understanding companionship and approval.
Momentarily we did - then would come oblivion
and the awful awakening
to face the hideous Four Horsemen -
Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, Despair.
Unhappy drinkers who read this page will understand!"
1976AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 151
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Thought to Consider . . .

Alcohol gave me wings to fly,
and then it took away the sky.





*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*

A A = Absolute Abstinence

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*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*


Conception
From "Back to the Fundamentals":
"The answer I was looking for was on page 12, in Ebby's words to Bill: '"Why don't you choose your own conception of God?"'

"'I've tried everything else,' I thought, 'and I've got no place else to go. I might just as well.' I sat down at my desk, got a pad of paper and a pencil, and asked myself, 'If you could pick the kind of God that you could believe in, what would He be like?' I bore in mind the facts that I was an alcoholic and that I had been a perfectionist all my life. The world was never perfect enough for me. Everything that I ever believed in, every ideal that I ever followed turned out to have feet of clay. Here was my chance. For the first time in my life, I could create something perfect. All right!

"I wrote across the page, 'God is the perfection I've been searching for all my life. He is too perfect to have human characteristics and faults.' That was the start.

"Then I wrote, 'God is the ultimate perfection. He is the perfect love, the perfect truth, the perfect goodness, the perfect understanding, tolerance, mercy, forgiveness. God is so perfect that no matter how evil, how unclean we may be, He'll forgive us if we ask, and grant us strength to overcome our shortcomings.'"

1973 AAWS, Inc.; Came to Believe, 30th printing 2004, pgs. 63-64

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*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man,
woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured
by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form
or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and
miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as
old as man himself."

~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, We Agnostics, pg. 55~

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Misc. AA Literature - Quote




Deep down in every man, woman, and child is the fundamental idea of a God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that Power in human lives are facts as old as man himself.
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'Faith may often be given through inspired teaching or a convincing personal example of its fruits. It may sometimes be had through reason. For instance, many clergymen believe that St. Thomas Aquinas actually proved God's existence by sheer logic. But what can one do when all these channels fail? This was my own grievous dilemma.
'It was only when I came fully to believe I was powerless over alcohol, only when I appealed to a God who just might exist, that I experienced a spiritual awakening. This freedom-giving experience came first, and then faith followed afterward--a gift indeed!

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Member Submitted Quote



Faith is not belief without proof; it's trust without reservation. ( Sarah J. )