acceptance
There is
an infamous quote, that takes a long time to get acclimated to, which
follows:
"Acceptance
is the
answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I
find some person, place, thing, or situation - some fact of my life -
unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person,
place, thing , or situation as being exactly the way it is suppose to be at
the moment. Nothing absolutely nothing, happens in God's world by
mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober,
unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy.
I
need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as
what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes."
Excerpt
from "Alcoholics Anonymous"
- THIRD EDITION - page 449
(FORTH EDITION - page 417)
Remember
reading, in the 12 and 12, in the forth step area of recovery, on page 47:
It
never occurred to us that we needed to change ourselves to meet
conditions, whatever they were."
Friends,
that is some pretty strong medicine, and very difficult to swallow.
Quite a few years ago, remember reading what one of our co-founders wrote
on this topic. Maybe the GSO - General Service Office - still
has it on file, but I do not have a clue about that. As I recall, it
is a four page document, and is in agreement with what conference approved
literature states.
Recovery
is about abstinence, and nothing else. It is a defensive set of
rules, no matter what. Each fellowship has it's own guide
lines on what they are about, but A. A. is clear, with a published
principle, which states the following. "Alcoholics
Anonymous is about abstinence from alcohol, through the teaching and
practice of the twelve steps." They may include the traditions
in their statement, but am not sure about that.
Recovery
is not about being successful in this world, in a new business, in a new
marriage, and the fellowship is not about providing a new boy or girl
friend, even though that does happen, frequently. One book has even
been written about that, trying to put the blame on A. A. Had a
sponsor that told me, "If you see two newcomers getting together, let
them alone. Hopefully they will stay together, and not mess anybody
else up."
On the
other hand however, the 12 and 12 states something like, "It is when
boy meets girl, on the A. A. campus, and love follows at first sight, that
trouble is likely to ensue." Friends, the word campus is used,
I am sure, very judiciously. There is much to learn, if we are going
to stay alive. Few really understand how sick we are, when we arrive
at the doors of abstinence, and even fewer realize what a fatal malady the
illness of alcoholism, really is, that continues to progress, as time
elapses.
And for
sure, we have to learn how to accept our illness, with all of it's
complications and consequences, before we can really, with all of the
muster of drowning men and women, address our separation from God,
enthusiastically, in the altruistic plane.
Some of
you are aware that the noahhite concept is an offensive
program, with the use of God's Holy Word, in the bible, as our means of
entrance into the Kingdom of God, for anonymous seekers of faith.
And the bible is, and will always be, our only weapon. But the
utterance of the scriptures, from our mouths, is the spiritual tool, that
yields that precious and priceless destination.
The only
requirement is obedience to spiritual principles, forsaking all
else. And of course, forsaking the ways of this world are a
must. Remember reading in the original anonymous text book,
"Faith must work in and through us, twenty four hours a
day." That is a true and worthy statement for all ears.
Pretty drastic concept, isn't it?
