Post by caressa on Dec 16, 2004 1:30:45 GMT -5
Guidance
from: "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous"
"I [Bill W.] was in this anything-but-spiritual mood on the night [in December 1938] when the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous were written. I was sore and tired clear through. I lay in bed at 182 Clinton Street with pencil in hand and with a tablet of scratch paper on my knee. I could not get my mind on the job, much less put my heart in it. But here was one of those things that had to be done....
Finally I started to write. I set out to draft more than six steps [used by Oxford Groups]; how many more I did not know. I relaxed and asked for guidance. With a speed that was astonishing, considering my jangling emotions, I completed the first draft. It took perhaps half an hour. The words kept right on coming. When I reached a stopping point, I numbered the new steps. They added up to twelve."
© 1957, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pages 160-161
Many people say, it is all in the Big Book. That may be, but what kept me sober were the Twelve Steps. Without them, I would not be sober today. I will be every grateful for the Twleve and Twelve, they are a blueprint to living for me.
Many people say, The Twelve Traditions are for the group. They are also spiritual tools which I need to apply to my own life.
from: "The Three Legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous"
"I [Bill W.] was in this anything-but-spiritual mood on the night [in December 1938] when the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous were written. I was sore and tired clear through. I lay in bed at 182 Clinton Street with pencil in hand and with a tablet of scratch paper on my knee. I could not get my mind on the job, much less put my heart in it. But here was one of those things that had to be done....
Finally I started to write. I set out to draft more than six steps [used by Oxford Groups]; how many more I did not know. I relaxed and asked for guidance. With a speed that was astonishing, considering my jangling emotions, I completed the first draft. It took perhaps half an hour. The words kept right on coming. When I reached a stopping point, I numbered the new steps. They added up to twelve."
© 1957, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, pages 160-161
Many people say, it is all in the Big Book. That may be, but what kept me sober were the Twelve Steps. Without them, I would not be sober today. I will be every grateful for the Twleve and Twelve, they are a blueprint to living for me.
Many people say, The Twelve Traditions are for the group. They are also spiritual tools which I need to apply to my own life.
. I will be back looking for Lin and others.