Daily Reflections reading
September 29th
Exactly Alike
Frequent contact with
newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives. Alcoholics Anonymous Page 89
A man came to the meeting drunk, interrupted the speakers, stood up and took his shirt off, staggered loudly back and forth for coffee, demanded to talk, and eventually called the group’s secretary an unquotable name and walked out. I was glad he was there – once again I saw what I had been like. But I also saw what I still am, and what I still could be. I don’t have to be drunk to want to be the exception and the center of attention. I have often felt abused and responded abusively when I was simply being treated as a garden variety human being. The more the man tried to insist he was different, the more I realized that he and I were exactly alike.
© Alcoholics Anonymous World Services
My thoughts on September 29th
Reading
Although the qualifications for membership in AA are specifically
defined, generally it is the individual members themselves that decide if they
“belong” to the group or not, AA opens the doors and offer fellowship to anyone
who has a desire to stop drinking
They leave that determination up to the
individual, those who attend these meetings either feel a sense of “belonging”
or they do not and move on, the feeling of acceptance from members who practice
the Third Tradition
By tolerating and accepting everyone, is
what makes us all feel the acceptance of God’s love tolerating all the
differences between each and everyone of us, many come in to the hall from the
courts, or family pressures, not for themselves
When forced to go to meetings many become
angry and belligerent, faced with this like many true alcoholics they will try
to take it out on anyone near them, they become disruptive and some times very
combative when confronted, truth is they need an excuse to leave
I know many times I have gone to meetings
in the early days and have seen many come in to get coffee and argue with
anyone they could about how this program does not work, I remember one old timer
confronting one and told him he is right AA does not work, WE work for AA
Some old timers believe the fellowship
has been diluted, by including those who are dealing with issues other than
problems with alcohol, such as drug abuse, even if step six does tell us we
deal with problems other than alcohol
Some feel that the program has gotten
away from its spiritual foundations, it’s primary purpose and may become
diluted to the point of ineffectiveness, this is primary fear of change, we all
know why changes are necessary, they teach us to grow and be tolerant of others
I rarely have see an addict who didn’t
have a drinking problem, I myself would never turn away a so called addict, If
a person doesn’t belong in AA they weed themselves out, would you belong to an
over eaters anonymous program if you were skinny?
AA has given me the tools to help people
in life, not just if they are an Alcoholic, or addict, but people in all walks
of life, I am no judge to turn anybody away, Let’s let God do the judging,
after all other did not judge us, when we were a pain in their meetings, they
welcomed us
I have met many alcoholic who substituted
drugs to cure their alcoholism, today I see many addicts substituted alcohol to
cure the drug habit, in both cases all I see is they get addicted to both
alcohol and drugs
I would certainly hope that anyone who
wishes to stop drinking, would have the freedom to choose AA as his or her
means of support, AA has learned through trial and error, I want AA to be here
with out fear, whenever someone reaches out for help
I give people the same kind of
unconditional love forgiveness, understanding and most importantly tolerance
the same things I received when I arrived at the doors, change is an absolute
growth is optional I must continue to grow with the rest of you or I will die
Tradition three shows us that we’ve thrown away all membership
rules and regulations that might keep you out, I want you to have the same
chance for sobriety that I had AA decided to be inclusive, never exclusive, so
for me if you say you belong it is good enough for me
God Bless you Al M
Please feel free to mail
suggestions or comments
