Daily Reflections reading
December 18th
Honesty With Newcomers
Tell
him exactly what happen to you. Stress the spiritual feature freely. Alcoholics Anonymous Page 93
The marvel of A.A. is that I tell only what happen to me. I don’t waste time offering
advice to potential newcomers, for if advice worked, nobody would get to A.A.
All I have to do is show what has brought me sobriety and what has changed my
life. If I fail to stress the spiritual feature of A.A.’s program, I am being
dishonest. The newcomer should not be given a false impression of sobriety. I
am sober only through the grace of my Higher Power, and that makes it possible
for me to share with others.
©
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services
My thoughts on December 18th
Reading
Working with a newcomer
I have found the very first Question they ask is how can they stop, well I
really do not have an answer for that question, because I am not this person,
all I can do is share my own experience with them, on what I did to put down
the drink
To never have to pick it
up again, by accepting I have a problem and needed guidance, for me it was a
spiritual awakening the finding of a power greater than myself, who I chose to
call God today, but when I got to the halls of AA my higher power was a group
of drunks
When I share my
experience with an agnostic or atheist I tell them its ok not to agree with my
concept of a God, he can choose any thing that makes sense to him, the main
thing is to be willing to believe in a Power greater than oneself
That he tries to live by
a set of principles, as they are explained in the 12 steps, a set of principles
if practiced as a way of life can expel the obsession to drink and enable them
to change their life around as we have
I tell them about how I
only knew the vengeful and condemning God of my family’s religious belief and I
kicked that God out of my life years ago, when I got my sponsor he told me
straight out that anyone can stop the hurt and pain but to change your life
around you need a power greater than yourself
My first thought was I
am now hopelessly lost, I did not want this vengeful God in my life, he said
why don't you try our God, the one of compassion, hope, love, forgiveness You
don't have far to go to met this wonderful God he is right in your heart
But I like so many of us
I was to closed minded to see that right then, but I did come to believe in Him
later, I tell them it’s a program of action and the process starts with step
one, surrendering to the disease, admitting and accepting you are an alcoholic
and can’t drink in safety
When I share how the 12
steps saved my life and that I found AA is the only way I was going to stay
sober, I talk about the big fourth step where I got to know myself and I had to
straightened out my past making amends along the way for all the crap I pulled
when I was drinking
Thinking only of myself
one of the most important things I can tell anyone is they need to get to
meetings, learn how to listen to identify with others, not try to compare their
life to another, we all have a lot of things in common and that is where we
have to look
At what things in common
will help us better understand ourselves, bottom line is it costs nothing to
reach out and talk to someone who is trying to find themselves, after all I do
remember when I was walking in their shoes
It is easy to talk to
someone who is looking for answers, it is hard at times to not offer advice,
but I know I can only suggest they try doing what I have done, try the program
being a sponsor is nothing more than working with another to get thru the steps
The marvel of the
program is I tell only what happened to me. I don’t waste time offering advice
to a newcomer if advice worked they would not need the program
All I have to do is show
what brought me sobriety, what has changed my life. If I fail to stress the
spiritual feature I am being dishonest, I am sober only through the grace of my
God, as I now understand Him
God bless you Al M
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