More about the Big Book.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

More about the Big Book.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

This is from Chapter 11...A Vision for You...The end of page 164. One of my favorites.

Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.

May God bless you and keep you - until then.

He uses the first 164 pages to go through this program and he explains the whole process in one paragraph. He covers all twelve steps in the first 4 sentences. The fellowship of the spirit is the second fellowship. The ones who have had a spritual awekening as a result of these 12 steps. You notice he doesn't use the word Dance or Skip down the Road of Happy Destiny. Trudge means to walk laboriously...Like walking through snow....It means the work ahead helping other alcoholics and carrying the message. The Happy Destiny is what results in taking and living these 12 steps. That's my take on it. I love the way this guy uses words.

SoberSteve · MIP Old Timer

Great thread, Im looking forward to the discussions! Thanks

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

This is from Bill W.'s Co-Founder...Doctor Bob...It is at the end of Doctor Bob's Nightmare...

If you think you are an atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic, or have any other form of intellectual pride which keeps you from accepting what is in this book, I feel sorry for you. If you still think you are strong enough to beat the game alone, that is your affair. But if you really and truly want to quit drinking liquor for good and all, and sincerely feel that you must have some help, we know that we have an answer for you. It never fails, if you go about it with one half the zeal you have been in the habit of showing when you were getting another drink.
Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!

The way I look at this paragraph is quitting drinking on your own isn't going to cut it. I like how he says the answer that they have never fails. Just go about it with half the energy you put into drinking. That hit home for me. Basically you have to find some kind of higher power for help or he "feels sorry for you." Strong stuff. Same message.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

The first 43 pages of the book deal with step one. This paragraph starts page 44 of We Agnostics. I think this chapter is one of the coolest writings of spirituality I have ever read. I really like this chapter. He is telling you where you stand on step one and taking you into step two.

In the preceding chapters you have learned something of alcoholism. We hope we have made clear the distinction between the alcoholic and the nonalcoholic. If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer.

It's pretty cut and dry...This is your problem...And this is the only way to solve it. He goes on...Kind of like Dr. Bob was talking about.

To one who feels he is an atheist or agnostic such an experience seems impossible, but to continue as he is means disaster, especially if he is an alcoholic of the hopeless variety. To be doomed to an alcoholic death or to live on a spiritual basis are not always easy alternatives to face.

Take your pick....Get a Higher power or die. This is a progressive fatal illness and these guys weren't messing around. He's giving you two choices here.

Dan B 76 · Veteran Member

One of my favorite lines is from Bill's Story pg 12:

Despite the living example of my friend there remained in me the vestiges of my old prejudice. The word God still aroused a certain antipathy. When the thought was expressed that there might be a God personal to me this feeling was intensified. I didn't like the idea. I could go for such conceptions as Creative Intelligence, Universal Mind or Spirit of Nature but I resisted the thought of a Czar of the Heavens, however loving His sway might be. I have since talked with scores of men who felt the same way.

My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. He said, "Why don't you choose your own conception of God?"

That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years. I stood in the sunlight at last.

It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning. I saw that growth could start from that point. Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might build what I saw in my friend. Would I have it? Of course I would!

Thus was I convinced that God is concerned with us humans when we want Him enough. At long last I saw, I felt, I believed. Scales of pride and prejudice fell from my eyes. A new world came into view.

For me the scales of pride and prejudice did not fall from my eyes but were peeled slowly and painfully. We all come to a spiritual awakening at our own speed. I grew up being taught that God was judgemental and punishing. When I came into AA and heard people talking of a loving and caring God, it was I wanted but took me several years to achieve. This was due to my own beliefs and the fact it took me a long time to accept that my defects were my doing and not Gods way of punishing me. My spiritual awakening was slow and painful, but today I have a Higher power God as I undersand Him that is loving, caring and kind. Through the pain there was growth.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

Very cool....Thanks Dan. Thanks for sharing that.

Dan B 76 · Veteran Member

Another of my favorites:

Since joining this program all of the promises have come true in my life and I could write on all of them but this one comes to mind today.

From the promises chapter 6 pg 83 "we will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it".

I have no regrets as long as I can learn and grow from my errors/mistakes. And if I pray for Gods will and the power to carry that out when making decisions in my life I have no regrets about any decisions. This has been a process but it shows me that I am doing things right. If I do not ask for Gods guidance or not make any changes or learn from my mistakes then I can have regrets.

Thank you Stepchild for starting this thread. Is there a limt as to how many times to post. The BB is my favorite reading I have been living by it for over 35 years and could post many of my favorite lines.

-- Edited by Dan B 76 on Saturday 3rd of December 2011 10:55:45 PM

-- Edited by Dan B 76 on Sunday 4th of December 2011 12:48:05 AM

StPeteDean · MIP Old Timer

Thanks for insightful posts Dan. No limits on sharing lol. Your posts reflect my experience with finding a higher power (whom I chose to call God out of familiarity for the most part). I replaced the punishing and shame producing images from the past with that loving, caring being that I see as my spiritual father, that sits in the football stands of life cheering me own to success in all areas of my life. HP is like that good friend that is always around, always hears what I have to say. I have 100's of personal stories of spiritual connection via folks that HP put into my life at just the right time to help me with difficulties. Just last night, flying home from Salt Lake City with my wife. I was sitting in the middle and the stranger next to me was plunking on his laptop. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a topic on his screen about diabetis. Instantly I seem to intuitively know that the man next to me was not only a doctor, but an endocrinologist. I asked him and he said, with a smile, "how did you know". I told him a friend told me. He laughed but didn't get it. My wife is a type 1 and has been having some trouble maintaining her blood sugar levels. I nudged her and the two began talking. he was a professor at USF in Tampa and knew all of the cutting edge technology and theory and was an expert on insulin pumps and particularly the brand and model that my wife has been having trouble with.

angelov8 · MIP Old Timer

What's not to love about the BB: A whole book written about me!

That's borrowed from a newcomer last month just discovering the joys and power of BB study.

There's so much I love, hard to pick. I'm also a big fan of 12x12.

...Abandon yourself to God as you understand God.

The end of page 164 is read at the close of a line-by-line BB study I attended my first two years in AA. Love that. Chaired my first discussion meeting by talking about this paragraph. After hearing it so often, I started to meditate on "Abandon", as in "Abandon yourself to God". Normally I think of abandonment as a negative, lonely thing.

At one point I remembered the horrible historical romance books I read as a teen, sometimes called bodice rippers. All the women are abandoning themselves wildly in those books. After that I wondered if my approach to a higher power could have the same element. I started picturing abandon and God as a joyous freeful thing. I'm not trying to be so lewd as to suggest I be in lust or combine sex and God:0 These meditations helped me start to feel how beautiful it is to welcome a higher power into my life.

Page 25: open
...were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet. We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed. The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life,...

Loved "Rocketed into the fourth dimension" from the first time I heard it. Where is that....Can't find it. I read that and thought, far out, what a promise. The old fashioned writing suddenly seemed fresh and full of the fantastic.

Page 75: open

...feel the nearness of our Creator. We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience. The feeling that the drink problem has disappeared will often come strongly. We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe.

I like that because of the reference to path and journey in "highway" and the broad part as in inclusive and wide. My life was so narrow as a drinker and shrinking into a black hole. I was tethered and chained. I like a recovery metaphor where life is roomy and free.

Page 38:    open
  ...car breaks his arm. He tells you he has decided to stop jay-walking for good, but in a few weeks he breaks both legs. On through the years this conduct continues, accompanied by his continual promises to be careful or to keep off the streets altogether. Finally, he can no longer work, his wife gets a divorce and he is held up to ridicule. He tries every known means to get the jay-walking idea out of his head. He shuts himself up in an asylum,...
  ...You may think our illustration is too ridiculous. But is it? We, who have been through the wringer, have to admit if we substituted alcoholism forjay-walking, the illustration would fit us exactly. However intelligent we may have been in other respects, where alcohol has been involved, we have been strangely insane.

Also have to mention how funny it was when I understood the "Jaywalker" example. When I first read that just didn't get it. Now I see the humor in the pathetic illustration of a soul who can't stop hitting themselves.

Page 97: open

...trips to police courts, sanitariums, hospitals, jails and asylums. Your telephone may jangle at any time of the day or night. Your wife may sometimes say she is neglected. A drunk may smash the furniture in your home, or burn a mattress. You may have to fight with him if he is violent.

Oh and the part about burning mattresses in working with others. The idea of working with a newcomer and having my house burnt down scared the heck outta me. I asked the group if I need be prepared or is this a historical exageration. I was told that I don't have to invite newcomers into my home but this disease is dreadfully serious. We heard some good war stories then.

-- Edited by angelov8 on Monday 5th of December 2011 02:49:30 AM

-- Edited by angelov8 on Monday 5th of December 2011 02:58:05 AM

Jerry F · MIP Old Timer

When I got to the doors of recovery I disliked (putting it mildly) every AA member that made the mistake of crossing my path saying anything about "their" program. They took liberty at sitting at my coffee table at the meeting after the meeting without asking or announcing themselves and then smugly and self righteously telling me "You should be in AA". I order to get them out of my face at time I would threaten them with bodily harm and that worked while God and me worked out the journey God was willing that would eventually lead me into AA nine years after I had quit drinking. I didn't get a recovery chip until I was alcohol free for 16 years and when I got that chip I was ready to leave...cured until I came to understand that the whole process was engineered by God just the way it happened to help me understand and see more about the disease as I would have to come to understand it and myself. Today I hang with relapsers as they are the prophets of recovery to me.

Is the program only about not drinking? Getting and Staying sober at times has something to do about not altering myself with alcohol and then more often it has been about living my life in a responsbile, supportive manner alone and with others. The last word of the 2nd step doesn't say sober...it says "sanity". I was told in recovery that the definition for sanity was a "continuous and orderly process of thought" and I still use that guideline to measure my thinking and then the behavioral consequences. I haven't drank alcohol for a long time and often I ask myself this inventory question...how did I get to where I am at without intending to be here or while intending to be somewhere else. Two step words...unmanagable and sanity and not a drop of alcohol in the last several decades. The programs of Al-Anon and AA (same steps and traditions different focuses) in the end have been a collaboration between God and myself using the program as it has been presented to me thru the experiences of many others each and every one of those experiences having similarities and differences. I have never told another member in either program "This is how you should do it" ... I was taught to be rigorously honest and say, "This is how I have done it and this is what has worked for me". Using my experiences and my character early on of being resistant and oppositionally definant obviously some of it has worked for me. No I don't drink anymore and most people I have met in the past several decades would be surprised if they found out I was alcoholic outside of a meeting of AA. I don't screw around with my life and the lives of others either just to satisfy some ego centric, self-will-run-riot inner need. I work daily at keeping my vertical relationship the strongest relationship I have and then just as diligently work the same on my relationship with myself and then others. I practice loving others as I love myself which often keeps me out of their face attempting to power and control them like was done to me when I first got face to face with AA. The program of AA works and is "suggested" as a program of recovery...we are not saints.

Keep coming back with an open mind. ((((hugs)))) smile

-- Edited by Jerry F on Sunday 4th of December 2011 01:58:14 AM

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

Dan B 76 wrote:
Is there a limt as to how many times to post.

It's like this Dan...Every time I read it I find something new...So I guess that means there is no limit.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

angelov8 wrote:
The old fashioned writing suddenly seemed fresh and full of the fantastic.

That's what I'm talking about...Great share there angelov8.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

Page 83-84 The promises. These promises come in the book right after the ninth step. I guess the phase of developement to me is steps 4 -9. Confession and Restitution. And being amazed before we are halfway through to me means that these promises actually start to materialize at steps 4 and 5. Some of them actually did for me.

We were talking in a meeting today and the topic was God...Go figure. But I was sharing that I read in a book I was reading, Sermon on the Mount by Emmit Foxx. That serenity simply meant being at peace with God...Spiritually fit..Spiritual awakening...I guess they are all the same thing. But notice he doesn't say we will have serenty...We will be serene. He says we will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. If we are painstaking...Taking pains...rigorous honesty. So once we get a little glimpse of serenity...It starts to change the way we live. Not as much self..If we have serenity...We treat people around us better. We do the next right thing. This is an incredible peice of writing.

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Loopylous · Member

Hi all I'm new here and just wanted to share something my first sponsor suggested for me to do when we first sat down to start working through the instruction manual.
She suggested I get a dictionary. Lol. The suggestion has been one of the best suggestions to date. There's me thinking ok, it's going to be full of long words I don't know. She advised me to look up any word I had a problem with and I did as asked.
The best one was a very small word. It was WE. We agnostics not YOU agnostic, atheist, unbelieveing sinner. Lol. WE agnostics This was a revelation. Meaning bill w, and most of the first 100 were exactly the same as me. THANK GOD for my dictionary! Lol!

I know it's a little off thread but just wanted to post that. It still makes me giggle today. Oh, and I also thought erroneous was something rude lol!! Hi-hum...glad to be here

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

Cool...I was told to do the same thing...I looked at the guy like he was crazy...Page 8...Bill's talking about hitting bottom...I was overwhelmed....What a strange word to use...Overpowered in thought or feeling....The guy is taking you to step one and you don't even know it. Dictionary...Best tool you can have for that book.

angelov8 · MIP Old Timer

Have you guys used the BB dictionary? We have a copy for the BB study I mentioned I used to do weekly. We keep a couple of dictionaries printed 1939 and 1940 on hand for subtle changes in word usage/meaning and also the actual BB dictionary explains specific words and phrases. We look up things like "whoopee party"(p. 101), "goose hung high"(p.7) and "Scylla and Charybdis" (Doc's Nightmare).

LinBabaAgo-go · Senior Member

I like what Bill has to say about leaving religion out of AA

If the man be agnostic or atheist, make it emphatic that he does not have to agree with your conception of God. He can choose any conception he likes, provided it makes sense to him. The main thing is that he be willing to believe in a Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual principles.

When dealing with such a person, you had better use everyday language to describe spiritual principles. There is no use arousing any prejudice he may have against certain theological terms and conceptions about which he may already be confused. Don't raise such issues, no matter what your own convictions are.

Let him see that you are not there to instruct him in religion.

That means "his" God is none of my business, and "My God" is none of his, and -your- God is none of -my- business, and -my- God is none of yours

This is the closest he says to don't be stupid, except when he says "don't be stupid"

A spirit of intolerance might repel alcoholics whose lives could have been saved, had it not been for such stupidity.

He describes in "We Agnostics" -his own- spiritual experience, making it VERY clear, yours needn't be anything like his:

Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another's conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate, was sufficient to make the approach and to effect a contact with Him.

To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men. When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God.

What is the absolute definition of the "Spiritual Experience" we have as THE result of working the steps with "God as you understand him" at step 12?

a personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism

or more religious members call it "God Consciousness"

that means or -less- or -none- religious members call it a personality change

where do we find it?

it's an "unsuspected inner resource"

We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us.

------------------------------------------------------------

The terms spiritual experience and spiritual awakening are used many times in this book which, upon careful reading, shows that the personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism has manifested itself among us in many different forms.

Yet it is true that our first printing gave many readers the impression that these personality changes, or religious experiences, must be in the nature of sudden and spectacular upheavals. Happily for everyone, this conclusion is erroneous.

In the first few chapters a number of sudden revolutionary changes are described. Though it was not our intention to create such an impression, many alcoholics have nevertheless concluded that in order to recover they must acquire an immediate and overwhelming God-consciousness followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook.

Among our rapidly growing membership of thousands of alcoholics such transformations, though frequent, are by no means the rule. Most of our experiences are what the psychologist William James calls the educational variety because they develop slowly over a period of time. Quite often friends of the newcomer are aware of the difference long before he is himself. He finally realizes that he has undergone a profound alteration in his reaction to life; that such a change could hardly have been brought about by himself alone. What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been accomplished by years of self-discipline. With few exceptions our members find that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves.

Most of us think this awareness of a Power greater than ourselves is the essence of spiritual experience. Our more religious members call it God-consciousness.

Most emphatically we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. He can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial.

We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable.

Who do we "allow" to have this spiritual experience, do they have to be Christian?

To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.

Wait, it -does- say something about Religious views...wait what was that again?

10.No A.A. group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial issuesparticularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion. The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one. Concerning such matters they can express no views whatever.

We leave Religion at the door, and invite spirituality in

I have sponsored dozens, I lost count...a -lot- many of whom are approaching their 20's, every single one of whom was an atheist or agnostic when we started, had I tried to ram a bunch of religious dogma down their throat, aint one of em would be sober today, every single one of them talks about a God that is personal to them today

Bill knew his job, it behooves us to learn -ALL- of what he had to say, because he left the door open for -all- men and women, sectarian religion leaves non christians out, and that's not the AA I grew up in.

This may appear to be hard nosed, but this distinction -literally- saved my life and many many many others whose lives would have been lost otherwise

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All that being said, I loved the Jaywalker story the day I got sober, I read the first 164 pages the day I first got sober, I stayed up all night and was blown away that a bunch of square christian white guys had written a book about me

-- Edited by LinBabaAgo-go on Thursday 8th of December 2011 02:47:18 AM

angelov8 · MIP Old Timer

p 46. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.

It was hard for me at first reading of the BB to not find contradiction in "inclusive" for just "men". Yes, of course I know that historically, "men" was a quirky thing that really meant "people" or "human beings" but wasn't written that way.

Tho I had no connection to spirituality that I recognized when I arrived in AA, I had no problem with the word "God" or the Christian overtones, interestingly enough. I could focus on the "as I understand" part of spirituality, tho I did came to realize more and more that my understanding of things was dim and deceptive, with out recovery. I did think about why no one had bothered to edit all the he and hims to appropriate contemporary terminology and this was something intially I had to struggle with in terms of the temptation to regect AA for me.

In the end I decided to focus on what seemed most concrete, like "There is a solution" cause I knew I had a problem and it seemed that I was often sitting in rooms with people that had the same one as me, and it worked for them, so it was worth a shot.

There is much greatness in the words of the BB. I actually hate that last sentence I wrote; it seems trite to me but I don't know right now how else to express it. What is written about spirituality, such as what was quoted above by Andrew, is amazingly perceptive, thoughtful especially considering the author was so newly sober. At the same time I know they are written by another alcoholic and imperfect human being. Being tolerant and open shows me how to tap into humility as a principle.

I mentioned this thread to my sponsor, who then quoted and commented on this same passage on p46. She speaks eloquently of spirituality IMO, and I'm waiting for permission to share her thoughts here with you all in a post.

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

LinBabaAgo-go....Is that a Christian name??....It is a pleasure and honor to have you join this thread...Real good stuff. Look forward to hearing more from you. And Angelove8...That sentence you said you hated...I thought it was great! This is the kind of things I was looking for when I started this thread....Maybe just ignite a spark to someone new that never read this book. Or maybe have someone that did read it....read it again. Welcome to you Loopy and Thanks to everybody that gets this book....Keep it coming!

angelov8 · MIP Old Timer

Which sentence did I hate? Are you talking about the burning mattresses thing? There's a fire for us.

-- Edited by angelov8 on Thursday 8th of December 2011 12:44:42 PM

angelov8 · MIP Old Timer

Oh I see now, the one I constucted, not anything from the book.. Yeah that's a bit of raging self-criticism and judgement revealed. Funny how it loves praise but it doesn't seem healed by it.

I went to bed with the nasties again thinking I shouldn't have posted, who am I to talk about the BB, my shares suck....So lame when I get sucked into that head space. I got permission to post for my sponse, so see you all later after work.

angelov8 · MIP Old Timer

My dear sponsor shared this with me and I got permission to copy it here with you fine folks. I've enlarged and emboldened the text of the quote from the BB.

And there is glory in pondering the "Broad Highway" of spiritual ascent! The lovely pas-SAGE that you've thoughtfully shared reminds me of another uplifting passage:

"To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek."

(B.B. p.46, We Agnostics)

Truly the nature of Source, Infinite Consciousness is to be all inclusive....no radiant reflection of God left behind! We strive to see beyond the vale and see the divinity in every living thing even if we have to dig deep at times to see it!

A.A.'s spiritual teachings are so dear! Humble, not puffed up or goody goody or self righteous and holier than thou, but truly accessible because our program is anchored in good will toward others and devotion to the Creative Intelligence that exists. I recall in early sobriety hearing that "God don't make junk!" This helped my very low self esteem after years of taking a beating from booze. In the program we do find that spiritual power is the sweetest and most gentle way to live and the only mode of being that really gives us deep peace and sweet serenity.

Linda R.

LinBabaAgo-go · Senior Member

I like the fact that each step comes with conditions, promises, and a prayer

"If you do this like this, you get this" and here is a prayer

The most well known of course are the ninth step promises, "If we are painstaking about this phase of our development" is the condition

My personal favorite are the third step promises and the tenth step promises, ceasing fighting with anything and anyone, having sanity be restored, ejoying peace of mind, feeling new power flow in, these are great promises

here are a few, there are many lists, all are incomplete or overlapping IMO, but this should give you the general idea

Many of us have heard of the Ninth Step Promises from page 83-84 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. There are, however, additional promises in the Big Book.

The following is a list of approximately 150 promises that I compiled from the first edition of the Big Book. Some of the promises are directly associated with completion of a step. Some of the promises are inferred from the experiences of the first 100 men and women who recovered from Alcoholism.

In either case, I have found it helpful to remember that there are promises throughout the Big Book, if we just look for them.

As I compiled these myself, I am more than open to feedback or suggestions. ENJOY!

The promises associated with completing all twelve steps:

The Story of How One Hundred Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism. (Title Page)
WE, OF Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and woman who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics PRECISELY HOW WE HAVE RECOVERED is the main purpose of this book. For them, we hope these pages will prove so convincing that no further authentication will be necessary. We think this account of our experiences will help everyone to better understand the alcoholic. Many do not comprehend that the alcoholic is a very sick person. And besides, we are sure that our way of living has its advantages for all. (Forward to the First Edition)
On the other hand - and strange as this may seem to those who do not understand- once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules. (Doctors Opinion (fifth page))
Nearly all have recovered. They have solved the drink problem. (17)
But, there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful. (16)
The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism. (17)
There is a solution. (25)
But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. (25)
We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed. (25)
The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God's universe. (25)
The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. (25)
He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves. (25)
We, in our turn, sought the same escape with all the desperation of drowning men. What seemed at first a flimsy reed, has proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, "a design for living" that really works. (28)
Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered. (29)
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs. (60)

The promises associated with Bill W.s Story:

I was soon to be catapulted into what I like to call the fourth dimension of existence. I was to know happiness, peace and usefulness, in a way of life that is incredibly more wonderful as time passes. (8)
God had done for him what he could not do for himself. (11)
Then he had, in effect, been raised from the dead, suddenly taken from the scrap heap to a level of life better than the best he had ever known. (11)
Thus I was convinced that God is concerned with us humans when we want him enough. At long last, I saw, I felt, I believed. Scales of pride and prejudice fell from my eyes. A new world came into view. (12)
My friend promised when those things were done, I would enter upon a new relationship with my Creator, that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems. (13)
These were revolutionary and drastic proposals but the moment I fully accepted them, the effect was electric. There was a sense of victory, followed by such a peace and serenity as I had never known. (14)
It is a design for living that works in rough going. (15)
We commenced to make many fast friends and a fellowship has grown up among us of which it is wonderful thing to feel a part. The joy of living we really have, even under pressure and difficulty. I have seen hundreds of families set their feet in the path that really goes somewhere; have seen the most impossible domestic situations righted, feuds and bitterness of all sorts wiped out. I have seen men come out of asylums and resume a vital place in the lives of heir families and communities. Business and professional men have regained their standing. There is scarcely any form of trouble and misery which has not been overcome among us. (15)
There is, however, a vast amount of fun about it all. (15)
Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia. We have it with us right here and now. Each day my friends simple talk in our kitchen multiplies itself in a widening circle of peace on earth and good will to men. (16)

The promises associated with step two:

Well, thats exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem. (45)
We found that as soon as we lay aside prejudice and expressed even a willingness to believe in a power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God. (46)
Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another's conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate, was sufficient to make the approach and to effect a contact with Him. (46)
As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps. (46)
We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. (46)
To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men. (46)
Afterward, we found ourselves accepting many things which then seemed entirely out of reach. (47)
As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way. It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built. (47)
Here are thousands of men and women, worldly indeed. They flatly declare that since they have come to believe in a Power greater than themselves, to take a certain attitude toward the Power, and to do certain simple things, there has been a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking. (50)
In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, happiness, and sense of direction flowed into them. (50)
The outlines and the promise of the New Land had brought lustre to tired eyes and fresh courage to flagging spirits. (53)
We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. (55)
We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us. (55)
If our testimony helps sweep away prejudice, enables you to think honestly, encourages you to search diligently within yourself, then if you wish you can join us on the Broad Highway. (55)
With this attitude you cannot fail. (55)
The consciousness of your belief is sure to come to you. (55)
Even so has God restored us all to our right minds. (57)
But He has come to all who have honestly sought Him. (57)
When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to us! (57)
Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. (58)

The promises associated with step three:

a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives. b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. c) That God could and would if he were sought. (60)
Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us! God makes that possible. (62)
Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom. (62)
When we sincerely took such a position, all sort of remarkable things followed. (63)
We had a new Employer. (63)
Being all powerful, He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work well. (63)
Established on such a footing we became less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs. (63)
More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life. (63)
As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. (63)
We were reborn. (63)

This was only the beginning, though if honestly and humbly made, an effect, sometimes a very great one, was felt at once. (63)

The promises associated with step four:

When the spiritual malady is overcome, we start to straighten out mentally and physically. (64)
We cannot be helpful to all people but at least God will show us how to take a kindly and tolerant view of each and every one. (67)
Just to the extent that we do what we think He would have of us and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity. (68)
We ask him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what he would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear. (68)
In meditation, we ask God what we should do about each specific matter. The right answer will come, if we want it. (69)
If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson. (70)
We have begun to comprehend their futility and their fatality. (70)
We have commenced to see their terrible destructiveness. (70)
We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on the them as sick people. (70)
We hope you are convinced now that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him. (70)

The promises associated with step five:

Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted. (75)
We can look the world in the eye. (75)
We can be alone at perfect peace and ease. (75)
Our fears fall from us. (75)
We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator. (75)
We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience. (75)
The feeling that the drink problem has disappeared will often come strongly. (75)
We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe. (75)
Carefully reading the first five proposals we ask if we have omitted anything, for we are building an arch through which we shall walk a free man at last. (75)

The promise associated with step eight:

If that degree of humility could enable us to find the grace by which such a deadly obsession could be banished, then there must be hope of the same result respecting any other problem we could possibly have. (12&12 76)

The promises associated with step nine:

If our manner is calm, frank, and open, we will be gratified with the result. (78)
In nine cases out of ten the unexpected happens. Sometimes the man we are calling upon admits his own faults, so feuds of years' standing melt away in an hour. (78)
Rarely do we fail to make satisfactory progress. (78)
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. (83)
We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. (83)
We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. (83)
We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. (83)
No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. (84)
That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. (84)
We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
Self-seeking will slip away. (84)
Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. (84)
Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. (84)
We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. (84)
We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. (84)
Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among ussometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them. (84)

The promises associated with step ten:

And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone even alcohol. (84)
For by this time sanity will have returned. (84)
We will seldom be interested in liquor.
If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. (84)
We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. (85)
We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes! That is the miracle of it. (85)
We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. (85)
We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutralitysafe and protected. (85)
We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. (85)
We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition. (85)
If we have carefully followed directions, we have begun to sense the flow of His Spirit into us. (85)
To some extent we have become God-conscious. (85)
We have begun to develop this vital six sense. (85)

The promises associated with step eleven:

Step Eleven suggests prayer and meditation. ....It works, if we have the proper attitude and work at it. (86)
Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. (86)
Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives. (86)
In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while. (86)
What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. (87)
Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely upon it. (87)
We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions. (88)
We become much more efficient. (88)
We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves. (88)
It worksit really does. (88)

The promises associated with step twelve:

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. (89)
Life will take on new meaning. (89)
To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives. (89)
Both you and the new man must walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress. If you persist, remarkable things will happen. (100)
When we look back, we realize that the things which came to us when we put ourselves in God's hands were better than anything we could have planned. (100)
Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances! (100)
Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of things alcoholics are not supposed to do. (100)
Your job now is to be at the place where you may be of maximum helpfulness to others, so never hesitate to go anywhere if you can be helpful. You should not hesitate to visit the most sordid spot on earth on such an errand. Keep on the firing line of life with these motives and God will keep you unharmed. (102)
The power of God goes deep! (102)
We have stopped fighting anybody and anything. We have to! (103)

Promises associated with the "Lost Chapters."

There is every evidence that women regain their health as readily as men if they try our suggestions. (104)
We want to leave you with the feeling that no situation is too difficult and no unhappiness to great to be overcome. (104)
Yet often such men had spectacular and powerful recoveries. (113)
The power of God goes deep. (114)
But sometimes you must start life anew. We know women who have done it. If such women adopt a spiritual way of life their road will be smoother. (114)
When you have carefully explained to such people that he is a sick person, you will have created a new atmosphere. Barriers which have sprung up between you and your friends will disappear with the growth of sympathetic understanding. You will no longer be self-conscious or feel that you must apologize as though your husband were a weak character. He may be anything but that. Your new courage, good nature and lack of self-consciousness will do wonders for you socially. (115)
We have elsewhere remarked how much better life is when lived on a spiritual plane. If God can solve the age-old riddle of alcoholism, He can solve your problems too. (116)
Now we try to put spiritual principles to work in our lives. When we do that, we find it solves our problems too; the ensuing lack of fear, worry and hurt feelings is a wonderful thing. (116)
If you and your husband find a solution for the pressing problem of drink you are, of course, going to be very happy. (117)
The faith and sincerity of you and your husband will be put to the test. These work-outs should be regarded as part of your education, for thus you will be learning to live. You will make mistakes, but if you are in earnest they will not drag you down. Instead you will capitalize them. A better way of life will emerge when they are overcome. (117)
When resentful thoughts come, try to pause and count your blessings. After all, your family is reunited, alcohol is no longer a problem and you and your husband are working together toward an undreamed-of future. (119)
Both of you will awaken to a new sense of responsibility for others. (119)
You will lose the old life to find one much better. (120)
Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now. Cling to the thought that in, Gods hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have - they key to life and happiness for others. With it you can avert death and misery for them. (124)
Let them remember that his drinking wrought all kinds of damage that may take long to repair. If they sense these things, they will not take so seriously his periods of crankiness, depression, or apathy, which will disappear when there is tolerance, love, and spiritual understanding. (127)
Giving, rather than getting, will become the guiding principle. (128)
Joy at our release from a lifetime of frustration knew no bounds. (128)
If the family cooperated, dad will soon see that he is suffering from a distortion of values. He will perceive that his spiritual growth is lopsided, that for an average man like himself, a spiritual life which does not include his family obligations may not be so perfect after all. If the family will appreciate that dads current behavior is but a phase of his development, all will be well. In the midst of an understanding and sympathetic family, these vagaries of dads spiritual infancy will quickly disappear. (129)
Those of us who have spent much time in the world of spiritual make-believe have eventually seen the childishness of it. This dream world has been replaced by a great sense of purpose, accompanied by a growing consciousness of the power of God in our lives. We have come to believe He would like us to keep our heads in the clouds with Him, but that our feet ought to be firmly planted on earth. That is where our fellow travelers are, and that is where our work must be done. These are the realities for us. We have found nothing incompatible between a powerful spiritual experience and a life of sane and happy usefulness. (130)
We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free.
We are convinced that a spiritual mode of living is most powerful restorative. We, who have recovered from serious drinking, are miracles of mental health. But we have seen remarkable transformations in our bodies. Hardly one of our crowd now shows any mark of dissipation. (133)
In time they will see that he is a new man and in their own way they will let him know it. When this happens, they can be invited to join in morning meditation and then they can take part in the daily discussion without rancor or bias. From that point on, progress will be rapid. Marvelous results often follow such a reunion. (134)
Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead. Thus we find the fellowship, and so will you. (152)
You will be bound to them with new and wonderful ties, for you will escape disaster together and you will commence shoulder to shoulder your common journey. Then you will know what it means to give of yourself that others may survive and rediscover life. You will learn the full meaning of "Love thy neighbor as thyself." (152)
It may seem incredible that these men are to become happy, respected, and useful once more. How can they rise out of such misery, bad repute and hopelessness? The practical answer is that since these things have happened among us, they can happen with you. Should you wish them above all else, and be willing to make use of our experience, we are sure they will come. The age of miracles is still with us. Our own recovery proves that! (153)
Still you may say: "But I will not have the benefit of contact with you who wrote this book." We cannot be sure. God w ill determine that, so you must remember that your real reliance is always upon Him. He will show you how to create the fellowship you crave. (164)
Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us . Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us. (164)
We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. (164)

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of things alcoholics are not supposed to do.

This 12th step promise is one that hit home for me.

angelov8 · MIP Old Timer

Lin, Wow what list. Looking at the BB words this way is almost overwhelming. The bounty is huge. I must believe that I am worthy and deserving. This list emphacises the tangible things that will happen.

Thank you for sharing, I'd like to file this.