The problem drinker is confounding both to him or herself and to just about all others their lives touch. They routinely and chronically harm themselves and others with their lack of self-control; and if they are the type of user of alcohol that’s able to tightly mask its effects, they’re no closer to remedy than the wanton alcoholic. This is where the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), founded in 1935, is an absolute God-send for beleaguered sufferers; alcoholics and their loved ones. The “Big Book” is the ‘gospel’ of AA. In it hope is expounded. The following message takes ideas from the chapter, “A Vision For You.”[1]
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The true alcoholic has been awakened more than once by the hideous Four Horsemen: Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, and Despair. They’re “unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it.”[2] Having tried constantly to give up drinking and having failed dismally each time life becomes bleak, and even absolutely hopeless at the extreme. It’s a sinkhole syndrome down to an ever-increasing rock bottom.
The true alcoholic has been awakened more than once by the hideous Four Horsemen: Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, and Despair. They’re “unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it.”[2] Having tried constantly to give up drinking and having failed dismally each time life becomes bleak, and even absolutely hopeless at the extreme. It’s a sinkhole syndrome down to an ever-increasing rock bottom.
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The ‘rock bottom’ is variously referred to. When the sufferer is sick and tired of feeling sick and tired and they are swept up by the Spirit, their salvation from addiction awaits.
The ‘rock bottom’ is variously referred to. When the sufferer is sick and tired of feeling sick and tired and they are swept up by the Spirit, their salvation from addiction awaits.
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Within AA, many find hope, and from the most unlikely source--from spirituality. If you are a sufferer you might quickly find “the most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead... and the major liabilities of thirty years of hard drinking [can be] repaired in four.”[3]
Within AA, many find hope, and from the most unlikely source--from spirituality. If you are a sufferer you might quickly find “the most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead... and the major liabilities of thirty years of hard drinking [can be] repaired in four.”[3]
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For AA, “no one is too discredited or has sunk too low to be welcomed cordially--if he [or she] means business.”[4] Unity has real meaning transcending typical barriers. And it works when we attempt to ‘pass it on,’ the message of spiritual salvation from alcohol. The very mark of AA is “the very practical approach to [your] problems, the absence of intolerance of any kind, the informality, the genuine democracy, [and] the uncanny understanding which these people had... [and it is] irresistible.”[5]
For AA, “no one is too discredited or has sunk too low to be welcomed cordially--if he [or she] means business.”[4] Unity has real meaning transcending typical barriers. And it works when we attempt to ‘pass it on,’ the message of spiritual salvation from alcohol. The very mark of AA is “the very practical approach to [your] problems, the absence of intolerance of any kind, the informality, the genuine democracy, [and] the uncanny understanding which these people had... [and it is] irresistible.”[5]
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Many still-suffering alcoholics have prayed though some would never admit it. We can ask God through prayer any time and “the answers will come, if [our] own house is in order.”[6] It is more than possible to live happily in complete sobriety. Look at how many do it.
Many still-suffering alcoholics have prayed though some would never admit it. We can ask God through prayer any time and “the answers will come, if [our] own house is in order.”[6] It is more than possible to live happily in complete sobriety. Look at how many do it.
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The final paragraph in this chapter warrants quoting:
The final paragraph in this chapter warrants quoting:
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“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.”
“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.”
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Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
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