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Source: Suburban West Second Anniversary – Opening and Group Readings (Date Unknown).mp3 File: suburban-west-second-anniversary-opening-and-group-readings-date-unknown.mp3 Duration: 00:08:53
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[Opening words unclear] … that I am an alcoholic, because it's very important to me, because that's who I am and what I am. And thank God I know now, and I didn't for many, many years. I'm not going to ask you to stand, but I'm going to carry this on just as we would a regular open AA meeting. I'm not going to ask you to stand, but I want to ask you, if you would, bear with me for a moment of silence, after which we will repeat the serenity prayer.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Thank you very much. This is Suburban West's second birthday, and it's been two fantastic years, I'll guarantee you that, if you've been involved with this group. Nothing ever got dull. There was always some activity, and fortunately there were a few sober ones, because we like to feel that somehow or another some of us played a part in it.
One thing we found out for sure tonight, and if we do the same thing next year, we're going to have to do it someplace else or expand the walls to another floor or something. Bob this morning used our guest, which we're very proud to have, this afternoon rather, when he read the preamble and the fifth chapter. And I'm going to call on some of our own members, some of the ones that do the work, unless you have an opportunity to meet some of them.
And I'm going to call on the tall Chuck M. with the glasses to come up and read the preamble, and I'll have to distinguish between the two of them here. Come on up here, Chuck. Thank you, John. My name is Bob. And I am an alcoholic. And today, by the grace of God and all you wonderful people, I've had another wonderful, exciting day of sobriety. And it is always to me the very most wonderful thing in my life is when I reach the end of another day of sobriety.
And I hope that if God lets me live as long as Henry that I can reach that 25 years. It's a wonderful experience. Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. We are self-supporting through our own contributions.
AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution, does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any cause. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety. Thank you. Applause Thank you, Bob. Laughter You know, I'm not surprised. I have somewhat of a one-track mind. And I was thinking in terms of Chuck and how proud he must feel tonight.
And I've asked him if he would come up and read a portion of the fifth chapter on how it works. Where is Chuck? There he is, right here. Applause Thank you, John. My name is Chuck M. and I am an alcoholic. I'm a very proud and grateful one tonight. How it works. Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program.
Usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault if they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders.
Many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest. Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it, then you are ready to take certain steps.
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At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way, but we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely. Remember that we deal with alcohol, cunning, baffling, and powerful. Without help it is too much for us, but there is one who has all power.
That one is God. May you find him now. Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked his protection and care with complete abandon. Here are the steps we took which are suggested as a program of recovery. One, we admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable. Two, came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Three, made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him. Four, made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Five, admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Six, were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Seven, humbly ask him to remove our shortcomings. Eight, made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
Nine, made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Ten, continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. Eleven, sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out. Twelve, having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Many of us exclaimed, what an order, I can't go through with it. Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection. Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas.
That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives. That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. That God could and would if he were sought. Thank you, John. Thank you, Chuck. For the benefit of y'all who weren't aware of it, that's the father of the Alateen that you heard earlier. Where's Gloria? Stand up, Gloria. That's the mother. I had some people ask me earlier where the parents of the boy were, and I couldn't find both of you together at one time, so now you know.
This is, to me, is what this program is all about. We have had the great pleasure of watching this entire family for two years now. This is what AA is to me. I had an experience earlier in the evening when we're standing and talking. I was talking to four men. These four men together represented 87 years. This program works if you give it a chance.