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Source: Leslie C – BOX OF CHOCOLATES – 2025-07-24.m4a File: leslie-c-box-of-chocolates-2025-07-24.mp3 Duration: 00:50:47
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Hi, family. I'm Leslie. I'm an alcoholic. Ramona, thank you so much for asking me to be here and thank you all for attending this evening. I hope we have some fun. This meeting has already been a lot of fun. I love that intro. So thank you. My sobriety date is July 11th of 2015. So I just celebrated 10 years of continuous sobriety, which to me is an absolute miracle. I do have a home group here in Smyrna, Georgia, which is just outside of Atlanta.
We meet five days a week at 1130 a.m. I have a sponsor, a service sponsor, and I am a three legacy sponsor. And I say all those things just because that is what we do. That is what this program says. The topic for this evening, I'm not telling my story. I asked Ramona if she thought that this topic would be okay. And I thought we would we would talk about what is in our big book. Right. So I actually have created a document that's called That's Not in the Big Book.
And really what it is, is the disparity, if you will, between what we often hear in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous and what our literature says. I have used this before as a topic at my home group, and we've had some incredible conversations come out of it. So everything that I am going to say tonight comes straight out of our literature. There are a few things that do not come from the big book. And for those things, I will specifically tell you where they do come from. But otherwise, everything is from the book. If anybody would like this as a PDF afterwards, just let me know. I'm more than happy to send it to you.
So I want to start with the forward to the fourth edition has a sentence in there that I think is just so critical. Our literature has preserved the integrity of the AA message. So if we have literature that preserves the integrity of the AA message, what does our literature say? Right. Is it my responsibility to know what what is in the book? Or is it okay that I just hear things that sound good in meetings? And so I repeat those things.
I have I've seen that to, I think, three major accolades, if you will, that the big book has received. And one was from Time magazine. They picked the hundred best and most influential books written in English since 1923. And the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous was one of them. And the Library of Congress designated it as one of the 88 books that shaped America. And for us, for an alcoholic of my kind, it is our basic text.
Like, so some things that I just thought we could consider as I go through these, these kind of statements, and then the disparity is, do I treat the book like it is one of the most influential books? Do I know what it actually says? Or do I parrot what I hear in the rooms? Because it sounds good. And, and I don't know any better. Have I had my own experience with this book? And do I know its main purpose, which is on page XII, three I's? And do I know its main object, which comes from page 45?
So if you didn't know, the book does have a main purpose and a main object. Okay, so what I'm going to do is say, this is what's heard in the rooms, and then tell you what the book says about it, or another source of AA literature. Before I say this one, though, I just want to say, if you are new, if you are coming back to the rooms, if you just feel like you are new, you are absolutely important. And we are so glad that you are here. The first thing on the list is what's heard in the rooms, the newcomer is the most important person in the room.
But that's not what the book says. That's not what our literature says. In concept four, it says there are no second class AAs. And what is much more familiar to us would be tradition one, where it says each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. Our common welfare should come first. Personal recovery depends upon AA unity. Okay, heard in the rooms, don't date for the first year. What does the book actually say about that?
[00:05:08]
It says, we want to stay out of this controversy. We do not wish to be the arbiter of anyone's sex conduct. All right, heard in the rooms. The principle behind this step is honesty, hope, perseverance, brotherly love, et cetera, et cetera. There's 12, air quote here, principles that we say are behind a step. What does the big book say? It says, as we discovered the principles by which the individual alcoholic could live, so we had to evolve principles by which the AA groups and AA as a whole could survive and function effectively.
Then if we pop over to the 12 and 12, we have AA's 12 steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole. It also says the attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of AA's 12 steps. So what we hear in the rooms that there's a principle behind each step, that actually, fun fact, came from one single member in the early 80s who made a calendar, 12-month calendar, put a principle on each month correlating to the step and then sold the calendar.
It's nowhere in our literature at all. All right. This is a selfish program we have heard, right? What does our book say? What does our book say? It says the unselfishness of these men, as we have come to know them, the entire absence of profit motive in their community spirit is indeed inspiring to one who has labored long and wearily in this alcoholic field. It says our very lives as ex-problem drinkers depend upon our constant thought of others and how we may help meet their needs.
Selfishness, self-centeredness, that we think is the root of our troubles. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must or it kills us. At the moment, we're trying to put our lives in order, but this is not an end in itself. Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness.
Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all our activities. Tell him that if he wants to get well, you will do anything to help. That doesn't sound very selfish to me. Helping others is the foundation stone of your recovery. A kindly act once in a while isn't enough. You have to act the good Samaritan every day. 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 will awaken to a new sense of responsibility for others. Ask him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. Give freely of what you find and join us. So we hear this is a selfish program, but what the literature says is that it's not selfish at all. This one is a, I think, a personal pet peeve of mine. My mind is a dangerous neighborhood. I wouldn't dare go in there alone.
What does the big book say? It says, for by this time, sanity will have returned. We react sanely and normally, and we'll find that this has happened automatically. We can exercise our willpower along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will. Under these conditions, we can employ our mental faculties with assurance. For after all, God gave us brains to use. And we meet these conditions every day.
An alcoholic who cannot meet them still has an alcoholic mind. There is something the matter with his spiritual status. Sounds like we can absolutely go into our minds. Okay, alcohol is only mentioned in the first step. I almost want to say, raise your hand if you've heard this, but that's okay, I won't do that. Okay, so alcohol is only mentioned in the first step. That is true if you are reading these steps off the wall.
But we know what happens when you read them off the wall, which is you have an off-the-wall experience.
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Not at all what was intended. So in step two, it says, in this respect, alcohol was a great persuader. Still step two. Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open-minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions. Remember that we deal with alcohol. Cunning, baffling, powerful. In step four, we have our liquor was but a symptom. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again.
And with us, to drink is to die. In step five, the best reason first, if we skip this vital step, we may not overcome drinking. Steps eight and nine. Remember, it was agreed at the beginning, we would go to any length for victory over alcohol. Step 10, we have ceased fighting anything and anyone, even alcohol. Step 11, we're headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. Step 12, practical experience shows that nothing will so much ensure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.
The men who cry for money and shelter before conquering alcohol are on the run. The men who cry for money and shelter before conquering alcohol are on the wrong track. That's still step 12. And step 12, at a proper time and place, explain to all your friends why alcohol disagrees with you. Alcohol is mentioned in all of the steps, actually. Heard in the rooms, don't drink and go to meetings. As if to say, just not drinking and going to meetings will be enough to keep you sober or sober for good.
What does the literature say? It says, for if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. It says, for those who are unable to drink moderately, the question is how to stop altogether. Whether such a person can quit upon a non-spiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not.
There was a tremendous urge to cease forever, yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it. This utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish. Here are the steps we took which are suggested as a program of recovery. What often takes place in a few months could hardly be accomplished by years of self-discipline. And then, unlike the feelings of the ship's passengers, however, our joy in escape from disaster does not subside as we go our individual ways.
The feeling of having shared in a common peril is one element in the powerful cement which binds us. But that in itself would never have held us together as we are now joined. The tremendous fact is that we have discovered a common solution. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism. So just don't drink and go to meetings would never get us sober, would never keep us sober.
Then there's, don't drink even if your trish falls off, or don't pick up no matter what, or play the tape all the way through. It's essentially all the same statement. And when I hear that, I want to scream, if I could do that, I would have done that. If the disease didn't center in my mind, then I would have done that. But here's the thing. At 10 years sober, the tape that plays in my mind, when I think about a tape, like I always say, I'm wearing a cute little black cocktail dress, and they look really good.
And I don't own a black cocktail dress. You know, the tape in my mind is broken from the beginning. And to say, we'll play the tape through, that implies that my mind has the power to control what's going to happen. Right. But the disease centers in my mind. So what does the big book say? It says the fact is that most alcoholics have lost the power of drinking. Our so-called willpower becomes practically non-existent.
We are unable at certain times to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force, the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink. So something like think, think, think, or play the tape through, that doesn't matter. That's broken. This tells me I don't have a defense. It has to come from a higher power. I Don't Have a Defense, It Has to Come from a Higher Power, If I'm Relying on Myself
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to Be Able to Think the Tape Through, Then I'm in a Lot of Trouble, The Almost Certain Consequences That Follow Taking Even a Glass of Beer Do Not Proud Into the Mind to Deter Us, If These Thoughts Do Occur, They're Hazy and Readily Supplanted with the Old Threadbare Idea That This Time We Shall Handle Ourselves Like Other People, There Is a Complete Failure of the Kind of Defense That Keeps One from Putting His Hand on a Hot Stove, It Says There Was a Tremendous Urge to Cease Forever, Yet We Found It Impossible, This Is the Baffling Feature of Alcoholism as We Know It, This Utter Inability to Leave It Alone, No Matter How Great the Necessity or the Wish, No Matter How Great the Necessity or the Wish, My Mind Cannot Think, You Know, Play the Tape Through, The Alcoholic at Certain Times Has No Effective Mental Defense Against the First Drink, Neither He Nor Any Other Human Being Can Provide Such a Defense, His Defense Must Come from a Higher Power, It Says, But the Actual or Potential Alcoholic, With Hardly an Exception, Will be Absolutely Unable to Stop Drinking on the Basis of Self-Knowledge, This is a Point We Wish to Emphasize and Re-Emphasize to Smash Home Upon Our Alcoholic Readers as It Has Been Revealed to Us out of Bitter Experience, So We Here Will Love You Until You Can Learn to Love Yourself, Just to Say that Loving Myself Will be the Answer, Right?
But What Does the Big Book Say about This? It Says, Like 7 Times, This is Going to Sound Incredibly Repetitive, But These are All from Different Pages, Love and Tolerance of Others is our Code, Patience, Tolerance, Understanding and Love are the Watchwords of Others, Courtesy, Kindness, Justice and Love of Others are the Keynotes, Patience, Tolerance, Kindliness and Love, Tolerance, Understanding and Love, Tolerance, Love and Spiritual Understanding, These are All Not Self-Loves, This is Not My Love for Myself, This is Tolerance and Patience and Kindness Towards You, Towards Others.
It Says, Make it Plain He is Under No Obligation to You, That You Hope Only That He Will Try to Help Other Alcoholics When He Escapes His Own Difficulties, Suggests How Important It Is that He Placed the Welfare of Other People Ahead of His Own, Helping Others is the Foundation Stone of Your Recovery, and Our Very Lives as Ex-Problem Drinkers Depend Upon Our Constant Thought of Others and How We May Help Meet Their Needs, So There's Nothing to Do with Me Learning to Love Myself, It's Learning to Love You.
Okay, this one says that we hear, Prayer is Talking to God and Meditation is Listening to God, Book says there's a direct linkage among Self-Examination, Meditation and Prayer. These are actually from the 12 and 12, so just in case anybody wants to go look at these, Prayer and Meditation are our principal means of conscious contact with God, Prayer as commonly understood is a petition to God, Prayer is the raising of the heart and mind to God, and in this sense, it includes meditation.
We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer, that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems, and in meditation, we ask God what we should do about each specific matter, so are they two separate things, are they the same, are they one in, you know? Okay, I choose not to drink today, or when I picked up, I chose to relapse.
Big Book says the fact is most alcoholics for reasons yet obscure have lost the power of choice in drink. These men were not drinking to escape, they were drinking to overcome a craving beyond
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their mental control, so was it a choice? We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. The idea that somehow, someday, he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker, so that's a great obsession, and if I'm an alcoholic, do I have a choice? Am I powerless over alcohol or not?
All of us felt at times we were regaining control, but such intervals, usually brief, were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. Once he started, he had no control whatever, so is it a choice? Okay, we here in the rooms, we go to meetings to vent or to dump, to get things off our chest. What does the Big Book say about that? It says we meet frequently so that newcomers may find the fellowship they seek.
Making contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives. Scarce an evening passed that someone's home did not shelter a little gathering of men and women, happy in their release, constantly thinking how they might present their discovery to some newcomer. Aside from fellowship and social ability, the prime object was to provide a time and place where new people might bring their problems.
And from Problems Other Than Alcohol pamphlet, which is P35, it says, sobriety, freedom from alcohol through the teaching and practice of the 12 steps is the sole purpose of an AA group. If all I do is stay sober today, then it's been a good day. What does the Big Book say about that? Is it enough just to stay sober today, right? Is that actually a successful day for us? The elimination of drinking is but a beginning, a much more important demonstration of our principles lies before us in our respective homes, occupations, and affairs.
Leaving aside the drink question, they tell why living was so unsatisfactory. Sometimes we hear an alcoholic say that the only thing he needs to do is keep sober. Certainly, he must keep sober, for there will be no home if he doesn't, but he is yet a long way from making good to the wife or parents whom for years he has so shockingly treated. In this one, we feel a man is unthinking when he says sobriety is enough.
All right, we hear, I was only harming myself. In fact, I have said that. I thought that when I got here, and I was so wrong. What does the Big Book say about I was only harming myself? Not so with the alcoholic illness, for with it, there goes annihilation of all the things worthwhile in life. It engulfs all whose lives touch the sufferers. It brings misunderstanding, fierce resentment, financial insecurity, disgusted friends and employers, warped lives of blameless children, sad wives and parents.
Anyone can increase this list. The alcoholic is like a tornado roaring his way through the lives of others. Hearts are broken, sweet relationships are dead, affections have been uprooted, selfish and inconsiderate habits have kept the home in turmoil. This absolutely does not sound like I was just harming myself. The wives and children of such men suffer horribly. Sufferers of living with an alcoholic is almost sure to make any wife or child neurotic.
It was the usual situation, home in jeopardy, wife ill, children distracted, bills and arrears, and standing damaged. Sounds like we bring everyone around us down with us. Okay, this one says the rooms are my higher power. This is an interesting one.
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What does the big book say about that? When this sort of thinking is fully established in an individual with alcoholic tendencies, he has probably placed himself beyond human aid. Whether such a person can quit upon a non-spiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not. In the ABCs, B, that probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.
That God could, and C, that God could and would if he were sought. We simply do not get well so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God. Remind the prospect that his recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God. Okay. Take what you want and leave the rest, or this is a program of suggestions. What does the big book say about that?
It says 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. It says we shall bring to the task our combined experience and knowledge. This should suggest a useful program for anyone concerned with a drinking problem.
Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery. So when we say, when we hear, take what you want and leave the rest, we are absolutely unequivocally not talking about the 12 steps. We are not saying that you could pick one, five, seven, and 12, or any sort of combination of them. They are suggested as the program of recovery. Yeah. Okay. This one has a lot, and it says that what we hear in the rooms is, well, if the new guy wants it badly enough, he'll come to me, or if the newcomer wants to get sober, she can call me, right, as opposed to us reaching out.
These are all referencing the sober alcoholic, the recovered alcoholic, making the approach. So that's the word, that's kind of the phrase that we're looking for, making the approach. The big book says, more often than not, it is imperative that a man's brain be cleared before he is approached, as he then has a better chance of understanding and accepting what we have to offer. That the man who is making the approach has had the same difficulty that he obviously knows what he is talking about.
After such an approach, many take up their beds and walk again. When therefore we 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. Somebody laid the tools at our feet. This is our 12th suggestion, carry this message to other alcoholics. You need this information to put yourself in his place, to see how you would like him to approach you if the tables were turned.
We make the approach. When your man is better, the doctor might suggest a visit from you. We go visit. Call on him while he is still jittery. 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. When we see a man sinking into the mire, that is alcoholism, we give him first aid and place what we have at his disposal.
Following his discharge from the hospital, we contacted him. We think this method of approach will accomplish several things. Approach Will Accomplish Several Things, They Will Approach Still Other Sick Ones, and Fellowships
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of Alcoholics Anonymous May Spring Up in Each City and Hamlet, so this is the whole sentence, in the chapter Working with Others, you gathered an idea of how we approach and aid others to health, every few days this doctor suggests our approach to one of his patients, we don't make the new person beg, right, or come to us, we make the approach, we get the phone number, we pick up the phone, we call, we invite to coffee, we give rides to the meetings, we place what we have at his or her disposal for fun and for free, okay, this one is also on meditation, so I've heard meditation is not really my thing, or why just meditate whenever I can get it in, or this meeting is my prayer and meditation, these quotes actually both come from Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers, and what they say is, the AA members of that time did not consider meetings necessary to maintain sobriety, they were simply desirable, morning devotion and quiet times, however, were must, and it also says, we attributed recovery to their morning hour of meditation, Bill said, I sort of always felt that something was lost from AA when we stopped emphasizing the morning meditation, and from Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers, it said, Bill and Lois themselves, however, continued this practice together until his death in 1971, so at a certain point, AA stopped emphasizing that morning hour of meditation, but Bill and Lois continued the practice, okay, so, we've heard, we have no leaders in AA, I'm going to share one quote from Language of the Heart, which is the essay, Leadership in AA, Ever a Vital Need, and it says, no society can function well without able leadership in all its levels, and AA can be no exception, while this article was first thought of in connection with our World Service leadership, it's quite possible that many of its suggestions can be useful to everyone who takes an active part in our society, for everyone who's a sponsor, I hope your ears perk up, nowhere could this be more true than in the area of 12-step work itself, something at which nearly all of us most eagerly work, every sponsor is necessarily a leader, the stakes are huge, a human life, and usually the happiness of a whole family hangs in the balance, what the sponsor does and says, how well he estimates the reactions of his prospects, how well he times and makes his presentation, how well he handles criticisms, and how well he leads his prospect on by personal spiritual example, while these attributes of leadership can make all the difference, often the difference between life and death, thank God that Alcoholics Anonymous is blessed with so much leadership in each and all of its great affairs, and then in concept nine, it says, good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety, primary world service leadership, once exercised by the founders must necessarily be assumed by the trustees, so it sounds like we most definitely have leaders and leadership, and it is something that we couldn't survive without, all right, what's the word in the rooms, I have two home groups, or I have an online home group and an in-person home group, what does the literature say about this, this, the first quote comes from the AA group pamphlet, and it says, traditionally most AA members through the years have found it important to belong to one group, that they call their home group, this is the group where they accept service responsibilities and try to sustain friendships, and then we also have from the service manual in this section of the GSR, it says, while many AA members attend other groups as well, the home group is where they participate in
[00:35:03]
business meetings and cast their vote as part of the group conscience of the fellowship as a whole, as with all group conscience matters, each member has one vote, and you express that one vote at your home group, yeah, okay, what we hear in the rooms, steps 10, 11, and 12 are maintenance steps, what does the literature say about that, big book would say, the point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines, we grow by our willingness to face and rectify errors and convert them into assets, our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness, 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.
And from the 12 and 12, it says, we temporarily cease to grow because we feel satisfied that there is no need for all of AA's 12 steps for us, so in all that growth, it doesn't sound like it's just maintaining, there's more on growth. And as we grow spiritually, we find that our old attitudes toward our instincts need to undergo drastic revisions, these quotes are all from 12 and 12, a continuous look at our assets and liabilities and a real desire to learn and grow by this means are necessities for us.
But first of all, we shall want sunlight, nothing much can grow in the dark, we will want the good that is in us all, even in the worst of us to flower and to grow, and then back to the big book, thus we grow and so can you. And the next one, this one actually just makes me giggle, I don't know how it works, but it does, what does the big book say about that? Chapter five, how it works, that covers steps four through 11, there is a solution, almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings, which the process requires for its successful consummation.
The spiritual life is not a theory, we have to live it, that's how it works, we have to live the spiritual life and it's the book's main object is to enable you to find a power greater than yourself, which will solve your problem. Okay, what we hear in the rooms, this is the best therapy in town or this is a self-help program, what's the big book say about that? It says, if that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer, that does not sound like self-help at all, just to the extent that we do is we think he would have us and humbly rely on him to see enable us to match calamity with serenity, again, not self-help.
When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the spirit of the universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth, job or no job, wife or no wife, we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God. Though he could not, this is talking about Bill, though he could not accept all the tenants of the Oxford groups, he was convinced of the need for moral inventory, confession of personality defects, restitution to those harmed, helpfulness to others, and the necessity of belief in and dependence upon God.
As the two of you men whose stories I have heard, there is no doubt in my mind that you are 100% hopeless apart from divine help, not self-help. This one is actually a little bit of a plot twist, because the line actually does come out of the big book, but the line is, acceptance is the answer to all my problems.
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That comes from a story section, but what does the big book say about the solution to all my problems? It says, my friend promised when these things were done, meaning the steps, this is Ebi talking to Bill, 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. And it also says, quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems.
We hear, the big book doesn't mention sponsorship, or sponsor, sponsee, but what does the big book say? It says, do not be discouraged if your prospect does not respond at once. When you discover a prospect for Alcoholics Anonymous, find out all you can about him. When your prospect has made such reparation as he can to his family, and has thoroughly explained to them the new principles by which he is living, he should proceed to put those principles into action at home.
Your prospect may belong to a religious denomination. Next day, found the prospect more receptive. That the man who is making the approach has had the same difficulty, that he obviously knows what he is talking about, that his whole department shouts at the new prospect that he is a man with a real answer, that he has no attitude of holier-than-thou, nothing whatever except the sincere desire to be helpful, that there are no fees to pay, no axes to grind, no people to please, no lectures to be endured.
These are the conditions we have found most effective. Remind the prospect that his recovery is not dependent upon people. And under these conditions, your prospect will see he is under no pressure. So we have lots of reference of a prospect. And this is actually the last one that I have. What we hear is, I'll always be recovering. We don't say recovered. This is my favorite. I saved my favorite for last.
The title page of our book says, Alcoholics Anonymous, the story of how many thousands of men and women have recovered from alcoholism. We of Alcoholics Anonymous are more than 100 men and women 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. Alcoholics Anonymous has mushroomed into nearly 6,000 groups whose membership is far above 150,000 recovered alcoholics.
Their very first case, a desperate one, recovered immediately and became AA number three. This man and over 100 others appear to have recovered. Nearly all have recovered. They have solved the drink problem. We have recovered from a hopeless condition of mind and body. Further on, clear cut directions are given showing how we recovered. If he says yes, then his attention should be drawn to you as a person who has recovered.
He might have deprived many others who have since recovered. He knows that thousands of men, much like himself, have recovered. We have recovered and have been given the power to help others. We who have recovered from serious drinking are miracles of mental health. Most emphatically, we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problem in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts that comes from our spiritual experience.
So thank you for allowing me to do that. I have had a number of experiences with the big book. I have read it cover page to page 164 in one sitting. Page-to-page 164 in one sitting. I have read it four pages at a time, which takes just over 40 days.
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I have sat knee-to-knee with countless sponsees where I'm reading chapter two on Monday and then chapter seven and then chapter five and then chapter, you know, like, so we're kind of bouncing around. And what I've, what has come of those experiences for me is as I'm reading the book, I'm thinking in my head of, that's not at all what I'm hearing in, in the room, you know, or a sponsee will ask, like, why do you think they say one of these things that we just said tonight?
Why do they say that when the book says this, right? And so it is absolutely, in my opinion, my responsibility as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous to know what does the basic textbook say about all of these things? And especially in the first, I don't know, several years, I would say, I would hear something, I would hear somebody say something and it would sound good and it would make sense to me in my mind.
And I didn't know because I hadn't read any different in the book. So I would just repeat what I heard in the rooms. And what I realized through all of these experiences of actually reading the literature and having my own experience with the literature is that just because somebody says something in a meeting does not make it true. We have literature that has preserved the integrity of the AA message.
That's the reason that we have the literature, so that this didn't become a game of telephone, so that it wasn't whispered down the lane and the message gets all garbled and distorted. We have the literature so that we know what the AA message is and so that we can be recovered alcoholics and we can carry a message of depth and weight to the alcoholic who desperately, desperately needs what we have to offer, the spiritual tools that we have available to lay at their feet.
So I hope that this was a new experience for you this evening, hearing these things one after another, after another. I know for me, it definitely provided another experience. So thank you so much for letting me share. Thanks, Leslie. It is a new experience whenever you hear it the way you just presented it. It was, yeah. I love, I thought those lines were that important because people meant they're posted in the room where they can move it.
They can put it on magnets and it's kind of interesting. It's a really interesting idea. Okay, I've got a little bit to think about on that. I think probably everybody does. Everybody identified with it. I'm trying to find my, there it is. My script again. It died in my phone. Okay, let's see. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Well, you never know what you're going to get. You will just have to keep coming back next week, next Thursday night at the same time, same station.
And our speaker will be John S., and he's from the Pensacola area. And that is, he is a former delegate. He's at our area assemblies and helps us out a lot. And he spoke at our Founders Day. And he was a good speaker, and I learned a lot that day. And I'm looking forward to learning more. If you like this meeting, please do as Bill Wilson always says, pass it on. You can help others write from your phone or computer.
Tell them about the special meeting. Everyone is invited to hang out with us afterwards where we have the meeting. After the meeting, on the back porch, just like all good Southerners. And Leslie, do you have any closing comments? And will you take us out with a prayer of your choice? Yes, I would love to take you out with a prayer of my choice. I have pulled up a prayer of St. Francis. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
[00:50:00]
Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand. To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Thank you. All right, everybody can talk to her. I unmute you, Leslie. Thank you, Leslie. Really good. Awesome. Thank you very much, Leslie. Thank you.