If we draw attention only to ourselves, our work is not from God.
What we share in our meetings, in our sponsorship, and in our lives , is our Experience, Strength and Hope.
Experience
Is an inventory of our past mistakes; that’s how we relate to each other?
Strength
Is the ability to lift or carry; we lift up our fellows, and we carry the message of recovery, that helps to keep us sober.
Hope
Is the belief that our lives will continue to improve when we do the next right thing; and the next right thing, ( is not to take that first drink of alcohol. first hit of crack, or next shot of dope) To clean house as suggested in the outline of the Twelve Steps found in our basic text, and to always trust in God and the process of love, tolerance, and service that he gave us.
What was it like, what happened and what it is like now? In a general way. We learn and grow through the intimacy and kindness of strangers, who are less than kin and more than kind.
And least I forget the humor of comedy that is born in pathos and remains alive in the near death experience, for we are not a glum lot.
We are like the passengers of a great liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck when camaraderie, joyousness and democracy pervade the vessel from steerage to Captain’s table. (chapter 2 Big Book)
And some strong opinions that even some of the presenters may disagree, because if you get 15 alcoholics in a room you will get 20 opinions.
The newcomer is the life’s blood of A.A. Just as the old timer is its back bone, but relapse is the soul, for there is nothing more tormented that a belly full of booze and a head full of A.A.
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