FILLING THE VOID
We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. "Do I now
believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater
than myself?" 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.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 47
I was always fascinated with the study of scientific principles. I was
emotionally and physically distant from people while I pursued
Absolute Knowledge. God and spirituality were meaningless
academic exercises. I was a modern man of science, knowledge was
my Higher Power. Given the right set of equations, life was merely
another problem to solve. Yet my inner self was dying from my outer
man's solution to life's problems and the solution was alcohol. In
spite of my intelligence, alcohol became my Higher Power. It was
through the unconditional love which emanated from A.A. people and
meetings that I was able to discard alcohol as my Higher Power. The
great void was filled. I was no longer lonely and apart from life. I
had found a true power greater than myself, I had found God's love.
There is only one equation which really matters to me now: God is in
A.A.
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Twenty-Four Hours A Day
A.A. Thought For The Day
By drinking, we escaped from boredom for a while. We almost forgot
our troubles. But when we sobered up, our troubles were twice as
bad. Drinking had only made them worse. In A.A., we really escape
boredom. Nobody's bored at an A.A. meeting. We stick around after
it's over and we hate to leave. Drinking gave us a temporary feeling
of importance. When we're drinking, we kid ourselves into thinking
we are somebody. We tell tall stories to build ourselves up. In A.A.,
we don't want that kind of self-importance. We have real
self-respect and honesty and humility. Have I found something much
better and more satisfactory than drinking?
Meditation For The Day
I believe that my faith and God's power can accomplish anything in
human relationships. There is no limit to what these two things can
do in this field. Only believe, and anything can happen. Saint Paul
said; "I can do all things through Him who strengtheneth me." All
walls that divide you from other human beings can fall by your faith
and God's power. These are the two essentials. Everyone can be
moved by these.
Prayer For The Day
I pray that I may try to strengthen my faith day by day. I pray that I
may rely more and more on God's power.