seldom means that we all agree on everything. Nor is unity served by setting aside our concerns and conforming to the majority opinion (or the vocal minority). ... Unity is best achieved by a full hearing of all points of view ... time for all of those involved to step back from emotional responses ... as well as careful consideration and prayer for that which will best serve the group or AA as a whole.”
From I Am Responsible
JANUARY 14
“A Candle of Hope”
CLEVELAND, OHIO, APRIL 1991
“Every day, hopeless, helpless alcoholics walk into AA meetings, grab onto hope, and begin a renewal of their spirit.”
From Spiritual Awakenings
JANUARY 15
“Journey of the Spirit”
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, APRIL 1984
“I am grateful that the people in AA showed me how to live sober. However, I have learned many things from other sources. I learned about quiet from the breeze floating through the grass on a warm summer day. I have learned unconditional love from my animals. I have learned how to have wonder of the world from my children. I have learned that all things have tremendous power.”
From Spiritual Awakenings
JANUARY 16
“Conscious Contact”
WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, APRIL 1990
“The God I know today ... is a presence in which I find myself, just as I am.”
From Spiritual Awakenings
JANUARY 17
“At Home in a Home Group”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, MAY 1997
“My drinking career was all about running away. I could pack up and vanish in a flash. Now ... I’m taking the risk to stick around, to just show up and see what happens.”
From Beginners’ Book
JANUARY 18
“Learning to Handle Sobriety”
CONNECTICUT, MARCH 1975
“AA does not teach us how to handle our drinking; it teaches us how to handle our sobriety.”
From AA Grapevine
JANUARY 19
“‘Rules’ Dangerous but Unity Vital”
AA CO-FOUNDER, BILL W., SEPTEMBER 1945
“When we AAs look to the future, we must always ask ourselves if the spirit which now binds us together in our common cause will always be stronger than those personal ambitions and desires which tend to drive us apart. ... Though the individual AA is under no human coercion, is at almost perfect personal liberty, we have, nevertheless, achieved a wonderful unity on vital essentials. For example, the Twelve Steps of our AA program are not crammed down anybody’s throat. They are not sustained by any human authority. Yet we powerfully unite around them because the truth they contain has saved our lives, has opened the door to a new world.”
From The Language of the Heart
JANUARY 20
“I Had Lost the War!”
TORONTO, ONTARIO, NOVEMBER 1952
“A while ago a speaker said that it was no use admitting that one was an alcoholic unless the admittance was accompanied by a realization of what being an alcoholic really meant. ... He said there was no use my making the admission even in the full realization of what it meant, unless I accepted the fact that I was an alcoholic without resentment.”
From Step By Step
JANUARY 21
“Awareness”
VIETNAM, SEPTEMBER 1974
“All turmoil comes from the deep, nagging feeling that we should be different from what we are. ... If we could totally accept who and what we are (changing each instant), we would find ourselves moving in the silent immenseness of now.”
From Spiritual Awakenings
JANUARY 22
“Planning, Not Projection”
October 1992
“As the chaotic world of the drinking alcoholic is replaced by one of stability in sobriety it becomes apparent that plans can be made to encourage positive living. For example: planning holidays, dental appointments and the household budget. We cannot plan that it will be the best holiday ever, that no dental work is required, or that our monetary fortunes will remain the same; that would be projecting. We plan plans, not results.”
From AA Grapevine
JANUARY 23
“A Gift of Prayer”
November 1967
“I seek strength not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy—myself.”
From Spiritual Awakenings
JANUARY 24
“This