Practice These Principles: Daily Meditations on the 12 Step Principles of A.A.

By Alex M.

Practice These Principles—Daily Meditations on the 12 Step Principles of A.A. offers members in recovery 365 daily meditations on one 12 Step principle for each month. The principles related to each of the 12 Steps can help guide alcoholics and those with other addictions in their daily life. For each day there is a relevant Big Book or general quote on a selected principle for each Step, followed by a spiritual reflection and question for consideration.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543983814

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Copyright © 2019 by Alex M.

ISBN: 9781543983814

All rights reserved

Independently published

A.A.‘s Twelve 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…The basic principles of A.A., as they are known today, were borrowed mainly from the fields of religion and medicine, though some ideas upon which success finally depended were the result of noting the behavior and needs of the Fellowship itself.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Foreword, p.15

All of the Twelve Steps require sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to God’s will.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Three, p.40

Indeed, the attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of A.A.‘s Twelve Steps. For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all. Nearly all A.A.‘s have found, too, that unless they develop much more of this precious quality than may be required just for sobriety, they still haven’t much chance of becoming truly happy. Without it, they cannot live to much useful purpose, or, in adversity, be able to summon the faith that can meet any emergency.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Seven, p.70

What about the practice of these principles in all our affairs? Can we love the whole pattern of living as eagerly as we do the small segment of it we discover when we try to help other alcoholics achieve sobriety? Can we bring the same spirit of love and tolerance into our sometimes deranged family lives that we bring to our A.A. group? Can we have the same kind of confidence and faith in these people who have been infected and sometimes crippled by our own illness that we have in our sponsors? Can we actually carry the A.A. spirit into our daily work? Can we meet our newly recognized responsibilities to the world at large?

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Twelve, p.111

Our basic troubles are the same as everyone else’s, but when an honest effort is made to practice these principles in all our affairs, well-grounded A.A.‘s seem to have the ability, by God’s grace, to

take these troubles in stride and turn them into demonstrations of faith. We have seen A.A.‘s suffer lingering and fatal illness with little complaint, and often in good cheer. We have sometimes seen families broken apart by misunderstanding, tensions, or actual infidelity, who are reunited by the A.A. way of life.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Twelve, p.114

For it is only by accepting and solving our problems that we can begin to get right with ourselves and with the world about us, and with Him who presides over us all. Understanding is the key to right principles and attitudes, and right action is the key to good living; therefore the joy of good living is the theme of A.A.’s Twelfth Step.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Twelve, p.125

A.A.‘s Twelve Steps are principles for personal recovery. The Twelve Traditions ensure the unity of the Fellowship. Written by co-founder Bill W. in 1962, the Twelve Concepts for World Service provide a group of related principles to help ensure that various elements of A.A.‘s service structure remain responsive and responsible to those they serve.

Alcoholics Anonymous, Appendix VII, Twelve Concepts, p.574

A.A. is more than a set of principles; it is a society of alcoholics in action. We must carry the message, else we ourselves can wither and those who haven’t been given the truth may die.

A.A. Service Manual, p.1

Our Twelfth Step—carrying the message—is the basic service that the A.A. Fellowship gives; this is our principal aim and the main reason for our existence. Therefore, A.A. is more than a set of principles; it is a society of alcoholics in action. We must carry the message, else we ourselves can wither and those who haven’t been given the truth may die. Hence, an A.A. service is anything whatever that helps us to reach a fellow sufferer.

A.A. Service Manual, p.S1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STEP ONE – HONESTY

STEP TWO – HOPE

STEP THREE – FAITH

STEP FOUR – COURAGE

STEP FIVE – TRUTH

STEP SIX – WILLINGNESS

STEP SEVEN – HUMILITY

STEP EIGHT – FORGIVENESS

STEP NINE – RESPONSIBILITY

STEP TEN – DISCIPLINE

STEP ELEVEN – SPIRITUALITY

STEP TWELVE – SERVICE

12 STEPS & SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES

12 TRADITIONS

12 CONCEPTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PREFACE

As an A.A. newcomer it took me months to comprehend the unique language of A.A., such as: Selfishness is the root of our troubles, resentment is the number one offender, one day at a time, live and let live, easy does it, let go and let God, Good-Orderly-Direction, Hungry-Angry-Lonely-Tired, we are as sick as our secrets, it works if you work it, be part of the solution—not the problem, stick with the winners, take what you can and leave the rest, more will be revealed, and meeting makers make it.

When I kept hearing Practice these principles in all our affairs from Step Twelve, and Principles before personalities from our Twelfth Tradition, I asked myself, What principles are they talking about?

Oldtimers would tell me that they try to incorporate and practice the principles of the 12 Steps in their daily lives. What principles? I would ask. They would then rattle off a long list of various moral or Christian values that helped guide them in their daily living. No two lists were the same.

In none of Bill Wilson’s writings did he assign a specific set of spiritual or moral principles to each of the 12 Steps, which was probably deliberate on his part. I suspect he realized that no one would be able to agree on such a list, so it was best left up to each A.A. member to create their own.

However, in his writings Wilson emphasized that our actions should be guided by God, so one might assume the A.A. principles would be related to the Christian values of the early pioneers.

If one compares multiple lists of the 12 Step principles constructed by members in the Fellowship with common Christian and biblical values, there is much overlap.

For example, from the Big Book the core spiritual principles of the A.A. program might be: willingness, open-mindedness, honesty, and gratitude.

Per Bill W. and Dr. Bob, A.A.’s code is one of love, tolerance and service.

Common principles assigned to each step might be: Step 1 – Honesty, Step 2 – Hope, Step 3 – Faith, Step 4 – Courage, Step 5 – Truth, Step 6 – Willingness, Step 7 – Humility, Step 8 – Forgiveness, Step 9 – Responsibility, Step 10 – Discipline, Step 11 – Spirituality and Step 12 – Service.

Common Christian values are gratitude, compassion, fortitude, justice, peace, wisdom, hope, humility and service.

In addition to the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, the biblical teachings of Jesus include: love of God, fidelity in marriage, renunciation of worldly goods, renunciation of vengeance, forgiveness of sins and unconditional love for all people.

John Wesley, the English cleric, theologian and evangelist in the 1700s who founded Methodism, summed up their Christian values by saying: Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.

So why bother comparing the A.A. Big Book principles and general Christian principles? Because it helps explain why many believe that A.A. is a religious program.

Newcomers exposed to all the God talk in the rooms of A.A. while reading a Big Book filled with God on every page, often conclude that A.A.’s principles are no more than a regurgitation of Christian principles and that A.A. is a religious cult in disguise. They then flee the Fellowship, concluding it is just another group of religious wing-nuts that have nothing to offer them.

Here’s the good news and bad news:

The bad news is that A.A. members are loathe to admit that A.A. is a Christian based Fellowship. Why? Because A.A. grew directly out of the Oxford Group, a non-denominational Christian evangelical fellowship of the 1930s. Most of the A.A. founders were white, male Protestants of the Christian faith, and got sober with God and through the 12 Step principles, which mirrored their inherent Christian moral values.

The good news is that even though A.A. today remains a preferred God-based program for a vast majority of the 1.3 million American A.A. members, God is not required for finding sobriety and a new life in A.A.

More than 700,000 A.A. members outside the U.S. in 180 countries around the world are getting and staying sober without God. These include non-Christian Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists (who are all atheist by definition), and members of multiple other religions.

The best news about A.A. is that it also works for those of us with no religion. Atheists, agnostics, humanists, and others who ascribe to no specific faith, like myself, can find a wonderful new life using the same Christian based A.A. spiritual principles as anyone else.

For some reason, all humans, unless they are severely mentally ill,  seem to carry inside of them a set of moral values which easily reflect the plethora of 12 Step principles that A.A. offers. The challenge in our life is how we can better connect with, and use those innate values to direct our lives today, rather than allowing  alcohol and drugs to bury them.

Living an emotionally sane and sober life requires that we embrace, express and celebrate the moral values embedded in our 12 Step principles. How we define each principle or principles for each step is unimportant, as long as we do it, and then begin to practice those personal principles.

For this daily meditative book, Practice These Principles, I chose some principles common, but not unique, to each of the 12 Steps and provided a corresponding quotation from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and other sources. Performing a word search in the Big Book and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions for each 12 Step principle provided most of the excerpts which I used. 

Below each excerpt I added a personal Consideration and Question, similar to the format I used in some of my other books, such as Daily Reprieve—A.A. for Atheists & Agnostics. Note that at the bottom of most pages there is enough room for the reader to jot down some notes, should they choose.

This book is meant to help all those, and especially atheists and agnostics like myself, who struggle with alcoholism and addiction and seek a 12 Step solution to their troubles.

My hope is that no potential A.A. member, whether newcomer or oldtimer, will become overly distracted by the Christian overtones of the A.A. Fellowship, and instead focus their efforts on defining for themselves whatever 12 Step principles they can connect with as they work through our 12 Step program.

Putting our principles into practice in our daily lives as we try to carry the message to other alcoholics remains the foundation of A.A., and with a little work, any and all of us can be successful in that effort.

BACKGROUND

BILL’S STORY

While in Towns Hospital for the last time, Bill Wilson made a reference to these principles as listed below during a visit from his Oxford Group alcoholic schoolmate Ebby Thacher.

My schoolmate visited me, and I fully acquainted him with my problems and deficiencies. [Bill’s Story, p.14-15]

1) We made a list of people I had hurt or toward whom I felt resentment. I expressed my entire willingness to approach these individuals, admitting my wrong. (Steps 8, 9)

2) I was to sit quietly when in doubt, asking only for direction and strength to meet my problems as He would have me.  (Step 11)

3) Never was I to pray for myself, except as my requests bore on my usefulness to others. (Step 11)

4) Belief in the power of God (Steps 2,3,6,7,11)…plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the new order of things, were the essential requirements. (Steps 4,5,10)

5) There were thousands of hopeless alcoholics who might be glad to have what had been so freely given me. Perhaps I could help some of them. They in turn might work with others. (Step 12)

STEP TWELVE

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

TRADITION TWELVE

(long form)

And finally, we of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the principle of Anonymity has an immense spiritual significance. It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility. This to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all.

CONCEPT TWELVE

(long form)

The General Service Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. Tradition, taking great care that the conference never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating funds, plus an ample reserve, be its prudent financial principal; that none of the Conference Members shall ever be placed in a position of unqualified authority over any others; that all important decisions be reached by discussion, vote, and, whenever possible, by substantial unanimity; that no Conference action ever be personally punitive or an incitement to public controversy; that, though the Conference may act for the service of Alcoholics Anonymous, it shall never perform any acts of government; and that, like the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous which it serves, the Conference itself will always remain democratic in thought and action.

In its long form, the Twelfth Concept is actually Article 12 of the Conference Charter. It is considered so important that it can be changed only by written consent of three-quarters vote of the directory-listed A.A. groups, and then only after six months has been allowed for deliberation.

TWELVE STEPS

TWELVE STEPS

Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Step 2 - Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Step 7 - Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

Step 11 - 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.

Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank the A.A. Fellowship for welcoming me and all alcoholics who have a desire to stop drinking, and for every A.A. member who continually tries to practice the A.A. spiritual 12 Step principles and carry the message of hope and recovery to the alcoholic who still suffers.

My thanks to the only two sponsors I’ve had during my years in A.A.: Dean J. and Greg B., who demonstrate how to practice the spiritual 12 Step principles in all aspects of their lives.

A special thanks to those in the Fellowship I have had the privilege to meet and work with. They have taught me how to live one day at a time with grace and dignity.

And thanks to my friends and family outside the rooms of A.A., who keep me on the beam as I see them expressing in their own lives love, tolerance and compassion for their fellow beings.

JANUARY 1

STEP ONE

HONESTY

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

We are not an organization in the conventional sense of the word.  There are no fees or dues whatsoever. The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking. We are not allied with any particular faith, sect or denomination, nor do we oppose anyone. We simply wish to be helpful to those who are afflicted.

[Foreword to First Edition, p.xiv]

In 1947 the editor of the A.A. Grapevine expanded this foreword into an A.A. Preamble to describe A.A. to their non-A.A. readers. That Preamble was revised in 1958 into our current version, which among other changes, dropped the word honest from honest desire. When I came into A.A. I had no desire to stop drinking; what I really wanted was to learn how to cut back a bit and drink like a gentleman. I wanted to be able to start and stop drinking on command, like I used to be able to do in years past. I wanted to be able to drink and not always end up drunk and comatose in places unfamiliar to me. I wanted to not have to take a drink before going to the bathroom when I first woke up in the morning. I wanted to be able to go to work without drinking in the parking lot before entering the building. I wanted to be able to attend social and business functions without needing three or four drinks beforehand. I wanted to be rid of my constant anger at a world which refused to do my bidding. I wanted all my daily fears to dissolve into a smaller puddle. I wanted to stop feeling ashamed and guilty over my inability to control my drinking or manage my life. I wanted to stop having to lie to everyone about everything I thought and did, or didn’t do. I wanted to stop praying not to wake up in the morning, and wondering why I didn’t have the courage to pull the trigger of the shotgun I kept sticking in my mouth. Unable to differentiate the true from the false, I was unable to see the connection between my drinking and my dismal and depressing life.

Do I realize that it doesn’t matter what gets us into A.A., as long as we try to stick and stay?

JANUARY 2

STEP ONE

HONESTY

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Men have cried out to me in sincere and despairing appeal: Doctor, I cannot go on like this! I have everything to live for!  I must stop, but I cannot! You must help me! Faced with this problem, if a doctor is honest with himself, he must sometimes feel his own inadequacy. Although he gives all that is in him, it often is not enough. One feels that something more than human power is needed to produce the essential psychic change. Though the aggregate of recoveries resulting from psychiatric effort is considerable, we physicians must admit we have made little impression upon the problem as a whole. Many types do not respond to the ordinary psychological approach.

[The Doctor’s Opinion, p.xxix]

Dr. William Silkworth was the neuro-psychiatrist who treated Bill Wilson the last three of the four times he was admitted to Towns Hospital for detoxification. Silkie, the little doctor who loved drunks, carried no illusion that medical science could do anything to help alcoholics recover. Based on the meager treatment options at the time, he estimated alcoholics had a two percent chance of recovery. Perhaps that was why he encouraged Bill to hang on to whatever had happened to him during his white light, hot flash religious conversion experience at the hospital in December of 1934. Silkworth knew from his own clinical experience that no human power could get alcoholics sober, and he was honest enough to share that observation with his patients.

Do I accept the fact that it is highly unlikely professional medical therapy alone will be able to get and keep me sober?

JANUARY 3

STEP ONE

HONESTY

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

I honestly doubted whether, on balance, the religions of mankind had done any good. Judging from what I had seen in Europe and since, the power of God in human affairs was negligible, the Brotherhood of Man a grim jest. If there was a Devil, he seemed the Boss Universal, and he certainly had me. But my friend sat before me, and he made the point-blank declaration that God had done for him what he could not do for himself. His human will had failed. Doctors had pronounced him incurable. Society was about to lock him up. Like myself, he had admitted complete defeat. Then he had, in effect, been raised from the dead, suddenly taken from the scrap heap to a level of life better than the best he had ever known! Had this power originated in him? Obviously it had not. There had been no more power in him than there was in me at that minute; and this was none at all.

[Bill’s Story, p.11]

Wilson was briefly stationed in Europe at the end of World War I, where his exposure to the devastation of war may have dampened his enthusiasm for religion, since what type of loving God would allow a world war to take place? When Ebby Thacher, his alcoholic childhood friend told him that God had provided all the power needed for him to recover from his alcoholism, it took Bill some time to convince himself to believe his friend. Once that occurred, Bill gained hope that he too might be saved from an alcoholic death through some type of religious conversion experience. After Ebby suggested to Bill that he choose his own conception of God, Bill became convinced that all he had to do was return to God and his drinking problem would be solved.

Despite any doubt or bias I may have toward God or religion, am I willing to at least consider using some type of power greater than myself to aid my recovery?

JANUARY 4

STEP ONE

HONESTY

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

My friend promised when these things were done 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. Belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the new order of things were the essential requirements. Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid. It meant destruction of self-centeredness. I must turn in all things to the Father of Light who presides over us all.

[Bill’s Story, p.13]

Once Bill became convinced that God, or some type of Higher Power could release him from his alcoholism, he fully embraced the idea. After offering himself to God and completing what were to become the 12 Steps while in Towns Hospital for the last time, Bill held fast to Ebby’s promise that with God’s help he could and would stay sober. Willingness to change his way of life, honesty in motive and action, and enough restraint to moderate a life run totally on self-centeredness were the only additional requirements.

Am I willing to change my behavior to whatever degree is necessary to overcome my illness?

JANUARY 5

STEP ONE

HONESTY

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were, we believe there is no middle-of-the-road solution. We were in a position where life was becoming impossible, and if we had passed into the region from which there is no return through human aid, we had but two alternatives: One was to go on to the bitter end, blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation as best we could; and the other, to accept spiritual help. This we did because we honestly wanted to, and were willing to make the effort.

[There Is A Solution, p.25]

Only an alcoholic at the end of the road would need to spend some serious time debating whether or not to choose life over death. Maybe there is some middle-of-the-road solution we haven’t thought of yet? Is there some other way we can get better without spiritual help? Perhaps we simply need to try harder to control our drinking. There must be some other solution out there that will work. How much longer can we deny we can’t control our drinking by ourselves? Have we really lost the power of choice in drink?

What more do I have to lose by giving a spiritual solution a try?

JANUARY 6

STEP ONE

HONESTY

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

The distinguished American psychologist, William James, in his book Varieties of Religious Experience, indicates a multitude of ways in which men have discovered God. We have no desire to convince anyone that there is only one way by which faith can be acquired. If what we have learned and felt and seen means anything at all, it means that all of us, whatever our race, creed, or color are the children of a living Creator with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try.

[There Is A Solution, p.28]

Almost all of the early A.A. pioneers were white Protestant men who had been raised in the Christian church, but had lost touch with the full power inherent in their religious faith. Returning to God was not that difficult for most of them. Wilson rediscovered God through a sudden, white light religious conversion experience, but most of the rest of the early pioneers rediscovered their God through a slow spiritual awakening likely founded on persistent prayer and meditation. The key is that early alcoholics were willing to try to reestablish their relationship with whatever God or Higher Power they could bring themselves to believe in, and that they believed could help them. Atheists and agnostics were strongly encouraged to believe in God based on the testimony of those who felt God was directly responsible for their sobriety. God will get you sober was the calling card. The truth was that the early pioneers were a mix of believers and non-believers, the religious and the non-religious, and members of both groups were able to get sober in A.A.

Do I understand that I can get sober with or without God, but I probably won’t get sober without using some type of Higher Power or spiritual energy in my life with which I can form a relationship?

JANUARY 7

STEP ONE

HONESTY

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you can quickly diagnose yourself. Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition.

[More About Alcoholism, p.31]

Few alcoholics need to perform the barroom experiment to confirm their alcoholic diagnosis, since they have run that test hundreds of times in the past—all with the same result. If we are honestly unable to relate in any way to any of the descriptions of alcoholism or the stories of the man of thirty, Jim the car salesman, the crazy jaywalker or Fred the accountant in this chapter, perhaps we are not alcoholic. When a real alcoholic reads this chapter their head bobs up and down as they mumble, That’s me, that’s me. The point of the chapter is stated in the last paragraph: Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power.

Do I admit and accept that I’m an alcoholic because I cannot quit for good, or control my drinking every time I take a drink?

JANUARY 8

STEP ONE

HONESTY

We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

In the preceding chapters you have learned something of alcoholism. We hope we have made clear the distinction between the alcoholic and the non-alcoholic. If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer.

[We Agnostics, p.44]

If we can’t stop drinking forever, or we cannot control the amount we drink every time we drink, then we’re alcoholic. It’s that simple. What’s not simple is honestly admitting to ourself that we are an alcoholic; the river of denial runs swift and deep. And once we admit we are sick, we must further honestly admit that we can’t fix our illness all by ourselves; we need both human and spiritual help. Many of us know we are alcoholic long before coming into the rooms of A.A. The problem is that we still think our life is manageable, and that tomorrow will somehow be different when it comes to controlling our drinking and managing our life. So we are honest about our diagnosis, but dishonest about recovery.

Do I understand that if I’m a