From the books ... Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book) and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (12 & 12)
Click
to display the full page from the Big Book1.
... God."
12&12 p.28,
Step Two
Relieved of the alcohol
obsession, their lives
unaccountably transformed, they came to
believe in a Higher Power, and most of them began
to talk of God."
2.
... God.
12&12 p.28,
Step Two
Religion says the existence of God can be proved; the agnostic says it can't be proved; and
the atheist claims proof of the nonexistence of God.
3.
... God.
12&12 p.30,
Step Two
How we loved to shout the damaging fact that millions of the 'good men of religion' were still killing one another off in the name of God.
4.
... God.
12&12 p.31,
Step Two
5.
... God.
12&12 p.57,
Step Five
6.
... God.
12&12 p.60,
Step Five
When we are honest with another person, it confirms that we have been honest with ourselves and
with God.
7.
... God.
12&12 p.60,
Step Five
It is worth noting that people of very high spiritual development almost always insist on checking with friends or
spiritual advisers
the guidance they feel
they have received from God.
8.
... God.
12&12 p.62,
Step Five
Many an A.A., once agnostic or atheistic, tells us that it
was during this stage of Step Five that he first actually felt the presence of God.
9.
... God.
12&12 p.64,
Step Six
10.
... God.
12&12 p.66,
Step Six
11.
... God.
12&12 p.68,
Step Six
So the difference between "the boys and the men" is the difference between striving for a self-determined objective and for the perfect objective which
is of God.
12.
... God.
12&12 p.69,
Step Six
13.
... God.
12&12 p.75,
Step Seven
During this process of learning more about humility, the most profound result of all was
the change in our attitude toward God.
14.
... God.
12&12 p.76,
Step Seven
We now clearly see that we have been making unreasonable demands
upon ourselves, upon others, and upon God.
15.
... God.
12&12 p.76,
Step Seven
The Seventh Step is where
we make the change in our attitude which permits us,
with humility as our guide, to move out from ourselves toward others and toward God.
16.
... God.
12&12 p.82,
Step Eight
17.
... God.
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
18.
... God.
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
We well remember how something deep inside us kept rebelling against the idea of bowing before any God.
19.
... God.
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
20.
... God.
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
Almost any experienced A.A. will tell how his affairs have taken remarkable and unexpected turns for the
better as he tried to improve his conscious contact with God.
21.
... God.
12&12 p.121,
Step Twelve
22.
... God.
12&12 p.125,
Step Twelve
23.
... God.
12&12 p.138,
Tradition Two
24.
... God.
12&12 p.144,
Tradition Three
25.
... God?"
BB p.12,
Bill's Story
26.
... God.
BB p.12,
Bill's Story
27.
... God.
BB p.28,
There Is A Solution
28.
... God.
BB p.28,
There Is A Solution
The distinguished American psychologist, William
James, in his book "Varieties of Religious
Experience," indicates a multitude
of ways in which men have discovered God.
29.
... God.
BB p.29,
There Is A Solution
Each individual, in the
personal stories, describes in his own language and from his own point of view the way he established his relationship with God.
30.
... God.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
31.
... God.
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
We found that as soon as we
were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe
in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced
to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to
fully define or comprehend that Power,
which is God.
32.
... God.
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
33.
... God.
BB p.47,
We Agnostics
34.
... God.
BB p.52,
We Agnostics
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.
35.
... God.
BB p.55,
We Agnostics
Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God.
36.
... God?"
BB p.56,
We Agnostics
37.
... God.
BB p.56,
We Agnostics
38.
... God.
BB p.59,
How It Works
39.
... God.
BB p.62,
How It Works
40.
... God.
BB p.68,
How It Works
41.
... God.
BB p.68,
How It Works
They trust their God.
42.
... God.
BB p.68,
How It Works
43.
... God.
BB p.77,
Into Action
44.
... God.
BB p.93,
Working With Others
If the man be agnostic or
atheist, make it emphatic that he does not have to agree with your conception
of God.
45.
... God.
BB p.98,
Working With Others
The minute we put our work on a service plane, the alcoholic commences to rely upon our assistance rather than upon God.
46.
... God.
BB p.98,
Working With Others
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.
47.
... God.
BB p.100,
Working With Others
48.
... God.
BB p.116,
To Wives
Time after time, this apparent calamity has been a boon to
us, for it opened up a path which led to the discovery of God.
49.
... God.
BB p.116,
To Wives
50.
... God.
BB p.155,
A Vision For You
51.
... God.
BB p.164,
A Vision For You
52.
... God.
BB xvi,
Foreword to Second Edition
Though he could not accept
all the tenets 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.
53.
... God."
BB xviii,
Foreword to Second Edition
In the fall of 1939 Fulton Oursler, then editor of Liberty, printed a piece in his magazine, called "Alcoholics and God."
54.
... God alike
abhor suicide.
12&12 p.64,
Step Six
55.
God alone
can judge our sex situation.
BB p.69,
How It Works
56.
... God alone
than with one who might ...
BB p.63,
How It Works
57.
... God and
another human being.
12&12 p.59,
Step Five
We'd have to have outside help if we were surely to know and admit the truth about ourselves --
the help of God and another human being.
58.
... God and
another human being.
12&12 p.108,
Step Twelve
We knew we would have to quit
the deadly business of
living alone with our conflicts, and in honesty
confide these to God and another human being.
59.
... God and
call Him by name.
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
From great numbers of such experiences, we could
predict that the doubter
who still claimed that he
hadn't got the "spiritual
angle," and who still considered his well-loved A.A. group the higher power, would presently love God and call Him by name.
60.
... God and
clean house.
BB p.98,
Working With Others
61.
... God and
defy Him, too.
12&12 p.31,
Step Two
62.
... God and
dominate those about us, or ...
12&12 p.115,
Step Twelve
Either we had tried to play God and dominate those about us, or
we had insisted on being
overdependent upon
them.
63.
... God --
and in finding God had found ...
BB p.158,
A Vision For You
64.
... God, and
in prayer secure from Him ...
12&12 p.103,
Step Eleven
Of course, it is reasonable and understandable that the question is often asked: "Why can't we take a specific and troubling dilemma straight to God, and in prayer secure from Him sure and definite answers to our requests?"
65.
... God --
and in this sense it includes ...
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
66.
... God, and
its bestowal upon others like ...
12&12 p.151,
Tradition Five
This is our gift from God, and
its bestowal upon others like us is the one aim that today animates A.A.'s all around the globe.
67.
... God and
man, this emerging from isolation ...
12&12 p.62,
Step Five
This feeling of being at
one with God and man, this emerging from isolation through the open and honest sharing of our terrible burden of guilt, brings us to a resting place where we may prepare ourselves for the following Steps toward a full and meaningful sobriety.
68.
... God and
man we understood not at ...
12&12 p.32,
Step Two
69.
... God and
that any success we may ...
12&12 p.92,
Step Ten
As an insurance against "big-shot-ism" we can often check ourselves by remembering that we are today sober only by the grace of God and that any success we may be having is
far more His success than ours.
70.
... God and
the people about us.
BB p.77,
Into Action
71.
... God are
not answers at all.
12&12 p.103,
Step Eleven
72.
... God as
He may express Himself in ...
12&12 p.132,
Tradition Two
"For our group purpose
there is but one ultimate
authority -- a loving
God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
73.
... God as
He may express Himself in ...
12&12 p.132,
Tradition Two
These practical folk then
read Tradition Two, and learn that the sole authority in A.A. is a loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience.
74.
... God as
He may express Himself in ...
12&12 p.189,
Tradition Two (Long)
Two -- For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a
loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
75.
... God as
He may express Himself in ...
BB p.562(564),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
Two -- For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a
loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
76.
... God as
He may express Himself in ...
BB p.563(565),
Appendix I, The A.A. Tradition
2. For our group purpose
there is but one ultimate
authority -- a loving
God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
77.
... God, as
I then understood Him, to ...
BB p.13,
Bill's Story
78.
... God as
I understood Him, to give ...
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
But when I became willing
to clean house and then asked a Higher Power, God as I understood Him, to give me
release, my obsession
to drink vanished.
79.
... God as
they never were before.
12&12 p.62,
Step Five
80.
... God as
we understand Him.
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
81.
... God as
we understand Him, handle them ...
12&12 p.113,
Step Twelve
Can we now, with the help of
God as we understand
Him, handle them as well and
as bravely as our nonalcoholic friends
often do?
82.
... 'God as
we understand Him' tell us ...
12&12 p.59,
Step Five
83.
... God as
we understood Him."
12&12 p.34,
Step Three
84.
... God as
we understood Him."
12&12 p.35,
Step Three
In fact, the effectiveness of the whole A.A. program will rest upon how well and earnestly we have
tried to come to "a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
85.
... God as
we understood Him.
12&12 p.107,
Step Twelve
Consequently, in Step
Three we turned our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
86.
... God as
we understood Him.
BB p.47,
We Agnostics
At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation with
God as we understood
Him.
87.
... God as
we understood Him.
BB p.59,
How It Works
88.
... God as
we understood Him.
BB p.60,
How It Works
Being convinced, we were
at Step Three, which is that
we decided to turn our will and our life over to God as we understood Him.
89.
... God as
we understood Him, praying only ...
12&12 p.96,
Step Eleven
"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."
90.
... God as
we understood Him, praying only ...
BB p.59,
How It Works
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.
91.
... God as
we were increasingly better able ...
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
The persistent use of meditation and prayer, we
found, did open the channel so that where there had been a trickle, there now was a river which led to sure power and safe guidance from God as we were increasingly
better able to understand Him.
92.
... God as
you understand God.
BB p.164,
A Vision For You
93.
... God at
all.
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
94.
... God at
once to remove them.
BB p.84,
Into Action
95.
... God be
the final judge.
BB p.70,
How It Works
96.
... God bless
you!"
BB p.121,
To Wives
97.
... God bless
you and keep you -- until ...
BB p.164,
A Vision For You
98.
... "God" brought
up a particular idea of ...
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
To others, the word "God" brought up a particular idea of Him with which someone
had tried to impress them
during childhood.
99.
... God, but
suspects that God doesn't believe ...
12&12 p.32,
Step Two
100.
... God by
ourselves are twofold.
12&12 p.59,
Step Five
101.
... God can
-- and will, under certain conditions ...
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
Of course, the often disputed question of whether God can -- and will, under certain conditions -- remove defects of character will be answered with a prompt affirmative by almost any A.A. member.
102.
... God can
be proved; the agnostic says ...
12&12 p.28,
Step Two
Religion says the existence of God can be proved; the agnostic says it can't be proved; and
the atheist claims proof of the nonexistence of God.
103.
... God can
do for us what we ...
12&12 p.76,
Step Seven
104.
... God can
enter them and expel their ...
12&12 p.64,
Step Six
As they are humbled by the terrific beating administered by alcohol, the grace of God can enter them and expel their obsession.
105.
... God can
remove whatever self-will has blocked ...
BB p.71,
How It Works
106.
... God can
solve the age-old riddle of ...
BB p.116,
To Wives
107.
God comes
to most men gradually, but ...
BB p.14,
Bill's Story
108.
... God-conscious.
BB p.85,
Into Action
109.
... "God-consciousness."
BB p.568(570),
Appendix II, Spiritual Experience
110.
... "God-consciousness" followed
at once by a vast ...
BB p.567(569),
Appendix II, Spiritual Experience
Though it was not our intention to create such an impression, many alcoholics have nevertheless concluded that in order to
recover they must acquire an immediate and
overwhelming "God-consciousness" followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook.
111.
... God-consciousness within.
BB p.13,
Bill's Story
112.
... God could
and would if He were ...
BB p.60,
How It Works
(c) That God could and would if He were sought.
113.
... God could
enter us and expel the ...
12&12 p.32,
Step Two
The fact was we really
hadn't cleaned house so
that the grace of God could
enter us and expel the obsession.
114.
... God deserted
us.
12&12 p.31,
Step Two
More often, though, we had met up with some major calamity, and to our way of thinking lost out because God deserted us.
115.
God didn't
do it.
BB p.133,
The Family Afterward
God didn't do it.
116.
... God discipline
us in the simple way ...
BB p.88,
Into Action
117.
... God does
"move in a mysterious way ...
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
He will also report that out of every season of grief or suffering, when
the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered,
and that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God does "move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform."
118.
... God does
not make too hard terms ...
BB p.46,
We Agnostics
119.
... God doesn't
believe in him.
12&12 p.32,
Step Two
120.
... God doesn't
seem as embarrassing as facing ...
12&12 p.60,
Step Five
121.
God either
is, or He isn't.
BB p.53,
We Agnostics
God either is, or He isn't.
122.
... God's ever
advancing Creation, we agnostics and ...
BB p.49,
We Agnostics
Instead of regarding
ourselves as intelligent agents, spearheads of God's ever advancing Creation, we agnostics
and atheists chose to believe that our human intelligence was the last
word, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end of all.
123.
... God existed.
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
124.
... God exists
have no faith whatever He ...
12&12 p.25,
Step Two
Some of us won't believe in God, others can't, and still others who do believe that God exists have no faith whatever He will perform this miracle.
125.
... God's explicit
guidance on matters ranging all ...
12&12 p.103,
Step Eleven
We have seen A.A.'s ask with much earnestness and faith for
God's explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or
financial crisis to correcting a minor personal fault, like tardiness.
126.
God fashioned
us that way.
12&12 p.117,
Step Twelve
127.
... God first,
we had deprived ourselves of ...
12&12 p.75,
Step Seven
128.
... God for
inspiration, an intuitive thought or ...
BB p.86,
Into Action
129.
... God for
replies, is a particularly disconcerting ...
12&12 p.103,
Step Eleven
The A.A., or indeed any man, who tries to run his life rigidly by this kind of prayer, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual.
130.
... God for
the blessings we have received ...
12&12 p.95,
Step Ten
Having so considered our day, not omitting to take due note of things well done, and having searched our hearts with neither fear nor favor, we can truly thank God for the blessings we have
received and sleep in good conscience.
131.
... God, for
we have re-opened a subject ...
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
But his face falls when we speak of spiritual matters, especially when
we mention God, for we have
re-opened a subject which our man thought he had neatly evaded or entirely ignored.
132.
... God's forgiveness
and inquire what corrective measures ...
BB p.86,
Into Action
After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective
measures should be taken.
133.
... God from
the bottom of our heart ...
BB p.75,
Into Action
134.
... God gave
us brains to use.
BB p.86,
Into Action
Under these conditions
we can employ our mental
faculties with assurance, for after all
God gave us brains to use.
135.
... God-given.
12&12 p.42,
Step Four
So these desires -- for the sex relation, for material and emotional
security, and for companionship -- are perfectly necessary and
right, and surely God-given.
136.
... God-given and
therefore good, neither to be ...
BB p.69,
How It Works
We remembered always
that our sex powers were
God-given and therefore good, neither to be used lightly or selfishly nor to be despised and loathed.
137.
... God-given instincts.
12&12 p.49,
Step Four
Pride lures us into making demands upon ourselves or upon others which cannot be met without perverting or misusing
our God-given instincts.
138.
... God goes
deep!
BB p.114,
To Wives
139.
... God's grace
has nevertheless flourished.
12&12 p.177,
Tradition Ten
That is the spiritual climate in which A.A. was born, and by God's grace has nevertheless
flourished.
140.
... God's grace,
to take these troubles in ...
12&12 p.114,
Step Twelve
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.
141.
... "God grant
me the serenity to accept ...
12&12 p.41,
Step Three
In all times of emotional disturbance
or indecision, we can pause, ask for quiet, and in the stillness
simply say: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to
know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done."
142.
God grant
us the serenity to accept ...
12&12 p.125,
Step Twelve
God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, Courage to change the things we can, And wisdom to
know the difference.
143.
... God had
done for him what he ...
BB p.11,
Bill's Story
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.
144.
... God had
found himself.
BB p.158,
A Vision For You
145.
... God had
reserved this privilege to the ...
BB p.51,
We Agnostics
146.
God had
restored his sanity.
BB p.57,
We Agnostics
147.
... God had
told them.
12&12 p.60,
Step Five
Lacking both practice and humility,
they had deluded themselves and were able to
justify the most arrant
nonsense on the ground
that this was what God had told them.
148.
... God's hands.
BB p.120,
To Wives
149.
... God's hands
or he would soon start ...
BB p.80,
Into Action
He saw that he had to place
the outcome in God's hands or he would soon start drinking again, and all would be lost anyhow.
150.
... God's hands,
the dark past is the ...
BB p.124,
The Family Afterward
Cling to the thought that,
in God's hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you
have -- the key to life and happiness for others.
151.
... God's hands
were better than anything we ...
BB p.100,
Working With Others
When we look back, we realize that the things
which came to us when we put ourselves in God's hands were better than anything we could have planned.
152.
God has
abundantly supplied this world with ...
BB p.133,
The Family Afterward
God has abundantly supplied this world with fine doctors, psychologists, and practitioners of various kinds.
153.
... God has
accomplished the miracle where they ...
BB p.128,
The Family Afterward
While grateful that he drinks no more, they may not like the idea that God has accomplished the miracle where they failed.
154.
... God, has
brought us to where we ...
12&12 p.146,
Tradition Four
These very deviations created a vast process of trial and error which, under the grace of God, has brought us to where we stand
today.
155.
... God has
completely removed from any human ...
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
So far as we know, it is nowhere on the record that
God has completely removed from any human being all his natural drives.
156.
God has
either removed your husband's liquor ...
BB p.120,
To Wives
157.
... God has
enabled him to make a ...
12&12 p.109,
Step Twelve
His own character may still be gravely defective, but he somehow
knows that God has enabled him to make a mighty beginning, and he
senses that he stands at
the edge of new mysteries, joys, and experiences of which he had never even dreamed.
158.
... God has
failed to fulfill their demands.
12&12 p.28,
Step Two
There will be those who have
drifted into indifference, those filled with self-sufficiency who have cut themselves off, those who
have become prejudiced
against religion, and
those who are downright
defiant because God has failed to fulfill their demands.
159.
... God has
not delivered us the good ...
12&12 p.31,
Step Two
Sometimes it's because
God has not delivered us
the good things of life which we specified, as
a greedy child makes an impossible list for Santa Claus.
160.
... God has
proceeded to do exactly that.
12&12 p.64,
Step Six
161.
... God has
wrought miracles among us, we ...
BB p.133,
The Family Afterward
Try to remember that though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist.
162.
... God, He
certainly hasn't done anything for ...
BB p.56,
We Agnostics
Our friend's gorge rose as he bitterly cried out: "If there is a God, He certainly hasn't done anything for me!"
163.
... God he
thinks there is?
12&12 p.35,
Step Three
No matter how much one wishes to try, exactly how can he turn his own will and his own life over to the care of whatever God he thinks there is?
164.
... God's help.
12&12 p.98,
Step Eleven
It is a step in the development of that kind
of humility that makes it
possible for us to receive God's help.
165.
... God's help.
BB p.62,
How It Works
We had to have God's help.
166.
... God's help
and direction.
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
All this should be very encouraging news for those who recoil from prayer because they don't believe in it, or because
they feel themselves cut off from God's help and direction.
167.
... God's help
and guidance -- meanwhile resolving to ...
12&12 p.86,
Step Nine
Do we lay the matter before our sponsor or spiritual adviser, earnestly asking God's help and guidance -- meanwhile resolving to do the right
thing when it becomes clear, cost what it may?
168.
... God's help,
but the help doesn't come.
12&12 p.32,
Step Two
169.
... God's help,
the knowledge that at home ...
12&12 p.124,
Step Twelve
Service, gladly rendered, obligations
squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with
God's help, the knowledge that at home or in
the world outside we are
partners in a common effort, the well-understood fact that in
God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that
love freely given surely brings a full return, the certainty that
we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we
need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things -- these are
the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right
living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
170.
... God's help
to carry these lessons over ...
12&12 p.94,
Step Ten
Here we need only recognize that we did act or
think badly, try to visualize how we might
have done better, and resolve with God's help to carry these lessons over into tomorrow, making, of course, any amends still neglected.
171.
... God's help,
we calmly accepted our lot, ...
12&12 p.122,
Step Twelve
When, with God's help, we calmly accepted our lot, then we found we could live at peace with ourselves and show others who still suffered the same fears that they could get over them, too.
172.
... God helping
a little now and then, ...
12&12 p.75,
Step Seven
The notion that we would still live our own lives, God helping a little now and then, began to evaporate.
173.
... God Himself.
12&12 p.31,
Step Two
174.
... God Himself.
12&12 p.116,
Step Twelve
When we developed still
more, we discovered the
best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself.
175.
... God; His
gift to us would be ...
12&12 p.129,
Tradition One
Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; our world arteries would no longer carry the life-giving grace of God; His gift to us would be spent aimlessly.
176.
... God --
I obeyed."
12&12 p.138,
Tradition Two
177.
... "God, I
offer myself to Thee -- to ...
BB p.63,
How It Works
Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood
Him: "God, I offer myself to Thee -- to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt.
178.
... God idea
did.
BB p.52,
We Agnostics
But the God idea did.
179.
... God idea
entirely.
BB p.45,
We Agnostics
180.
... God in
a hurry, or exhibit amazing ...
BB p.128,
The Family Afterward
He may demand that the family find God in a hurry, or exhibit amazing indifference to them and say he is above worldly considerations.
181.
... God in
human affairs was negligible, the ...
BB p.11,
Bill's Story
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.
182.
... God in
our lives.
BB p.130,
The Family Afterward
This dream world has been replaced by a great sense of purpose, accompanied by a growing consciousness
of the power of God in our lives.
183.
... God in
their lives -- these things are ...
12&12 p.110,
Step Twelve
To watch the eyes of men and women open with wonder as they move from darkness into light, to see their lives quickly fill with new purpose and meaning, to see whole families reassembled,
to see the alcoholic outcast received back into his community in
full citizenship, and
above all to watch these people awaken to the presence of a loving God in their lives -- these things are the substance
of what we receive as we carry A.A.'s message to the next alcoholic.
184.
... God's intention
for us.
12&12 p.40,
Step Three
We had tried to bombard
our problems with it instead of attempting to
bring it into agreement
with God's intention for
us.
185.
... God is
concerned with us humans when ...
BB p.12,
Bill's Story
186.
... God is
doing for us what we ...
BB p.84,
Into Action
187.
... God is
everything or else He is ...
BB p.53,
We Agnostics
When we became alcoholics, crushed by a
self-imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to
fearlessly face the proposition that either
God is everything or else He is nothing.
188.
... God is
today the most important fact ...
BB p.51,
We Agnostics
When many hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of the Presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith.
189.
... God, it
is not probable that we ...
BB p.87,
Into Action
Being still inexperienced and having just made conscious contact with
God, it is not probable
that we are going to be inspired at all times.
190.
... God's kingdom.
12&12 p.98,
Step Eleven
191.
... God knows
all about us, we are ...
12&12 p.60,
Step Five
Though we may at first be
startled to realize
that God knows all about us,
we are apt to get used to that quite quickly.
192.
... God knows
what trouble he'll brew.
12&12 p.142,
Tradition Three
193.
... God lovingly
watches over us.
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
194.
... God made
him that way.
12&12 p.64,
Step Six
195.
... God made
these things possible, and we ...
BB p.55,
We Agnostics
196.
God makes
that possible.
BB p.62,
How It Works
197.
... God might
give him mastery.
BB p.156,
A Vision For You
198.
... "God nonsense."
12&12 p.143,
Tradition Three
199.
... god of
intellect displaced the God of ...
12&12 p.29,
Step Two
200.
... God of
our fathers.
12&12 p.29,
Step Two
201.
... God of
Reason.
BB p.54,
We Agnostics
202.
... God of
the Atom, maybe, hot and ...
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
No doubt the universe had a "first cause" of some sort, the God of the Atom, maybe, hot and cold by turns.
203.
... God on
hangover mornings and sworn that ...
BB p.158,
A Vision For You
I've prayed to God on hangover mornings and sworn that I'd never touch another drop but by nine o'clock I'd be boiled as an
owl."
204.
... God on
his side.
BB p.129,
The Family Afterward
Dad may feel that for years his drinking has placed him on the wrong side of every argument, but that now he has
become a superior person with God on his side.
205.
... God --
or, if you like, a Higher ...
12&12 p.34,
Step Three
Like all the remaining Steps, Step Three calls for affirmative action, for
it is only by action that we can cut away the self-will which has always blocked the entry of God -- or, if you like, a Higher Power -- into our lives.
206.
... God, others
can't, and still others who ...
12&12 p.25,
Step Two
Some of us won't believe in God, others can't, and still others who do believe that God exists have no faith whatever He will perform this miracle.
207.
"God ought
to be able to do ...
BB p.158,
A Vision For You
208.
... God ourselves.
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
We could actually have earnest religious beliefs which remained barren because we were still trying to play God ourselves.
209.
... God out
of our lives.
12&12 p.34,
Step Three
210.
... God's people
we stand on our feet; ...
BB p.83,
Into Action
211.
... God personal
to me this feeling was ...
BB p.12,
Bill's Story
When the thought was expressed that there might be a God personal to me this feeling was intensified.
212.
... God personal
to me, who was love, ...
BB p.10,
Bill's Story
When they talked of a God personal to me, who was love,
superhuman strength
and direction, I became
irritated and my mind snapped shut against such a theory.
213.
... God place
in us the best understanding ...
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
We ask simply that throughout the day God place in us the best understanding of
His will that we can have for that day, and that we be given the grace by which we may carry it
out.
214.
... God, plus
enough willingness, honesty and humility ...
BB p.13,
Bill's Story
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.
215.
... God rather
than our finite selves.
BB p.68,
How It Works
216.
... God's reality,
the nourishment of His strength, ...
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
We all need the light of
God's reality, the nourishment of His strength, and the atmosphere of His grace.
217.
... God remove
all these defects of character."
12&12 p.63,
Step Six
218.
... God remove
all these defects of character" ...
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
So Step Six -- "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character" --
is A.A.'s way of stating the best possible attitude one can take in order to make a beginning on this lifetime job.
219.
... God remove
all these defects of character.
BB p.59,
How It Works
220.
... God remove
from us all the things ...
BB p.76,
Into Action
221.
... God remove
the mania for alcohol from ...
12&12 p.64,
Step Six
So in a very complete and
literal way, all A.A.'s have "become entirely ready" to have
God remove the mania for alcohol from their
lives.
222.
... God restored
us all to our right ...
BB p.57,
We Agnostics
223.
... God's sake,
how did I ever get ...
BB p.24,
There Is A Solution
How often have some of us begun to drink in this nonchalant way, and after the third or fourth, pounded on the bar and said to ourselves, "For God's sake, how did I ever get started again?"
224.
God save
me from being angry.
BB p.67,
How It Works
225.
... God's scheme
of things -- these are the ...
12&12 p.124,
Step Twelve
Service, gladly rendered, obligations
squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with
God's help, the knowledge that at home or in
the world outside we are
partners in a common effort, the well-understood fact that in
God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that
love freely given surely brings a full return, the certainty that
we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we
need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things -- these are
the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right
living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
226.
... God seemed
heavy or even unjust, new ...
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
He will also report that out of every season of grief or suffering, when
the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered,
and that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God does "move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform."
227.
... God's sight
all human beings are important, ...
12&12 p.124,
Step Twelve
Service, gladly rendered, obligations
squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with
God's help, the knowledge that at home or in
the world outside we are
partners in a common effort, the well-understood fact that in
God's sight all human beings are important, the proof that
love freely given surely brings a full return, the certainty that
we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons, the surety that we
need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things -- these are
the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right
living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance, no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
228.
... God, sounds
good in the speaking, but ...
12&12 p.37,
Step Three
This brave philosophy,
wherein each man plays God, sounds good in the speaking, but it
still has to meet the acid test: how well does it actually work?
229.
... God's specific
direction.
12&12 p.104,
Step Eleven
With the best of intentions, he tends to force his own will into all sorts of situations and problems
with the comfortable assurance that he is acting under God's specific direction.
230.
... God still
aroused a certain antipathy.
BB p.12,
Bill's Story
231.
... God stuff!
12&12 p.143,
Tradition Three
232.
... "God-sufficiency" worked
with them, we began to ...
BB p.52,
We Agnostics
When others showed us that
"God-sufficiency" worked with them, we began to
feel like those who had insisted the
Wrights would never fly.
233.
... God take
us to better things, we ...
BB p.70,
How It Works
If we are sorry for what we have done, and have the honest desire to let God take us to better things, we believe we will be forgiven and will have learned our lesson.
234.
... god that
his universe knows!
12&12 p.25,
Step Two
How he does cherish the thought that man, risen so majestically
from a single cell in the primordial ooze, is the spearhead of evolution
and therefore the only god that his universe knows!
235.
... God that's
over!
12&12 p.73,
Step Seven
When we have finally admitted without reservation that we are powerless over alcohol, we are apt to breathe a great sigh of relief, saying, "Well, thank God that's over!
236.
... God that
she'd change her mind, but ...
12&12 p.31,
Step Two
The girl we wanted to marry had other notions; we prayed God that she'd change her mind, but she didn't.
237.
... God's that
we begin to use it ...
12&12 p.40,
Step Three
238.
... God the
daily basis of living.
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
We never thought of making honesty, tolerance, and true love of man and God the daily basis of living.
239.
... God, the
desire must come from within.
BB p.95,
Working With Others
240.
... God, there
would have been thousands more ...
BB p.25,
There Is A Solution
241.
God, they
believe, almost owes this recompense ...
BB p.123,
The Family Afterward
242.
... God to
direct our thinking, especially asking ...
BB p.86,
Into Action
Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it
be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.
243.
... God to
do it our way.
12&12 p.102,
Step Eleven
244.
... God to
explain it.
BB p.49,
We Agnostics
We read wordy books and indulge in windy arguments, thinking we believe this
universe needs no God to explain it.
245.
... God to
give it to us on ...
12&12 p.104,
Step Eleven
We discover that we do receive guidance for our
lives to just about the extent that we stop making demands upon God to give it to us on order and on
our terms.
246.
... God to
help and the drastic step ...
BB p.80,
Into Action
If we have obtained permission, have consulted with others, asked God to help and the drastic step is indicated we must not shrink.
247.
... God to
help us be willing.
BB p.76,
Into Action
248.
... God to
help us show them the ...
BB p.67,
How It Works
We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we
would cheerfully grant
a sick friend.
249.
... God to
mold our ideals and help ...
BB p.69,
How It Works
250.
... God to
our fellows nor would we ...
12&12 p.116,
Step Twelve
If we really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care.
251.
... God, to
ourselves, and to another human ...
12&12 p.55,
Step Five
252.
... God, to
ourselves, and to another human ...
12&12 p.78,
Step Eight
It had been embarrassing enough when in confidence
we had admitted these things to God, to ourselves, and to another
human being.
253.
... God, to
ourselves, and to another human ...
BB p.59,
How It Works
254.
... God, to
ourselves, and to another human ...
BB p.72,
Into Action
This requires action on
our part, which, when completed, will mean that we have admitted to
God, to ourselves, and to
another human being, the exact nature of our defects.
255.
... God to
remove our shortcomings such as ...
12&12 p.108,
Step Twelve
Then, in Step Seven, we humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings such as He
could or would under the conditions of the day we asked.
256.
... God to
stop that.
12&12 p.31,
Step Two
257.
... God's universe.
BB p.25,
There Is A Solution
The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and
effective spiritual
experiences(*) which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God's universe.
258.
... God wants
us to be happy, joyous, ...
BB p.133,
The Family Afterward
259.
... God was
a part of our make-up, ...
BB p.55,
We Agnostics
We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend.
260.
... God was
going to be our Director.
BB p.62,
How It Works
261.
... God was
looking after becomes a military ...
12&12 p.113,
Step Twelve
Maybe there are serious domestic or romantic difficulties, or perhaps that boy we thought God was looking after becomes a military casualty.
262.
... God, we
couldn't very well play God ...
12&12 p.116,
Step Twelve
If we really depended upon God, we couldn't very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care.
263.
... God, we
mean your own conception of ...
BB p.47,
We Agnostics
264.
... God; we
merely have an approach that ...
BB p.95,
Working With Others
265.
... God, we
were still the victims of ...
12&12 p.121,
Step Twelve
When a job still looked like a mere means of getting money rather than an opportunity for service, when the acquisition of money for
financial independence looked more important than a right dependence upon God, we were still the victims of unreasonable fears.
266.
... God what
we should do about each ...
BB p.69,
How It Works
267.
... God whatever.
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
268.
... God when
it was all too plain ...
12&12 p.60,
Step Five
How many times have we heard well-intentioned people claim the guidance of God when it was all too plain that
they were sorely mistaken.
269.
... God which
can sustain and strengthen us ...
12&12 p.113,
Step Twelve
Well, we surely have a chance if we switch from "two-stepping" to "twelve-stepping," if we are
willing to receive that
grace of God which can sustain and strengthen
us in any catastrophe.
270.
... God who
has stolen dad's affections.
BB p.128,
The Family Afterward
271.
... God who
knew or cared about human ...
12&12 p.97,
Step Eleven
272.
... God's will.
12&12 p.40,
Step Three
All of the Twelve Steps require sustained and personal exertion to conform to their principles and so, we trust, to God's will.
273.
... God will
certainly forgive our derelictions.
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
274.
God will
constantly disclose more to you ...
BB p.164,
A Vision For You
275.
God will
determine that, so you must ...
BB p.164,
A Vision For You
276.
... God's will
for the person for whom ...
12&12 p.104,
Step Eleven
Such prayers, of course, are fundamentally good acts, but often they are based upon a supposition that we know
God's will for the person for whom we pray.
277.
... God's will
for us.
12&12 p.69,
Step Six
278.
... God's will
into all of our activities.
BB p.85,
Into Action
279.
... God's will
is for other people.
12&12 p.104,
Step Eleven
280.
... God will
keep you unharmed.
BB p.102,
Working With Others
281.
... God will
not enter to expel our ...
12&12 p.57,
Step Five
It seems plain that the grace of God will not enter to expel our destructive obsessions until we are willing to try this.
282.
... God's will,
not our own, in the ...
12&12 p.103,
Step Eleven
Just saying it over and over will often enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of all -- our search for God's will, not our own, in the moment of stress.
283.
... God will
restore us to sanity if ...
12&12 p.33,
Step Two
True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith, and every A.A. meeting is an assurance
that God will restore us to sanity if we
rightly relate ourselves to Him.
284.
... God will
show us how to take ...
BB p.67,
How It Works
We cannot be helpful to all people, but at least God will show
us how to take a kindly and
tolerant view of each and every one.
285.
... God will
show you how to have.
BB p.117,
To Wives
We urge you to try our program, for nothing will be so helpful to your husband as the radically
changed attitude toward him which God will show you how to have.
286.
... God will
take care of them?
BB p.128,
The Family Afterward
287.
... God's will,
the moment we begin to ...
12&12 p.105,
Step Eleven
The moment we catch even a glimpse of God's will, the moment we begin to see truth, justice, and love as the real and eternal things in life, we are no longer deeply disturbed by all
the seeming evidence to
the contrary that surrounds us in purely human affairs.
288.
... God's will
was for us; instead we ...
12&12 p.31,
Step Two
At no time had we asked what God's will was for us; instead we
had been telling Him what it ought to be.
289.
... God's will,
was missing.
12&12 p.72,
Step Seven
290.
... God's will,
whatever it is, be done ...
12&12 p.104,
Step Eleven
It is A.A.'s experience
that particularly in these cases we ought to pray that God's will, whatever it is, be done for others as well as for ourselves.
291.
... God willing,
it shall not be repeated.
BB p.81,
Into Action
292.
... God willing
-- shall sustain us in unity ...
12&12 p.131,
Tradition One
They live today in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous,
which -- God willing -- shall sustain us in unity for so long as He may need us.
293.
... God willing,
that he might be able ...
12&12 p.101,
Step Eleven
294.
... God wishes
for us here on earth.
12&12 p.65,
Step Six
When they drive us blindly, or we willfully
demand that they supply us
with more satisfactions or pleasures than are possible or due us, that is
the point at which we depart from the degree of perfection that God wishes for us here on earth.
295.
... God, with
hearts and minds attuned to ...
BB p.161,
A Vision For You
Being wrecked in the same vessel, being restored and united under one God, with hearts and minds attuned to the welfare of
others, the things which
matter so much to some people no longer signify much to them.
296.
... God, with
His grace, wisdom, and love.
12&12 p.101,
Step Eleven
But its object is always the same: to improve our conscious contact with God, with His grace, wisdom, and love.
297.
... God within
its walls.
BB p.162,
A Vision For You
298.
... God's world
by mistake.
BB p.417(449),
Acceptance
Passages from the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous
and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
are reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
The A.A. Preamble, copyright ©
The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., is reprinted with permission.
Permission to reprint does not in any way imply affiliation with or
endorsement by either Alcoholics Anonymous or The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.
Copyright © 2005-2012, Recovery Press LLC; All Rights Reserved.