.....Alcoholics
Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience,
strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common
problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There
are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through
our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination,
politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any
controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary
purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
Copyright © The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.
The 1940 AA Preamble
We
are gathered here because we are faced with the fact that we are
powerless over alcohol and unable to do anything about it without the
help of a Power greater than ourselves.
We
feel that each person's religious views, if any, are his own affair. The
simple purpose of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous is to show what
may be done to enlist the aid of a Power greater than ourselves
regardless of what our individual conception of that Power may be.
In
order to form a habit of depending upon and referring all we do to that
Power, we must at first apply ourselves with some diligence. By often
repeating these acts, they become habitual and the help rendered becomes
natural to us.
We have all come to know that as alcoholics we are suffering from a serious illness for which medicine has no cure.
Our
condition may be the result of an allergy which makes us different from
other people. It has never been by any treatment with which we are
familiar, permanently cured. The only relief we have to offer is
absolute abstinence, the second meaning of A.A.
There
are no dues or fees. The only requirement for membership is a desire to
stop drinking. Each member squares his debt by helping others to
recover.
An
Alcoholics Anonymous is an alcoholic who through application and
adherence to the A.A. program has forsworn the use of any and all
alcoholic beverage in any form.
The
moment he takes so much as one drop of beer, wine, spirits or any other
alcoholic beverage he automatically loses all status as a member of
Alcoholics Anonymous.
A.A.
is not interested in sobering up drunks who are not sincere in their
desire to remain sober for all time. Not being reformers, we offer our
experience only to those who want it.
We
have a way out on which we can absolutely agree and on which we can join
in harmonious action. Rarely have we seen a person fail who has
thoroughly followed our program. Those who do not recover are people who
will not or simply cannot give themselves to this simple program. Now
you may like this program or you may not, but the fact remains, it
works. It is our only chance to recover.
There
is a vast amount of fun in the A.A. fellowship. Some people might be
shocked at our seeming worldliness and levity but just underneath there
lies a deadly earnestness and a full realization that we must put first
things first and with each of us the first thing is our alcoholic
problem. To drink is to die. Faith must work twenty-four hours a day in
and through us or we perish.
In
order to set our tone for this meeting I ask that we bow our heads in a
few moments of silent prayer and meditation. I wish to remind you that
whatever is said at this meeting expresses our own individual opinion as
of today and as of up to this moment.
We
do not speak for A.A. as a whole and you are free to agree or disagree
as you see fit, in fact, it is suggested that you pay no attention to
anything which might not be reconciled with what is in the A.A. Big
Book.
If
you don't have a Big Book, it's time you bought you one. Read it, study
it, live with it, loan it, scatter it, and then learn from it what it
means to be an A.A.
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