Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015
"There is no more 'aloneness,' with that awful ache, so deep in the heart of every alcoholic that nothing, before, could ever reach it. That ache is gone and never need return again.
'Now there is a sense of belonging, of being wanted and needed and loved. In return for a bottle and a hangover, we have been given the Keys of the Kingdom." - Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, "Personal Stories, Pioneers of AA," Ch 12 ("The Keys of the Kingdom"), p 312.
Today, no minimizing or taking for granted that we have been given "the keys of the kingdom" by surrendering in Step One and then proceeding to the nuts and bolts of the Program. We also cannot take for granted that the keys given us won't be taken away in a disastrous split second in which we cave into self-pity, anger, remorse or hopelessness and pick up the bottle again. If we do, perhaps the single most anguishing emotion of alcoholism - desperate loneliness - once again will engulf us and all that we have worked for thus far will lay in ruins. But, today, we need not cave into those temptations or our self-defeating character defects if we internalize the Steps and their principles, and they can and will get us through any situation and over any mountain of any height. Today, I will not trade my "keys to the kingdom" for "just one more." And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2015
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