Sunday, March 04, 2012

The Promises of OA

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
        Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us — sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.
"The Promises; Alcoholic Anonymous" (‘The Big Book’) pages 83 – 84

 I needed to talk with you today about the promises.  In a few months I will be doing a talk on the hidden promises of OA in a workshop.  I would like to know your thoughts about it.  If you were going to a workshop on this, what would  you want to learn from it?  Do you know what the hidden promises are and where they are found in the Big Book? Do you like someone to just talk or do you prefer interactive workshops where you can say something as well?  What do you think you would want to gain from this workshop?

Ok... I am going to probably do an interactive workshop since I am that kind of person. I want to learn as well as teach.  Right now I have thoughts of putting one of the promises on card or some kind of item you could take with you.  All of the promises will be on some kind of item.  Everyone will choose an item to take with them and then we will have that person discuss how their promise has either come to be or not and why.  I thik most of the time we know why our promises do not come to be.  For instance, I could get the fact that one of the promises is finding that fear is under control, that it doesn't rule my life.  Then I could close with how through surgery I felt the peace within due to knowing He had it all under control.  What do you think?

Well, almost time to get ready to go to church so I will cloise fo now. Have a blessed day!
Hugs,
Cindy