The Golden Link Group in Sagamore Hills, OH

But, when I went to was put in the hospital, I had the good fortune of meeting Moe's. I believe it was the 3rd day I was there. And in 2 years that I've known him, I've been we've gotten to be close friends, and I feel a real privilege to be able to say he is my friend. And I think he's a man that when he read read that 12 step, when he got to the end of it, says practice these principles in all your affairs. He really does.

I'd like to give you more sugar. Don't expect too much. I'm just one of you. That's all. Howard Ben Howe used to say it's wonderful to be sober.

I don't want to forget that. I think that's one of the one of the keynotes of our program is gratitude and honesty. Get honest with yourself and develop man. You know, I can always speak the truth. I don't have to remember what it said.

Shall we pray? Almighty god, we thank you for this great previous day of ours for another chance to live again. Be with us this morning, oh god. Renew our faith and strength, wisdom, and courage, but most of all, keep us humble and grateful. In Jesus name, amen.

I'm 72 years old and sober 32 years. Don't fall over by. We're only doing this a one day at a time. If I sit out there in a crowd, I I always think, I wonder how long that guy been sober that standing up there. And nobody turned out of a clear sky who was sober 10 years.

Just went and I never got drunk tomorrow. Today is the day. I got drunk. So today is the day I'm staying sober. We come to this program to sober up, and if you stay long enough, you find out how to stay sober.

That's the same that we got. And that's the the name of the game, staying sober. I like that little pamphlet. They're all good. Especially, I only 2 leads in a lot of gratitude in that little panel.

15 points for an alcoholic to consider when confront from here to take a drink. Then on the second page, you're in the top line. It said, remember the time when you don't wanna drink at a time to build up strength not to take one as when you do one. Now I'm not gonna take the path for a hitching post, but for guiding post. I like that.

Someone has said, old chest cross, he used to say, I wanna go down memory lane 1 in a while to keep myself to like someone has said that I've got enough marbles left to play the game. An old friend of mine in Canada used to work in a halfway house. He said one day, they brought a young boy in 19 years old on a straight jacket. He's opening it up, and he got him out in good condition. Excuse me.

And when I was on the street, when did a few meetings, how long? I don't know him. But less than 6 months, the poor boy brought was brought back again on a straight jacket, but this time it was different. He was a wet brain. He will be a wet brain, the rest of his life.

And all the alcohol that I consume. God was mercy over with me. So, I like to enjoy the benefit of it. I paid my dues before I got here. Give me.

Have you need a drink right now, I'm gonna wait till tomorrow. The big boobs says, tell your story and tell you how you got a hold of this program and what you're doing about it. Now I think that's very, very important. At the age of 16, on Sunday afternoon, a bunch of us boys, we got an American cider bear in the wintertime without slave riding. Now this was my first drive with any kind of boost to really, you know, what alcohol would do to you.

I took a couple rounds of good hard time. I got the trigger my finger. I found something. We went out, slept right, and we came back after the 2nd round, and I made a complete pig out of myself. I didn't know when to stop drinking.

No. This is so wonderful. I found a new world. And I got drunk. The last drink, they took it away from me and I probably blacked out of it when they took that last drink away from me.

And for the next 24 years after that, I never seen the day that I was able to take one drink of alcohol and shut it off and go about my business. That's it. In my way, I think that's the part of life when alcohol. I don't say I always got drunk. And never once, I was brought in in a good home, right from wrong.

And never once in the 24 years of my drinking did a plan to get drunk because I wanted to get drunk. I'll let Apple Macy used to say, I just wanted to drink to get none of them. I got right, and then I got rotten. That was me. Oh, how rotten.

And the morning after. 27th day of February of 1930, we got married. From 1930 to 1940, I was a drunken farmer. A lot of things happened I'm not gonna tell you about. It's just another rat race drunken story.

Spring in 1931, I'm not proud of these things by all means. We moved home to my wife's parents on the farm. I soon discovered mother or could get make good home home brew and homemade wine. I can leave it alone. I'd drink it just like it belonged to me.

The 2nd year we lived at home, mother-in-law got me to put a barrel aside away for vinegar, and she never got any vinegar. No. I took care of it before I got to vinegar. I drank a lot of wood like whiskey, hard cider, beer, wine, anything that pertain alcohol. Not for the taste of it, but what it done to me.

Now false query that no care feeling, that's what it was. Then get rid of the empty bottles. That was another chore. A woman asked her husband one time and said, where did all these empty bottles come from out here in the garage? The husband said, I don't know.

I never bought an empty bottle of my knife. I didn't either. They were always born. By 1940, give me. I had wrecked myself completely under the table financially bankrupt.

I'm gonna cut it short. You know how to get drunk. That's when I tell you what this wonderful god given program means to me. From 1940 on, my main drink was and white pork. Make me shiver to think about them.

Dry Eats in the morning. The only reason I drank and white pork, I got more mileage per gallon. 26th day of December of 1940, I started to work in a pod in Fredericksburg, Ohio, which I worked for over 7 years, drunken, sober, and oil. That job, I don't know. Then the last two and a half years of my drinking disorder days was very few.

Not many. I don't say I was completely drunk every every day but having a bag so to speak, try to blow it in mid air but didn't always stay that way. The last two and a half years, there was no more happy meeting about it. There was a compulsion I had to be. In this sober moment of my life, thinking about what would take place if I go one single day without alcohol.

Then the middle of May of 1947, something took place, God touched me. When even they went to bed, they couldn't sleep. My wife was still in the room and came out in the room and said, mom, I'm licked. I have to do something about my drinking. I believe she almost fell over backwards.

She never really remarked out of me like that before. Well, if I got too stinking drunk, couldn't out of it, it helped me a little bit. Never once did I tell any human being that I cannot paddle my own canoe. My wife said, well, what do you wanna do? I said, go to some hospital, try to get a start to get away from that farm, and never touch it again.

Here's another marriage. Action is the magic word. That 24 hour book should be in every alcoholic's home. This is my way of thinking. A year and 8 months before I came to the dead end of my road, there's a 3 friends of mine went to Saint Thomas Hospital in Akron for alcoholism.

He came home, covenant agenda, the view meeting. 6 months later, the all three got drunk. This evening, when I surrendered to my wife, she said, where do you wanna go? And he said, where them boys went? 47.

My wife got this hands out of Cleveland. Give us $200 for a 3 day treatment. Later on, we're going out of security gear. I believe that is over, but, Mohammad, big no more. I wouldn't have this wonderful program, this school room of AA to follow-up with.

Here's the second miracle to to place in my life. While me and my wife were looking at this male over, our neighbor came there at the right 10 minutes time to visit my daddy-in-law. I put the bee on him. I didn't have enough money. That's and now before this, it was all hush-hush.

I didn't wanna hear any part of this thing, but now I didn't care who I talked to. I put the beer on my neighbor and said, I'm going to Cleveland doing something about my drinking, but I need money. First of all, he said, I haven't got any money for you. And second, he said, don't go to Cleveland. My uncle's been out there twice, and it's no good.

He's drinking. But he said 5 weeks ago, I was in Worcester. We used to live 10 miles out of Worcester back in 47. Said 5 weeks ago, I was in Worcester. The day this blacksmith surrendered and some boys picked this man up and took him to Columbus.

That man's sober 5 weeks. Again, power and example in the right direction. Action is the matchy word. Action. And I want you to what he has got.

He's he's sober 5 weeks. But he didn't know what it was. Pretty easy. Well, on the Monday morning, on the 1st day, I do me and my wife went to Worcester. I have to tell you this last Sunday yet.

For years, I had to get up first in the morning because to get that eye open, the fighting is all from shakes and nerves and what have you. But that Sunday morning, I don't know why I laid in bed shaking for some reason. Yeah, it was for all for a purpose. My wife got up first and she went, I wonder if I could find this joke. I had a half a gallon jug of white pork, just half full, enough to came over the weekend.

She fought my job. She hid it. Then I got up. My truck was going, oh. What in the world will I do when I hunted up my wife, and I guess I looked must have looked like a raven manicures shaking all over and he said, I never seen him.

I could have never told her what condition it was. I I really was. That we offer a purpose. She said, okay. I'll put it back and she did.

And she went out to the barn, started milking. 5, 10 minutes later, I came out to the barn and had me a milk burger and it was just as calm as no normal, but it had me eye opener. I had to have that. It was a compulsion. It was a must.

But on the Monday morning, we went to Western. We got this address. We brought her the boarded this train and went to Columbus. Landed in Broadstreet home, 1134 East Broad in Columbus. In the evening about sundown, I was about 7, 8 in a bag.

I used to have been for a long time, made all swipes at the door. The first words I asked him is that is this a place where they cure drugs? And he asked a bunch of question about my drinking. I told him part 9, part 2, and he pronounced me an alcoholic. I never heard that before.

To me, it was a Polish word for drunk, but a sick baby. Oh, brother. Any skid row bum any sicker than I was. The second day in the hospital was the first time I ever heard of AA. How grateful, how grateful, hungry.

They treated me wonderful at the hospital. I refused some of my whiskey shots if I could only have one shot every every 2 hours, you know, and I could have all gallon all the way through. It'd be different, but and I came there to sober up, And I went too much of a whiskey drinker in here. Oh, nothing else available. I drank a lot of whiskey.

Yeah. So on the 4th day of June, as we was coming down from the upstairs down in the basement for our lunch period, Johnson brought in a half of this to White Port, and he gave me a good half water glass, a good White Port, and I downed that. And that was my last drink from that day to this. Tomorrow, I don't know. I'm not living tomorrow.

So there was a lot of good talks there. It might have popped up, man. I didn't. The greatest thing I got out of that hospital, you know, I was looking for that magic pill every day. They're gonna give me that magic cure on pill, but I never got it.

When they asked Johnson, how long will this be till this craving will leave me for alcohol? He said, work it on a 24 hour basis and in 24 hours is too long, break it down in 2 hours. Sunday, Sunday, it'll come easier. That was the greatest drawers were gone from the hospital. Sunday, it would come easier.

I came home. I was in soothed even in all my shakes. There's for weeks weeks, taking off their last two and a half year drunk. And I told my wife, now this ain't work. We're gonna tell others.

My wife had the same idea, but going to a meeting oh, they told me there's a meeting in Worcester at the parish house on Friday night, or someday we might go to a meeting, but as days roll on, this came further from my mind about going to an AA meeting. 10 days after I was home from the hospital, here's where the 3rd miracle took place. My sponsor drove 10 miles to invite me to that first meeting. That made an outstanding impression that somebody who are out of their way to do something for me without being faithful. That somebody cared for me.

God only knows where would I be today. It wouldn't have been for that. Just to make that one sing symbol single trip. That done something. Well, we we attended our first meeting.

The 20th day of June of 19 47, man, sponsored to me right up in the front row and, oh, brother, I didn't like that. I don't know what they're going to do but I followed him for a long time after that and there was about 50 people there. And the greatest I don't recall one single word the speaker said. The greatest thing I got it out of that first meeting was the welcome they gave me. The $1,000,000 smile I had on it.

They they had something that I wanted. They were enjoying life without a bottle, and that's what I was looking for. Enjoy life without a bottle. Now you'll never know who's gonna make it. Rover Max, well, he was 3 months ahead of me in the program, And when I left for home that first night, he told the rest of the boys that that guy will never make it.

So if you hear something tonight that you don't like, lay it up on on a show. Maybe someday you wanna use it. If not, so what? I have a choice today. There was many 100 and 100 of mornings.

I did not have a choice in the morning. I had to have a drink and order another day. Today, I have a choice, and I wanna keep that choice in doing it by keeping close contact with this wonderful program of alcoholics and honey. This is it. Am I grateful enough?

Am I grateful enough? Tune up all at the end of the prayer. It's not all a bit of roses. Now, sir, there was a lot of ups and downs but the greatest thing for you is to keep trying. I like the, the the modern said, this too shall pass.

It will. If I put my shoulder to the wheel and give it a good try. 2 to 4 is at the end of the prayers as I pray that I may not be discouraged in the slow progress that I make. It's like Henry Warmer said, it isn't a trying. There's no top wrong.

There's no diploma. There's no graduation in AA. It's surprising when a man can still learn it, distinct to know the law. As always, I'm learning and I'm willing. How much more beautiful the sun looks after dark every day and behind every cloud, there's a silver lining.

If we magnify our blessings, the way we do our troubles, but the different world is with being. Clem Lane from Chicago, let founders say years ago, he dropped something I like to do. If I have a board 365 feet long, he said, nobody can lift that board, but he said, let me cut that board in a 1 foot length. It's not hard one day at a time. I like that.

Doctor Bob made his last talk in the Cleveland Convention in 1950 when he was dying from cancer. 15 minute talk. And I heard that. I mean, the only time I ever been able to do it, attend a world convention. I never got to shake hands with Bob but I heard that and I like the words he said.

Keep it simple. Don't lollize it up. I like them. It stuck with me. Then in the big books, he says, I must keep schooling myself in this story, and I like the little boy came home from school one day and father asked him, son, what did you learn today?

Not much. I have to go back tomorrow. That's what I had to do. Keep doing something about it. Think of my mother was hanging on the school water, man, Drinking days, I didn't have time to think about that model and said, do your best and do it every day.

Let us do our best today. Them are the things that I must keep in mind. Don't forget to be grateful. The 2 prisoners were looking out through the window. 1 of them seen the star, the other seen the man.

Gratitude. Gratitude. That was the boat taking from not too far from shore. On this boat, there was a good swimmer. This good swimmer rescued 18 people 1 by 1 to safety before he exhausted.

And not a one of these 18 peoples came back and told him and thanked him for saving their life. Am I grateful? You have appreciated it. The 10 leopards that was healed. Only one of them told him, after he's grateful and thankful.

So honest and gratitude again is the whole thing in a nutshell. The 2 honest is the backbone of the whole business of this program in my way of thinking. That I can live with myself, that I can face reality. I can watch I have to watch for the pitfall of the blind. None of the things that I have to watch today.

That I can be a better to make conscience than I can live above circumstances. Trust God, clean the house, and help others. The whole program hangs on that six words. Trust God, clean the house, and help others. I'm not sure I belong to this program and not needed than not to belong to this program and needed.

If you can't, and someone has said, if you can't find anything to be grateful for him, just say be grateful for the sake that you escaped. I could be a a whip brain or could be sick foot under. How grateful. How grateful. I heard a speaker say one time, my pay on this early not too much, but the retirement plan is out of this world.

I like that. I like that. I like that. Bill Wilson, the cofounder, led at the in 1965 at Founders Day, he dropped these words and I like them. The sun will never said upon the society of a, of alcoholic.

I like that. That is precious to me. Precious to me. Again, like the old Indian said, I'd sooner have my pot boiling over than not boiling at all. Can I sit at home, lazy rocking chair and say I'm grateful, gratitude demands expression?

Do something about it. Faith is the key that unlocks the store out of god's resource. 216 that in in 24 hour book, it said, faith is not the whole story. There must be service. We must give this thing away.

We wanna keep it. The service too has just give me real purpose in life. Service to the new person. Just go by going to these meeting and absorbing some of these handles that they're around at these AA meeting, talking with other people. You're you're sharing.

Sharing is the key to success. And before you drop out of AA, read November 2nd, the meditation. Mentioned as long as I keep sharing, God is gonna keep me filled. At the end of this meditation, you mentioned, a lake must have an inflow and an outflow in order to be clear. I like that.

Order to be clear. I like that. I think the whole program all sums it up, and it does one story of the rich young lady been going to the doctor time and time and again. All was wrong with the lady. She had too much time and money on her hand.

Finally, that doctor told her to. Over there is a young girl. Try to take care of an old couple. You go and help that young girl to manage life, not to work. If they need any clothes or food, send food and send me the bill, doctor's orders.

The young lady went over there and she seemed to need to pitch right in. She helped her do the work and sent for the sink they needed and paid the bill herself. For God all about you and see. By giving up our self, we're helping ourselves. The man was a read a story on the brighter side some years ago.

The man was sober sometime. He got the feeling I should pass this thing on. Tell others about this wonderful way of life. So one Sunday afternoon, he went to a hangout. We used to spend some time.

There's 2 guy laying on the floor, 2 guy laying on a bed, 1 guy laying in the bathtub loop to the guilt. One guy, he got partly woke up and told him what he found. He left the place. He thought he didn't do a bit of good. 6 months later, a man came up to him at a day 8 meeting.

He said, do you remember me? Yes. Remember, you remember me? He said, no, I don't. He said, remember that Sunday afternoon?

I said, I sure do. And he said, I was under the bed. You'll never know. He was under the bed. So just give me a new lease on life.

It's not too much in life, what I want, it's what I need. These are the same. Someone has said, maybe there are no. Now, how about prayer? How do they use prayer?

Just when you get on a tight spot, all confused down in the dumps like a spare tire, like a fire escape just in case of emergency. Prayer to keep god's treasure out. Another man said, it's just as important to dress up my mind as it is to dress up my body. Prayers to pipeline to god. Conver Lowe used to sail like a trolley car as long as as this trolley car is connected up with the liquid line up above, it's runable.

We can always call on god. In any time, time, day, or night, god's line is never busy. God storehouses never empty, and god is just as close to you as as as you lay. Them are the same thing I must keep in mind. Casey Penney was one of the and said, you must have a lot of problems in your life.

He said, yes. I grew in my difficulties. Them was the same thing I must keep in mind. I grew in my difficulties. And Carl used to say, I wanna pray for potato beach for a hoe.

Do something about it. Do something about The man went into a telephone booth up and I look at all around for the light and couldn't find another man came by and seen this problem and said, close the door and then the light will come on. He give God my undivided attention. Then one more in the line of prayer, the blind man that was healed, the master didn't tell him, open your eyes, you're healed. Now he took a handful of clay and he smeared over his eyes, and did not go to the pool and watch.

Do something about it. Job will do the impossible, it's how possible the possible. I get up in the morning. I get down on man's knees. I ask god for strength and guidance.

For that day, I close my day with saints giving you on man's knees. Why shouldn't I show my appreciation to my maker that he showed me this wonderful way of life whereby I can enjoy life without a bottle? I see a little flash praying drill today that I'm not only. Oh, I forgot the qualification of an alcoholic. To me, it's just like an elevator.

What floor am I gonna get off? Am I gonna go all the way down to the bottom? I don't have to. I see the schedule of Filomena a number of years ago. Chicago's schedule.

Some COVID in the morning, I I had 30 of them then. It's not how much we drink or what we drink or how long we drink. It's what alcohol does to you. Does alcohol make a different person? It does mean I cannot guarantee my behavior if I take one drink of alcohol.

One drink is 2,000,000. It's not enough for me because I am an alcoholic. John Netherrow always said, can you drink successfully? Not me. I know of a man that brings 3 bottles of beer and goes anywhere.

Some of you boys could say, well, I didn't drink every day. I wasn't a wino like you was. But remember, if you didn't get down as far as I did, you haven't got as far back. Something to think about. Someone has said, if you're doubtful, well, you're an alcoholic.

He said, fill 32 1 ounce glasses of whiskey and set them on a shelf and drink one everyday. A whole shouldn't matter. A whole lot of people can, but I can't but I cannot. There's some kind of a makeup within me if I take one drink. I don't want to stop with one drink.

I want more. So, with them, there's a lot of people maybe doing 5, 10, 15, 20 years because before they cross that invisible borderline but not me from the rest I go. A power greater than yourself? Sure, there must be a power. Look at the spring of the year full of flowers, the grass, the leaves come out.

You never seen anybody that planted the rose bush already made air and brought to grow, takes the good old mother, like the guy that made a grain of wheat, decides to shape the color of the farm like an actual grain. He planted this grain of wheat, but it didn't grow. Why? Because it did not have no life. It just got to give the life.

Someone has said, I don't understand everything about this. God didn't but he said, I don't understand everything about the electricity either, but I'm not gonna sit in the dark till I do. I like that. I like what the little girl was asked to recite the 23rd Psalms that the Lord is my shepherd and that's all I want. I like that.

I like that. The man asked a little boy and a bit nice big red apple and said, here's a nice red apple and said, I'll give you this apple if you tell me where god is. Little boy is pretty smart and said, silly in the cell and said, I'll give you a of apple if you tell me where god is not. I like that. I like that.

So I still have a thinking problem. I can't help it to have can't help it to have evil thoughts on my end. My mind, 7th flock of birds will fly over my head, but I can prevent them birds from building nests in my hair, same way with evil thought. Worry is a slight form of atheism. I still catch myself when problem comes up.

I'm going to handle it until I let go and let god. But you see, you're not fine unless you share it. Now meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings. I could tell you some tragedy stories in my last 32 years with men and women that I've seen. How long should I go to these meetings?

Someone has said, how long you wanna stay sober? How long should they go to these meeting? Till you want to go. I like that. Yeah.

I like that. I I met a man in Saint Thomas House for a number of years ago with 11 years under his belt. In big cameras. What happened? Well, he said it was making sweet silence, how they got hard, never got to stop drinking.

Had you been to any meeting then? And they've been to meeting for a long time. Meeting meeting. I met a young man in in Charity Hospital a number of years ago. A young man and I know that 5 years under his belt in pajamas.

In our conversation, I asked him, he said, you have the 24 hour book? Yes. I do but it did not have it open for a couple of years, you know? It's not how much I know about this program. It's put it in practice.

Put it in practice. Out down south to our conference some years ago. I met a man from Huntington, West Virginia. He told me this with his own story. He said, I took a number of trips to Chillicothe due to my drinking.

He said, the last trip that I was there, one day, the guard took him over into a big building. When I went over to that building, he said, now the next time you're coming back, I've got a bed over here with your name on it, and that's where you're gonna land. He took me in that building, and that building, there was 800 men. Snapped beyond compared. He drank too much, too long, too often.

Am I good? Am I good? He came out in a grapevine in the last years. I didn't see it. Somebody told me.

Overall speaking today, not in a 9,000,000 that only 3 out of a 100 alcoholic that recovers Very small, busy. I will am I grateful. You are appreciated, didn't you? Bill Dodson, the 3rd man of this program was sold for 19 and a half years when he died. He was asked, how long should I go to his meeting?

Bill said, I don't know. I don't wanna gamble. Good enough for Bill and it's good enough for me. Bill had another story I liked about staying away from the bottle. I just don't have a tiger tied in my front yard in the bottle of booze.

We don't have the story of the man. 3 men went up the mountain for to be interviewed for an attached driving job. The first guy I was asked to be interviewed and said, how close do you come to the edge of this cliff without going over? The first one said, I can come in in 4 inches. The next one said, how close can you come?

I can come within 2 inches. The third one was asked, how close can you come? He said, I don't know, but I know this much. I'm gonna stay away from the edge of that cliff just as far as I can. That's what build build out and that him in the first dream.

I am me and alcohol just don't make to why should I take a chance? Picked up the story last fall in east side of Cleveland in the line of this. A man was walking along the road on a cold day, and a snake would land along the road. And the snake said, I'm cold. Pick me up.

No. You're a snake. You're gonna bite me. No. I won't bite you.

Pick the snake up, snake up, and put it under his coat. After a while, the snake wiggled around, got one. He reached in and snake bit him. He threw the snake down. You told me you wasn't gonna bite me.

Yes. I know. But you know who I was. I know who the Bible is to. So why should I take any chance?

Out of the inner group office in Akron, some years ago, our 20 year man got drunk and called for help. And the young man was 10, 12 years, a good solid sobriety was called on the scene. And this young man came on the scene, this old drunk said, you young punk, you can't tell me nothing. I read the big book, 24 hour book, and blah blah blah blah blah when he got down blowing off, he said, young young man said, but you forgot one thing. You forgot how to stay sober.

It's not how much you know about the whole bit, the 20 hour book, the big book, and everything. Like I heard a preacher say, it's not how much you know about the Bible. It's living it. That's the whole thing of it all. It's living it.

One of our local men Some years ago, not long ago, I had to talk with him. He said, he was over a year and a half. One evening, he and his wife had a debate argument. I said, I'm gonna show you. I'm gonna get out and get drunk.

Went to the liquor store to buy a bottle. In the parking lots with Phil, they had to make a couple round around the block. By Sudbury, he come to himself. Who am I going to show? He went back home, didn't take a ring.

That's 18 years ago. I don't take a chance. This is too precious to you. Too precious. Stay in right places.

Stay in right place. I read a story in the Grapevine sometime ago. 2 guys, 2 old timers, was sitting in the low, open fire place. One guy said, I feel pretty good. I don't believe I need need any anymore.

And the other guy got up and got a shovel and got a red hot coal out of the fire, laid it over to his side. After a while of those, and look at the life of that pole. It's dead. It's gone. We need one of them.

We need one. So these are the things that I must keep in mind. The 12 step, the far absolute, the with all they had in the beginning of the 1st couple of years, purity, self, and love. And I think that makes a good foundation to build this house of sobriety with the 12 steps. We need them all, every one of them.

Them. First one, like I said, a completely surrender, admitted. It's not a disgrace to have this disease of alcoholism, but it is a disgrace to have him do nothing about it. Then that's step 3. That's a beauty.

Maybe the same to turn your will in your life over to the care of God as you understand. That's the beauty. Regardless of what denomination, what mark of life, we come together for one purpose mainly to reinforce our determination to stay sober. Then step 4, get rid of the garbage. The sooner you do it, the better you're off.

I sponsored a man in in the high for a number of years ago, and you brought him home from the hospital. He done wonderful. On the way home, it's in our car list. We done a lot of damage in our home. I did.

Sometime or not, I'm not saying you have to do it right off of the bat, but you're new in the program now, but sometime or another, you have to tell your wife you're sorry for the stink that you've done. I dropped them off at the house, and I found out his wife met him on the inside the door and Carlos, I'd write in on his wife, apologize for the wrongs that he'd done. And Carlos never had a bit of trouble since 18 years ago. So that mother said, get get rid of the garbage. The sooner the better.

The first 9 step to crawl, it is outgrown and getting the last 3 steps on maintaining step. Step 10, continue to take through the inventory and wrong prompt that meter. And I like the story of the little boy with step connection with step 10. Went to the drugstore and asked the man, can you use your telephone? He said, sure, son.

So he call over party and the party answered the little boys, said to the man, you need somebody around the house to mow you lawn to keep things in order? I have a little fellow to do the work for me. Is he doing a good job? Yes. He's doing a fine job too.

I hung up the receiver and started to go out in the store. A man called him back and said, come back here, John. I've got a job for you. I don't want no job. That's the place I'm working.

I'm just checking up on myself. Find out which man traveling on this highway of AA. Well, we come to step number 11, thought to prepare and meditate to improve, not stand still to improve our conscious contact with God. Again, the beauty is we understanding. Praying only for the knowledge of his will, not my will, and the power for us to carry that out.

And for us to carry the message, not the alcoholic. We can go and rag them over the bar stool, but we got a big responsibility. Take that man around to these meetings, drawing what the school room of aid has to offer, but the big book says, if you want what we have, are you willing to go to any lengths to get it? We can lead a heart to a water drop if we can't make him drink. Them is distinct, and I must keep in mind.

Then comes some last seven words of the 12 step. Practice these principles in all our affairs. I'm not perfect. Not by long, sir. But I'm not just because I'm not bringing my life where I want to.

Well, what's the use? Throw everything overboard and go ahead and get going. No. I must keep trying. I must keep trying.

So going to a meeting, it's just like a booster shot. I'm not asking God to take these problems away from it. I'm asking God to give you more back bone to face these problems. Someone has said, some people are just like tea bags. They're very little value, nonetheless, to get in hot water.

It's not the tool in the wisdom of tools to train someone and said, take action. Take action. The right train outside will take me to a better station in life. Someone has said, I got 2 dogs in me and a black man and a white man and they're and they're fighting. The black man and the old nature and the white man is the new nature, the good spirit.

Someone has said, well, which dog win? The one that I feed the most. I like that. I like that. I like that.

Again, action. I could coast down a hill on a bicycle, but what about going up the next hill? I better do a little paddling. Any dead fish can swim down the river where they take their life and they swim up. So when I had a mind at the devil's workshop, and to me, the largest room there is room for improvement and whether that is me.

Someone has said, well, we have to keep up with the Joneses. Well, if that's the case, you better find out where they're going. Mhmm. Archer. That's true.

Well, it's time to close. Be aware from Salem a number of years ago. Had a telephone call from one of his buddies and he said, come over. I'm drunk. In the wee hours of the morning, Bill said, oh, it's no way hard to travel.

Couldn't wait till morning. I went to right now, Bill said. Okay. I'll be over. So we hung up the receiver and put no issue with, but he was a mumbling and a grumbling.

Oh, brother, do we have to go out in this kind of weather? His wife spoke up and said, pew, which end of the line would you sooner be in? How much better this day sober than this over? These are things that must keep in mind. Now, the man or woman that has trouble in this program, he goes overboard.

Don't be afraid to come back. Keep coming back. Let no failure be final. Don't let the glamour be a we're off. Keep coming back.

If I point a finger at him or her, I got 3 of them pointing back at me. The only time I have any right to look down on my fellow man when his troop over to give him a leave. The only guy who has any success running other people down is the Alabilla boy. As a young boy, such a good skater. So what makes you such a good skater?

You studied a little and said, well, maybe it is because they always get up and try again. That's what come. Try try again. Try again. Now it's these small things in life that I have to watch for movies.

Jim Brennan said, pull that towel down for the next guy. He said, he came off of the elevator one morning and said, I wonder if I pull that towel down in the washroom for the next guy. Then he took the elevator and went back up, and he he pulled that towel down. He said, I know Jim Brennan. If I leave these little things slip, they'll pile up in the big thing.