I get a big thrill out of looking over a vast sea of faces
like this with a feeling that possibly some small thing I did a number of years
ago played an infinitely small part in making this meeting possible. I also get
quite a thrill when I think that we all had the same problem. We all did the
same things. We all get the same results in proportion to our zeal and
enthusiasm and stick-to-itiveness. If you will pardon the injection of a
personal note at this time, let me say that I have been in bed five of the last
seven months and my strength hasn't returned as I would like, so my remarks of
necessity will be very brief.
There are two or three things that flashed into my mind on
which it would be fitting to lay a little emphasis. One is the simplicity of our program. Let's
not louse it all up with Freudian complexes and things that are interesting to
the scientific mind, but have very little to do with our actual AA work. Our
Twelve Steps, when simmered down to the last, resolve themselves into the words
‘love’ and ‘service’. We understand what love is, and we understand what
service is. So let's bear those two things in mind.
Let us also remember to guard that erring member the tongue,
and if we must use it, let's use it with kindness and consideration and
tolerance.
And one more thing: none of us would be here today if
somebody hadn't taken time to explain things to us, to give us a little pat on
the back, to take us to a meeting or two, to do numerous little kind and
thoughtful acts in our behalf. So let us never get such a degree of smug
complacency that we're not willing to extend, or attempt to extend, to our less
fortunate brothers that help which has been so beneficial to us.
Dr Bob
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