"member" in the Big Book

With many individuals the methods which I employed are successful, but I have never been successful with an alcoholic of your description.”* Upon hearing this, our friend was somewhat relieved, for he reflected that, after all, he was a good church member.

One of these men, staff member of a worldrenowned hospital, recently made this statement to some of us: “What you say about the general hopelessness of the average alcoholic’s plight is, in my opinion, correct.

We find the more one member of the family demands that the others concede to him, the more resentful they become.

We think each family which has been relieved owes something to those who have not, and when the occasion requires, each member of it should be only too willing to bring former mistakes, no matter how grievous, out of their hiding places.

As each member of a resentful family begins to see his shortcomings and admits them to the others, he lays a basis for helpful discussion.

One more suggestion: Whether the family has spiritual convictions or not, they may do well to examine the principles by which the alcoholic member is trying to live.

Whether the family goes on a spiritual basis or not, the alcoholic member has to if he would recover.

Though he is now a most effective member of Alcoholics Anonymous, he still smokes and drinks coffee, but neither his wife nor anyone else stands in judgment.

A mong many employers nowadays, we think of one member who has spent much of his life in the world of big business.

He too, has become a respected and useful member of his community.

We know of an A.A. member who was living in a large community.