THE ALCOHOLIC FOUNDATION
IN OUR text we have shown the alcoholic how
he may recover but we realize that many will want to write us.
To receive these inquiries, to administer
royalties from this book and such other funds as may come to hand, a Trust has
been created known as The Alcoholic Foundation. Seven Trustees are members of
Alcoholics Anonymous, the other eight are well-known business and professional
men who have volunteered their services. The Trust states these eight (who are
not of Alcoholics Anonymous) or their successors, shall always constitute a
majority of the Board of Trustees. The Alcoholic Foundation maintains an office
in New York City as national headquarters of Alcoholics Anonymous.
We must frankly state however, that due to
our rapid growth we may be unable to reply to all inquiries promptly.
Nevertheless we shall strenuously attempt to communicate with those men and
women who are able to report that they are staying sober and working with other
alcoholics. It is our practice once we have such an active nucleus, to refer to
its members those inquiries originating near them. Starting with small but
active centers created in this fashion, hundreds of successful fellowships have
already sprung up.
The Alcoholic Foundation is our sole agency
of its kind. We have agreed that all business engagements touching nationally
upon our alcoholic work shall have the approval of its trustees. People who
state they represent The Alcoholic Foundation should be asked for credentials
and if unsatisfactory, these ought to be checked with the Foundation at once. We
welcome inquiry by scientific, medical and religious societies.
This volume is published by Works
Publishing Inc., originally organized and financed by small subscriptions from
our older members. These subscribers, forty-nine in all, have since donated
their entire interest in Works Publishing Inc. to The Alcoholic Foundation,
thereby giving the Foundation complete ownership and control of this book.
To order this book please send your check
or money order to
WORKS PUBLISHING INC.
Grand Central Annex
Box 459
New York City (17)
General Correspondence to
The Alcoholic Foundation
Grand Central Annex
Box 459
New York City (17)
APPENDIX II
THE terms "spiritual experience" and
"spiritual awakening" are used many times in this book which, upon careful
reading, shows that the personality change sufficient to bring about recovery
from alcoholism has manifested itself among us in many different forms.
Yet it is true that our first printing gave
many readers the impression that these personality changes, or religious
experiences, must be in the nature of sudden and spectacular upheavals. Happily
for everyone, this conclusion is erroneous.
In the first few chapters a number of
sudden revolutionary changes are described. Though it was not our intention to
create such an impression, many alcoholics have nevertheless concluded that in
order to recover they must acquire an immediate and overwhelming
"God-consciousness" followed at once by a vast change in feeling and outlook.
Among our rapidly growing membership of
thousands of alcoholics such transformations, though frequent, are by no means
the rule. Most of our experiences are what the psychologist William James calls
the "educational variety" because they develop slowly over a period of time.
Quite often friends of the newcomer are aware of the difference long before he
is himself. He finally realizes that he has undergone a profound alteration in
his reaction to life; that such a change could hardly have been brought about by
himself alone. What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been
accomplished by years of self discipline. With few exceptions our members find
that they have tapped an unsuspected inner resource which they presently
identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves.
Most of us think this awareness of a Power
greater than ourselves the essence of spiritual experience. Our more religious
members call it "God-consciousness."
Most emphatically we wish to say that any
alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience
can recover provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. He
can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial.
We find that no one need have difficulty
with the spiritual side of the program. Willingness, honesty and open
mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable.
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