Page 37 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
P. 37
16 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
they seek. At these informal gatherings one may often
see from 50 to 200 persons. We are growing in num-
bers and power.*
An alcoholic in his cups is an unlovely creature.
Our struggles with them are variously strenuous,
comic, and tragic. One poor chap committed suicide
in my home. He could not, or would not, see our way
of life.
There is, however, a vast amount of fun about it all.
I suppose some would be shocked at our seeming
worldliness and levity. But just underneath there is
deadly earnestness. Faith has to work twenty-four
hours a day in and through us, or we perish.
Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia.
We have it with us right here and now. Each day my
friend’s simple talk in our kitchen multiplies itself in
a widening circle of peace on earth and good will to
men.
Bill W., co-founder of A.A.,
died January 24, 1971.
*In 2006, A.A. is composed of over 106,000 groups.
