Mission of the Public Information Committees
A.A.’s primary goal is to carry our message of recovery to the alcoholic who seeks help. Almost all alcoholism treatments are aimed at helping the alcoholic stay sober. Whichever route we take, we’re all headed in the same direction: the alcoholic’s recovery. Together, we can accomplish what none of us can do alone. We can be a source of personal experience and constant support for recovering alcoholics.
In all its public relations, A.A.’s sole aim is to help the alcoholic who is still suffering. Always conscious of the importance of personal anonymity, we believe we can do this by sharing our own experience and that of the Fellowship with him or her, and with others who may be interested in his or her problems, in order to learn how to live without alcohol. We believe that our experience should be accessible to all those who are genuinely interested in it. We believe, moreover, that our efforts in this direction should always reflect our gratitude for the gift of sobriety, as well as our conviction that many people outside A.A. are also concerned about the serious problem of alcoholism.
Excerpt from AA Guidelines – I.P. (p.6) / Reproduced by permission of AAWS, Inc.
The key to sobriety
Every A.A. member has this unique ability to identify with the newcomer and give him the means to recovery; and this ability has absolutely nothing to do with education, eloquence or any other personal talent. The only thing that matters is that he or she is an alcoholic in possession of a means to sobriety. [1]
Faith without works is a dead faith
This is especially true for alcoholics! For, if an alcoholic neglects to enrich and perfect his spiritual life through outreach and self-giving, he won’t be able to survive the trials and depressions that lie ahead. If he didn’t keep himself so busy, the alcoholic would surely drink again, and if he did, he would surely die. Then faith would indeed be dead. [2]
[1] From Bill’s Reflections – The AA Way of Life, page 257, 1996 edition. Reprinted by permission of AAWS, Inc.
[2] From Alcoholics Anonymous, page 17, 4th edition. Reproduced by permission of AAWS, Inc.
