January 10

January 10 – AM          Page 44, We Agnostics, Chapter 4

      But it isn’t so difficult.  About half our original fellowship were of exactly that type.  At first some of us tried to avoid the issue, hoping against hope we were not true alcoholics.  But after a while we had to face the fact that we must find a spiritual basis of life—or else.  Perhaps it is going to be that way with you.  But cheer up, something like half of us thought we were atheists or agnostics.  Our experience shows that you need not be disconcerted.

January 10 – PM          Page 122-123, The Family Afterward, Chapter 9

      Cessation of drinking is but the first step away from a highly strained, abnormal condition.  A doctor said to us, “Years of living with an alcoholic is almost sure to make any wife or child neurotic.  The entire family is, to some extent, ill.”  Let families realize, as they start their journey, that all will not be fair weather.  Each in his turn may be footsore and may straggle.  There will be alluring shortcuts and by-paths down which they may wander and lose their way.
Suppose we tell you some of the obstacles a family will meet; suppose we suggest how they may be avoided—even converted to good use for others.  The family of an alcoholic longs for the return of happiness and security.  They remember when father was romantic, thoughtful and successful.  Today’s life is measured against that of other years and, when it falls short, the family may be unhappy.