January 20

January 20 – AM          Page 124, The Family Afterward, Chapter 9

      This painful past may be of infinite value to other families still struggling with their problem.  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.  Showing others who suffer how we were given help is the very thing which makes life seem so worth while to us now.  Cling to the thought that, in God’s hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have—the key to life and happiness for others.  With it you can avert death and misery for them.

January 20 – PM          Page 567, Spiritual Experience, Appendix II

II
SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE

      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.