Alcoholics Anonymous, Fourth Edition

CHAPTER 6 - INTO ACTION

We might prejudice them. At the moment we are try­
ing to put our lives in order. But this is not an end in
itself. Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maxi-
mum service to God and the people about us. It is
seldom wise to approach an individual, who still
smarts from our injustice to him, and announce that
we have gone religious. In the prize ring, this would
be called leading with the chin. Why lay ourselves
open to being branded fanatics or religious bores? We
may kill a future opportunity to carry a beneficial mes-
sage. But our man is sure to be impressed with a
sincere desire to set right the wrong. He is going to be
more interested in a demonstration of good will
than in our talk of spiritual discoveries.

We don't use this as an excuse for shying away from
the subject of God. When it will serve any good pur-
pose, we are willing to announce our convictions with
tact and common sense. The question of how to ap-
proach the man we hated will arise. It may be he has
done us more harm than we have done him and,
though we may have acquired a better attitude toward
him, we are still not too keen about admitting our
faults. Nevertheless, with a person we dislike, we take
the bit in our teeth. It is harder to go to an enemy
than to a friend, but we find it much more beneficial
to us. We go to him in a helpful and forgiving spirit,
confessing our former ill feeling and expressing our
regret.

Under no condition do we criticize such a person
or argue. Simply we tell him that we will never get
over drinking until we have done our utmost to
straighten out the past. We are there to sweep off our
side of the street, realizing that nothing worth while