A.A. Monterey Newsletter

Published on 07/27/2024

Step 7 – “Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.” “Indeed, the attainment of greater humility is the foundation principle of each of A.A.’s Twelve Steps. For without some degree of humility, no alcoholic can stay sober at all. Nearly all A.A.’s have found, too, that unless they develop much more of this precious quality […]

Published on 07/01/2024

Step 6 – “Were entirely ready to have god remove all these defects of character.” “This is the step that separates the men from the boys”, so declares a well-loved clergy man who happens to be one of A.A.’s greatest friends.  He goes onto explain that any person capable of enough willingness and honesty to […]

Published on 05/24/2024

Step 5 – “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.” “This practice of admitting one’s defects to another person is, of course, very ancient. It has been validated in every century, and it characterizes the lives of all spiritually centered and truly religious people. But today […]

Published on 04/25/2024

Step 4 – “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” “We want to find exactly how, when, and where our natural desires have warped us.  We wish to look squarely at the unhappiness this has caused others and ourselves. By discovering what our emotional deformities are, we can move toward their correction.  Without […]

Published on 03/26/2024

Step 3 – “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” “Practicing Step Three is like the opening of a door which to all appearances is closed and locked.  All we need is a key, and it is called willingness.  Once unlocked by […]

Published on 02/22/2024

Step 2 – “Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” “The moment they read Step Two, most A.A. newcomers are confronted with a dilemma, a serious one.  How often have we heard them cry out, “Look what you people have done to us! Y ou have convinced us […]

Published on 01/24/2024

Step 1 – “We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.” “But upon entering A.A. we soon take quite another view of this absolute humiliation We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal […]

Published on 12/31/2023

Step 12 – “Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” “The joy of living is the theme of A.A.’s Twelfth Step and action is the key word.  Here we turn outward toward […]

Published on 11/22/2023

Step 11 – “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” “Those of us who have come to make regular use of prayer would no more do without it than we […]

Published on 10/26/2023

Step 10 – “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.” “A continuous look at our assets and liabilities, and a real desire to learn and grow by this means, are necessities for us. We alcoholics have learned this the hard way. More experienced people, of course, in all times […]