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May 06, 2009

Alcoholics Anonymous History
GOOD MORNING!
Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and Early A.A.

By Dick B.

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GOOD MORNING!
Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and Early A.A.

Did you know that the spiritual recovery program which produced such a high success rate in the 1930's and early 1940's was totally different from recovery programs today? Well it was! Spirituality back then meant dependence upon God the Creator. Dependence really meant establishing a relationship through acceptance of Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior. The growth part of the program had a great deal to do with Quiet Time--a Quiet Time that included Bible study, prayer, receiving revelation from God, and the use of devotional books and periodicals such as The Upper Room as ancillary study materials and as a spur to spending substantial time with God each morning. This worked! It can work today for those who wish to utilize the tools of early A.A. to achieve a recovery rate somewhere near the seventy-five to ninety-three percent rate achieved in Akron and Cleveland. Where did Quiet Time come from? Where did the Morning Watch fit into the picture? What did meditation in God's Word and communion with Him involve? How does this differ from today's one-page "meditations" and "reflections?" What can knowledge of this early history do for alcoholics and other addicts, treatment and recovery programs, clergy and churches? Active AA and recovered alcoholic Dick B. has spent eight years digging out the facts and presents them here so others may benefit.

"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and My God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up" (Psalm 5:1-3). Holm, The Runner's Bible, pp. 1, 158; Jones, Victorious Living, p. 68; The Upper Room for 7/1/35.

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night" (Psalm 1:2). Tileston, Daily Strength for Daily Needs, p. 248.

"Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, p. 53; The Upper Room for 9/7/35; Holm, The Runner's Bible, p. 112.

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). The Upper Room for 4/27/38, 9/20/38; Tileston, Daily Strength for Daily Needs, p. 68.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). The Upper Room for 5/15/35; 10/17/35; Holm, The Runner's Bible, pp. 39, 61, 126.

"Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God" (Psalm 143:10a). Holm, The Runner's Bible, p. 158; Tileston, Daily Strength for Daily Needs, p. 297.

Paradise Research Publications, Inc.; 172 pp.; 6 x 9; perfect bound; 1998; $22.95; ISBN: 1-885803-22-2

Trademarks and Disclaimer: ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS®, A.A.®, and Big Book® are registered trademarks of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Dick B.'s web site, Paradise Research Publications, Inc., and Good Book Publishing Company are neither endorsed nor approved by nor associated or affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.