Exodus - Shemot

For the alcoholic and addict, the need to look at things from a new perspective is essential to recovery. The first admission of powerlessness requires an abandonment of our old view of ourselves.

The ego employs a more innocuous method of thwarting our connection to G‑d. It allows us to seek spirituality, but inserts the condition, “Only do not go far off—pray for me!”

The source of evil is the independent ego--and the ultimate independence of ego is not the rejection of G‑d but the belief that G‑d's power is one's own.

Believing in a Higher Power is one thing; but believing in a Higher Power who is in control at every moment is another.

The alcoholic in recovery can easily understand that there is a special quality of wisdom that comes about only after all else has failed.

Ultimately, no one can change our lives but we. Just as alcohol can not solve one’s emotional challenges, inspiration can not take the place of effort.

Although our recovery is based on spiritual principles, this does not imply that we can or should ignore our bodies in the name of spiritual refinement.

The alcoholic's and addict's obsession with self-destruction is less than rational, to put it mildly. Treating it with conventional psychological means is often futile and the prospects for success are grim.

When sharing the hopelessness of our condition, our goal should never be to depress or intimidate our prospect. To the contrary, our true message is the testimony of how G‑d ultimately transformed our own chaotic existence into a more meaningful life...

Moses made demands of the people; when necessary, he rebuked them. A docile calf would do no such thing...

The "spiritual awakening" that is the objective and culmination of our working the Steps has been described as heaven on earth.