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Came to Believe
This is a collection of stories by A.A. members who write about what the phrase “spiritual awakening” means to them. Years of preparation and earnest thought went into this booklet, since an A.A. member first suggested it. The description of Alcoholics Anonymous as “a spiritual program” has been confusing to some newcomers, many of whom tend to translate “spiritual” as “religious.” But, as our co-founder Dr Bob said (in an A.A. Grapevine article), “We are not bound by theologian doctrine.…We are many minds in our organization.” Therefore, Came to Believe… is designed as an outlet for the rich diversity of convictions implied in the phrase twice-used within the Twelve Steps: “God as we understood Him.” Originally, A.A.’s other co-founder, Bill W., planned to write a foreword, but he died before publication. So, the introductions to each section of this book reflect Bill’s outlook, already on record in the book, As Bill Sees It.
132 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1973
423 people are currently reading
863 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
April 18, 2021
Un libro que contiene una serie de testimonios relacionados estrechamente con la espiritualidad y el acto de creer (como cada quien lo interpreta).
Muchas de las historias que se relatan aquí dejan una buena reflexión hacia el final.
En conclusión, me gustó mucho esta lectura.
Muchas de las historias que se relatan aquí dejan una buena reflexión hacia el final.
En conclusión, me gustó mucho esta lectura.
“La razón por la que ves amor en los ojos de esas gentes, es porque tú estás empezando a amarlos. El amor que vemos en sus ojos es el reflejo de nuestro amor. Tenemos que amar para ser amados.”
”¿Necesita la vida ser tal como Homero parece haberla visto? ¿Por qué debo estar constantemente viajando, corriendo, para alejarme de mí mismo?”
“Felicidad es crecer. Es aprender a reconocer todas las cosas que realmente tienes. La felicidad es para experimentarla, al igual que para recordarla.”
October 28, 2014
Bill Wilson never got sober or even worked a program. He switched his drug of choice from booze to unfamiliar women in early recovery. He was a self centered 13th stepper. He also enjoyed a nice sobriety break while tripping on LSD so much his wife and Dr. Bob had to perform an intervention. That is why I take little stock in Bill's thoughts on the program he plagiarized outright from the Oxford Group. AA's grounding in Christianity and its dogmatic requirement to commune with a God also known in the Twelve Steps as Him with a capital H, while celebrating the end of thinking (they make this clear in the chapter to the agnostics before the meat and potatoes of the main text even begins), is why practical thinking non believers and Bill Wilson biographers alike can't stomach this stuff for very long. Though the idea that men actually talking about their problems could help said problems was probably revolutionary in the 30's when this was first published. Two stars for that and effort."Spontaneous recovery" or just plain growing up and not being drug dependent anymore happens statistically more often than folks getting even a one year coin. AA has the worst sucess rate in all of medicine at maybe 3-4%. This is denied or ignored by folks in AA, a program so obviously in denial about it's impotence and religiosity it's comical. I love how you folks tell me a higher power can be a door knob or a tree or whatever I want when your 12 steps plainly point out that God is a Him, and you need to ask him favors. I also like how your supposed to be ready to have your imperfections removed by God. How's that one coming along? Perfect yet? Wake up- it's the people who help keep other people sober, not a higher power. It's about people helping others . When Bill W. rushed into that church in Akron 80 years ago he wanted a priest not because he wanted communion with a higher power, he wanted privacy and discretion. So he was turned to a doctor, a man of science and practical thought. They talked, Bill didn't drink, and AA was born. It had nothing to do with God at that church in that phone booth, it was about people helping people. That's what works in AA, not watered down Christianity. People. Like Soilent Green, it's made from people. That's why even the devout religious cant pray away their alcoholism, they need to talk to real people too . Think about it.
June 12, 2012
Stories about how people from all walks of life and faith found a Higher Power they could believe and trust in.
April 18, 2022
I wanted to get support for my quest into understanding what a higher power is, and this book provided that with contributions from the religious and the non religious.
May 31, 2019
This little booklet is a collection of stories from members of AA who have come to believe in the faith of God (Higher Power). The stories are taken from all over the world. Some of the stories are humourous, some are serious, and others are real and raw, but all of them share a certain experience, strength, and hope. All of them point towards a Spiritual Awakening. I really enjoyed reading this book as part of my morning meditations.
January 20, 2019
Open your mind
I felt moved by every section. If you're looking for a spiritual awakening, this book helps find it. It also changed my perspective on my spiritual life and the importance of AA in it.
I felt moved by every section. If you're looking for a spiritual awakening, this book helps find it. It also changed my perspective on my spiritual life and the importance of AA in it.
Currently reading
August 27, 2008Great book for anyone.
August 13, 2014
If you're lost and need something greater than yourself or booze or drugs to believe in...open your mind and read this.
December 7, 2016
Great book... all the spiritual experiences of AA members touched me deeply.. amazing!!
December 10, 2017
Had a few quality points of reference.
February 3, 2023
I've read individual stories/accounts of people's spiritual journeys from this book before, but never straight through. This is the first time. Loved it.
As with any book with multiple authors, the writing is a little uneven. It is real though and that makes up for a lot. It is also varied which was the point of creating this book. There are many ways of making contact with a Higher Power.
This is a book from Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a collection of accounts of how individual members found contact with their own Higher Power. That includes atheists. If you are wondering how that is possible, I wonder too, but I have seen atheists get sober in AA. They seem happy.
I especially loved this line in the book:
"If this grace had been contingent on my righteousness or obedience or goodness or sacrifice, as acts of the will, it would never have come to me, because I had none of these things going. It was an unearned favor to an unlikely prospect."
I'll be reading this book again in all likelihood.
As with any book with multiple authors, the writing is a little uneven. It is real though and that makes up for a lot. It is also varied which was the point of creating this book. There are many ways of making contact with a Higher Power.
This is a book from Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a collection of accounts of how individual members found contact with their own Higher Power. That includes atheists. If you are wondering how that is possible, I wonder too, but I have seen atheists get sober in AA. They seem happy.
I especially loved this line in the book:
"If this grace had been contingent on my righteousness or obedience or goodness or sacrifice, as acts of the will, it would never have come to me, because I had none of these things going. It was an unearned favor to an unlikely prospect."
I'll be reading this book again in all likelihood.
January 19, 2020
This is a great book for those in 12 step programs who are trying to define what a higher power is or means to them. The book contains personal stories of how individuals started believing is something greater then themselves. I would recommend this for anyone in 12 step who is creating or redefining their spiritualality.
February 10, 2022
Thought I was drinking a tad too much. started reading this and was blown away how awful it was. Now drink what I want when I want and don't feel bad about it at all! Maybe reading or starting to read something like this is a life lesson needed. I was dramatising having a problem when in reality I was enjoying a drink and now feel that's fine too.
March 30, 2020
Decenas y decenas de experiencias de personas que han logrado obtener un despertar espiritual, ya sea de forma súbita o gradualmente mediante la práctica de un programa de recuperación.
August 27, 2020
The stories will help reinforce the AA messages. May be difficult for some who have difficulty with prayer.
July 14, 2022
If you're someone who has trouble believing, you'll find a multitude of interpretations of and ways to connect with a higher power.
January 21, 2023
Physical book
I can see myself returning to this again and again. More will be revealed. I wonder what a refreshed version would sound like all these years later.
I can see myself returning to this again and again. More will be revealed. I wonder what a refreshed version would sound like all these years later.
October 3, 2023
Another Great AA Book
This book helps those who still don't believe in the miracles that the 12 steps can do for your life!
This book helps those who still don't believe in the miracles that the 12 steps can do for your life!
February 4, 2023
This book really opened my mind to the possibilities of what a higher power could look like. Initially I scoffed at all the "god stuff" in AA, and then I read this book and found that "god" is just a word that can be ascribed to any number of beliefs and practices.
January 31, 2012
My newest recovery book gifted to me by my AA meeting. I won it in the weekly raffle. I'm reading it some at a time. For me the boundary between secular spirituality and generic Christian religionism can be pretty shaky at times in 12-step groups. AA, being the most tradition-bound, has the biggest problems. My guess is that Bill W. was to much tied to the Oxford Group background that he couldn't see the wisdom of letting go of all that GOD stuff. Words like Creator, He, His, Him, Thee, Thou, Thine etc. ought to be purged from AA prayers, literature and the rest along with the Lord's Prayer. It's all too religious. And therein lies the problem. Religious people often have boundary, acceptance and flexibility problems. Resistance to change... Having said that I'm not about to throw out the baby with the bath water. I take what I like and leave the rest. This book shows the boundary problem well. The religious types of experience rub up against the HP type of non-religious experiences of spiritual understanding. I don't put much credence into the stories about the former. The cover of my edition is different. Blue and white.
June 5, 2016
Beautiful and inspiring! Came To Believe is collection of stories by A.A. members who write about what the phrase "spiritual awakening" means to them. Through reading these stories I found hope! That hope provided me the ability to completely surrender unconditionally and honestly to myself that I am an alcoholic and I can recover if I just don't pick-up a drink one day at a time, get a sponsor and go through the 12 steps, go to meetings and sponsor other alcoholics. Just like Step 12 states, "Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs." Having the spiritual awakening is what allowed me the ability to have complete trust and faith in God that everything will work out as long as I keep doing the next right thing! Perpetual contentment! No other words to describe!
February 9, 2013
Really powerful testimony and moving stories written by AA members describing their spiritual awakening. This puts the Burning Bush theory to the acid test and teaches me that though the experience of recovery doesn't come in the Hollywood or fancy package that our imagination tends to create, the miracles of awakening and transformation are not those kind of myths. They are much deeper and better than those fluffed up ideas we tend to imagine and hope for. We get much more than our limited minds could have imagined. Beautiful book, brought tears of joy as well as sadness, but made me certain beyond a doubt that this is what life is about for me form here on out.
February 9, 2013
Really powerful testimony and moving stories written by AA members describing their spiritual awakening. This puts the Burning Bush theory to the acid test and teaches me that though the experience of recovery doesn't come in the Hollywood or fancy package that our imagination tends to create, the miracles of awakening and transformation are not those kind of myths. They are much deeper and better than those fluffed up ideas we tend to imagine and hope for. We get much more than our limited minds could have imagined. Beautiful book, brought tears of joy as well as sadness, but made me certain beyond a doubt that this is what life is about for me form here on out.
December 14, 2016
It's a good book for expanding your thoughts on spirituality if you keep an open mind. Some of the accounts push religion a bit, but you have to bear in mind that they are a collection of stories told by different people.
August 11, 2013
Another from my recovery shelf. This is a compilation of several stories from those in 12 step recovery regarding the quest for a higher power. This small volume displays the diversity that can be found in a spiritual program. For anyone who is stuck in the God gunk of AA you may find an unexpected answer within these pages. Once again this one is a keeper. It is definitely not a read once and done.
February 14, 2016
Real World Spirituality
Everyday humans as philosophers...this is what I think of when I consider what I've read in came to believe and like all of AA's literature, the concepts are put on a plane that all man can relate too. If you are searching and working the program, this is a good text for you.
Everyday humans as philosophers...this is what I think of when I consider what I've read in came to believe and like all of AA's literature, the concepts are put on a plane that all man can relate too. If you are searching and working the program, this is a good text for you.
July 21, 2023
One of my favorite of conference approved literature
Like to read a section of it each day while doing my morning prayer and meditation. Have not had the great experience of feeling God"s presence but have seen countless examples of unexplained instance where good things happen which were not accomplished by human intervention.
Like to read a section of it each day while doing my morning prayer and meditation. Have not had the great experience of feeling God"s presence but have seen countless examples of unexplained instance where good things happen which were not accomplished by human intervention.
August 1, 2019
So Great!
Such an honest forthright and simple interpretation of individuals journey into spiritual experiences.
Grateful for the message conveyed. Was able to highlight and reference many examples that I can easily identify and struck me to the core of my soul. Very positive worthwhile read. One that I'll continue to do so.
Such an honest forthright and simple interpretation of individuals journey into spiritual experiences.
Grateful for the message conveyed. Was able to highlight and reference many examples that I can easily identify and struck me to the core of my soul. Very positive worthwhile read. One that I'll continue to do so.
April 16, 2021
I was really hoping that this would allow me to explore my spirituality in recovery. It did not. It read like a bunch of proselytizing accolades of some obscure religious sect wrote it. I do NOT recommend to anyone that is not a devote Christian. There is no intimation even that a "god of your understanding" is acceptable.
April 3, 2025
En realidad lo que leí fue el Reporte final de la 55 conferencia Nacional. Segunda vez que lo leo y está muy bueno!! Muy buenas sugerencias. Ahora lo q leí fue un librito que se llama lo mejor de Bill. Lo terminé el 20 de Diciembre! Ahora leí la historia de AA en México parte 2, terminé 2 de abril.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews