I have become a pupil of the AA movement rather than the teacher.

AA is no success story in the ordinary sense of the word. It is a story of suffering transmuted, under grace, into spiritual progress.

You are asking yourself, as all of us must: 'Who am I?' . . . 'Where am I?' . . . 'Whence do I go?' The process of enlightenment is usually slow. But, in the end, our seeking always brings a finding. These great mysteries are, after all, enshrined in complete simplicity.

Each day my friend's simple talk in our kitchen multiplies itself in a widening circle of peace on earth and good will to men.

Is sobriety all that we are to expect of a spiritual awakening? No, sobriety is only a bare beginning; it is only the first gift of the first awakening. If more gifts are to be received, our awakening has to go on. As it does go on, we find that bit by bit we can discard the old life - the one that did not work - for a new life that can and does work under any conditions whatever.

We know that permanent sobriety can be attained only by a most revolutionary change in the life and outlook of the individual.

Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us.