C W S Quote 05/01

[Mogqua]

… There are always the constructive critics, our friends indeed. We ought never fail to give them a careful hearing. We should be willing to let them modify our opinions or change them completely. Often, too, we shall have to disagree and then stand fast without losing their friendship.

Then there are those whom we like to call our “destructive critics�. They power-drive, they are “politickers,� they make accusations. Maybe they are violent, malicious. They pitch gobs of rumors, gossip, and general scuttlebutt to gain their ends – all for the good of A.A., of course! But in A.A. we have at last learned that these folks, who may be a trifle sicker than the rest of us, need not be really destructive at all, depending very much on how well we relate ourselves to them.

To begin with, we ought to listen carefully to what they say. Sometimes they are telling the whole truth, at other times, a little truth. More often, though, they are just rationalizing themselves into nonsense. If we are within range, the whole truth, the half-truth, or no truth at all can prove equally unpleasant to us. That is why we have to listen so carefully. If they have got the whole truth, or even a little truth, then we had better thank them and get on with our respective inventories, admitting we were wrong. If it is nonsense, we can ignore it. Or we can lay all the cards on the table and try to persuade them. Failing this, we can be sorry they are too sick to listen, and we can try to forget the whole business. There are few better means of self-survey and of developing genuine patience, than the workouts these usually well meaning but erratic brother members afford us.

This is always a large order and we shall sometimes fail to make good on it ourselves.

But we must keep trying.

TWELVE CONCEPTS FOR WORLD SERVICE, p.40

[The Jay Walker]

Thanks for that quote,

I think that the service manual is often overlooked, but very important for our groups, and us individually.