WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22: Now no one can offer us anything that could possibly tempt us to be less than we should be. As Sister Madaleva Wolff, CSC, put it: “I like to go to Marshall Field’s in Chicago just to see how many things there are in the world that I do not want.”
The Monastic Way
April 22, 2026
“A coffeepot simmers on the kitchen stove, a hospital sobers the stricken sufferer, general headquarters broadcasts the AA message; our service lifelines span the seven seas. All these symbolize AA in action. For action is the magic word of Alcoholics Anonymous.”
Bill W.
222
Who Is to Blame?
We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not the other man's. So we admitted our wrongs honestly and became willing to set these matters straight.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 67
TUESDAY, APRIL 21: We live in a society that purports that to have it all you need money, clothes, houses, food, cars, education. All the toys of the modern world. But are the people who have those things happy? And if not, what’s missing? What would you need to make you happy?
The Monastic Way
April 21, 2026
“There is a tendency to label everything that an alcoholic may do as ‘alcoholic behavior.’ The truth is, it is simply human nature, those same quirks can be found among nonalcoholics, too. ”
William Duncan Silkworth, MD
21
God Will Not Desert Us
"Certainly, He does not plan to save us from all troubles and adversity. Nor, in the end, does He save us from so- called death -- since this is but an opening of a door into a new life, where we shall dwell among His many mansions. "
LETTER, 1966
MONDAY, APRIL 20: It isn t that Americans are afraid to give. In fact, they are among the most generous people in the world. When having less is our greatest concern, how can we be happy with what we already possess?
The Monastic Way
By Joan Chittister
April 20, 2026
“I was told that sometimes a good sponsor disturbs the comfortable and comforts the disturbed.”
“The Gift of Time,” Dover, Pennsylvania, June 1991, In Our Own Words: Stories of Young AAs in Recovery
220
In Partnership
The unity, the effectiveness, and even the survival of A.A. will always depend upon our continued willingness to give up some of our personal ambitions and desires for the common safety and welfare.
A.A. COMES OF AGE, PP. 287-288
SUNDAY, APRIL 19: Basil the Great was clear about it: The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry,” he says, the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the money which you hoard belongs to the poor.”
The Monastic Way
By Joan Chittister
April 19, 2026
“Complaining is not an action step.”
“Distilled Spirits,” Indianapolis, Indiana, August 1982, AA Grapevine
219
Willing to Believe
We needed to ask ourselves a short question: "Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?" As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we assure him that he's on his way.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS P. 47
SATURDAY, APRIL 18: Try this: Give one thing away every week for a year. You might be in for the surprise of your life at the feeling of liberation that sets in. There is poetry,” John Cage writes, as soon as we realize that we possess nothing.”
The Monastic Way
By Joan Chittister
April 18, 2026
“It's hard to keep an open mind with an open mouth.”
“Distilled Spirits,” Indianapolis, Indiana, August 1982, AA Grapevine
218
Happy -- When We're Free
We are sure God would like us to be happy, joyous, and free.
Hence, we cannot subscribe to the belief that this life has to be a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it became clear that we had made our own misery.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS P. 133
FRIDAY, APRIL 17: It doesn't hurt to have more than we need. It only hurts to want more than we need.
The Monastic Way
By Joan Chittister
April 17, 2026
“The fellowship in AA is unique. Ties are made overnight that it would take years to develop elsewhere. From feeling as if they were dragging anchor though life, they suddenly sail free before the wind.”
Best of the Grapevine, Vol. 2
217
Hope Born from Hopelessness
Letter to Dr. Carl Jung:
"In the wake of my spiritual experience there came a vision of a society of alcoholics. This concept proved to be the foundation of such success as A.A. has since achieved."
GRAPEVINE, JANUARY 1963
THURSDAY, APRIL 16:
When someone steals another s clothes, we call them a thief,” the monastic Basil the Great wrote.
Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not?”
The Monastic Way
By Joan Chittister
April 16, 2026
April 16, 2026
“While we need not alter our truths, we can surely improve their application to ourselves, to AA as a whole, and to our relation with the world around us. We can constantly step up ‘the practice of these principles in all our affairs.’”
AA Co-Founder, Bill W.
216
After the "Honeymoon"
The wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching becomes a regular habit, until he is able to admit and accept what he finds, and until he patiently and persistently tries to correct what is wrong.
TWELVE AND TWELVE, P. 88
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15: The pur-pose of money is to use it so that we don’t make our own stress. It’s hard enough to deal with the stress that comes from simply being alive.
The Monastic Way
By Joan Chittister
April 15, 2026
By applying the principles of the program, I have gained my freedom – freedom to be myself, to become whatever it is that my Higher Power has planned for me, one day at a time – freedom to live the type of life I’m most comfortable with, to love, and to laugh.
Young AAs in Recovery
215
Constructive Workouts
If they have got the whole truth, or even little truth, then we had better thank them and get on with our respective inventories, admitting we were wrong. If they are talking nonsense, we can ignore it, or else try to persuade them.
TWELVE CONCEPTS, P. 43
