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basket we hope you enjoyed the podcast have a great day we're supposed to talk about a primary

purpose and when I sat down to do some thinking about this well actually what happened was we've

been traveling around the wonderful United States of America for the last several weeks around Black Hills and Yellowstone and stuff like that.

And I kind of got out of doing the dishes beside the camper because I told my good wife that I had to get ready for this talk.

And being the good Alan on that she is, I sat under the eyeing and put together some thoughts.

And I was going to share some lofty spiritual principles with you about the traditions and our primary purpose is to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers and bore you with some philosophical thought. I don't know a lot of philosophical thoughts, and I guess the only way that I can share the primary purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous for me is to share with you how somebody shared it with me. So I'm going to have to tell you a little bit about me, I guess. So that's the only way I know about the primary purpose. I'd also like to share with you a couple of dates that are important in my life. And my non-alcoholic friend Mike talked about one of the last night. And the first date's June 10, 1935. And those of you in this room know what that date is. That's the date when an old drunk name of Bill was walking around the lobby you have a. And he was lonesome and bored, and he was trying to stay sober. And many of us in this room know about that. And he knew he had this thought that if he were to walk into a bar that he heard the music coming out of and the glasses clinking and laughter and things, that he'd have some company. And he said to himself that he could maybe go in there and have some ginger ale or tomato juice

who had ever known alcoholics who were trying to condoms themselves drink in 1935 that he could go in there and share some fellowship and have some fun and be with some people

but of course he played that head game many times before as many of us have had and he knew that if he went in there that he would surely drink and for him to drink again would be to die the same as it it would be for me, and perhaps for some of you.

And he made that phone call that Mike talked about last night and God put him in touch with Dr. Bob. As I understand the story, Bill talked to Ann, and Anne talked to Bob, and Bob agreed to talk to this lunatic from New York for about 15 minutes just to get this future Alan on off his back. A whole hell of a lot has changed as far as I can figure.

And they came over and sat eyeball to eyeball and knee to knee and hand to hand and look in each other's eyes and shared that story, one with each other, about what it was like and what happened and what it could be like. And that first miracle of what is now Alcoholics Anonymous happened that night. And they shared that message of recovery face to face. And I often think when I'm asked to think about things like this, and unfortunately I don't think about them often enough, only when I'm asked to think about them, I have to. I think about how that chain that happened in June 10, 1935, was passed on one drunk to another, down through the various states in the United States and up into my country.

So the second significant date in my life that I'd like to share with you, and that's

July 21st, 1971.

The morning of July 21st, 1971, I was walking back from a hotel in a place called Yorkton,

Saskatchewan.

The city has got about as many people in it as there's probably sitting in this arena right now,

and I was not in very good shape.

To show you the depths to which I had fallen, I had taken the hanging out with social drinkers

and the hope that something good would happen to me.

And I'm duly addicted again.

I'm also addicted to the golf, and I had gone down with this social drinker.

...