One Day at a Time in Al-Anon:
“How can I both love and hate the alcoholic?” is a question often asked in Al-Anon meetings. Both are evidences of our personal concern for someone; we neither love nor hate those in whom we have no interest. In a sense, they are two sides of the same coin; love has a chance fo flower in a shared life; hate is love twisted and warped by disillusionment and despair.
If this really is one powerful basic emotion, love can replace hate when I can bring myself to nurture it with hope, and with faith in the inherent goodness of another human being.
Today’s Reminder:
I want to recognize and appreciate the good and lovable qualities of the alcoholic, and not hate him, but the sickness from which he suffers. His gradual awareness of my appreciation of him as a person can rebuild his confidence and self-esteem and create a desire for sobriety.
“By love do not mean natural tenderness, which is in people according to their constitution, but I see it as a larger principle of the soul, founded in reason and spiritual understanding, which makes us kind and gentle to all our fellow creatures as creations of God.” — William Law