A recovery thought
archie
We never get the results of a Step until we take it.
We never graduate from A.A. because the struggle for personal change never stops.
OLD-TIMER’S PRAYER
God, keep me from the habit of thinking that I must volunteer in every meeting no matter what the topic. Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details and give me wings to get to the point. Remind me to guard confidences and to keep still when I feel that it is necessary to share information just for some one’s own good. Release me from the need to straighten out everybody else’s thinking and program.
God, I ask for the grace to listen to newcomers. Please help me to remember the patience with which others listened to me when I was new. Please seal my lips to giving advice, and help me to remember to share my experience, strength, and hope. Remind me that my purpose is to fit myself to be of maximum service to You and the people around me.
Help me to remain teachable, God. Teach me (again!) the lesson that, occasionally, it is possible that I may be wrong and remind me of the freedom that I gain when I am able to promptly admit it and make amends where necessary. Help me to remember the difference between making amends and saying I’m sorry.
Help me to be a worker among workers, a friend among friends, and a drunk among drunks. Keep me from being a bleeding deacon, God, and help me to walk the path towards being an elder statesman. Keep me ever mindful that I cannot manage my own life. I don’t want to be a saint, God, show me the way to seek you so that I may continue to grow along spiritual lines.
Remind me to put Rule 62 into practice in my life. It is so easy to take myself too seriously.
Keep me free of gossip, character assassination, and judgment. Remind me that although I have humbly asked, my character defects and shortcomings arise when I least expect them. Help me to walk with serendipity, to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people and give me the grace to tell them so. Help me to see that You love each of Your children, and that You do not need my opinion of them or suggestions on what they might deserve.
Help me to be willing to accept Your answer to my prayers, whether or not it is the answer that I thought I wanted. You know that I have trouble with acceptance sometimes, God, so there are times when You will need to help me to be willing to be willing. Show me how to walk through life with grace, dignity, and my head held high, carrying Your message and practicing these principles in all my affairs.
And God, thank You for the people that You have put in my life. My family, of origin, and of A.A. My sponsor, my sponsees, the people of my home group, the man who first reached out his hands to welcome me to the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. I know today, God, that I could not have walked these steps to get from where I was when I walked in the door to the man that I am today, if it were not for the blessings You have given me through Your precious children.
Thanks, God!
Source unknown
At lunch time, a recovering alcoholic decides to pay a visit to his new sponsee, who sells hot dogs from a push cart. "Make me 1 with everything," says the sponsor. The sponsee fixes up a hot dog with all the trimmings and hands it to the sponsor, who pays with a $20 bill. The vendor puts the bill in the cash box and closes it. Where’s my change?" asks the sponsor. The sponsee responds, "Change must come from within."
Always Say A Prayer
archie
We only do the watering; God is responsible for the growth.
We only really fail when we refuse to get up and start again.
A RECOVERY PRAYER
My Creator, thank You for this day and for my sobriety. I am powerless over alcohol, but through A.A. I have come to believe that You can restore me to sanity. Therefore I give into Your care my will and my life, as well as my alcoholism. And I give into Your care all my defects of character: anger, pride, envy, greed, lust, gluttony, laziness and fear. I long to be rid of them but am unable to do so by myself and humbly ask that You help me. I am mindful today of the harm my disease has caused others and whenever it is Your will for me I am ready to make amends to them all. And I pray to be aware of my wrongs this day that I may make amends promptly. The serenity of conscious contact with You my God is mine in every moment. My every need is met. I ask only for knowledge of Your will for me and the power to carry that out. If You should choose to help another alcoholic through me I will be grateful for it is a blessing to share the joys of sobriety. And I hope to be of love and service to all my fellows and to carry out the A.A. principles in everything I do.
Author unknown
Bill and Harry, 2 practicing alcoholics always met at the entrance to the local park everyday to feed the pigeons, watch the squirrels and discuss world problems and drink a beer or 2 or 3 or. They'd been meeting like this for several months, but 1 day, Bill didn't show up. At 1st Harry didn't think much about it, figuring that maybe he had come down with a cold or something. But after Bill hadn't shown up for a week or so, Harry really started to get worried. However since the only time the 2 of them ever got together was at the park, Harry didn't know where Bill lived, so was unable to get in touch with him, in order to try and find out, what had happened to him. As a month had now passed Harry figured he'd finally seen the last of his friend but 1 day as Harry arrived at the park, lo'n behold there sat his good buddy. Harry was very excited and happy seeing him again, after so long, saying 'For crying out loud Bill where in the world have you been, what happened to you?' Bill answered by saying, 'Well Harry, you won't believe it but 'I've been in jail!' 'Jail? You've been in the slammer? Arrested!' cried Harry, 'What'd you do?' 'Well, Bill, you remember Sue, that cute little blonde waitress that works down at the Circle Coffee Shop there on 5th Street where I sometimes go in the morning' 'Yeah,' said Harry, 'Who wouldn't remember that little sweetie! What about her?' 'Well, 1 day last month, she upped and filed rape charges against me; and at 89 years, I was so proud; that by the time I got into court, I pleaded 'guilty'! But, that there judge, said, he didn't believe me, and instead, gave me 30 days for perjury!
archie
We should always try to act in the spirit of mutual respect and love when dealing with each other.
We should avoid places or activities we know will kindle temptations.
WHEN TO TAKE THE TWELVE STEPS
I remember comparing myself to a cancer victim. If I had cancer, I would do anything to get well, would I not? Yes, anything whatever. Would I sit home and put cold cream on the affected parts? No, of course not. What would I do? I would head for the best physician in the business and beg him to destroy or cut away those consuming cells. I would have to depend on him, my God of medicine, to save me. My dependence would be absolute; for myself I could do nothing.
Alcoholism, not cancer, was my illness, but what was the difference? Was not alcoholism also a consumer of body and mind? Alcoholism took longer to do its killing, but the result was the same. So if there was a great Physician who could cure the alcoholic sickness, I had better seek Him now, at once. I had better find what my friend had found. Would I, like the cancer sufferer, do anything to get well?
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age page 61, paragraph 3, line 2
Bud and Jim were a couple of drinking buddies who worked as airplane mechanics in Atlanta. 1 day the airport was fogged in and they were stuck in the hanger with nothing to do. Bud said, "Man, I wish we had something to drink!" Jim says, "Me too. Y’know, I’ve heard you can drink jet fuel and get a buzz. You wanna try it?" So they pour themselves a couple of glasses of high octane hooch and get completely smashed. The next morning Bud wakes up and is surprised at how good he feels. In fact he feels great! No hangover! No bad side effects. Nothing! Then the phone rings, It’s Jim. Jim says, "Hey, how do you feel this morning?" Bud says, "I feel great. How about you?" Jim says, "I feel great, too. You don’t have a hangover?" Bud says, "No, that jet fuel is great stuff, no hangover, nothing. We ought to do this more often." "Yeah, well there’s just 1 thing." "What’s that?" "Have you farted yet?" "No" "Well, don’t, ‘cause I’m in Phoenix!"
archie
We need to participate in our own recovery.
We need to practice what we preach and forget the preaching.
AT IS AN A.A. GROUP?
An A.A. group consists of two or more alcoholics who gather together for meetings on a regular basis. These meetings are the basic source of recovery for the alcoholic who wants to stop drinking.
As a group, they are fully self-supporting, have no outside affiliations, and no opinions outside issues. Because A.A.’s public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion, the group members maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, TV and film.
The Long Form of Tradition Three and a section of Warranty Six, Concept aptly describe what an A.A. group is:
Tradition Three: "Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation."
Warranty Six: ..."much attention has been drawn to the extraordinary liberties which A.A. Traditions accord to the individual member and to his group: no penalties to be inflicted for nonconformity to A.A. principles; no fees or dues to levied--voluntary contributions only; no member to be expelled from A.A.--membership always to be the choice of the individual; each A.A. group to conduct its internal affairs as it wishes--it being merely requested to abstain from acts that might injure A.A. as a whole; and finally that any group of alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves and A.A. group provided that, as a group, they have on other purpose or affiliation."
The A.A. Service Manual, page S46, paragraph first ten lines
"Buy me a drink, won’t you, old man?" the slipper asked. "But," said the A.A. friend, "I thought you were going to give up drinking.” "Well," said the slipper, "I got to the 1st stage, and I quit buying."
archie
We should be in A.A. for 2 reasons, (1) to stay sober and help others achieve and (2) maintain sobriety.
We should care for others, not do for others.
WHEN TO TAKE THE TWELVE STEPS
When should we get into the Steps? Well, we can decide by answering the question, "When do we want to get better and feel better?” "If we want to get better and feel better now, we will get into the Steps. If we don’t want to get better now, I guess we will put off getting into the Steps, but will probably drink again.” Do we realize that we turn to God and then, and only then, do we begin to get our lives together, we don’t get our lives together and then turn them over to God. Or put another way, "Do we go to the doctor to get better, or do we get better and then go to the doctor.” That’s exactly what the Steps are all about.
What does the Big Book say about when to get into the Steps?
"Though we work out our solution on the spiritual as well as an altruistic plane, we favor hospitalization for the alcoholic who is very jittery or befogged. More often than not, it is imperative that a man’s brain be cleared before he is approached, as he has then a better chance of understanding and accepting what we have to offer.” (So our Big Book says we need to be detoxed off of alcohol first, which usually takes two or three days, before getting into the Steps. See also ps. xxvii:7, xxix:7.)???????
Pages xxvi:4, xxviii:4
"Many years ago one of the leading contributors to this Book (Bill Wilson) came under our care in this hospital and while here he acquired some ideas which he put into practical application at once.” (In about three days Bill was into working most of what later became the A.A. Program. See also p. 13, pages xxvii:5, xxix:5
"Of course an alcoholic ought to be freed from his physical craving for liquor, and this often requires a definite hospital procedure, before psychological measures (like the Steps) can be of maximum benefit.” (For psychological measures to benefit us we need to be applying them. Our book is saying we need to be detoxed off of alcohol first, which usually takes two or three days, before getting into the Steps. See also pages xxvi:4, xxvii:4 xxvii:7, xxix:7
"At the hospital I (Bill Wilson) was separated from alcohol for the last time. Treatment seemed wise, for I showed signs of delirium tremens.
There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost (Step Three. Bill reached the conclusions of Step One on p. 8:1 and Step Two on 12:4). I ruthlessly faced my sins (Step Four) and became willing to have my new-found Friend (God) take them away, root and branch (Steps Six and Seven). I have not had a drink since.
My schoolmate (Ebby Thacher) visited me, and I fully acquainted him with my problems and deficiencies (Step Five). We made a list of people I had hurt or toward whom I felt resentment (Step 4). I expressed my entire willingness to approach these individuals, admitting my wrong (Step Eight). Never was I to be critical of them. I was to right all such matters to the utmost of my ability (Step Nine).
I was to test my thinking by the new God-consciousness within. Common sense would thus become uncommon sense (Step Ten). I was to sit quietly when in doubt, asking only for direction and strength to meet my problems as He would have me. Never was I to pray for myself, except as my requests bore on my usefulness to others (Step Eleven). Then only might I expect to receive. But that would be in great measure.
My friend promised when these things were done I would enter upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems (the first two parts of Step Twelve). Belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the new order of things, were the essential requirements.
Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid. It meant destruction of self-centeredness. I must turn in all things to the Father of Light who presides over us all.
These were revolutionary and drastic proposals, but the moment I fully accepted them, the effect was electric. There was a sense of victory, followed by such a peace and serenity as I had never known. There was utter confidence. I felt lifted up, as though the great clean wind of a mountain top blew through and through. God comes to most men gradually, but His impact on me was sudden and profound.
For a moment I was alarmed, and called my friend, the doctor (Dr. Silkworth), to ask if I were still sane. He listened in wonder as I talked.
Finally he shook his head saying, "Something has happened to you I don’t understand. But you had better hang on to it. Anything is better than the way you were.” The good doctor now sees many men who have such experiences. He knows that they are real.
While I lay in the hospital the thought came that there were thousands of hopeless alcoholics who might be glad to have what had been so freely given me. Perhaps I could help some of them. They in turn might work with others.
My friend had emphasized the absolute necessity of demonstrating these principles in all my affairs. Particularly was it imperative to work with others as he had worked with me (last part of Step Twelve). Faith without works was dead, he said. And how appallingly true for the alcoholic! For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. If he did not work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank, he would surely die. Then faith would be dead indeed. With us it is just like that.” (Two or three days after Bill was admitted into the hospital he had a spiritual experience as the result of working almost all the Steps immediately and quickly in a few days.) ps. 13-15
If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it--then you are ready to take certain Steps. (Twelve of them). p. 58:2
Next we launched out on a course of vigorous action, the first Step of which is a personal housecleaning, which many of us had never attempted. Though our decision (Step Three) was a vital and crucial Step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face, and to be rid of, the things in ourselves which had been blocking us. (The decision made in Step Three will have little permanent effect unless immediately followed with Steps Four through Nine, because where we face these things that block us from turning our will and our lives over to God is in Steps Four, Five, and Six; and where we get rid of what blocks us from turning our will and lives over is in Steps Seven, Eight, and Nine. So the way we turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understand Him is by immediately doing Steps Four through Nine.) p. 63:4
Notwithstanding the great necessity for discussing ourselves with someone (Step Five), it may be one is so situated that there is no suitable person available. If that is so, this Step may be postponed, only, however, if we hold ourselves in complete readiness to go through with it at the first opportunity. p. 74:2
When we decide who is to hear our story (our Step Five), we waste no time. (So after we write out our Fourth Step inventories of resentment, fear, and harms; it says we immediately share our Fifth Step.) p. 75:1
Returning home we find a place where we can be quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done. (It’s saying that immediately following our Fifth, we spend one hour of undisturbed and uninterrupted quiet time, medication, seeing if the foundation we have built with our first Five Steps is done honestly and to the best of our ability.) p. 75:3
If we can answer to our satisfaction (the questions in the previous paragraph), we then look at Step Six. We have emphasized willingness as being indispensable. Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable (in our Fourth and Fifth Steps?) Can He now take them all--every one? If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing. (Step Six immediately follows the hour we took after our Fifth Step.) p. 76:1
When ready (which answers one of the questions of Step Six), we say something like this: "My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.” We have then completed Step Seven. (In Step Six, we were asked if we were now ready. If we are, we then do Step Seven. If there are some defects we are not willing to go to God with, we pray for the willingness to ask God to help us with them, but go on to Step Seven with the defects we are willing to ask God to help us with.) p. 76:2
Now we need more action, without which we find that "Faith without works is dead.” Let’s look at Steps Eight and Nine. We have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took inventory. We subjected ourselves to a drastic self-appraisal. Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we haven’t the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol. (Now is mentioned twice in this paragraph. So Steps Five through Nine are done within a day or two according to the directions in the Big Book. If there are a few amends we are not willing to make, we pray for the willingness but proceed with the amends we are willing to make.) p. 76:3
We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past. (Steps Nine, Ten and Eleven are begun as soon as we start making amends.) p. 84:2
Source unknown
Charged with various crimes and misdemeanors, a booze-addled miscreant pressed his case all the way to trial. After days of legal wrangling, just as his case was to go to the jury, he switched his plea to guilty. Fuming, the judge bristled, "Mr. Defendant! This case has taken up a week of my time, your time, the prosecutor’s time, the defense’s time, the witness’ time, and the jury’s time, how dare you now confess?” "Well, your honor," the oiled one weaseled, "until I heard all the evidence, I thought I was innocent!"
archie
We should explain to newcomers how A.A. works in terms that particular person can understand and not just sound good.
We should get angry when we see injustice in our world, but most often it comes from a far less noble place, our own self-interest and pride.
NEW BEGINNINGS
"How did you learn to skate?" someone asked the winner of competition. "By getting up every time I fell down," was the reply.
Our recovery life is also a series of new beginnings, of falling down and getting up again. When we stumble, we often think, "I’ve failed again, I might as well give up." But God is the God of new beginnings. He also uses our failures to make us wiser.
Sometimes our pride can cause us to resist starting again. John Newton, the composer of Amazing Grace, expressed a similar perspective: Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was. By the grace of God I am what I am!
Do you feel like a failure? Do you need a new start? Go to God in humility, and He’ll show you that He’s the God of new beginnings.
Failure is never final
For those who begin again with God.
Author unknown
Clarence reached the 2nd National Building a little before 2. He went upstairs and walked directly to the doctor’s office. He read the name on the door. It was painted in black and gold on the glass window. “Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith, Rectal Surgeon.” Clarence laughed as he thought to himself, “My, that’s a new approach to cure drinking.” He paced the hallway. He hesitated, trying to decide whether to go or stay. He knew that his problem was probably located in his head, but he thought that his particular doctor worked on this “cure” a bit lower than that.
How It Worked, page 42
archie
We probably have one drunk left in us, but we may not have another recovery left in use.
We receive without cost, let us give without cost.
A RECOVERY PRAYER
Dear God, I am powerless and life is unmanageable without Your help and guidance. I come to You today because I believe that You can restore and renew me to meet my needs today. Since I cannot manage my life or affairs, I have decided to give them to You. I put my will, my thoughts, my desires and ambitions in Your hands. I give You all of me: the good and the bad, the character defects, my selfishness, resentments and problems. I know that You will work them out in accordance with Your plan. Such as I am, take and use me in Your service. Guide and direct my ways and show me what to do for You.
DA: Trooper, when you stopped the defendant, were your red and blue lights flashing? Trooper: "Yes, sir." DA: "Did the defendant say anything when she got out of the car?" Trooper: "Yes, sir", she asked "What disco am I at?"
Author unknown
archie
We should get one sponsor and stop confusing ourselves by trying to coordinate too many opinions.
We should go to meetings to hear voices other than our own.
WOMEN ALCOHOLICS ARE DIFFERENT THEN MEN
The female alcoholic has more emotional problems, more health problems, more patenting problems, makes more suicide attempts, than the alcoholic man. The female alcoholic can endanger her unborn baby because of alcohol and drugs passed through the umbilical cord. Prenatal exposure to high levels of chemicals can cause death through spontaneous abortion or stillbirth, as well as malformation, growth deficiency, retardation. This fetal alcohol syndrome is the third leading cause of birth defects.
Women alcoholics have to deal with other physical problems too. Our bodies have more fat tissues than men’s. This means we absorb drugs and alcohol more rapidly, and have more toxic reaction to a given amount of alcohol. Our internal organs are more susceptible to the damage that can be done by chemicals we use. The changes in a woman’s estrogen level can heighten and prolong the effect of alcohol. The mood swings that may accompany hormonal changes can be intensified by using chemicals. More women than men experience sexual dysfunction. Many use alcohol to overcome this, to relax, loosen up. Unfortunately, alcohol is a depressant and an excessive amount of it will only heighten any already existing dysfunction.
There is an adage in recovery that says, If you don’t want to slip, stay away from slippery places. That’s easier for men than for women. Men don’t have to go back to the bars where they got in trouble, they don’t have to phone the cocaine dealer. But in a large percentage of cases, a woman’s slippery place was her own kitchen, her bedroom, her bathroom. And the people around her when she was drinking or using weren’t pushers, they were the members of her family. After she leaves treatment, she is returning to her slippery places and the very same conditions under when which she came to grief. She has to learn to be wary, if she’s going to be able to continue with her recovery.
page 129
Because in the boss-employee situation you found the old boys talking man to man. "Bud, I’m worried about you, you’re getting behind in your work, and a lot of days you don’t come back after lunch," etc. With a woman, it was more embarrassing. Rather than confront her, they’d fire her.
page 130
Betty: A Glad Awakening
Do you realize," said a man in a cafeteria to a drunk across the table, "that you are reading your newspaper upside down?” "Of course I realize it," snapped the drunk. "Do you think it’s easy to read it that way.”
archie
We return to physical drunkenness through lack of spiritual
growth and understanding.
We sabotage ourselves when we attach our sobriety on people, places or things.
A RECOVERY PRAYER
Oh God, watch over me. Be my Higher Power as I strive toward recovery. Permit me to lean on You for strength and guidance. Grant that I may become totally honest about my problem. Touch my soul and spark my spirit into awareness God, that I may see the value of a sober life. Show me the glory of the dawn of a new day and the reward of a sunset and a day well lived. Help me to deal with resentments God, the real curse of my addictive personality. Take from me all hatred, anger, and willfulness, and persuade me to work toward emotional health and maturity that I may fully enjoy the blessings of respectability. In your mercy God, see fit to remove my cravings for that which will destroy me. Keep me ever mindful that alone I am unable to maintain a happy sobriety. Bring me ever closer to You and those who will help me along the way. Most of all God, prompt me to extend my hand to others who still suffer, so that through him or her, I may find You and continued sobriety. Amen.
Source unknown
En route to her 1st sober vacation, a women newcomer confessed her apprehension to her husband. The idea of being on a plane without a drink was unthinkable. She came through the flight without incident and was absolutely floored to be met with a large banner in the airport saying. “A.A. Welcomes You.” She grabbed her husband’s arm and pointed to the sign, being concerned about her anonymity being broken. He looked at it for a moment, turned to her, and said quietly, “Dear, it stands for American Airlines.”
archie
Part 1 of 3
We should not allow others to become dependent upon us for their spiritual growth as well as sobriety, but help them to become dependent upon God.
We should not live with only our own survival in mind, others will follow our example and we have a responsibility to them.
WHAT KIND OF SOBRIETY DO YOU WANT?
Gresham's Law--"Bad currency drives out good"--has been operative in the life of Alcoholics Anonymous. Weak A.A. is tending to drive out strong A.A.
GRESHAM'S LAW AND ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
There are three ways to work the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.
1) The strong, original way, proved powerfully and reliably effective over forty years.
2) A medium way--not so strong, not so safe, not so sure, not so good, but still effective. And
3) a weak way, which turns out to be really no way at all but literally a heresy, a false teaching, a twisting corruption of what the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous clearly stated the program to be.
Yet for all their boldness of scope, the Steps are so plainly worded, and so well-explained in Chapters Five and following of the A.A.,s Big Book that they can be done by anyone. And, therein lies their greatest genius. There is no prior requirement of purity of life or advancement of learning. Just a willingness to admit personal defeat and a sincere desire to change.
The Twelve Steps sharply contradict the secular psychological axiom that where the level of performance is low you must set a low level of aspiration in order to gain a positive result in life. By this view, the proper approach for the early A.A.'s would have been to put together a Program aimed certainly no higher than alcohol abstinence and a return to life as it had been in the pre-alcoholic days, life as ordinary men and women of the world. But these newly-sobered-up drunks set out to become totally committed men and women of God.
The authors of the Big Book knew that this radical recovery plan was apt to jar many of the newcomers they were trying to reach with their message and they made two moves to sugarcoat their pill. First, they put the following disclaimer immediately after listing the Twelve Steps in Chapter Five: "Many of us exclaimed, I can't go through with it. Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection."
That short paragraph was a stroke of inspiration, especially the phrase, "We are not saints." It has eased thousands of new, half convinced A.A. members myself included) past the fact that we were headed, under the guidance of the Steps, in the completely unfamiliar direction of spiritual perfection.
Most of us began practicing the Steps without realizing their full implications. Experience quickly taught us that they worked. They got us sober and enabled us to stay sober. From our intensely pragmatic standpoint, that was what mattered. We were content to enjoy our sobriety and leave all debates as to why the Steps worked to non-alcoholic theorizers--whose lives did not hang in the balance if they got themselves confused and came to some wrong conclusions.
A.A.'s founders did something else to keep the spiritual rigor and power of the Twelve Steps from scaring off new prospects. They put the Steps forth as suggestions rather than as directives. The sentence, which introduces the Steps in Chapter Five of the Big Book, says, "Here are the Steps we took, which are suggested as a Program of Recovery." This idea had enormous appeal throughout the A.A. movement from the time the Big Book was first published. We drunks hate to be told to do anything. The freedom to take the Steps at their own pace and in their own way quickly grew to be deeply cherished among A.A. members.
Before we explore the results of this permissive approach to the Steps, there is one oddity worth noting. A.A. existed for four full years before the Steps were put in their final written form. During that time there was a program and it was sobering up alcoholics. It consisted of two parts: a Six Step word-of-mouth Program, and the Four Absolutes--absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness, and absolute love--taken over from the Oxford Group, the evangelical Christian movement out of which A.A. was born. The Six Steps of the word-of-mouth program from the early pioneering years of Alcoholics Anonymous as given in "Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age" are:
1) We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol.
2) We made a moral inventory of our defects or sins.
3) We confessed or shared our shortcomings with another person in confidence.
4) We made restitution to all those we had harmed by our drinking.
5) We tried to help other alcoholics with no thought of reward in money or prestige.
6) We prayed to whatever God we thought there was for power to practice these precepts.
In those early days of A.A. there was no talk of suggestions. The basic points of the Program were regarded by all the older members as directives, as indispensable essentials, and were passed on to newcomers as such.
When Bill first formulated the Twelve Steps, he conceived of them, too, as instructions, not as suggestions. When the idea of presenting the Steps as suggestions came up, Bill for a long time flatly opposed it. Finally--and reluctantly--he agreed. In "Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age" he related how this concession enabled countless A.A.'s to approach the fellowship who would otherwise have been turned off A.A.--and back to active alcoholism.
Still, Bill was a man whose watchword was prudence and who went out of his way to steer clear of destructive controversy. One cannot help wondering if his feelings on the decision to present the Twelve Steps in the form of suggestions were not a bit more ambiguous than he was willing to let on in public once the compromise had been reached. There is no denying that the paragraphs of Chapter Five of the Big Book which introduce the Twelve Steps are full of language that would be utterly appropriate as a preamble to a set of action directions, but is not nearly as fitting as an introduction to a group of suggestions. Here is the beginning of Chapter Five:
"Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest. Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it--then you are ready to take certain Steps.
"At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.
"Remember that we deal with alcohol--cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power--that One is God. May you find Him now!
"Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon. Here are the Steps we took..."
Granting that Bill ended up fully reconciled to the compromise, his initial misgivings may turn out in the long run to have been prophetic. At the time, however, there were no indications whatsoever that the permissive, suggestions only approach was anything but a boon to the movement.
In 1938 and 1939 when the Big Book was being written, there were one hundred members in the fellowship. By 1945 active A.A. membership was up to thirteen thousand. The primary reason for this explosive increase was that the Program--the Steps--were a winning formula; they worked, and there was a big need for them out there in the population. America was boozy and was spawning a great many alcoholics.
Highly favorable press coverage of the A.A. story was also a major factor in the spectacular growth pattern. A series of enthusiastic articles on A.A. appeared in the fall of 1939 in the Cleveland "Plain Dealer." These pieces produced a flood of new A.A. members in the Cleveland area. This sudden expansion was the first tangible evidence that A.A. had the potential to grow into a movement of major proportions.
The sequence of events during this period is significant. The Big Book was published in April of 1939, and in it the suggestions--only approach to the Steps was disseminated for the first time. A few months later the "Plain Dealer" articles ran, and Cleveland A.A.'s found themselves relating to new prospects on an unprecedented scale. It suddenly became attractive, in a way it had not been before when the fellowship was smaller and more intimate, to ease up a bit on the idea that all the principles should be practiced all the time by all the members. More and more emphasis began to be placed on the fact that the Steps were to be considered as suggestions only. At this time, and through this set of circumstances, the "cafeteria style" take-what-you-like-and-leave-the-rest approach to the Twelve Steps came into practice.
And it seemed to work. It turned out that many newcomers could get sober and stay sober without anything like the full and intensive practice of the whole Program that had been considered a life-or-death necessity in the early years. In fact, alcoholics in significant numbers began to demonstrate that they could stay off booze on no more than an admission of powerlessness, some work with other alcoholics, and regular attendance at A.A. meetings.
This is not to say that all A.A.'s began to take this super-permissive approach to the Twelve Steps. A great many continued to opt for the original, full Program approach. But now for the first time the workability of other, less rigorous approaches was established, and a tendency had emerged which was to become more pronounced as time went on.
At first this seemed like an unmixed blessing. After all, those who chose actively to practice all of the Twelve Steps were as free as ever to do so. Those who preferred working with some, or just a couple, of the Steps were staying sober too. And A.A. was attracting more and more new members and more and more favorable recognition. In 1941, Jack Alexander's article on Alcoholics Anonymous was published in the "Saturday Evening Post." A.A. membership at the time stood at two thousand. In the next nine months it jumped four hundred.
By now it was possible to distinguish three variant practices of the A.A. program which we have labeled the strong-cup-of-coffee, medium-cup-of-coffee, and weak-cup-of-coffee approaches. Strong A.A. was the original, undiluted, dosage of the spiritual principles. Strong A.A.'s took all Twelve of the Steps--and kept on taking them. They did not stop with the admission of powerlessness over alcohol, but went on right away to turn their wills and lives over to God's care. They began to practice rigorous honesty in all their affairs. In short order they proceeded to take a moral inventory, admit all their wrongs to at least one other person, take positive and forceful action in making such restitution as was possible for those wrongs, continued taking inventory, admitting their faults, and making restitution on a regular basis, pray and meditate every day, go to two or more A.A. meetings weekly, and actively work the Twelfth Step, carrying the A.A. message to others in trouble.
The medium A.A.'s started off with a bang, pretty much like the strong A.A.'s, except they hedged or procrastinated a bit on parts of the Program that they feared or did not like--maybe the God Steps, maybe the inventory Steps, depending on their particular nervousness or dislikes. But after they had stayed sober for a while, the medium A.A.'s eased up and settled into a practice of the Program that went something like this: an A.A. meeting a week; occasional Twelve Step work leaving more and more of that to the "newer fellows" as time went on); some work with the Steps but not like before); less and less inventory as they became more and more "respectable"); some prayer and meditation still, but not on a daily basis any more not enough time, due to the encroachment of business engagements, social activities, and other baggage that went along with the return to normal life in the workaday world).
The weak A.A.'s were a varied lot. The thing common to all of them was that they left big chunks of the Program totally and permanently out of their reckoning right from the outset--sometimes the God Steps, sometimes the inventory Steps, often both. Weak A.A.'s tended to talk in terms like, "All you need to do to stay sober is go to meetings and stay away from the first drink." Most of the weak A.A.'s who were successful in staying sober were pretty faithful meeting-goers. Since they were doing so little with the principles, their sobriety and their survival depended more exclusively than did those of the strong and medium A.A.'s on constant exposure to the people of A.A.
The fact is that only the strong-cup-of-coffee-ers were practicing the Program as it had been laid out in the Big Book. Granting that the medium and weak A.A.'s had every right as A.A. members to practice the principles any way they wanted including hardly any at all), since the Steps were "suggestions only"--still, the way the first members had done it, and the way the Big Book had recorded it was the strong-cup-of-coffee way.
Glasses may have an amazing effect on a person’s vision, especially when they have been filled and emptied a number of times.