tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51546171957620599612024-03-13T10:18:58.559-04:00Improve Our Conscious Contactjoshuaelizetxehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01315687235907819372noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-70769910152556560312013-02-20T10:28:00.001-05:002013-02-20T10:28:39.435-05:00A routine experience
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">“My
spiritual life depends on an inner consciousness of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must be led in all things by my
consciousness of God and I must trust Him in all things.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></i></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">To do this, I must practice daily my prayer and meditation in the pursuit of Knowledge of His Will for me and the courage to carry it out. One of my favorite prayers is in the book "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz (listed below for you).</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></i></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">My morning prayer has the ability to awaken the deep connection between me and my Higher Power that stays with me throughout the day, God consciousness, then becomes a way of being. When I do this daily, I live in the Sunlight of the Spirit! I can see and share all the beauty around me and feel connected with everyone.</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Namaste</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></i></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">PRAYER<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Thank you, creator of the universe, for the gift of life you
have given me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you for giving me
everything that I have truly ever needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thank you for the opportunity to experience this beautiful body and this
wonderful mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you for living
inside me with all your love, and with your pure and boundless spirit, with
your warm and radiant light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you
for using my words, for using my eyes, for using my heart to share your love
wherever I go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love you just the way
you are, and because I am your creation, I love myself just the way I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Help me to keep the love and the peace in my
heart and to make that love a new way of life, that I may live in love for the
rest of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-88591800019114575132012-12-29T06:27:00.004-05:002012-12-29T06:27:52.715-05:00Finding Resources For Your Journey<a href="https://bjorkbloggen.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/seek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://bjorkbloggen.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/seek.jpg" /></a>Staying plugged in keeps me growing. My journey has been seeking and being. For me this means I go into different modes. I want to describe two of the modes I operate on. There are more but let's keep it simple. :) <br />
<br />
Seeking for me happens when I become restless, irritable, and discontent. This is when I get into solution mode. For me solution mode always comes to Step work with the main focus being on my conscious contact with my HP. I will pick my sponsors brain, hit the book store for inspirational books and read read read. Sometimes it is more about the sitting and being quiet. I will light candles and just work on being still so I can be inspired by my God/HP/the universe. In any case I go into seeking mode because <em> "God could and would if He were sought<strong>."</strong></em> So I seek.<br />
<br />
My next mode is being. Just being in life. Experiencing each moment. Living through the ins and outs of each day. Some days bumpier than others. The seeking I do allows me to live. To participate. Not perfectly. Not like saint like. It allows me to have the strength, energy, freedom, to <strong><em>soberly</em></strong> live. <br />
<br />
If your seeking ways to improve your conscious contact with God, start talking to others in your support network. Hit the bookstore. Hit your knees. Go to your church, a yoga center, nature reserve, retreat house, etc. Whatever you need to do to connect with your understanding of God.<br />
<br />
Because <em>HE CAN AND WILL IF YOU SEEK</em>.<br />
<br />
Namaste,<br />
Gwen R~<br />
<em>If you would like to contribute a post on Step 11 please contact </em><a href="mailto:cinderellamom96@comcast.net"><em>Gwen R.</em></a> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-11526478486169508662012-12-23T11:48:00.000-05:002012-12-29T06:54:59.938-05:00Prayer of Protection - Using Meditation as a Method of 12th Step ServiceThe light of God surrounds me; <br />
The love of God enfolds me; <br />
The power of God protects me; <br />
The presence of God watches over me. <br />
Wherever I am, God is! <br />
<br />
by James Dillet Freeman<br />
<br />
This prayer was written by Freeman, for soldiers during World War II. The "Prayer for Protection" was also carried to the moon in 1969 by Apollo astronaut, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin who took the "Prayer for Protection" along on the first manned moon landing.<br />
<br />
This is one of my favorite prayers to use for affirmations in meditation. I use each line as an affirmation and then change the pronoun at the of each line to "you," "them," or "us" depending who I am sending the intention towards.<br />
<br />
example: "The light of God surrounds us."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ox1gBHunIvw/UNc1hQgBDWI/AAAAAAAAAV8/Bbge1fAnGXQ/s1600/heal_the_earth_bandaid_200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ox1gBHunIvw/UNc1hQgBDWI/AAAAAAAAAV8/Bbge1fAnGXQ/s1600/heal_the_earth_bandaid_200.jpg" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ox1gBHunIvw/UNc1hQgBDWI/AAAAAAAAAV8/Bbge1fAnGXQ/s1600/heal_the_earth_bandaid_200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Try this yourself in a mediation. Relax and begin your meditation as you usually do. Once quiet and centered, take the prayer one line as a time. Visualize the action of each line for yourself, or anyone else you wish to connect with through these intentions.
<br />
<br />
Remember, we can be of tremendous benefit to others by sending intentions during meditation. But, be careful to offer only general intentions such as these. We can not know what our Higher Powers will is for anyone so sending specific intentions for what we think another needs is not beneficial. But, by sending this open ended type of intentional energy we contribute to the highest good of Higher Powers purpose. <br />
<br />
Please let us know how this works for you!<br />
<br />
Together in Meditation<br />
<br />
Randy F.<br />
<a href="http://www.spiritstep.com/">www.spiritstep.com</a><br />
<a href="http://www.11thstepmeditation.org/">www.11thStepMeditation.org</a>
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-47208059049492765882012-11-21T08:17:00.000-05:002012-11-21T08:17:20.288-05:0011th Step Meditation News<br />
<a href="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs025/1101648936536/img/38.jpg?a=1111314989467" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs025/1101648936536/img/38.jpg?a=1111314989467" /></a>
<b>In This Issue</b>
<br />
<a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/November-11th-Step-Meditation-Explorations.html?soid=1101648936536&aid=4kFHx6LmtA0#LETTER.BLOCK21">10th Step in Meditation</a>
<br />
<a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/November-11th-Step-Meditation-Explorations.html?soid=1101648936536&aid=4kFHx6LmtA0#LETTER.BLOCK27">11th Step in Meditation</a>
<br />
<a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/November-11th-Step-Meditation-Explorations.html?soid=1101648936536&aid=4kFHx6LmtA0#LETTER.BLOCK22">Personal 11th Step Meditation Story</a>
<br />
<a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/November-11th-Step-Meditation-Explorations.html?soid=1101648936536&aid=4kFHx6LmtA0#LETTER.BLOCK9">IOCC 11th Step Blog</a>
<br />
<a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/November-11th-Step-Meditation-Explorations.html?soid=1101648936536&aid=4kFHx6LmtA0#LETTER.BLOCK10">Sacred Connections</a>
<br />
<a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/November-11th-Step-Meditation-Explorations.html?soid=1101648936536&aid=4kFHx6LmtA0#LETTER.BLOCK12">11th Step Meditation Intentions</a>
<br />
<a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/November-11th-Step-Meditation-Explorations.html?soid=1101648936536&aid=4kFHx6LmtA0#LETTER.BLOCK20">Emmet Fox and AA</a>
<br />
<a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/November-11th-Step-Meditation-Explorations.html?soid=1101648936536&aid=4kFHx6LmtA0#LETTER.BLOCK14">Meditation in the News</a>
<br />
<br />
View the 11th Step Meditation News<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/November-11th-Step-Meditation-Explorations.html?soid=1101648936536&aid=4kFHx6LmtA0" target="_blank">November 11th Step Meditation Explorations</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-47199922641019956692012-07-31T12:24:00.003-04:002012-07-31T21:19:11.689-04:00Yoga - Meditation - Step 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V3gDt-533B8/UBgGsFaURQI/AAAAAAAABbU/T-w5DLzRr9c/s1600/Chakrasmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V3gDt-533B8/UBgGsFaURQI/AAAAAAAABbU/T-w5DLzRr9c/s320/Chakrasmall.jpg" width="320" /></a>Many people think of yoga as stretching for fitness. What is really on the mat is preparation for meditation. It is working the body and mind to better settle into quiet. This quiet time helps to improve our conscious contact with a Higher Power. </div>
<br />
No matter if your taking yoga class at a studio or practicing in the home allow yourself that extra time when finished to sit quietly afterwards. If coming from a yoga studio try to keep talking to a minimum or none until you can get to your meditation. You may need to quietly leave class when finished and find your quiet space either in your home or a special space outside. Some teachers leave time for a deep meditation period after class and that may be all you need.<br />
<br />
Focus on the breath especially when distracted. Distraction is normal in meditation. Simply bring your concentration back to your breath. Breathe deeply all the way down to the belly, expanding it like your belly is a balloon on your inhalations. Keep your mouth closed and breath through the nose only. <br />
<br />
Most importantly do not judge your practice. If you have just started or have been doing this for years it is all good. One baby step at a time. One inhalation at a time. One experience at a time. Just keep practicing one day at a time.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-18352452564730885642012-06-26T13:24:00.001-04:002013-01-16T19:06:13.766-05:00Meditation for 12 Step - Cleaning the HouseSo during my yoga teacher training we had to write meditations for the beginning of our classes. It was suggested since I will be teaching the Yoga of Recovery to write a recovery based meditation. I have to say I really enjoy this process. What is most fun is hearing what people visualized when doing the meditation. <br />
<br />
So I won't write word for word what I did. But I will give you something to visualize when meditating. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
Picture a set of 12 steps. What do they look like? Are they outside? inside? wood? stone? carpeted? Get a good visual of your steps.<br />
<br />
Notice there are obstacles on your steps. As you slowly walk up your stairs clean up your stairs so you can walk through.<br />
<br />
Once on your twelfth step look back down and notice this path you have made. Notice how it feels. Will you have to unload and go back down to clean up more? <br />
<br />
That is a shortened version and a general idea of the visual. I was more specific and had people stop at specific Steps and related specific obstacles to pick up (character defects, etc.) <br />
<br />
So what did people see? <br />
<br />
Types of steps - clouds, wood on a beach, wide with a red carpet, marble etc.<br />
Obstacles - toys, dirty socks, assorted clutter etc.<br />
Looking back down - still much to clean up but a path was made<br />
<br />
Using these visuals can help in many ways. It can help give us the confidence to work the Steps and clean up our stairs. It lets us know it is a process. We may not get our stairs fully clean the first time around but a path is made and that is but a beginning. It is now easier to go back down the stairs and clean more, clearing our path a little more each time. We can connect with our feelings in this process. Although many don't like the feelings it may bring up which can help us dig even deeper. <br />
<br />
So <strong><em>WHY</em></strong> would we do any exercise like this? Ultimately to let in the sunlight of the spirit. To get closer to God, your Higher Power, deepen your spiritual connection. It does not matter how you word it, clean house so there is nothing between you and spirit. Then we can give back to others. Our cups are full and we have something to give. To keep our cups full so we are not drained "<strong><em>We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with
God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the
power to carry it out</em>."</strong><br />
<br />
Yours in service,<br />
Gwen R~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-67836198049871094852012-06-16T09:17:00.000-04:002012-06-16T09:17:44.675-04:00An IOCC Reader Shares His Experience Strength and Hope on Step 11<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fZIP4YnVlGI/T9yGu4DzL4I/AAAAAAAABa4/ZrGJUA8FYcQ/s1600/Man+Praying+Dark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fZIP4YnVlGI/T9yGu4DzL4I/AAAAAAAABa4/ZrGJUA8FYcQ/s200/Man+Praying+Dark.jpg" width="200" /></a>I would love to have a conversation with God, to sit close and hear<br />actual words being spoken by my Higher Power, especially as S/He<br />clearly explains the perfect direction for my life. If that’s not<br />possible, could I have a fresh email from my Higher Power sitting in<br />my inbox each morning? Isn’t that what step 11 is all about, finding<br />the knowledge of God’s will for us?<br /><br />I had heard of a Step Eleven meeting at a nearby town. Twenty minutes<br />of mediation and 40 minutes of sharing was the weekly agenda. I went<br />with expectations for I was struggling with depression and fear. I was<br />tired of coping and had a deep hope that someone or some God could<br />alleviate my pain. I wanted a deeper connection with God, often<br />frustrated that I could go through the day without a thought of God. I<br />had attempted mediation in the past, trying to still my mind, to quiet<br />the endless stream of thoughts that poured down those well worn<br />groves. Those attempts always ended in frustration, the noise of my<br />thoughts getting louder as I attempted to hush them. Thoughts that<br />made breathe difficult. I could never repeat my experiences in group<br />meditation where I had long moments of peacefulness. But on my own?<br />Nada. The shitty committee moves in and throws a party.<br /><br />So I found that meeting, sat in the circle among welcoming faces, and<br />enjoyed the next twenty minutes of quiet. Listening to the swish of<br />breathe, small sounds of people adjusting their positions, my breathe<br />becoming one with theirs. It was peaceful, serene, and I was not<br />alone. Then the sharing started and I listened as others shared of<br />their frustrations and successes with meditation. When I shared, it was<br />of my desire for a deep connection with my Higher Power, for direction<br />in my life. I must have alarmed the next speaker, for he softly warned<br />me that, perhaps, my expectations were too high. I reacted in old<br />ways, feeling scolded and unloved. The color of the meeting changed,<br />became cold and unwelcoming. Old fears welled up, precipitating into<br />anger. I sat quietly, waited for the meeting was over so I could put<br />my coffee cup away in token service, then exiting with tears revealing<br />my frustrations and self-pity.<br /><br />I walked a long time till I found a spot to sit and ponder; trying to<br />understand what was the purpose of mediation. I tried to look at my<br />part but couldn’t, still resentful of others. I found the Grapevine<br />booklet “The Best of Bill” in my pocket and opened it up to the essay<br />on Love. I read:<br /><br />“Suddenly I realized what the matter was. My basic flaw had always<br />been dependence - almost absolute dependence - on people or<br />circumstance to supply me with prestige, security, and the like.<br />Failing to get these things according to my perfectionist dreams and<br />specifications, I had fought for them. And when defeat came, so did my<br />depression.”<br /><br />Then I could see my part. I wanted that damn magic wand again, my<br />Higher Power’s wand that would make my problems go away, that would<br />arrange my life in perfect order. Hmmmm, perhaps sloth comes to mind,<br />laziness, not wanting to do the work, an easy out. Reminds me of<br />drinking.<br /><br />I understand there will not be a conversation with my Higher Power to<br />map out my life or even just today. My journey will be like that of<br />others, the path to be discovered as I travel through the day, while<br />being unable to avoid the painful episodes that life’s circumstances<br />bring. And what is God’s will for me? Just to be helpful to the person<br />in front of me, not expecting or demanding anything in return. To<br />trust.<br />
<br />
Submitted by an IOCC reader...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-65055880755947358442012-05-23T15:38:00.003-04:002012-05-23T15:38:33.247-04:00What do you know about AA?<h1 class="title">
International Christian Recovery Coalition Workshops in Orange County, CA</h1>
<a class="date" href="http://mauihistorian.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/international-christian-recovery-coalition-workshops-in-orange-county-ca/"><span class="day">23</span><span class="month">May</span></a><br />
<div class="entry">
Do you know how many Christian organizations influenced the ideas, principles, and practices of the AA of Akron Christian Fellowship founded in 1935?<br />Do you know the details of the Christian upringing of A.A. cofounders DR. Robert H. Smith and Bill Wilson as youngsters in Vermont–the church life of their parents, the Congregational churches and Sunday schools they attended, the emphasis on salvation and the truth of the Word of God these Congregational churches promulgated?<br />Do you know how frequently AA Cofounders Robert H. Smith and Bill Wilson heard about The Great Awakening of 1875 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; how often they were involved in conversion and revival and temperance meetings; how deep were their connections with the Young Men’s Christian Association, how the great Christian evangelists like Dwight Moody, Ira Sankey, F.B. Meyer, Allen Folger, and others visited the boyhood arenas of Bill Wilson and Bob Smith in Vermont and healed drunks by the power of God.<br />Do you know of the intense Christian training that Robert H. Smith received at St. Johnsbury Academy and William G. Wilson received at Burr and Burton Academy.<br />Do you know that each AA cofounder attended daily chapel at the academies, were required to attend weekly Congregational church services, and studied the Bible.<br />Do you know the role played by the YOung Men’s Christian Association in the academies the cofounders attended.<br />Do you know that Bill Wilson took a four year Bible study course at the Christian academy he attended in his high school years.<br />Do you know the Christian program of United Christian Endeavor Society (in which Dr. Bob was active as a youngter)–a program that involved conversion meetings, prayer meetings, Bible study meetings, Quiet Hour, and reading of Christian literature.<br />Do you know how all the foregoing facts have simply been ignored or suppressed by those writing biographies and histories of A.A. – to the point that the latest movie “Bill W.” now showing in California and many other places just leaves out all the Christian principles and practices of early AA in Akron and all of Bill’s involvement at Calvary Mission, Calvary Church, and participation in evangelical marches by Shoemaker’s parishioners from the church to Madison Square to witness.<br />Do you know that each of the first three AAs believed in God, was or became a Christian, and studied the Bible before any got sober.<br />Do you know that early AA had no Steps, no Traditions, no Big Book, no drunkalogs, and no meetings as we know them today.<br />Do you know that every early AA professed his belief in God and was required to believe on Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9).<br />Do you know that it wasn’t until the Spring of 1939–four years after AA was founded–that Bill Wilson’s compromise adding one’s own conception of “a” god, some “higher power,” and some vague light bulb or door or table or Santa Claus began their intrusion into the recovery movement and later A.A.<br />Do you know how many Christians out of the two million AA members today are participating in Alcoholics Anonymous, getting cured by the power of God, praying, becoming children of the one true living God, studying the Bible, and witnessing to others there are today.<br />Do you think that the enormous and astonishing successes of early A.A. were the product of a belief in a light bulb, the Big Dipper, the Great Pumpkin, a chair, a table, a door knob.<br />In fact, do you ever hear about A.A.’s Christian roots, Christian fellowship, history, principles and practices as summarized on page 131 of DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers.<br />Awake thou that sleepest, and Christ shall give you light. The AA program did not foment out of free masonry, adultery, LSD, spiritualism, and all the other detours anti-AA zealots are shouting about today. They simply had no influence and are irrelevant to each and every part of the actual 12 Step fellowship history.<br />See The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010. www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com, and the scores of Christian Recovery videos and audios on www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-65672202650882522102012-05-13T16:48:00.002-04:002012-05-13T16:48:59.116-04:00A.A. and Bill Wilson: Here's the rest of the story<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 2pt 0pt 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #940053; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 24pt;">Alcoholics
Anonymous History</span><span style="color: #080079;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #940053; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;">How Bill Wilson Came Firmly to Believe That Alcoholism Could Be
Cured by Conversion to God through Christ </span><span style="color: #080079;"><br />
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
<v:stroke joinstyle="miter">
<v:formulas>
<v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0">
<v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0">
<v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1">
<v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2">
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth">
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight">
<v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1">
<v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2">
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth">
<v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0">
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight">
<v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0">
</v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas>
<v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f">
<o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit">
</o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype><v:shape alt="Description: http://www.dickb.com/graphics/bar.gif" id="Picture_x0020_1" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" style="height: 1.5pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 450pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="bar" src="file:///C:\Users\dickb\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 10pt 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #080079; font-size: 13.5pt;">Dick B. <br />
© 2012 Anonymous. All rights reserved.</span><span style="color: #080079;"> </span></b><span style="color: #080079;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">For many years during his childhood, Bill Wilson
repeatedly heard that his paternal grandfather William C. (“Willie”) Wilson had
been cured of alcoholism in a conversion experience atop Mt. Aeolus in Bill’s
home town village of East Dorset, Vermont. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">Throughout his youth, Bill was exposed to the account of
his grandfather’s conversion and cure of alcoholism. And his exposure to the
Bible, to Christian religious training, and to spiritual growth was far more
substantial than has previously been known. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">For example, Bill and his paternal and maternal families
attended the East Dorset Congregational Church. There they listened to sermons,
and recited the confession and creed. There were tent meetings and revivals,
and Bill witnessed conversions to God through Jesus Christ. Moreover, Bill and
his maternal grandfather, Fayette Griffith, read the Bible individually and
together. Bill also read the Bible with his friend Mark Whalon. Grandfather
Fayette enrolled Bill in the East Dorset Congregational Church Sunday school.
We are still investigating what transpired of a religious nature, if anything,
during Bill’s residence in Rutland, Vermont. However, during his matriculation
at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vermont, Bill regularly attended the
daily chapel, and heard Scripture reading. He was required to attend the weekly
church service at the Manchester Congregational Church. He took a required,
four-year Bible study course at the Academy. And Bill was president of the
Academy Young Men’s Christian Associatio, while his girlfriend, Bertha Bamford,
was president of the Burr and Burton Young Women’s Christian Assocation. Both both
attended chapel together at the Academy, and also “Y” functions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">Some years later, Bill’s psychiatrist, Dr. William D.
Silkworth, explained to Bill that Bill could be cured by the “Great Physician,”
Jesus Christ. This explanation occurred during Bill’s third hospitalization at
Towns Hospital in New York, where Silkworth told Bill that there was a need in
recovery for a relationship with Jesus Christ, Silkworth using the term “the
Great Physician.” [Dale Mitchel, <i>Silkworth: The Little Doctor Who Loved
Drunks</i> (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2002), 50]. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">Then Bill’s old friend, Ebby Thacher, made a visit to
Bill. Ebby related to Bill that the celebrated psychiatrist, Dr. Carl Jung, had
made a statement—“the one which saved Rowland Hazard’s life and set Alcoholics
Anonymous in motion. . . . ‘Occasionally, Rowland, alcoholics have recovered
through spiritual experiences, better known as religious conversions.’” [<i>Bill
W.: My First Forty Years</i> (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2000), 125]. Ebby also
told Bill that he had been lodged at Calvary Rescue Mission on the East Side in
New York. [<i>Bill W.</i>, 131]. Ebby was sober. He said to Bill, “I’ve got
religion.” [<i>Bill W.</i>, 133]. He touched upon the subject of prayer and
God. [<i>Bill W.</i>, 133-34]. And then, as Bill stated in his own words, “My
friend sat before me, and he made the point-blank declaration that God had done
for him what he could not do for himself. His human will had failed. Doctors
had pronounced him incurable. Society was about to lock him up. Like myself, he
had admitted complete defeat.” [<i>Alcoholics Anonymous</i>, 4<sup>th</sup> ed.
(New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001), 11]. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">I found a manuscript at Stepping Stones which, at lines
935-942, told of Bill’s further statement: “Nevertheless here I was sitting
opposite a man who talked about a personal God, who told me how he had found
him, who described to me how I might do the same thing and who convinced me
utterly that something had come into his life which had accomplished a miracle.
The man was transformed; there was no denying he had been reborn.” [See Dick
B., <i>Turning Point: A History of Early A.A.’s Spiritual Roots and Successes</i>
(San Rafael, CA: Paradise Research Publications, 1997, 99-100.] Bill also
pointed to a further statement by Ebby, and said, “But my friend sat before me,
and he made the point-blank declaration that God had done for him what he could
not do for himself. His human will had failed. Doctors had pronounced him
incurable. Society was about to lock him up. . . . That floored me. It began to
look as though religious people were right after all.” [<i>Alcoholics Anonymous</i>,
4<sup>th</sup> ed., 11]. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">Bill’s next move was to go to Calvary Rescue Mission. He
stated, “Remembering the mission where Ebby stayed, I figured I’d go and see
what did they do, anyway down there. I’d find out. . . . There were hymns and
prayers. Tex, the leader, exhorted us. Only Jesus could save, he said. . . .
Then came the call. Penitents started marching toward the rail. . . . Soon I
knelt among the sweating, stinking penitents. Maybe then and there, for the
first time, I was penitent too. Something touched me, I guess it was more than
that. I was hit.” [<i>Bill W.: My First Forty Years</i>, 136-37]. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">Several witnesses confirmed what Bill did at the altar:
(a) Mrs. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., talked with me on the telephone and told me
she was present when Bill made his decision for Christ at Calvary Mission.
[Dick B., <i>The Conversion of Bill W.</i> (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research
Publications, Inc., 2006), 61]. (b) Bill’s wife, Lois Wilson, confirmed Bill’s
decision for Christ. Speaking of Bill’s trip to the altar at the Mission, Lois
Wilson said: “And he went up, and really, in very great sincerity, did hand
over his life to Christ.” [“Lois Remembers: Searcy, Ebby, Bill & Early
Days.” Recorded in Dallas, Texas, June 29, 1973, Moore, OK: Sooner Cassette,
Side 1]. (c) Rev. Sam Shoemaker’s assistant minister, W. Irving Harris, wrote
this: “It was at a meeting at Calvary Mission that Bill himself was moved to
declare that he had decided to launch out as a follower of Jesus Christ.” [Dick
B., <i>New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A.</i>, 2d ed.
(Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 1999), 533-35.]. (d) Bill
twice made a further statement of great interest. It is not clear whether Bill
was referring to his decision for Christ at the Calvary Mission altar or to his
subsequent spiritual experience after calling on the “Great Physician” at Towns
Hospital not long thereafter. But Bill Wilson twice wrote, “For sure I’d been
born again.” [See <i>Bill W., My First Forty Years</i>, 147; Dick B., <i>Turning
Point</i>, 94-98; and Dick B., <i>A New Way In</i> (Kihei, HI: Paradise
Research Publications, Inc., 2006), 61-62)]. (e) At Stepping Stones, I (Dick
B.) personally found a letter that Bill had written to his brother-in-law
stating that he [like Ebby] had “found religion.” [Dick B., <i>The Conversion
of Bill W.</i>, 62]. We now have in our possession a copy of Bill Wilson’s
signature on a book he gave to a distinguished Christian religious writer. Bill
signed it, “In Christ.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">After his spiritual experience at the Calvary Rescue
Mission altar, Bill wandered drunk for a time and then staggered into Towns
Hospital for his last visit there. Bill said, “I remember saying to myself,
‘I’ll do anything, anything at all. If there be a Great Physician, I’ll call on
him.’ Then, with neither faith nor hope I cried out, ‘If there be a God, let
him show himself.’ The effect was instant, electric. Suddenly my room blazed
with an indescribably white light. . . . I became acutely conscious of a
presence which seemed like a veritable sea of living spirit. I lay on the
shores of a new world. ‘This,’ I thought, ‘must be the great reality. The God
of the preachers.’ . . . I thanked my God who had given me a glimpse of his
absolute Self. . . . Save a brief hour of doubt next to come, these feelings
and convictions, no matter the vicissitude, have never deserted me since.” [<i>Bill
W.: My First Forty Years</i>, 145-46]. As Lois Wilson’s biographer related the
situation, Bill said, “I thanked my God, who had given me a glimpse of his
absolute Self. . . . It was December 11, 1934. Bill had just turned
thirty-nine. He would never again doubt the reality of God.” [William G.
Borchert, <i>The Lois Wilson Story: When Love Is Not Enough</i> (Center City,
MN: Hazelden, 2005), 166]. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">When Bill consulted Dr. Silkworth after the experience,
Dr. Silkworth said to Bill, “You have had some kind of conversion experience.”
[<i>Bill W.: My First Forty Years</i>, 148]. And the recent biography of Bill
Wilson’s wife, written by William G. Borchert, tells the details of Bill’s
immediate, enthusiastic witnessing as follows: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">“The doctor [Dr. Silkworth] always allowed Bill to share
his God-experience with some patients, hoping somehow it might help. And Bill
began learning about the mental and spiritual part of his alcoholic malady from
Dr. Shoemaker, who had now befriended the former Wall Street analyst. Dr.
Shoemaker encouraged Bill to spread the message of change and spiritual recovery
to others like himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">“Bill took the preacher at his word. With Lois’s full
support, he was soon walking through the gutters of the Bowery, into the nut
ward at Bellevue Hospital, down the slimy corridors of fleabag hotels, and into
the detox unit at Towns with a Bible under his arm. He was promising sobriety
to every drunk he could corner if they, like he, would only turn their lives
over to God.” [Borchert, <i>The Lois Wilson Story</i>, 170] <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">And what <i>was</i> the simple message, as Bill explained
it to the wife of A.A. number three and set forth in his “Basic Text” (<i>Alcoholics
Anonymous</i>, 4<sup>th</sup> ed.) at page 191: “‘Henrietta, the Lord has been
so wonderful to me, curing me of this terrible disease, that I just want to
keep talking about it and telling people.’” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">Bill’s conviction about his permanent cure was so strong
that he arranged a meeting in December 1937 at the boardroom on the 56<sup>th</sup>
floor at the Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The meeting lasted five hours.
Four Rockefeller associates—Albert Scott, Leroy Chipman, W. S. Richardson, and
Frank Amos—were present. So, too, were Dr. Silkworth and Bill’s brother-in-law,
Dr. Strong. In addition, there was an array of what Frank Amos called “the
following ex-alcoholics, William G. Wilson, Henry G. Parkhurst, William J.
Ruddell, Ned Pointer and Bill Taylor, all of New York and vicinity; Mr. J. H.
F. Mayo of near Baltimore, Maryland; Dr. Robert H. Smith and J. Paul Stanley of
Akron, Ohio.” Frank Amos stated that Bill Wilson had briefly told Mr.
Richardson, “the story of how, after many vain attempts to discontinue the use
of alcohol, he had achieved what he believed was a permanent cure, through what
he termed a religious or spiritual process.” Dr. Silkworth stated “without
reservation that while he could not tell just what it was that these men had
which had effected their ‘cure’ yet he was convinced they were cured and that
whatever it was, it had his complete endorsement.” [The foregoing is contained
in the “History of the Alcoholic movement up to the formation of The Alcoholic
Foundation on Aug. 11, 1938.” I personally obtained, with permission, my copy
of this second report by Frank Amos at the Stepping Stones archives in Bedford
Hills, New York.] <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #080079;">For further details, please see Dick B., <i>The
Conversion of Bill W.</i>: (<a href="http://dickb.com/conversion.shtml"><span style="color: blue;">http://dickb.com/conversion.shtml</span></a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #080079;">Dick B.<br />
PO Box 837<br />
Kihei, HI 96753-0837 <br />
<a href="mailto:dickb@dickb.com"><span style="color: blue;">dickb@dickb.com</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.dickb.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.DickB.com</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gloria Deo<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-62154854696816852872012-05-11T23:05:00.002-04:002012-05-11T23:05:41.482-04:00Quotable Quotes of A.A.'s Dr. Bob for 2012 Founders Dayby Dick B., Copyright 2012 Anonymous. All rights reserved<br />
<br />
Despite the plethora of biographies, autobiographies, films, TV presentations, and other literature about A.A. Cofounder Bill Wilson and even his wife Lois Wilson, many an AA, codependent, 12 Step Fellowship member, clergyman, professional therapist, treatment program worker, and Christian leader simply knows virtually nothing about the enormous role and wise sayings of A.A. Cofounder Dr. Robert H. Smith of Akron (usually called "Dr. Bob").<br />
<br />
This particular article will help make the 2012 Founders Day in Akron a great deal more understandable, meaningful, and significant. It will quote just a fewof the many remarks made by A.A. Akron leader, Dr. Bob. Made as he guided others to new lives. And these are they:<br />
<br />
"Do you believe in God, young fella? Not a god. God" See <em>DR BOB and the Good Oldtimers, </em>p. 144.<br />
<br />
"Your Heavenly Father will never let your down!" <em>Alcoholics Anonymous, </em>4th ed., 2001, p. 181.<br />
<br />
". . . we were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book. To some of us older ones, the parts that we found absolutely essential were the Sermon on the Mount [Matthew 5, 6, and 7], the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, and the Book of James," <em>The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches Their Last Major Talks, </em>p. 13 [From Dr. Bob's last major address to AAs in 1948].<br />
<br />
"I have found that no one can be permanently happly unless he lives in harmony with the rules set down in the Good Book. Try it some time. You don't need to wait till you're down and out before you ask for help. There's help waiting for you right now, if you just ask God to help you," "I Saw Religion Remake A Drunkard," September 1939, <em>Your Faith Magazine</em>, p. 84.<br />
<br />
"Dr. Bob was always positive about his faith, Clarence [Clarence H. Snyder] said. If someone asked him a question about the program, his usual response was, 'What does it say in the Good Book?' Suppose he was asked, 'What's all this First Things First?' Dr. Bob would be ready with the appropriate quotation: 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousners, and all these things shall be added unto.'" <em>DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, </em>p. 144. [Matthew 6:33]<br />
<br />
"Dr. Bob, another founder of A.A., also addressed the Shrine assembly. As he was introduced, the audience rose to its feet in tribute. The fame of Dr. Bob is great in A.A. In soft, confident and unhurried words he too reiterated the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous: 'Read religious literature. Resume church attendance, cultivate the habit of prayer, and transmit the desires and principles of Alcoholics Anonymous to others.' He particularly recommended reading the Bible, <br />
<em>Tidings, </em>Friday, March 26, 1948, p. 17.<br />
<br />
<em>Gloria Deo</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-8840767016390324062012-04-20T14:25:00.002-04:002012-04-20T14:25:31.522-04:00A.A.'s Two Timelines and A.A.'s Bible Roots<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Alcoholics Anonymous Bible Roots -
Timeline<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The
Real Time-lines (two of them) that marked the beginnings of A.A.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dick
B.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Copyright 2012 Anonymous. All rights
reserved</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">April<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20, 2012</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Akron Events</span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">:</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Russell
Firestone got saved and healed of alcoholism on the train back to Akron from
the 50</span><sup><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"> triennial General Convention of the
Protestant Episcopal Church—a General Convention of the Episcopal Church]held
in Denver, Colorado, September 16-30, 1931.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Russell
and his friend James D. Newton traveled widely for the Oxford Group in the
ensuing months, giving their testimony in the United States and elsewhere.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The
Oxford Group (not Groups) founder, Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman, and other Oxford
Group members put on a series of meetings in Akron beginning on Thursday,
January 19, 1933, and extending to Monday, January 23. Rev. Walter F. Tunks,
rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, was actively involved in hosting the
meetings. [Russell was among the many who attended the huge number of meetings,
widely publicized in Akron papers said during these January 1933 meetings in
Akron. He and others gave testimony as to their Oxford Group life-changes
through Jesus Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Henrietta
Seiberling (of the well-known rubber dynasty family), Dr. Bob’s wife Anne, and
two other ladies attended the 1933 events and soon started attending a small
Oxford Group meeting, persuading Dr. Bob to join the group. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Shortly
after the January 1933 events, a small group of Oxford Group members began
meeting every Wednesday night in the home of T. Henry and Clarace Williams.
Henrietta Seiberling, and Dr. Bob and Anne Smith, were among those attending
weekly.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Henrietta
believed she had received revelation from God that her friend, Dr. Bob, must
not touch one drop of liquor—a message she conveyed to Bob. But Bob continued
to drink excessively and told Henrietta he guessed he was just one of those
“wanna wanna” guys.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">During
this period, and while still drinking, Bob felt it necessary to “renew” his
familiarity with the Bible in which he said he “had had excellent training” as
a youngster in Vermont. He read the Bible three times from cover to cover. He
joined a Presbyterian Church. He read all kinds of Christian literature (which
is still available for view at Dr. Bob’s Home in Akron as to one part, and at
Brown University as to the other). Bob said he read all the Oxford Group
literature he could get his hands on.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Around
the end of April 1934, Henrietta Seiberling asked group members that they be
prepared to be straightforward about shortcomings and to “share something
costly” at the next meeting.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dr.
Bob shared at that (next) meeting: “This may cost me my profession, but I am a
silent drinker and I can’t stop.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Henrietta
asked Bob if he would like the group to pray. Bog agreed; and there in the
Williams’ living room they went down on their knees and prayed for Dr. Bob’s
deliverance from his drinking problem.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Two
weeks later, Bill Wilson arrived in Akron.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Bill
Wilson had failed in a business venture, was tempted to drink; but instead he
called Dr. Walter Tunks from the Mayflower Hotel in Akron. Tunks gave Bill a
referral that led to Henrietta Seiberling. Bill told her: “I am a rum hound
from New York and a member of the Oxford Group. And I need to talk to a drunk.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Henrietta
thought Bill was “manna from heaven.” She arranged to have Dr. Bob come to her
home at the Seiberling Gate Lodge. And the two agreed.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Bill
W. and Dr. Bob met on Mothers Day, May 12, 1935</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The
principal thing that came out of the six hour meeting was that Dr. Bob
concluded that, despite his and Bill’s association with the Oxford Groups, only
Bill had grasped their idea of “service”—helping others get well. Something he
said he had never thought of, considered, or done.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Soon
Bill moved into the Smith home during the summer of 1935. Bill and Bob listened
each day as Dr. Bob’s wife read the Bible to them. They particularly favored
the Book of James. The two men stayed up until the wee hours of the morning
studying the Bible, discussing a possible program, and developing their ideas
for recovery.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Dr.
Bob went on one more binge and then quit for good – something he had never been
able to do. Henrietta and he felt his cure (which is what he called it) t was
in answer to the prayers.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Bob
and Bill decided they had better get busy, find another drunk, and help him.
And they phoned the nurse at Akron City Hospital. Bob told her they had found a
cure for alcoholism. And they met Bill D. (A.A. Number Three-to-be). Bill D.
told them he already believed in God, was a Deacon in his church and a Sunday
school teacher, and didn’t need to be sold on religion. Bill and Bob told him
to give his life to God and that he must help another once he was cured. Dotson
did just that, was immediately healed, and stepped from the hospital a free
man—who participated in A.A. meetings and service for the rest of his life.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">As
Bob said, at that time, they had no Steps, no Traditions, and (of course) no
Big Book, nor drunkalogs, and no meetings as we now know them. The date of
Dotson’s discharge from the hospital was July 4, 1935; and Bill declared that
that was the founding date of the first A.A. Group—Akron Number One.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">From
that point forward, they had daily meetings. They called themselves a Christian
Fellowship. All were hospitalized. All read the Bible with Dr. Bob in the
hospital, were asked to confirm their belief in God, and then got out of bed
and on their knees and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Every
morning the AAs, their wives and families would gather at the Smith Home for a
Quiet Time led by Dr. Bob’s wife. Anne would open with a prayer, read from the
Bible, have group prayer, have a group quiet time, and then usually share from
her journal [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anne Smith’s Journal,
1933-1939</i>] and have discussions on it. Copies of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upper Room</i>—a quarterly Christian devotional—were distributed by
Mother G.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">On
Wednesdays, there was one regular meeting of the “self-styled alcoholic squad”
at the home of T. Henry Williams. Sometimes the few Oxford Group people would
hold their meetings in one room, and the alkies in another. Every single member
was required to make a “real surrender.” This meant he was taken upstairs with
two or three members (usually Dr. Bob and T. Henry). The newcomer would kneel.
The others would pray with him and over him. He would ask Jesus Christ to
become his Lord and Savior. The prayers were that God take alcohol out of his
life and guide him to live by Christian principies. Because these meetings were
characterized as “old fashioned revival meetings” focused on healing drunks,
they were referred to as a “clandestine lodge” of the Oxford Group and
distinguished themselves from the Oxford Group which held other kinds of
meetings and were focused on teams’ doing “world changing through life
changing.” </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="display: none; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-hide: all;">e</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The
daily meetings opened with prayer. There was reading from the Bible, group
prayer, group Quiet Time, and a period when newcomers were taken upstairs with
two or three oldtimers. In their homes, AAs read Christian devotionals like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Runner’s Bible, My Utmost for His
Highest</i> by Oswald Chambers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Soul’s Sincere Desire</i> by Glenn Clark, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Christ of the Mount</i> by E. Stanley Jones. These were circulated among them
by Dr. Bob and read. So were innumerable Christian books Dr. Bob and Henrietta
Seiberling and Anne Smith were reading—Kagawa’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love: The Law of Life;</i> Henry Drummond’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Greatest Thing in the World,</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Healing in Jesus’ Name </i>by Ethel Willitts, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christian Healing, Soul Surgery </i>by Walter, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Studies in the Sermon on the Mount </i>by Oswald Chambers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twice Born Men</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life Changers</i> by Harold Begbie, and many many others.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">By
November of 1937, Bill and Bob counted noses and found that 40 alcoholics they
personally knew—men who had gone to any lengths to follow the path—had
maintained sobriety. Twenty had never had a drink. Ten had relapsed but
returned and succeeded. This meant that 75% of these seemingly hopeless,
medically incurable real alcoholics had been cured.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Clarence
Snyder: First meeting call<u>ed</u> “Alcoholics Anonymous” held on May 11,
1939, in Cleveland, Ohio.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This
meeting took to Akron the “best” of the old program—the Bible, the Oxford Group
4 Absolutes, the Big Book, and the 12 Steps. It grew in one year from one group
to thirty groups. It took people through the Twelve Steps in a day or so. And
its records disclosed that they had attained a 93% success rate.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">New York Events</span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Rowland
Hazard had developed a serious alcoholism problem. He treated unsuccessfully
with Dr. Carl Jung in Switzerland. But he relapsed. Jung told him he could not
help him because he had the mind of a chronic alcoholic. Jung suggested that a
real conversion might relieve Rowland.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Rowland
affiliated with the Oxford Group, began associating with Rev. Samuel M.
Shoemaker, made a decision for Christ, and thoroughly mastered Oxford Group
ideas.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Ebby
Thacher, Bill W.’s childhood friend and soon-to-be “sponsor,” meets Oxford
Group members Shep Cornell, Cebra Graves, and Rowland Hazard. Ebby had
previously decided to get gets sober in Manchester, Vermont. Then his three
Oxford Group friends told him about the Oxford Group’s Christian principles,
about the power of prayer, and lodged him in Calvary Mission in New York. It
was at that Calvary Mission altar that Ebby made a decision for Jesus Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Bill’s
third hospital visit was in September 1934. This is when Dr. Silkworth told
Bill that if Bill did not stop drinking, Bill would die or go insane. And Dr.
Silkworth also told Bill that Jesus Christ, the Great Physician, could cure
Bill of his alcoholism.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Ebby
Thacher surrendered (accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior) on November
1, 1934, at Calvary Mission in New York.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Ebby
then visits Bill at his 182 Clinton Street home in New York in late November,
1934. He told Bill about the Oxford Group’s Christian message, about the power of
prayer they advocated, and about his own rebirth at Calvary Mission—Bill
concluding that Ebby had been born again.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Ebby
came back to Bill’s home again, probably in the first days of December 1934,
with Shep Cornell of the Oxford Group.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Bill
then heard Ebby give his testimony at Calvary Church.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Then
next day, probably about December 7, 1934, Bill went to Calvary Mission as Ebby
had done. Bill knelt at the altar and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and
Savior. Bill He wrote his brother in law that he had “found religion.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Bill
wrote in his autobiography and in another manuscript about that event saying,
“For sure I’d been born again.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">On
his way to Towns Hospital, Bill decided that he should probably call on the
Great Physician for help.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">December
11, 1934, Bill arrives at Towns Hospital for his fourth and final visit. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">While
there, he said: “If there be a God, let Him show Himself!”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">This
is when his hospital room filled and blazed with an “indescribably with white
light.” He experienced the presence of God, and declared that this must be “the
God of the Scriptures.”</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">He
declared of this event that he never again doubted the existence of God.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">He
was released—cured--from Towns Hospital on December 18, 1934. He then went
everywhere with a Bible under his arm—to the Bowery, to Calvary Mission, to
flea bag hotels, to Towns Hospital, etc.—telling drunks his story (that the
Lord had cured him of the terrible disease of alcoholism), and that they could
get healed of their alcoholism by giving their life to God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.dickb.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.dickb.com</span></a>; <a href="http://www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml"><span style="color: blue;">www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml</span></a>; <a href="http://www.christianrecoverycoalition.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com</span></a>;
Dick B.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Gloria Deo</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-45742265664609967432012-04-20T10:33:00.000-04:002012-04-20T10:33:10.105-04:00God, I Can’t Hear You<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6T8xp6pgrHs/T5FzL1k9GFI/AAAAAAAABaM/3CWqm2IJS6I/s1600/Female+Looking+Up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6T8xp6pgrHs/T5FzL1k9GFI/AAAAAAAABaM/3CWqm2IJS6I/s200/Female+Looking+Up.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<i>Prayer is not about changing God,
but being willing to let God change us.” —Richard Rohr</i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I have been sober for nearly 13 months
and, like most people in their first year of sobriety, I experienced
an extraordinary spiritual awakening. Early in recovery, I recall
telling my sponsor I had undergone my spiritual <i>Aha!</i> moment.
What a joke. Leave it to a real alcoholic like myself to believe I
had it all figured out before Step 1 was ever even completed.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In reality, the awakening did not occur
at a particular time; instead, it evolved into something wonderful as
time passed. I learned and lived the steps. The dark cloud began to
fade; the desire to drink diminished over time; and the well-known
term ‘easy does it’ started to make perfect sense. Indeed, it was
an awakening: my spirit woke up from a long winter’s nap.
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Step 11 in the Big Book says we sought
through prayer and meditation to improve our communication with God.
We ask for knowledge of His will and the power to execute it. While
the Eleventh Step is a beautiful way of life, I believe it is often
overlooked for the sheer magnitude of its meaning. Words like
‘prayer,’ ‘meditation,’ ‘knowledge of His will,’ and the
‘power to carry that out’ are overwhelming, especially to the
alcoholic who has been spiritually dead.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Through daily prayer and pause, God’s
whispers are loud and clear. I hear His words and witness His work
throughout the day, but I must maintain a grateful heart to receive
such blessings. If you’re having difficulty with Step 11, I
encourage you to be honest with God. Ask Him to change the desires of
your heart so they are in line with His. And, listen closely. You’ll
hear Him in the words of a stranger, through the kindness of a friend
or in the beauty that surrounds you.
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
According to page 87 in the Big Book,
“We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we
be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be
given whatever we need to take care of such problems.” The Eleventh
Step is really that simple. Put one foot in front of the other—He’ll
take care of the rest.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Alison Broderick is a freelance
writer who is passionate about carrying the message of recovery to
those suffering from the disease of addiction. She lives in Marietta,
Georgia with her husband and two boys, ages 8 and 6, and devotes much
of her time to <a href="http://www.marrinc.org/">MARR</a>—a
non-profit recovery center in Atlanta that provides lasting treatment
through gender-specific programs and therapeutic community.</i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-58063832773470472972012-04-07T09:43:00.002-04:002012-04-07T09:45:01.410-04:00Self Examination, Meditation, and Prayer"<em>There is a direct linkage among self-examination, meditation, and prayer. Taken separately, these practices can bring much relief and benefit. But when they are logically related and interwoven, the result is an unshakable foundation for life</em>." Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions page 98<br />
<br />
This passage is very powerful to me. I have a BIG arrow pointing to it in my Step book and many works highlighted. I think today the word that is speaking to me is "unshakable." Lets face it, like most people, I have been shaken enough in my life time, so to find something unshakable = GOOD. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M-VNLB0VPGE/T4BEiSwCpjI/AAAAAAAABZ8/sqKip0cIV1g/s1600/Meditating+Blonde1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M-VNLB0VPGE/T4BEiSwCpjI/AAAAAAAABZ8/sqKip0cIV1g/s320/Meditating+Blonde1.jpg" width="256" /></a>For me, the first part is always the willingness. I ask myself, am I willing to continuously practice self-examination? Yes, I personally am. I am a BIG lover of Step Ten. I don't always do it perfectly but the practice is ingrained in me. In the early years of my recovery I would call my sponsor going on and on about this or that. Mostly everyday life stuff that would really rattle me. She would listen briefly and then say "Gwen, go read Step 10 and call me back." Oh I hated when I got to the words... "<em>every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong <strong>with us</strong></em>." Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions page 90. But by continuously being brought back to that line the self-examination became a way of life.<br />
<br />
Am I willing to continuously practice meditation? Yes, I personally am. But now it was a question of HOW? So in hindsight I can tell you I started doing this in the earliest days of my recovery unknowingly. See I could not sleep in early recovery. I was so used to the alcohol pass out I had no idea how to settle my mind and go to sleep without it. There were many many nights I only dozed off here and there. People in the rooms told me "no one ever died from lack of sleep." My friends mother, not recovery related at all, gave me a meditation cassette. I used it every night. I wore that cassette OUT! It was a guided meditation. I just popped it in and laid in bed. It was amazing how it worked. <br />
<br />
As I stayed sober this practice, every so slowly grew and grew. I bought more guided meditations and bought many books. I was open and tried new ways of getting the mind quiet. Journals, letters to God (combo self exam and meditation,) walking, being alone in nature, breathing (what a concept.) <br />
<br />
Am I willing to continuously practice prayer? Yes, I personally am. Again I was doing this from my earliest days in recovery. My prayers started out something like this... "God please help me stay sober for the next five minutes." I clung to the lines I heard old timers say, "I never saw someone get drunk who HONESTLY got on his hands and knees and asked God to keep him sober." I put a ton of faith in that from day one. Guess what? It worked. Time and again, over and over, one day at a time, I stayed sober. In my worst moments I would hit my knees and BEG God to keep me sober till I could get to that next meeting. Slowly the begging was not necessary as the obsession to drink faded away. But life continued and I learned to STAY sober I still needed Gods help. Life was happening all around me and I had no clue how to deal with it. I blindly asked God for acceptance of _____________, for willingness, to slow down, for help. I used the Serenity Prayer, the Third Step prayer, the Seventh Step prayer, the Prayer of St. Francis. People gave me prayer cards. One I remember was <a href="http://www.a-spiritual-journey-of-healing.com/slow-me-down-lord.html">Slow Me Down Lord</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
It has taken many years to interweave these practices in my life. Please don't think I am in any way on a kneeler every morning with lit candles then sitting for hours in a meditative pose. I am a human being, soberly living in a high paced world. I have days when I can do a very formal practice and days when it is done quickly. The point is I am willing to continue building my unshakable foundation and it just gets stronger every day.<br />
<br />
Are you willing?<br />
<br />
Gwen R~Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-31902720370582385122012-03-18T01:28:00.002-04:002012-03-18T01:28:24.884-04:00A special Maui thank you from Dick BThanks to Maui's Community TV Station -- Akaku. As one who was given the opportunity a few years back to present an extensive series of talks about the history of Alcoholics Anonymous free of charge, I am aware of and thankful for this service.<br />
<br />
I'm also one of those haoles who has been visiting Maui and other Islands since 1968 with family, friends, and AA members. I left my 49'er heritage in California and became a resident here in 1990. I have always loved singing and Hawaiian music. Performers usually have leis, flowers, and appropriate garb. They are skilled with string instruments and even the unique falsetto sounds.<br />
<br />
Today is Saturday, March 17, 2012. As I looked out on the ocean, beach, Crater, beautiful trees and flowers, I happened on a local program of students - a contest. They sang in Hawaiian. Their music was beautiful. Thanks to the different groups competing in the contest and for what they add to the charm of the Islands.<br />
<br />
I mention this because many many tourists, brides and grooms, honeymooners, grampas, and kids come here particularly in this "High Season." The beach is loaded with beachcombers and surfers, and it would be so easy to get caught up in water activities, whale watching, biking, paddle boarding, and even the large TV stations and yet miss the local Hawaii programs that perpetuate the beautiful language and harmonious singing. If you want a special tip as a present or future visitor, tune in to the Akaku station for local music. Public TV also often carries it. See the Islands for their language and music as well as their beaches and views. Most streets carry Hawaiian names. I learned that one of our two Senators Daniel Akaka led the beautiful chorus at the large missionary church in Honolulu.<br />
He even sang to the Senate in Washington, D.C.<br />
<br />
Aloha. See you in Hawaii!!!!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-63080542918259417562012-03-16T08:21:00.001-04:002012-03-16T08:21:58.312-04:00On Meditation in the Big BookThe Eleventh Step of Alcoholics Anonymous states:<br />
<blockquote>
<div class="bold_text_body">
"Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."</div>
</blockquote>
It has been my experience that the "and meditation" part of this step is often overlooked and omitted as a foundation for a sane and serene recovery program. <br />
<br />Meditation, as stated in the 12 & 12, is "intensely practical" which is why I feel that <a href="http://11thstepmeditation.org/in_the_rooms/emotional_sobriety.htm">Bill W.'s article on emotional sobriety</a>, dicusses one of the first fruits of meditation.<br />
<br />In another article in the Grapevine, from March 1962, and included in the book <em>Language of the Heart on pages 269-272, </em>Bill mentions one of the methods he uses to meditate:<br />
<blockquote>
"One way to get at the meaning of the principle of acceptance is to mediate upon it in the context of AA's much used prayer, God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference....In times of very rough going, the grateful acceptance of my blessings, oft repeated, can also bring me some of the serenity of which our prayer speaks. Whenever I fall under acute pressures I lengthen my daily walks and slowly repeat our Serenity Prayer in rhythm to my steps and breathing.....This benign healing process and repetition, sometimes necessary to persist for days has seldom failed to restore me to at least a workable emotional balance and perspective." </blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">Bill shows us how he used a type of walking meditation to find emoational balance. The Big Book offers some great advice and perspective on meditation and applying it in the 11th Step.</span>
<br />
<br />Step 11: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God <em>as we understood Him</em>, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”<br />
<br />As the Step reads it states that we seek through “prayer <strong>and</strong> meditation.” When I began getting sober I noticed that many people in the rooms did not pay attention to the “<strong>and</strong>” and left a specific meditation period out of their program.<br />
<br />The type of meditation that the Big Books talks about is more of a reflective, thinking over things, type of quiet period. This mirrors what most Western religious people in the 1930’s knew about meditation and AA’s roots in the Protestant Oxford Group. Meditation, as we know it today, was not widely understood, yet, in the United States. But, these early members were onto one of the keys to emotional and spiritual sobriety which Bill W. would focus on later on in his sobriety.<br />
<br />There are a number of good suggestions in this section and I suggest that you read and become familiar with this section of the Big Book as you begin your meditation journey. Here are some of the quotes that stand out for me: <br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/" id="when" name="when"></a>“On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.” Page 86 </blockquote>
Yes, morning is considered the best time for meditation before my mind becomes obsessed with the day and my ego begins to run the show.<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/" id="thoughts" name="thoughts"></a>“Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought- life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives. “ page 86 </blockquote>
My thinking had become unmanageable and is probably the root cause of many of my troubles. I think many of us are thinkaholics and meditation helps to teach us detachment from our thoughts.<br />
<blockquote>
“….we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.” Page 86 </blockquote>
In meditation, I can practice opening myself to my higher power, detaching from my ego, and allowing the divine therapist some time and space to help heal me in ways that I cannot understand. <br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/" id="begin" name="begin"></a>“Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle.” Page 86</blockquote>
I relax and let go. I am constantly thinking and feeling and doing. How can I access my higher power or the universe if I am never quiet and still.<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/" id="contact" name="contact"></a>“We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while. What used to be the hunch or the occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind.” Page 87</blockquote>
Conscious Contact – at first we experience glimpse’s of this, but with time, patience and a consistent practice of meditation we can develop a close conscious contact with our higher power. I believe that this is the advance part of this step. <br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/" id="group" name="group"></a>“If circumstances warrant, we ask our wives or friends to join us in morning meditation. If we belong to a religious denomination which requires a definite morning devotion, we attend to that also.” Page 87</blockquote>
Group meditations provide a safe haven to discover meditation, to learn different techniques from experienced meditators and to relax into that deep group energy.<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/" id="learn" name="learn"></a>“There are many helpful books also. Suggestions about these may be obtained from one's priest, minister, or rabbi. Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer. “ page 87</blockquote>
I decided to become a Spiritual Explorer on my meditation path to learn about meditation and to begin to understand what my higher power was and my relationship to that “Creative Intelligence” as mentioned on page ?<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/" id="mini2" name="mini2"></a>“As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action.” Page 87 </blockquote>
Try doing mini-meditations throughout the day – breath deeply, listen to your breath for several minutes.<br />
<blockquote>
“It works - it really does.” Page 88</blockquote>
Randy F.<br />
<a href="http://www.spiritstep.com/">www.spiritstep.com</a><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-36282606424539376932012-03-15T15:16:00.001-04:002012-03-15T15:16:15.593-04:00What does Dick B. write about, asks JackTo Jack who asks what I write about. I suggest he check Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, the titles on my website - 43 of them (<a href="http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml">www.dickb.com/titles.shtml</a>), the 850 articles I have written - published on dozens of sites and forums and blogs (<a href="http://mauihistorian.blogspot.com/">http://MauiHistorian.Blogspot.com</a>). On digg, word press, on goarticles.com, on wryte stuff. Plenty options, Jack. Just plug into <a href="http://www.dickb.com/">www.dickb.com</a>; and you will be busy for hours and hours and hours reading about Alcoholics Anonymous History, Alcoholics Anonymous, the Big Book, the Twelve Steps, alcoholism, addiction, recovery, Bill W., Dr. Bob, Bill D., Clarence Snyder, Grace Snyder, Anne Ripley Smith (<a href="http://www.dickb.com/annesm.shtml">www.dickb.com/annesm.shtml</a>) and on and on and alanon. God Bless. It's not about drill baby drill, it's about read baby read.<br />
<br />
Plus dozens of articles about the Christian Recovery Movement, the changes in A.A., the role that God, His Son, and the Bible played in the origins, history, founding, original program, astonishing successes, and changes in 1939. <a href="http://www.dickb.com/realhistory.shtml">www.dickb.com/realhistory.shtml</a>. <a href="http://www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml">www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml</a>; <a href="http://www.dickb.com/conversion.shtml">www.dickb.com/conversion.shtml</a>.<br />
<br />
Dick B. <a href="mailto:dickb@dickb.com">dickb@dickb.com</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-30160605351033786342012-03-15T15:14:00.000-04:002012-03-15T20:11:55.555-04:00Why Should I Meditate?"Ok, I hear people talk about meditation in meetings. I see that it
is one of the 12 steps. But, I never really hear about "how" to
meditate" in meetings." Other questions I had were: <br />
<blockquote>
Where do I go to learn meditation? <br />
What type of meditation should I try? <br />
What does meditation have to do with staying sober?<br />
How is sitting still for 15 to 20 minutes a day going to change my life?<br />
Can I meditate if I am not sure about my higher power? </blockquote>
This is what was going through my mind when I finally decided
to not take the first drink, to stay sober and to actually work the
program.<br />
My journey to learn meditation and to have it become one of the
cornerstones of my sobriety has led me to feel strongly about "why we
should meditate in recovery." Here are a few of the reasons that I have discovered and it is
my wish that you may discover these and more as you start your inner
journey:<br />
<ul>
<li>While I meditate I am practicing and working the first 3 Steps every time.
<ol>
<li>I realize that my thoughts and emotions are unmanageable and that I can use meditation techniques to detach myself from them. </li>
<li>While meditating I practice connecting to a power greater
than myself and begin to sense that I am not alone anymore and no
longer need to be afraid - which is the root of my insanity. </li>
<li>Just by taking time to sit, detach from my thoughts and
connect to my higher power I am working Step 3 - I have decided to
turn my will and life for 20 minutes over to God, as I understand him.
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>I do not need to wait until I get to Step 11 in working the
Steps before I begin to learn and practice meditation. Meditation
helped me to work all of the steps. </li>
<li>People around me could see the fruits of my meditation before I could:
<ul>
<li>I was more calm, more often </li>
<li>I did not hang onto resentments as long </li>
<li>I had an new desire to be of service to others </li>
<li>I was not ruled by my character defects as much </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>An old timer that meditates told me that "meditation was long term sobriety stuff" and I wanted that!</li>
</ul>
If you aren't already meditating regularly what are you waiting for? <br />
<ul>
<li>Attend an 11th Step meditation meeting in your area. Check the 11th Step Meditation <a href="http://11thstepmeditation.org/11th_step_meetings/overview.htm">Meetings Listings page </a>for one in your area.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>Read the how some of the various styles suggest for 11th Step meditate <a href="http://11thstepmeditation.org/meditation_styles/centering_prayer.php">Centering Prayer</a>, <a href="http://11thstepmeditation.org/meditation_styles/buddhist_meditations.php">Buddhist meditation</a>, <a href="http://11thstepmeditation.org/meditation_styles/hindu_meditations.php">Hindu meditation</a><br />
<br />
</li>
<li>Talk to fellow members in the program, find out who the experienced meditators are and ask them for help.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>Start with a guided meditation CD such as the <a href="http://11thstepmeditation.org/spiritstep/one_beginning_meditation_cd.htm">SpiritStep One Beginning Meditation CD</a>. There are others on the market, also that will walk you through getting started.<br /> <a href="http://11thstepmeditation.org/store/cds/one_beginning_meditation_cd.php"> </a><a href="http://11thstepmeditation.org/store/cds/one_beginning_meditation_cd.php"><img align="right" alt="SpiritStep One Beginning Meditation CD" height="99" hspace="10" src="http://11thstepmeditation.org/images/spiritstepOne_99.jpg" vspace="10" width="99" /></a> </li>
<li>Listen to a guided meditation now, online. Track 4 SpiritStep One 1st Guided Meditation<br />
<br />
</li>
<li> <object align="absmiddle" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=4,0,0,0" height="35" width="250">
<param name="movie" value="http://11thstepmeditation.org/audio/mp3ss1d.swf" />
<param name="quality" value="best" />
<param name="wmode" value="transparent" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#C0C0C0" />
<param name="loop" value="true" />
<embed src="http://11thstepmeditation.org/audio/mp3ss1d.swf" quality="best" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#C0C0C0" loop="True" width="250" height="35" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" align="absmiddle">
</embed>
</object>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>Check your local newspapers for other types of meditation groups that align with your concept of higher power and visit them.</li>
</ul>
Have fun becoming an inner spiritual explorer through 11th step meditation,<br />
<br />
Randy F.<br />
<ul>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-18024999384595790322012-03-13T16:30:00.002-04:002012-03-13T16:30:54.791-04:00A.A. Daily Devotions, Upper Room, Old School A.A.<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A
Christian Recovery Leader in San Diego Writes Welcome News about the “Upper
Room” and a New Publication and the Daily Texting of His Group in San Diego<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our
response and His Letter<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dick B.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Exciting.
And I have just sent them and will widely publicize the following comment<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">International
Christian Recovery Coalition is a worldwide informal fellowship of
participating Christian recovery leaders, workers, newcomers, and others
disseminating information on the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the
Bible played in the origins, history, founding, original Christian Fellowship
program, and astonishing successes of the early A.A. Christian Fellowship.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The
resemblance of early A.A.'s old school Christian recovery techniques and
practices to those of the Apostles described in the Book of Acts has captured
the attention of Christian recovery folks for years and years. In fact, the
early A.A. old school program was summarized in 7 points (See DR. BOB and the
Good Oldtimers, 131). Growth spiritually was specified as one and involved
Bible study, prayer, Quiet Time, and reading of other Christian literature.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Daily
the Upper Room was read in early A.A. Quiet Time, involving such reading, and
was a "must." And, though other devotionals such as The Runner's
Bible, My Utmost for His Highest, and Daily Strength for Daily Needs were in
wide usage, Upper Room was the most mentioned and used among the group.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Christian
recovery means daily fellowship with God and His Son because recovery per se is
not just "I didn't have a drink today." For even the most severely
afflicted alcoholics, addicts, and family members, it means a family-oriented
program and First Century Christian Fellowship daily - abstinence, fellowship
with God and His Son and other believers, obedience to God's will, spiritual
growth, witnessing to others, religious and social comradeship, and the
strength of church and Bible affiliation. As stated, neither the Apostolic
Christians nor the early A.A. Christian Fellowship regarded a "treatment
program"--whatever the duration--as the sole component of the healed
Christian's abundant life. There were some sixteen practices that espoused the
daily outreach to others, the daily contact with God through prayer,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quiet Time, use of devotionals, and Bible
study, bringing others to God through Jesus Christ, and even the morning<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quiet Time with Dr. Bob's wife where the
Upper Room was regularly distributed, read, and discussed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We
applaud your effort and await the forthcoming book with joy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Richard
G. Burns (pen name Dick B.), J.D., CDAAC<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Executive
Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com;
www.dickb.com; dickb@dickb.com, Kihei Hawaii.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We
personally know of the extremely successful, widely known, and rapidly growing
work of the Christian recovery work of Rock Recovery Ministries, ABC Sober
Living, and Soledad House in San Diego. And that organization daily uses and
then texts each of the individuals on the daily ideas of the Upper Room.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This
subject is thoroughly covered in Dick B., Good Morning!: Quiet Time, Morning
Watch, Meditation, and Early A.A. (www.dickb.com/goodmorn.shtml).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">DB<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="" name="_MailAutoSig"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">God bless,<o:p></o:p></span></span></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dick B.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Author, 43
titles & over 800 articles on A.A. History and the Christian Recovery
Movement<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Exec. Dir., </span></span></span><a href="http://www.christianrecoverycoalition.com/"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;">International Christian Recovery Coalition</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span><a href="http://bit.ly/erD3tW"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;">Christian Recovery Resource Centers - Worldwide</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span><a href="http://www.dickb.com/" title="http://www.dickb.com/"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;">www.DickB.com</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span><a href="mailto:DickB@DickB.com" title="mailto:dickb@dickb.com"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;">DickB@DickB.com</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;">(808)
874-4876</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">PO Box 837,
Kihei, HI 96753-0837<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ps 118:17
(NJB):<br />
I shall not die, I shall live to recount the great deeds of Yahweh.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-no-proof: yes;">Facebook:
DickBmauihistorian</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span><a href="http://twitter.com/DickB_Maui"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;">Twitter</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span><a href="http://mauihistorian.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;">Blog</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/dickbchannel"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-no-proof: yes;">YouTube</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailAutoSig;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="" name="_MailOriginal"><b><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From:</span></b></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> David <b>Sent:</b>
Tuesday, March 13, 2012 5:19 AM<br />
<b>To:</b> 'Dick B.'<br />
<b>Cc:</b> 'Ken Burns'<br />
<b>Subject:</b> The Upper Room<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">You’ve mentioned several
times the significance of books like the Upper Room in helping the early AA
success rate. The link below talks about the 2013 edition and the participation
of a recovery group from California.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"></span><a href="http://books.upperroom.org/?p=1389"><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">http://books.upperroom.org/?p=1389</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I will make sure
you get a copy when it gets released.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _MailOriginal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">dp</span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-61133817585318349812012-03-11T20:59:00.002-04:002012-03-11T20:59:49.852-04:00AA Development Time Line<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Real Time-lines (two of them) that
marked the beginnings of A.A.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">March 11, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Akron Events</b>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Russell Firestone got saved and healed of alcoholism on the
train back to Akron from the 50<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> triennial General Convention of
the Protestant Episcopal Church—a General Convention of the Episcopal
Church]held in Denver, Colorado, September 16-30, 1931.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Russell and his friend James D. Newton traveled widely for
the Oxford Group in the ensuing months, giving their testimony in the United
States and elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Oxford Group (not Groups) founder, Dr. Frank N. D.
Buchman, and other Oxford Group members put on a series of meetings in Akron beginning
on Thursday, January 19, 1933, and extending to Monday, January 23. Rev. Walter
F. Tunks, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, was actively involved in
hosting the meetings. [Russell was among the many who attended the huge number
of meetings, widely publicized in Akron papers said during these January 1933
meetings in Akron. He and others gave testimony as to their Oxford Group
life-changes through Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Henrietta Seiberling (of the well-known rubber dynasty
family), Dr. Bob’s wife Anne, and two other ladies attended the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1933 events and soon started attending a
small Oxford Group meeting, persuading Dr. Bob to join the group. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shortly after the January 1933 events, a small group of
Oxford Group members began meeting every Wednesday night in the home of T.
Henry and Clarace Williams. Henrietta Seiberling, and Dr. Bob and Anne Smith,
were among those attending weekly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Henrietta believed she had received revelation from God that
her friend, Dr. Bob, must not touch one drop of liquor—a message she conveyed
to Bob. But Bob continued to drink excessively and told Henrietta he guessed he
was just one of those “wanna wanna” guys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">During this period, and while still drinking, Bob felt it
necessary to “renew” his familiarity with the Bible in which he said he “had
had excellent training” as a youngster in Vermont. He read the Bible three
times from cover to cover. He joined a Presbyterian Church. He read all kinds
of Christian literature (which is still available for view at Dr. Bob’s Home in
Akron as to one part, and at Brown University as to the other). Bob said he
read all the Oxford Group literature he could get his hands on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Around the end of April 1934, Henrietta Seiberling asked
group members that they be prepared to be straightforward about shortcomings
and to “share something costly” at the next meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dr. Bob shared at that (next) meeting: “This may cost me my
profession, but I am a silent drinker and I can’t stop.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Henrietta asked Bob if he would like the group to pray. Bog
agreed; and there in the Williams’ living room they went down on their knees
and prayed for Dr. Bob’s deliverance from his drinking problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Two weeks later, Bill Wilson arrived in Akron.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bill Wilson had failed in a business venture, was tempted to
drink; but instead he called Dr. Walter Tunks from the Mayflower Hotel in
Akron. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tunks <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gave Bill a referral that led to Henrietta
Seiberling. Bill told her: “I am a rum hound from New York and a member of the
Oxford Group. And I need to talk to a drunk.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Henrietta thought Bill was “manna from heaven.” She arranged
to have Dr. Bob come to her home at the Seiberling Gate Lodge. And the two
agreed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bill W. and Dr. Bob met on Mothers <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Day, May 12, 1935<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The principal thing that came out of the six hour meeting
was that Dr. Bob concluded that, despite his and Bill’s association with the
Oxford Groups, only Bill had grasped their idea of “service”—helping others get
well. Something he said he had never thought of, considered, or done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Soon Bill moved into the Smith home during the summer of
1935. Bill and Bob listened each day as Dr. Bob’s wife read the Bible to them.
They particularly favored the Book of James. The two men stayed up until the
wee hours of the morning studying the Bible, discussing a possible program, and
developing their ideas for recovery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dr. Bob went on one more binge and then quit for good –
something he had never been able to do. Henrietta and he felt his cure (which
is what he called it) t was in answer to the prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bob and Bill decided they had better get busy, find another
drunk, and help him. And they phoned the nurse at Akron City Hospital. Bob told
her they had found a cure for alcoholism. And they met Bill D. (A.A. Number
Three-to-be). Bill D. told them he already believed in God, was a Deacon in his
church and a Sunday school teacher, and didn’t need to be sold on religion.
Bill and Bob told him to give his life to God and that he must help another
once he was cured. Dotson did just that, was immediately healed, and stepped
from the hospital a free man—who participated in A.A. meetings and service for
the rest of his life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As Bob said, at that time, they had no Steps, no Traditions,
and (of course) no Big Book, nor drunkalogs, and no meetings as we now know
them. The date of Dotson’s discharge from the hospital was July 4, 1935; and
Bill declared that that was the founding date of the first A.A. Group—Akron Number
One.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">From that point forward, they had daily meetings. They
called themselves a Christian Fellowship. All were hospitalized. All read the
Bible with Dr. Bob in the hospital, were asked to confirm their belief in God,
and then got out of bed and on their knees and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Every morning the AAs, their wives and families would gather
at the Smith Home for a Quiet Time led by Dr. Bob’s wife. Anne would open with
a prayer, read from the Bible, have group prayer, have a group<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>quiet time, and then usually share from her
journal [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anne Smith’s Journal, 1933-1939</i>]
and have discussions on it. Copies of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upper
Room</i>—a quarterly Christian devotional—were distributed by Mother G.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On Wednesdays, there was one regular meeting of the “self-styled
alcoholic squad” at the home of T. Henry Williams. Sometimes the few Oxford
Group people would hold their meetings in one room, and the alkies in another.
Every single member was required to make a “real surrender.” This meant he was
taken upstairs with two or three members (usually Dr. Bob and T. Henry). The
newcomer would kneel. The others would<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>pray with him and over him. He would ask Jesus Christ to become his Lord
and Savior. The prayers were that God take alcohol out<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of his life and guide him to live by
Christian principies. Because these meetings were characterized as “old
fashioned revival meetings” focused on healing drunks, they were referred to as
a “clandestine lodge” of the Oxford Group and distinguished themselves from the
Oxford Group which held other kinds of meetings and were focused on teams’
doing “world changing through life changing.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="display: none; mso-hide: all;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">e<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The daily meetings opened with prayer. There was reading
from the Bible, group prayer, group Quiet Time, and a period when newcomers
were taken upstairs with two or three oldtimers. In their homes, AAs read
Christian devotionals like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Runner’s
Bible, My Utmost for His Highest</i> by Oswald Chambers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Soul’s Sincere Desire</i> by Glenn Clark, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Christ of the Mount</i> by E. Stanley Jones. These were circulated
among them by Dr. Bob and read. So were innumerable Christian books Dr. Bob and
Henrietta Seiberling and Anne Smith were reading—Kagawa’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love: The Law of Life;</i> Henry Drummond’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Greatest Thing in the World,</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Healing in Jesus’ Name </i>by Ethel Willitts, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christian Healing, Soul Surgery </i>by Walter, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Studies in the Sermon on the Mount </i>by Oswald Chambers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twice Born Men</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life Changers</i> by Harold Begbie, and many many others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By November of 1937, Bill and Bob counted noses and found
that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>40 alcoholics they personally knew—men
who had gone to any lengths to follow the path—had maintained sobriety. Twenty
had never had a drink. Ten had relapsed but returned and succeeded. This meant
that 75% of these seemingly hopeless, medically incurable real alcoholics had
been cured.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Clarence Snyder: First meeting call<u>ed</u> “Alcoholics
Anonymous” held on May 11, 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This meeting took to Akron the “best” of the old program—the
Bible, the Oxford Group 4 Absolutes, the Big Book, and the 12 Steps. It grew in
one year from one group to thirty groups. It took people through the Twelve
Steps in a day or so. And its records disclosed that they had attained a 93%
success rate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">New York Events<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rowland Hazard had developed a serious alcoholism problem.
He treated unsuccessfully with Dr. Carl Jung in Switzerland. But he relapsed.
Jung told him he could not help him because he had the mind of a chronic
alcoholic. Jung suggested that a real conversion might relieve Rowland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rowland affiliated with the Oxford Group, began associating
with Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, made a decision for Christ, and thoroughly
mastered Oxford Group ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ebby Thacher, Bill W.’s childhood friend and soon-to-be
“sponsor,” meets Oxford Group members Shep Cornell, Cebra Graves, and Rowland
Hazard. Ebby had previously decided to get gets sober in Manchester, Vermont. Then
his three Oxford Group friends told him about the Oxford Group’s Christian
principles, about the power of prayer, and lodged him in Calvary Mission in New
York. It was at that Calvary Mission altar that Ebby made a decision for Jesus
Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bill’s third hospital visit was in September 1934. This is
when Dr. Silkworth told Bill that if Bill did not stop drinking, Bill would die
or go insane. And Dr. Silkworth also told Bill that Jesus Christ, the Great
Physician, could cure Bill of his alcoholism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ebby Thacher surrendered (accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord
and Savior) on November 1, 1934, at Calvary Mission in New York.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ebby then visits Bill at his 182 Clinton Street home in New
York in late November, 1934. He told Bill about the Oxford Group’s Christian
message, about the power of prayer they advocated, and about his own rebirth at
Calvary Mission—Bill concluding that Ebby had been born again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ebby came back to Bill’s home again, probably in the first
days of December 1934, with Shep Cornell of the Oxford Group.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bill then heard Ebby give his testimony at Calvary Church.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then next day, probably about December 7, 1934, Bill went to
Calvary Mission as Ebby had done. Bill knelt at the altar and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Bill He wrote his brother in law that he had “found religion.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bill wrote in his autobiography and in another manuscript about
that event saying, “For sure I’d been born again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On his way to Towns Hospital, Bill decided that he should
probably call on the Great Physician for help.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">December 11, 1934, Bill arrives at Towns Hospital for his
fourth and final visit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While there, he said: “If there be a God, let Him show
Himself!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is when his hospital room filled and blazed with an “indescribably
with white light.” He experienced the presence of God, and declared that this
must be “the God of the Scriptures.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">He declared of this event that he never again doubted the
existence of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">He was released—cured--from Towns Hospital on December 18,
1934. He then went everywhere with a Bible under his arm—to the Bowery, to
Calvary Mission, to flea bag hotels, to Towns Hospital, etc.—telling drunks his
story (that the Lord had cured him of the terrible disease of alcoholism), and
that they could get healed of their alcoholism by giving their life to God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-73169196618774401662012-03-11T16:32:00.001-04:002012-03-11T16:32:04.379-04:00The Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous<h1 class="title">
The Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous</h1>
<a class="date" href="http://mauihistorian.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/the-oxford-group-alcoholics-anonymous/"><span class="day">11</span><span class="month">Mar</span></a><br />
<div class="entry">
A best-selling scholarly study of the founding, nature, practical life-changing program of A First Century Christian Fellowship, later known as the Oxford Group, and still later as Moral Re-Armament. Founded by Dr. Frank Buchman, with Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr. (rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in New York) as an American leader, and the substantial original association with and impact upon early Alcoholics Anonymous and its co-founder Bill Wilson. www.dickb.com/Oxford.shtml</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-69672017162396744972012-03-03T00:12:00.001-05:002012-03-03T00:12:52.084-05:00One Man Awake!<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One
Man Awake<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Dick
B.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Copyright 2012 Anonymous. All rights reserved<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What
Do You Say When you hear . . .<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“They won’t let us study the Bible
in our A.A. group. They say the Bible is religious. They say that A.A. is
spiritual, but not religious. And they say the Bible is not conference-approved
literature!”<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Every time I mention God in my
A.A. meetings, some oldtimer says: “If they had used the word God when I came
into A.A., I’d have left the meeting and gotten drunk.”<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“When I bring a Bible devotional
into my A.A. meeting, place it on the table in front of me, and begin to read—reading
from something like the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upper Room</i>, I
hear: ‘You can’t do that. It’s against the Traditions.”<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">Do you. . . <o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Leave the meeting. Leave the
group. Leave A.A. Or start an argument?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Comment that you are not going to
any more meetings because you are a Christian, because the others are wrong,
and because A.A. is drifting more and more to unbelief and away from God?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Open <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alcoholics Anonymous</i>, 4<sup>th</sup> edition and try to find a
quote that shows everyone how wrong the statements are and therefore why you
have a right to go right ahead with the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>supposedly “forbidden” act?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">Or, are you ready to LEARN
and then act like the “One Man Awake?”<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But: Maybe you could just settle for a compromise<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And concede to yourself and
others that the members, the meetings, and the objectors are just trouble?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And then open your Big Book, read
from it, and straighten them all out?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And then open your Bible and
start quoting verses you think will show others what the “Master” would do?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And then clinch the deal by
telling everybody that those troublesome remarks are not even what your sponsor
told you was right?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We hope not! For there is a
better way: Learn the truth and </span></strong><strong><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">BECOME </span></strong><strong><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the “One man awake!”<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">The truth is available if
you look for it, curb your tongue, learn the correct facts, and then BE the ”One
Man Awake”<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">Maybe you’ll think one man
just can’t do what’s needed<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">But here’s a poem that may
help you stiffen your spine, patiently search, ask God’s help, find the facts, and
then go and tell to the next one—the one who wants to know<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">AWAKE<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One man awake, awakens another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The second awakens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">His next door brother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The three awake can rouse a town,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">By turning the whole place<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Upside down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The many awake<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Can make such a fuss,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It finally awakens the rest of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One man up with dawn in his eyes,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Surely then<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Multiplies!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Gloria
Deo<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-70818877991469806592012-03-02T01:01:00.001-05:002012-03-02T01:01:19.377-05:00Old School A.A. Workshops in Calif and Hawaii Soon<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 20pt;">The Blooming, Booming Responses and <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 20pt;">Expanded Plans of the Christian Recovery
Movement<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">By Dick B., Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">International Christian Recovery Coalition</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
Copyright 2012
Anonymous. All rights reserved<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Just since our visits in Southern California in January of
this year, we have had an increasing volume of messages from those wanting to
participate in our planned meetings this spring. So the following is the way
things are going and being planned as of February 29<sup>th</sup>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Basic Approach Is Announced in This New Guide<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How to Conduct “Old-School” 12-Step Recovery Meetings Using Conference-Approved
Literature: A Dick B. Guide for Christian Leaders and Workers in the Recovery
Arena<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
By Dick B. and Ken B.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>(2012)<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">There Is No “One Size Fits All” Plan<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
An A.A. or N.A. meeting listed with a local office may
conduct and adopt a “Group Conscience” stand and also then establish a regular
meeting founded on “Conference-approved” literature. A Christian recovery fellowship
may choose to reach out to alcoholics, addicts, prescription drug abusers, and
others with life-controlling problems. A Christian, Christian-Track, or other type
of treatment program—limited by expense and time constraints—may decide to
prepare “graduates” for the long haul beyond the discharge date. Groups like
Teen Challenge and Celebrate Recovery may recognize and plan for the “daily” or
“24/7” or Christian fellowship after-care needs of its Christian graduates or
weekly meeting attenders in order to keep all of them in full bore recovery or
recovered mode; continuing service to others; and sustained spiritual growth
loop—all being often-accepted components of real, life-long, Christian healing,
abundance, and ultimate salvation. Detox programs, interventionists,
counselors, after-care facilitators, alumni gatherings, and sober living operators
and managers may emphasize a variety of ways in which recovered “clients” or
“students” can build on the strength of First Century Christian and early Akron
A.A. “Christian fellowship” principles and practices.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Program Content Which Each Servant Can Adopt, Adapt, and Then Apply as
Desired<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The emphasis here is on fostering long-range deliverance,
sustained fellowship and service, and effective and continued reliance on the
power, love, forgiveness, guidance, healing, and will of God “in all our
affairs.” Early Christian outreach extended first to the Jews. Then to the
Gentiles. Then to both as members of the “body of Christ.” Included among these
groups were the lost, the poor, the sick, the deaf, the blind, and even dead
who were still being raised—just as Jesus had raised the dead. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Present Plans for Implementing This “Old-School,” First Century
Christianity Success Story in Forthcoming Hawaii and California Gatherings This
Spring and Summer<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
And Here Is Where We
Will Be Listening, Assembling, Teaching and Facilitating with You<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
[Details Still Need
Further Attention and Firming, But This Will Show You the Plans]<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
For Maui, Hawaii: <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
County of Maui Salvation Army
Partnership with our Coalition: to learn the existing 24/7 program at the Lahaina
Outpost, The Salvation Army, 131 Shaw Street, Lahaina, Hawaii, 96761. (Initial
two-hour meeting at our Kihei Office, Friday, March 2, Noon-2:00 PM)<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
Speaking on the Second Step and
A.A. roots at a regular A.A. meeting in Kihei: followed by a meeting to discuss
plans for a new “old-school” recovery meeting to be formed in the near future.
(Saturday, March 3, 7:00 AM—with a private after-meeting)<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
For Oahu,
Hawaii:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
An evening meeting in Honolulu,
Thursday, March 22 (6:00 PM) evaluating and initiating Christian Recovery
Movement hands-on outreach to alcoholics and addicts in three different Christian
recovery efforts: (1) The long-standing men’s outreach to alcoholics and
addicts led by an NA-oriented Christian skilled men’s group leader. (2) The
plans of this leader’s pastor who is extending outreach in Oahu as well in
China, Japan, and the Pacific Rim. (3) The current work of an Oregon-based
faith-centered Christian fellowship pastor in Germany and Europe. All three are
looking for ways to utilize First Century Christian practices, to adapt early
A.A. “old-school” fellowship techniques, and to present 12-Step approaches with
individuals needing direct help and structured practices with long-term
recovered Christian living as the aim.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
For Cornerstone
Fellowship—Livermore Campus, Livermore, California<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
Workshop/Participation/Study
Meeting for all (Thursday, March 29, evening).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
For Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
Workshop/Participation/
Study Meetings with Leaders and public (Friday, March 30,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
afternoon and evening).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
For San
Francisco Bay Area, California – <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
Dialogue with
leaders of recently renamed CityTeam International and its ministry to the<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
“lost” in Nicaragua
and West Africa (Either morning, March 29, or on March 31).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
In Kihei, Maui,
Hawaii –<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A meeting of several days with Rob W. from
Utah (April 2-6) – Planning and funding<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
In Southern
California: <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
We will be in Orange County,
California (arrive on Sunday, May 13 and depart on Monday, May 21). Quartered
at the beginning and end at The Costa Mesa Marriott Hotel, and during the week
at a private home in Orange County. The agenda for any and all includes the following
planned: <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
Individual meetings
with:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
Rev. Michael
Liimatta, City Vision College, Kansas City, Missouri<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Wally Lowe, Christian businessman,
Vero Beach, Florida<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Russell Spatz, Christian
attorney and speaker, Miami, Florida<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Robert Turner, M.D.,
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Gary Martin, Mariners
Church, Planning regular “Old School” training meetings, Irvine, California<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Pastor Joe Furey and
Roger McDiarmid, His Place Church, Westminster, California (the location of our
May 18-19 major conferences)<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Rev. James Moody, Manna
House Ministry, Jamestown, Tennessee<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Bob Noonan, Marriage and
Family Counselor, Orange, California<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Danny Simmons, Sons of
Thunder and Book Distribution, Costa Mesa, California<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Rev. Bill Wigmore, Chairman
of Episcopal Diocese of Texas Recovery Committee, Austin, Texas<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Gary Moates, attorney,
Houston, Texas<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Richard Skolnik,
Recovery Historian and believer, Nesconset, New York<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Other local and out of
area visitors and speakers<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
Conference on
Friday evening, May 18 and all day Saturday, May 19, at His Place Church,
Westminster, California: focused on participation, panels, workshop, classes,
programs, questions and answers, and full leadership sharing <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>[Orientation, Leader presentations,
Panel, and Q and A – Friday evening;<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Main Conference –
Saturday all day – Music, prayer, Orientation by Dick B. and Ken B., lead speaker,
orientation, leader speakers, and panel with Q and A.]<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working with individual and group
Christian Recovery leaders on formats and content for regular meetings, guides,
videos, Conference-approved literature, and other resources on how best to employ
all these to help directly those suffering alcoholics and addicts rely on God
for help today; to learn the First Century Christianity practices in Acts of
the Apostles; to learn how early “old school” A.A. practiced these principles
with such great success; and to suggest how these foundations can be or are
being used today hands-on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-align: center; text-indent: -1in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Actual Programs
We Will Be Outlining, Discussing, Formatting, and Planning<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>A program of your own fashioning on How to
Train, Teach, Cooperate, and Disseminate Christian Recovery programs,
conference information, and media—programs that will emphasize God’s power and
Christian recovery efforts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Sample suggested programs suitable for and
tailored to each particular Christian, treatment, sponsorship, and supportive approach
and area.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Training the Trainers so that others may pick up
the torch and move it forward.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Distributing free literature through benefactors.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Continuing dissemination by blogs, forums,
newsletters, videos, radio, audio, conferences.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Coming Shortly: Dates, Places, Times, Contacts, Programs, Subjects, and
Resources<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
To produce effective results, in the most compact way, we
will welcome your phone calls and emails in advance; welcome any literature or
suggestions you have; welcome your donations to help defray expenses; and
welcome any particular approach you wish to take with your own program, practice,
fellowship, and church.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="mailto:DickB@DickB.com"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">DickB@DickB.com</span></b></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gloria Deo<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-44062651801670077532012-02-26T15:24:00.001-05:002012-02-26T15:24:48.790-05:00"A First Century Christian Fellowship" - Model for Recovery Today<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A First Century Christian Fellowship<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Major Sources for Observing Early A.A.’s
Apostolic Principles, Practices, and Resemblance to First Century Christianity
at Work<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">By Dick B.</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
© 2012 Anonymous. All
rights reserved<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A Common Observation about “Old-School” Alcoholics Anonymous<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Alcoholics Anonymous History: A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob called
the first A.A. group (known as “Akron Number One”)—founded on July 4, 1935—“a
Christian fellowship.” [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">DR. BOB and the
Good Oldtimers</i> (New York, NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.,
1980), 118]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Of the five Rockefeller people—including John D.
Rockefeller, Jr—who met the early AAs, listened to Dr. William Silkworth, and
read the report that Frank Amos had given to them in February 1938, all said
something to the effect, “Why this is First Century Christianity at work. What
can we do to help?” And they did help.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
But long before that, Christian evangelists were telling New
Englanders and many in other parts of the world how the Apostles not only found
salvation, but taught and lived Christianity—healing drunks, addicts, and
derelicts along the way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
And then there was the Oxford Group and that American
sparkplug of its early period, Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr. Bill Wilson called
Shoemaker a “cofounder” of A.A. Bill discussed the proposed Big Book and Step
contents with Shoemaker. He even asked Sam to write the 12 Steps, but Sam
humbly declined. Yet the very language of the 12 Steps paralleled Sam’s
teachings—teaching founded on basic ideas in the Bible that Dr. Bob said were
the foundations for the Steps.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Shoemaker and many other early Oxford Group people called
their life-changing group and groups “A First Century Christian Fellowship” and
defined what that phrase meant to them and their groups.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“A First Century Christian Fellowship”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
At the times Bill W. (1934-1937) and Dr. Bob (1933 until at
least 1939) were involved with the Oxford Group, it was actively using the name
“A First Century Christian Fellowship.” And here are some of the ways people
described the personal work with others of members of that important A.A.
predecessor, the Oxford Group.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In his popular book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life
Changers, </i>Harold Begbie (who had written <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Twice Born Men</i> and much more about General William Booth and the
Salvation Army) described the Group this way:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
Above all, the Group was a
Fellowship—a first-Century Christian Fellowship controlled by the Holy Spirit.
[Dick B., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Oxford Group &
Alcoholics Anonymous, </i>p. 31]<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
We discuss and cite precise sources for the following
statements:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
. . . Frank Buchman’s formation of
what he and his friends called “A First Century Christian Fellowship.” Buchman
had said, “It is an attempt to get back to the beliefs and methods of the
Apostles.” He said, “We not only accept their beliefs, but also decided to
practice their methods” [Dick B., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous, </i>p. 286]<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life Changers, </i>author
Begbie also wrote:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Since those words were written he
has paid a visit to the United States in company with F. B, . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">----<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In his last letter written from
America he tells me that he is entering with others into “A First Century
Christian Fellowship,” explaining that they wish to get back to the type of
Christianity which was maintained by the apostles—“We not only accept their beliefs,
but are also decided to practice their methods.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">He announces in detail the
elemental beliefs of a First Century Christianity. He believes in:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The possibility of immediate and
continued fellowship with the Holy Spirit—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">guidance.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The proclamation of a redemptive
gospel—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">personal, social, and national
salvation.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The possession of fullness of life—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rebirth, and an ever-increasing power and
wisdom.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The propagation of their life by
individuals to individuals—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">personal
religion</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Out of these
beliefs proceeds the method of propagation:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Love
for the sinner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hatred
of the sin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fearless
dealing with sin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
presentation of Christ as the cure for sin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
sharing and giving of self, with and for others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">“We are more concerned,” he writes,
“with testifying to real experiences, explicable only on the hypothesis that
God’s power has brought them to pass, through Christ, than with teaching an
abstract ethical doctrine.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Rev. Samuel Shoemaker spoke of the Group as “A First Century
Christian Fellowship” as follows:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
The Spirit can communicate His
truth to a spiritual fellowship of believers in ways He cannot communicate to
individuals: it is another phase of Christ’s meaning when He said that “where
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
He is wherever a believer is; but He is present in heightened reality in the
fellowship. [Dick B., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Oxford Group
& Alcoholics Anonymous, </i>293]<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In his first significant book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Realizing Religion, </i>Shoemaker had the following to say about the
days “when the Church had martyrs in it.” Shoemaker wrote at page 67:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
I believe that originally this was
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spiritual</i> impulse, entirely apart
from considerations of ecclesiastical order or the founding of a brotherhood by
Jesus, which welded Christians together in the days when the Church had martyrs
in it. The value of united prayer and worship, of inspiring and instructing a
group bent on one object, the constant impact of the words and the
interpretation of Jesus, has often been dwelt upon. . .<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Acts of the Apostles<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In Acts chapters 1 to 6, there are a number of descriptions
of what the First Century Christians did, what they had received, and how they
fellowshipped together. Here we will just quote two segments.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The first from Acts 2:38-43, 46-47:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
Then Peter said unto them, Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
For the promise is unto you, and to
your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God
shall call.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
And with many other words did he
testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
Then they that gladly received his
word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three
thousand souls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
And they continued stedfastly in
the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in
prayers. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
And fear came upon every soul: and
many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
And they, continuing daily with one
accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their
meat with gladness and singleness of heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
Praising God, and having favour
with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be
saved.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second segment
from Acts 4:29-32:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
And now, Lord, behold their
threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may
speak thy word.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
By stretching forth thine hand to
heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
And when they had prayed, the place
was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude
of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. . . . And with great
power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and
great grace was upon them all.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Keys to Applying First Century Christianity in Recovery Programs
Today<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Our latest title is:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How
to Conduct “Old School” 12-Step Recovery Meetings Using Conference-Approved
Literature: A Dick B. Guide for Christian Leaders and Workers in the Recovery
Arena.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In a small number of pages, this new book—very succinctly
and very specifically—covers the ground above and then shows how the successful
“Christian fellowship” practices of the First Century and of the early A.A.
group in Akron can be applied today and fully supported by Conference-approved
literature published by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. And how those
who join together in Christian fellowship can attain healing and a whole life
in the same way the Apostles did and that the old school AAs did.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Gloria
Deo<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-21870244300294158982012-02-22T23:05:00.001-05:002012-02-22T23:05:27.507-05:00A.A., Religion, "Your Faith" 1939 Interview of Dr. Bob<div class="smallfont">
<img alt="Icon23" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.cyberrecovery.net/forums/images/icons/icon23.gif" title="Icon23" /> <strong>A.A., Religion, "Your Faith" 1939 Interview of Dr. Bob</strong> </div>
<br />
<hr size="1" style="background-color: #d1d1e1; color: #d1d1e1;" />
<!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->[This is the "Faith" article which A.A. literature had said was lost. AAs speculated that Dr. Bob wrote the article. He didn't. He was interviewed by Defoe in September 1939 for "Your Faith" Magazine. And the interview disappeared from view for years and years as far as AAs were concerned. Yet in the interview, Dr. Bob told how he read the Bible with patients. He told how they came to trust God. He told how he had been cured by prayer. He spoke about the healings of Jesus Christ. And he was talking about the many drunkards whom he had been able to help once he himself prayed, turned to God for help, and was cured--a priceless article free of the editing and revision of others who might have doubted!]<br />
<br />
<div>
I Saw Religion Remake A Drunkard<br />by D.J. Defoe<br />September 1939 "Your Faith" Magazine, page 84 <br /><br />Through Liquor, this physician had lost his practice, his reputation and his self-respect. Then one night in a gathering in a private home, he found the way of escape.<br /><br /><br />WHEN a doctor starts drinking, he's usually on the skids for keeps. His profession gives him so much privacy, so great exposure to temptation both from liquor and from drugs, and his need of a stimulant to lift him from depression becomes so extreme, that many a good doctor has dropped into oblivion for no cause other than his own thirst for drink.</div>
<div>
<br />I could tell you about more than one doctor who came to no good end through liquor. Their stories are alike in their early furtiveness, then a brazen attitude of liquor - might -do-things-to some-men - but - I'm-different, then a broken desperation to try to keep up appearances and pretend nothing has happened, and finally exposure—and failure—and disgrace. One brilliant ex-surgeon a suicide; another exile from home; two others forgotten by their friends; so runs the history. <br />But Dr. X handled his liquor problem differently. He came close enough to degradation to see how the jaws of hell reaching out for him. But then something interfered and saved him.</div>
<div>
Today Dr. X—and I dare not give his name, or even the name of the city, for reasons you will soon discover—is alive and happy and is probably a better and more popular doctor than ever before. What saved his life and reputation? What force made him into a new man?</div>
<div>
It was simply religion, brought home to him in a way he could use it. Simply the new habit of living his religion, and the discovery that he could utilize the power of prayer.</div>
<div>
We used to see Dr. X around a lot. He was cheery, straightforward, friendly, and successful. His field was a particularly intricate form of surgery and he did well at it.</div>
<div>
Then for quite a while we missed him. I saw his wife now and then, and noticed—even a man can things like that—that she seemed a little shabby and not especially happy.</div>
<div>
We began to hear ugly rumors. That's bad for any doctor. We heard he was losing his practice. When a doctor begins drinking, not many people are willing to trust their own lives to his skill with a knife.</div>
<div>
Last year I met Dr. X for the first time in several years. He was a new Dr. X. Straight as an Indian. Clean eyes. An honest I-can-lick-the-world look in his face. He gripped my hand in a vise and said hello in a way that gave you something to tie to. </div>
<div>
We were at a party. Someone offered Dr. X a drink. Then I remembered what had happened to him and wondered what he would do.</div>
<div>
"I don't drink," he said evenly. "Some men can take a drink, or two drinks, and stop. I can't. I had that ability once, but not now. If I'd take as much as a swallow of alcohol now, I'd disappear—and you wouldn't see me for three weeks."</div>
<div>
From him and from others I got his whole story, a bit here, a bit there. Here it is.</div>
<div>
He had been drinking for longer than anyone but his wife suspected. For a while he was able to keep the matter a secret. But he missed a couple of appointments and got into some trouble. First his competitors knew it. Then his friends around the hospital got wise. Finally even his oldest patients began to leave him.</div>
<div>
He had always been dignified and aloof, and when he was straight you hesitated to go up to him and tell him he was drinking too much. Usually he drank alone, silently, hungrily, in a sodden fashion of one who wants to forget. Just a deadly, steady sopping up of the poison. It was ghastly. In his saner moments he must have known the way he was headed. But a stubborn pride—and pride of that sort in a wayward person is a terrible thing—held him from seeking help.</div>
<div>
Finally a friend he trusted got him to attend a little meeting in a living room one evening. It was a simple affair. Not dress-up at all. Here was a factory foreman who looked happier than almost anybody in town. When the time came to talk he told how he had been cured of drunkenness by prayer. His wife told how unbelievably happy their life was now. They didn't have much money—you could see that—but they had something that money alone had never brought them. They had love, and self-respect, and they had each other.</div>
<div>
Dr. X was surprised to find that everyone in this little group had some sort of a fight to make, and had won. He began to look at these people in a new way. They had been weak and now they were strong. Unconsciously he began to envy them.</div>
<div>
He surprised himself by starting to say something. He admitted he had a tremendous hunger for liquor, and sometimes it got him down. He found that just merely talking about his trouble seemed to bring relief. As long as you conceal your difficulties, no one can help you. But once you bring your trouble out in the open, you can invite help and encouragement from friends. And you can benefit by the strengthening power of prayer.</div>
<div>
Merely getting on his knees and asking for help wasn't the whole story of Dr. X's reformation. Many a drunk knows there's a wide difference between promising to go straight and sticking to it!</div>
<div>
What enabled him to hold fast to his resolution was the discovery that he, who had just started to climb back to sobriety and respectability, had the ability to help other desperate and disheartened drunks to live decent lives too.</div>
<div>
In fact, that's a big part of the cure. When Dr. X gets an inebriate started on a new life of decency, he sees to it that the man gets on his feet now and then and talks to other people in the same predicament. Telling yourself and the world that you're going to go straight helps you to remind your subconscious mind that you are going straight. </div>
<div>
There have been a lot of ex-drunks that have come within Dr. X's influence since that fateful night he was turned back from a drunkard's grave. Forty-three of them, no less, owe their new lives to him. He'll leave a party or a dinner, almost leave an operation, to go and sit up all night with some drunk he probably never saw before but who he knows needs help.</div>
<div>
He has worked out a little system. Usually he puts the drunk to bed in a hospital, where he can sleep off his liquor quietly but can't get any more. There the sick man—for a drunk really is a sick man—receives regular care, and hot meals, and also some measure of discipline and restraint. There he has privacy, and time to think.</div>
<div>
"But you can't do much for a man until he hits bottom and bounces back up, can you?" I asked.<br />"A man doesn't necessarily have to hit bottom, but he has to come close enough to it to see where he's going if he doesn't stop drinking," replied Dr. X quietly. "And he's got to want to be helped before we can do much with him or for him"</div>
<div>
When a drunk in the hospital starts to sober up, Dr. X closes the door and starts to talk to him.<br />"I know where you hide your bottles," he'll say. "I know every sneaky little thing you do to get liquor </div>
<div>
when you're not supposed to have any. I've been there myself. And I want to tell you, my fine young friend, it's getting you nowhere. You're rotten. You're ashamed of yourself. Now let's do something about it."</div>
<div>
So there in that white, silent hospital room they read the Bible together. Then they pray. Very simply. First the Doctor, then, falteringly, the man himself. He finds his voice gains in confidence. He finds it is easy to talk to God, and talk out loud. He finds a huge load is lifted off his chest. He begins to feel he could hold his head up again. He gets a fresh look at the man he might be. The whole idea becomes real and feasible to him. He becomes enthusiastic and eager about going straight. He promises to read the Bible, and Dr. X leaves him.</div>
<div>
<br />Then, like as not, the sick man slips up, and badly. Success is not that easy. Those nerves that have been accustomed to bossing the mind and the body can't be straightened out without a last tough fight. The patient begs for just one more last little drink, and when the nurse refuses, he is angry at Dr. X and may storm about and threaten to go home. Fortunately, the foresighted Dr. X had carefully removed the patient's pants and shoes and locked them up in his own locker in the surgeons' room of the hospital.</div>
<div>
And then, because he knows the fight the sick man is going through, Dr. X comes back in time to bring new comfort and new cheer and to again call forth the searching and ever-available help of prayer. And in a couple of weeks the man, rested and refreshed and with the eyes alight as a result of decent living, goes home to his friends and his family that had almost given him up for dead.<br />"No, I don't dare let you tell about this," Dr. X said to me when I asked him for a signed interview.</div>
<div>
"We can't publicize these cures. These men are outside the realm of every day medicine. They have tried everything and been given up as hopeless. We don't succeed every time ourselves. We can't brag. Every case is a new battle."</div>
<div>
"But if word got out that we can do anything at all for a drunk, then derelicts would come into this town by the TRAINLOAD. We couldn't handle them. We couldn't handle a dozen. Two is a lot. One at a time is plenty. I can't talk to one of these fellows for more than an hour or two without feeling spent and tired, unless I talk like a parrot, and talking like a parrot wouldn't do them any good".<br />"Do you remember when Christ turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who touched me?' and some woman confessed she had touched his robe because she wanted to be cured? Christ felt some of his power pass out from him at that touch. It's the same way with helping people. You're giving something. It tires you.</div>
<div>
"We fellows who are doing this sort of thing feel we have hold of something, but we don't dare use our names in connection with it. Look up the new book, Alcoholics, Anonymous which we helped write. We studied around for a long while to find how we could tell our story without using our names. That book was the answer. It tells some actual stories—my own among them—but no names are given. Even the publisher doesn't know our names."</div>
<div>
"But Dr. X," I insisted, "Why not let these drunks pay you something for what you do for them? After all, they have been a burden to their friends. You put them back where they can earn a living again and live a decent life. You deserve any kind of fee you want to charge."</div>
<div>
"No, we can't commercialize the idea," the doctor said firmly but kindly. "That would spoil everything. We've got to keep our work as a gift to anyone we are able to help.</div>
<div>
"Moreover, I'm not sure we could set up a sanitarium and cure people effectively in any wholesale manner. I'm convinced this idea has to grow, one cure at a time."</div>
<div>
I tried to argue still further. "But Christ was willing to let folks invite him in for supper and the night," I suggested. "You and your wife have food to buy, and rent to pay, and overhead expenses in the way of taxes and insurance and shoes for your daughter. It's your own fault if you don't let these reformed drunks help pay their own way."</div>
<div>
"I'm satisfied," he said with a quiet smile that permitted no debate. "My wife and I are happier than we have ever been in our lives. We can keep going very nicely as long as I get a few operations from time to time, as I am doing. I'm doing a good job of living, and am happy," he ended.</div>
<div>
Then he handed me this final thought. "I have found that no one can be permanently happy unless he lives in harmony with the rules set down in the Good Book," he said. "Try it some time! You don't need to wait till you're down and out before you ask for help. There's help waiting for you right now, if you just ask God to help you."<br />† † †<br />The gifts of friendship have only the value that<br />friendship gives them.—The Advance.<br />YOUR FAITH <br /><br /><img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.cyberrecovery.net/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" title="Big Grin" /> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5154617195762059961.post-35434222050387820032012-02-17T14:22:00.002-05:002012-02-17T14:22:24.755-05:00ChristianRecoveryRadio.com - A.A. History with Dick B.<h2 class="date-header">
<span>Friday, February 17, 2012</span></h2>
<br />
<div class="date-posts">
<div class="post-outer">
<div class="post hentry uncustomized-post-template">
<a href="" name="2764579018937161539"></a>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">
ChristianRecoveryRadio.com Now Loaded With
Dick B. Talks </h3>
<div class="post-header">
<div class="post-header-line-1">
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2764579018937161539">
As
promised, the ChristianRecoveryRadio.com site is now filling with Dick B. audio
talks on Alcoholics Anonymous History with many more to come.<br /><br />The first
block is AA History with Dick B. - the radio series on Monty M.'s Oregon-based
radio shot at Take 12 Radio.com.<br /><br />Now we have two full segments on
Alcoholics Anonymous History with Dick B. Audio Talks<br /><br />Check them out: <a href="http://www.christianrecoveryradio.com/"><span style="color: #99bbdd;">http://www.christianrecoveryradio.com/</span></a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0