Big Book Study

“Here are the steps we took…..in four one hour sessions”


Pass the message


Back to Basics - Enclosed scripts are based on how the early members of Alcoholics Anonymous learned and practiced the Twelve Steps of recovery.
……………………………………….

With the aid of the Big Book, and recent research on how the ‘Beginner's Meetings’ were conducted in the 1940s, the “Back to Basics” Alcoholics Anonymous meeting uses these scripts in the belief that the newcomer and others will gain from these pages a deeper insight and understanding of the history, theory and practical application of the Twelve Step Program.




Welcome to session number one in which we will discuss in depth the nature of the disease of alcoholism, the importance of Step one and a brief history of Alcoholics Anonymous

My name is................... and I'm an alcoholic - my task tonight is to act as a narrator during which I will introduce direct quotes from the Big Book

My name is.................... And I'm an alcoholic - tonight I will be reading passages from the Big Book

We start tonight's session by turning to the forward of the big book which is on Roman numerals page 13

It opens with this explosive statement!!!!

"We of Alcoholics Anonymous are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book"

So the authors of the Big Book immediately tell us how to recover from addiction. This is a revolutionary statement because until this book was written, there was no hope for alcoholics. Now, the author’s tell us anyone who is willing to follow these simple directions they have provided can recover from this terrible illness.

This message of hope is expressed yet again on page 17:

"The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism"

In the third paragraph on page 25 the authors explain that for us there is no middle ground. We are either going to die from alcoholism or else find a spiritual solution.

"If you are as seriously alcoholic as we were, we believe there is no middle of the road solution. We were in a position where life was becoming impossible, and if we had passed into the region from which there is no return through human aid, we had but two alternatives: One was to go onto the bitter end, blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation as best we could, and the other, to accept spiritual help"

In the first paragraph on page 44, the authors described the alcoholic and then tell us what it will take to recover. Starting with the fourth line, they write:
“If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably an alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer”

To make sure you understand what has just been read – Let us repeat it once again…

“If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably an alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer”

Now we know what we have to do in order to recover from Alcoholism. We have to undergo a life changing, spiritual transformation!

We realize this is not the answer many of us expected to hear in Alcoholics Anonymous. But please keep in mind that alcoholism is a fatal illness. Prior to Alcoholics Anonymous most alcoholics either died as a result of alcoholism or were locked in jails or insane asylums.

In the second paragraph on page 44, the authors once again tell us our options:

“To one who feels he is an atheist or agnostic such an experience seems impossible, but to continue as he is, means disaster, especially if he is an alcoholic of the hopeless variety. To be doomed to an alcoholic death or to live on a spiritual basis are not always easy alternatives to face”

Not only is a spiritual experience or awakening possible, it is guaranteed. Simply by following the recovery steps suggested in the Big Book.

In the third paragraph on page 44, they tell us that no matter what our present beliefs, there is hope for us all.

“But it isn’t so difficult. About half our original fellowships were exactly that type. At first some of us tried to avoid the issue hoping against hope that we were not true alcoholics. But after a while we had to face the fact that we must find a spiritual basis of life. Or else! Perhaps it is going to be that way with you. But cheer up, something like half of us thought we were atheists or agnostics. Our experience shows that you need not to be disconcerted”

All a person needs is open-mindedness and a willingness to believe that this programme can really work.
Let’s see what we can learn about this spiritual solution. In the first paragraph on page 45 the big book tells us:

“Lack of power was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a POWER GREATER THAN OURSELVES OBVIOUSLY. But where and how were we to find this POWER”

“Well that’s exactly what this book is about. Its main objective is to enable you to find a power greater than yourself which will solve your problem. That means we have written a book which we believe to be both spiritual as well as moral. And it means of course that we are going to talk about God”

In the second paragraph on page 46, the authors ask us to develop our own concept of God. In other words, they want us to find a God of our understanding:

“Much to our relief we discovered we did not need to consider another’s conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate, was sufficient to make the approach and to effect contact with him. As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a creative intelligence, a spirit of the universe underlying the totality of things, we began to be possessed by a new sense of power and direction, provided we took certain simple steps” 

“We found that god does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us the Realm of the Spirit is broad, roomy, all-inclusive never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. Its open we believe, to all men”

The Big Book authors inform us that we are going to take some actions, which will lead us to our creator, who will guide us into the Realm of the Spirit. Our personalities will change from self – centred to God - centred; our lives will change from the material, to the spiritual.

As we said earlier, Alcoholics Anonymous is not a religious programme. We are free to call this power anything we wish, as long as it is a power greater than ourselves.

The “Big Book” authors use many different names for this Power including Creative Intelligence, Universal Mind and Spirit of the Universe, Creator, and the Great Reality among others. Quite a few times they call this power God, but they use the word God merely for convenience rather than religious purpose. Please refer to this power by any name you believe in or feel comfortable with.

So in order to recover from alcoholism, we have to find a Power greater than ourselves. But where are we going to find this Power? The authors provide us with the answer to that question in the second paragraph on page 55.
“Actually we are fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than us, and miraculous demonstrations of that Power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself. We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but he was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us”


These are dramatic concepts. First the authors of the Big Book tell us that they have found a way to free us from the bondage of Alcoholism, and they describe the solution as a Power greater than ourselves. Finally they tell us where to find this Power – right inside each and every one of us!

Now we know where to find this Power. Much of the rest of the Big Book is devoted to the question of How to find this power.

And the answer to the question How, is by taking the action in following the 12 Steps – Whether We Believe in Them or Not!

Step 1 – We admitted we were powerless over Alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable

Surrender is essential in order to recover from Alcohol. The big book authors devote 51 pages of the book to the first part of the surrender process which is to recognise and admit we have a problem.

Before we can do this however we have to know the nature of the problem we are suffering from.

Much of the “Dr’s Opinion” in the big book is based on two letters written by Dr William D Silkworth. A physician at Towns Hospital in New York City in the late 1930’s very little was known about alcoholism or addiction until he started to study the problem amongst the patients at this hospital. Much of what Dr Silkworth wrote in the 1930’s is still relevant today!

In the first paragraph on Roman Numerals page 23, Dr Silkworth describes how Bill W a co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous recovered from the disease whilst under his care in Towns hospital. Bill had previously been a high respected successful Wall Street Stock Analyst but lost everything because of the illness.

Dr Silkworth Wrote:-

“In late 1934 I attended a patient whom though he had been a competent businessman of good earning capacity, was an alcoholic of a type I had come to regard as hopeless”

“In the course of his third treatment he acquired certain ideas concerning a possible means of recovery. As part of his rehabilitation he commenced to present his ideas to other alcoholics, impressing upon them that they must do likewise with still others. This has become the basis of a rapidly growing fellowship of these men and their families. This man and over 100 others appear to have recovered.

“I personally know scores of cases who were of the type with whom other methods had failed completely”.


For several years prior to 1934, Dr Silkworth had been treating these alcoholics at Towns hospital with very little success. Then during his third trip to the hospital, Bill learned from Ebby T, Carl Jungs spiritual solution to the disease and the Oxford Groups recovery programme, which combined helped him develop and write down AA’s twelve steps’ for future generations.

By far one of the most important things Bill has learned while in Towns Hospital was that he had to work with other alcoholics to stay sober himself. He had to pass this message. He also learned and agreed with Dr Silkworth’s concept that this is both a physical and mental condition.

The Big Book goes on to say:

“The Physician, who, at our request gave us this letter, had been kind enough to enlarge upon his views in another statement which follows. In this statement he confirms what we who have suffered alcoholic torture must believe – that the body of the alcoholic is quite abnormal as his is mind. It did not satisfy us to be told that we could not control our drinking just because we were maladjusted to life, that we were in full fight from reality, or were outright mental defectives.
These things were true to some extent with some of us. But we are sure that our bodies were sickened as well. In our belief and picture of the alcoholic which leaves out this physical factor is incomplete”.



Let’s look at this abnormal physical reaction to alcohol. Alcohol is a poison. The normal reaction to alcohol is to have one or two drinks and stop. But, our reaction is very different. We have one or two drinks just to get started.

In this fifth paragraph of Roman numerals page 28. Dr Silkworth tells us that, because of this abnormal reaction we must abstain.

“All these and many others have one symptom in common: they cannot start drinking without developing the phenomenon of craving. This phenomenon as we have suggested may be the manifestation of an allergy which differentiated these people, and sets them apart as a distinct entity. It has never been, by any treatment with which we are familiar, permanently eradicated. The only relief we have to suggest is entire abstinence”.

So much for alcoholics ever becoming social drinkers again, if indeed they ever were.

Abstinence might work if alcoholism was only a physical illness, but Dr Silkworth found that the disease has a mental component as well. In addition to an abnormal physical reaction, we also have a mental obsession. Our mind tells us it’s okay to drink, as alcohol brings us closer to death. No matter how much we may want to stop, sooner or later we will return to alcohol.



Dr Silkworth describes the mental obsession on Roman Numeral Page 26

“Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. This sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks – drinks which they see others taking with impunity”

On page 30 starting with the fourth line in the first paragraph, the Big Book author describes how this mental obsession kills so many of us:

“Therefore it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker.  The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death”

The author further emphasises the mental obsession in the second paragraph on Page 34. They state that no matter how strong our conviction we cannot stop drinking without help.


“For those who are unable to drink moderately the question is how to stop altogether. We are assuming of course that the reader desires to stop. Whether such a person can quit upon a non-spiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not. Many of us felt that we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it – this utter inability to leave it alone no matter how great the necessity or wish”

You see if our minds didn’t lie to us and tell us it’s okay to drink we would never trigger the physical craving for more and more, so we have an abnormal reaction of the body and an obsession of the mind which dooms us to death.

On Roman Numerals page 23, Dr Silkworth tells us our only hope is a life changing conversion experience. Starting with the third line down for the top of the page, he writes:

“After they have succumbed to the desire again, as many do and the phenomenon of craving develops they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery”

So, a prominent doctor in the field of alcoholism states that the medical community can’t help us. Our only hope therefore is a spiritual experience or awakening.

Now let’s move on to “Bills Story” In this chapter we learn more about the physical and mental aspects of the malady, and more about the spiritual solution. As we mentioned earlier, Bill is the New York stock analyst who is one of AA’s co-founders.

Some people have difficulty in identifying with Bills story because he was such a low-bottom hopeless alcoholic. Here, as elsewhere in the book we ask you to look for the similarities rather than the differences. See where you can identify with Bill as he continues long after it had become a problem.

In the first seven pages, Bill describes the progressive nature of his illness. In a few short years he loses everything. He becomes unemployed and hopeless. His life had become unmanageable.

In the first paragraph on page 8, Bill has a moment of clarity. He realizes he is powerless. He is licked – defeated!


“No words can tell of the loneliness and despair I found in that bitter morass of self-pity.
Quicksand stretched around me in all directions. I had met my match. I had been overwhelmed, alcohol was my master!”


Bills surrender and acceptance of his condition became step one of the programme.

But Bill can’t abstain on this admission alone. In the late November 1934. He is visited by a former school friend Ebby T. Bill is drunk! Whilst Ebby had been abstinent for two months. Bill asked Ebby how he had stopped… Ebby tells him “I’ve got religion” Bill is shocked but he lets Ebby continue because as he later wrote” besides, my gin would last longer than his preaching”

But Ebby doesn’t preach to Bill. Instead Ebby describes a group of people he has met recently who practice a recovery programme and two-way prayer. This organization Ebby tells Bill, is called the Oxford Group.

The Oxford Group was a life changing fellowship based on First Century Christianity who practised four spiritual principles.

These were:

Surrender - which later became AA’s first, second and third steps
Sharing - which later became AA’s fourth, fifth, sixth and seven steps
Restitution - which later became AA’s eighth and ninth steps
Guidance - which later became AA’s tenth, eleventh and twelfth steps

Ebby provided Bill with the Oxford Group Recovery Programme which was later to become the foundation stone for AA’s twelve step recovery programme.

Soon after Ebbys visit, Bill returned to Towns Hospital for his third and last time for help with detoxification. Once again he was aided by Dr Silkworth.

Whilst in hospital Bill decided to surrender to his Higher Power using the Oxford Groups suggested recovery programme.

“There I humbly offered myself to God as I then understood Him to with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction”


This later became AA’s Step 3

Immediately after his surrender, Bill began sharing his inventory of shortcomings and defects of character with Ebby. Starting with the second line in the second paragraph on page 13 Bill writes:

“I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new found Friend take them away root and branch. My school friend visited me and I fully acquainted him with my problems and deficiencies”

This later became AA’s 4 & 5

Bill went on:

“…We made a list of people I had hurt or towards whom I felt resentment. I expressed my entire willingness to approach these individuals admitting my wrongs. Never was I to be critical of them. I was to right all such matters to the utmost of my ability”

This later became AA’s Step 8

Bill Continued….

“I was to test my thinking by the new God-consciousness within, Common sense would thus become uncommon sense. I was to sit quietly when in doubt asking only for direction and strength to meet my problems as he would have me”



This later became AA’s Step 11

On page 14 starting with the second line in the sixth paragraph Bill explains what Ebby had told him about carrying the message to others.

“Particularly was it imperative to work with others as he had worked with me. Faith without works was dead he said, and how appallingly true for the alcoholic!”

“For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others he could not survive the certain trails and low spots ahead. If he did not work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank he would surely die. Then faith would be dead indeed. With us it is just like that”.

This later became AA’s Step 12

Bill takes the actions prescribed by the Oxford Group and undergoes a ‘Sudden Conversion Experience’. As a result he undergoes the complete psychic change that Dr Silkworth talks about and which Carl Jung had told Roland H was necessary for recovery, some four years earlier.

Bill expands yet again on his experience in page 14:

“These were revolutionary and drastic proposals, but the moment I fully accepted them, the effect was electric. There was a sense of victory, followed by such a peace and serenity as I had ever known. There was utter confidence, I felt lifted up, as though the great clean wind of a mountain top blew through and through.
God comes to most men gradually, but his impact on me was sudden and profound”

Most addicts undergo their ‘psychic change’ via the educational route!

“The first question most addicts ask is – “How do we do the First Step”

The ONLY thing we have to do is accept without reservation that we are of the type described in the Big Book.

The authors also tell us on page 30:

"We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently maybe, had to be smashed"

Without Acceptance and Surrender at this sub-conscious level it may not be possible to lay the foundation Stones of our recovery in place:

That's all we have to do. Just accept our condition unreservedly and fulfil the requirements of step one.

We might also try these three suggestions to test whether are not we really mean business:

"AM I POWERLESS OVER ALCOHOL?"
"DO I REALLY WANT TO STOP DRINKING?"
"AM I PREPEARED TO GO TO ANY LENGTHS?"

If we have answered yes to all three questions - then we are firmly on the road to recovery. 
We have accepted Step One:

STEP ONE: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives have become unmanageable.

That brings us to the end of session 1. This was a lot to take in at the first session. We actually covered in abbreviated form 51 pages of the big book. Most of tonight's reading was concerned with acceptance and surrender.


Does anyone have any thoughts on tonight's readings, or your personal recovery?












































SESSION
TWO









Welcome to session number two in which we will read and discuss in depth steps two, three and four.

My name is …………………………..and I am an alcoholic – my task tonight is to act as the narrator during which I will introduce direct quotes from the Big Book.

My name is………………………….and I am an alcoholic – tonight I will be reading passages from the Big Book.

Let’s start with a brief review of what we have learned so far… In the third paragraph on page 64 of the ‘Big Book’ we find an excellent overview of the recovery process. Starting in the middle of the third line, in the Big Book the authors write:

“…For we have been not mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically”.

This is our goal – to correct the spiritual malady that has been separated us from God and doomed us, until now, to the living hell of alcoholism.

If we are spiritually sick, how do we overcome the malady?

The author tells us that we need to experience a physic change - a spiritual awakening. Dr Silkworth describes the effect of this change in the first paragraph in Roman numeral page 27. Dr Silkworth writes:

“On the other hand – and strange as this may seem to those who do not understand – once a physic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules”

What are these simple rules? Boiled down they amount to:

Trust In God
Clean House and
Help Others

If we follow these simple suggestions we will receive the ultimate reward which is a spiritual awakening or experience the definition of which is ‘A personality change sufficient to bring out recovery’.

Last week we started our journey to this spiritual awakening by taking Step One. We conceded to our innermost selves that we were Powerless over Alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable. In other words we had admitted we were alcoholics.

STEP 2 – CAME TO BELIEVE THAT A POWER GREATER THAN OURSELVES COULD RESTORE US TO SANITY

Now that we have admitted we are alcoholics, let’s look at what we have done in order to recover. In the fourth paragraph on page 44, we learn:

“If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us would have recovered long ago. But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all our might, but a needed power wasn’t there. Our human resources, as marshalled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly!”

What is it going to take for us to find this power? The answer is in the back of the Big Book starting with the second paragraph on page 570, we find:

“Most emphatically we wish to say that any alcoholic capable of honestly facing his problems in the light of our experience can recover, provided he does not close his mind to all spiritual concepts. He can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial”.

“We find that no one need have difficulty with the spiritualty of the program… Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable.

Bill W one of the co-founders of the twelve step recovery programme had a great deal of difficulty in accepting this spiritual solution to our malady. In “Bills Story”, he describes How He Came To Believe!

In late November 1934, Ebby t visits Bill at his Brooklyn Home, New York. It is during that visit that Bill learns about a God of his own understanding. Let’s pick up the story in the first paragraph on page 12.

As we mentioned last week, Ebby is one of Bills former high school friends and former drinking companion. Ebby has been abstinent in the Oxford Group for two months. He tells Bill his life has changed as the result of practicing the Oxford Group Four Special Activities (as he called them).

These were:

Surrender
Sharing
Restitution
Guidance

These were later to become the foundation stones for AA’s 12 Steps

Bill become quite distressed when Ebby starts talking about God. However he does listen because he realizes Ebby’s life has changed – he is abstinent for the first time in many years.

“Despite the living example of my friend, there remained in me the vestiges of my old prejudice. The word God still aroused a certain antipathy. When the thought was expressed that there might be a God personal to me this feeling was intensified. I didn’t like the idea. I could go for such conceptions as creative intelligence, universal mind or spirit of nature but I resisted the thought of a Czar of the heavens, however loving His sway might be. I have since talked with scores of men and women who felt the same way”.

Then Ebby presents Bill with a revolutionary concept:

“My friend suggested that what then seemed a novel idea. He said ‘Why don’t you choose your own conception of God. That statement hit me hard. It melted the icy intellectual mountain in whose shadow I had lived and shivered many years. I stood in the sunlight at last”.

“It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning. I saw that growth could start from that point. Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might build what I saw in my friend. Would I have it? Of course I would!”

This is how Bill started on his spiritual journey to a God of his own understanding and lasting abstinence. It all began with Bills willingness to believe.



Now let’s look at how the Big Book authors describe God. In the middle of pages 46 they ask us to set aside any contempt we might have for spiritual principles and consider our own concept of God. If we do, we will begin to realize there just might be some validity to the AA spiritual solution for the problem. Starting with the third line in the first paragraph on page 46, they write:
"... We found that as soon as we are able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that power, which is God".

Basically, the big book offers that it is impossible to define god. We have to stop trying to comprehend God with our minds and start accepting god with our heart. In the first paragraph on page 47, they explain to us that.

"When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God. This applies to spiritual expressions which you find in this book. Do not let any Prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you. At the start, this was all we needed to commence spiritual growth, to effect of a first conscious relation with God as we understood him. Afterwards, we found ourselves accepting many things which then seemed entirely Out of Reach. That was growth, but if we wished to grow we had to begin somewhere. So, we used our own conception however limited that was".

Sometimes we have to take our lives right to the brink of disaster and look death squarely in the eye before we are willing to acknowledge the presence of God. But there is Hope even for the most stubborn of us. Starting with the seventh line down from the top of page 48, the Big Book authors state that most of us eventually become "teachable"

"Faced with alcoholic destruction we soon became as open-minded in spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions. In this respect alcohol was great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. Sometimes this was a tedious process, we hoped no one else will be prejudiced for as long as some of us were"

In the third paragraph on page 52, the authors make powerful case for the existence of God.

"When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance on the spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work but the God idea did"






Once again we need to make a decision. We have to decide whether or not we believe in a Creator – a Spirit of the Universe – a God of our understanding.
In the second paragraph on Page 53, the Big Book authors write:

“When we became alcoholics crushed by a self-imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either god is everything or else he is nothing. God either is or he isn’t. What was our choice to be?”

Now is the time to choose, are we willing to concede that there is a Power Greater than ourselves. The second step question therefore is:

DO I NOW BELIEVE, OR AM I EVEN WILLING TO BELIVE THAT THERE IS A POWER GREATHER THAN MYSELF

If we answer YES then we have completed step Two.

So steps One and Two are acceptable steps. To do them simply have to believe and accept what the steps say.

STEP 3 – MADE A DECISION TO TURN OUR WILL AND OUR LIVES OVER TO THE CARE OF GOD AS WE UNDERSOOD HIM

To reflect for a moment on Step 1 and 2 before going any further.

Both 1 and 2 are acceptance steps. They are not working steps. The working steps begin with steps 3 through to 12.

On page 62 and 63 the Big Book authors show us how to become god directed rather than self-directed. But first they describe how operating on self-will has kept us separated from our Higher Power.

On page 60 they explain that, when we live on self-will we are like actors trying to control every detail of the play:

“The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis we are almost always in collision with something or somebody, even though our motives are good. Most people try to live by self-propulsion. Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show; is forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the scenery and the rest of the players in his own way”.


Does this sound familiar? At one time or another, haven’t we all tried to convince those around us they would be much better off if they just did things our way?
Attempting to control others is the epitome of selfishness.

In the first paragraph on page 62:

“Selfishness, self-centredness! That we think is the root of our troubles.
Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking and self-pity, we step on toes of our fellows and they retaliate, Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we had made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt.  So our troubles we think are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn’t think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must rid ourselves of this selfishness, we must or it will kill us! God makes this possible. And there often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without his aid”.

Then in the third paragraph of page 62, the authors tell us what happens once we rid ourselves of this selfishness.

“This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God, it didn’t work. Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life. God was going to be our Director. He is the principal, we are his agents. He is he Father and we are his children. Most good ideas are simple and this concept was the keystone of the new triumphant arch through which he passed to freedom”.

“When we sincerely took such a position, all sorts of remarkable things followed. We had a new employer. Being all powerful. He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work well”.

Now we know our place in Gods Universe. Contrary to what we may have thought in the past, the whole world does not revolve around us. Once we step aside and put God in the centre, we are amazed at how much better our lives have become.

“Established on such a footing, we become less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs. More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life. As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His present we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. We were reborn!”



HOW TO TAKE THE THIRD STEP!

In the third paragraph on page 63 the Big Book tells us:

“We found it very desirable to take this spiritual step with an understanding person, such as our wife, best friend, or spiritual advisor. But it is better to meet God alone than with someone who might misunderstand. The wording was of course quite optional so long as we expressed the idea, voicing it without reservation. This was only a beginning, though if honestly and humbly made, an effect, sometimes a very great one, was felt at once”.

Although the Big Book says the wording is optional for taking the third step, the authors do provide us with a prayer to complete this step.

The prayer is in the middle of page 63. It reads:

“God, I offer myself to thee – to build with me and to do with me as thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may be better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love and Thy Way of Life. May I do Thy Will always”.

Once you have done this, according to this Big Book authors you have completed Step 3

Even though we have spent a great deal of time on the first three steps we have so far not actually taken ‘specific actions’ that will lead us to a spiritual awakening which as we recall means ‘a personality change sufficient to bring about recovery.

We now move on to the last step of this session which is the final ‘Action’ step of the programme.

STEP 4 – MADE A SEARCHING AND FEARLESS MORAL INVENTORY OF OURSELVES

On page 63 the Big Book tells us what we need to do now that we have made a decision to proceed:

“Next we launched out on a course of vigorous action, the first step of which is a personal house cleaning, which many of us had never attempted. Though our decision was a vital and crucial step, it could have little permanent effect unless at once followed by a strenuous effort to face and to be rid of the things in ourselves which had been blocking us”.


Please note the authors say “at once”. They tell us we need to take the fourth step immediately after we complete the Third Step. We have to get rid of those things which have been blocking us off from our higher power or else our initial contact with our creator won’t last.

So, now we are going to establish a direct line of communication with our Higher Power by eliminating those aspects of our personalities which have kept us in the dark. Alcohol is but a symptom. Sure it cuts us off from our higher power, but once we stop drinking, we are still separated from him, because of our character liabilities.  Now, it’s time to look at those short comings and character defects by making an inventory.

The authors start by comparing a personal inventory to a business inventory. On page 64 they write:

“Therefore, we started upon a personal inventory. This was Step Four. A business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke. Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and fact-facing process. It is as an effort to discover the truth about the stock in trade. One object is also to disclose damaged or un-saleable goods, to get rid of them promptly and without regret.

Then, the authors tell us exactly what we have to do in order to conduct a Fourth Step inventory on Page 64.

“We did exactly the same thing with our lives. We took stock honestly. First we searched out the flaws in our make-up which caused our failure. Being convinced that self, manifested in various ways, was what had defeated us, we considered its common manifestations.

The Big Book tells us to take the steps quickly. We must discover the “truth about our stock in trade” in order to remove the behaviours that have cut us from the Sunlight of the Spirit.

In the third paragraph on page 65 the authors write:

“We went back through our lives. Nothing counted but thoroughness and honesty. When we were finished we considered it carefully.

Now let’s look at what we put on paper. From page 64 – 71, the authors provide us with a list of shortcomings we need to eliminate and a list of assets we need to accentuate. On page 64, they ask us to first of all examine our resentments.


“Resentment is the ‘number one’ offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else… From it stems all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically. In dealing with resentments we set them on paper. We listed people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry”.

In the first paragraph on page 66 the authors emphasise that our resentments keep us separated from our higher power. We must eliminate them if we are to have a spiritual awakening.

“It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worthwhile”.

But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harbouring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us. To drink is to die”.

Then in the second paragraph on page 67, the authors instruct us to look at our part in each situation to see if we need to make amends.

“Referring to our list again. Putting out of our minds the wrongs that others have done, we resolutely looked for our own mistakes. Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened? Though a situation had not been entirely our fault, we tried to disregard the other person involved entirely. Where were we to blame? The inventory was ours, not the other mans. When we saw our faults we listed them. We placed them before us in black and white. We admitted our wrongs honestly and were willing to set these matters straight”.

Let’s look at the third sentence again. It reads, “Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened.

These behaviours are based on Self-Will. In addition, they are the opposites of the four absolutes of Honesty, Purity, Unselfishness and Love as practised by the Oxford Group.

When Bill, Dr Bob and the other Big Book authors were members of The Oxford Group, they tested everything they thought, said or did. Now they are asking us to do the same thing – test our actions.

IT IS OUR SELFISH, SELF-CENTREDENESS THAT KEEPS US BLOCKED OFF FROM OUR CREATOR AND PREVENTS US FROM FINDING THE SPIRITUAL SOLUTION TO ALCOHOLISM

Next, the authors ask us to look at our fears. In the first paragraph on page 68, they write:

“We reviewed our fears thoroughly. We put them on paper, even though we had no resentment in connection with them. We asked ourselves why we had them. Wasn’t it because self-reliance failed us? Self-reliance was good as far as it went, but it didn’t go far enough. Some of us once had great self-confidence but it didn’t fully solve our fear problem or any other”.

In the first paragraph on page 69, the authors expand further on our character defects and liabilities which we need to address. They also ask us to make a list of those we had harmed. This will become our amends list – the people to whom we need to make restitution:

“We reviewed our conduct over the years past. Where had we been selfish, dishonest or inconsiderate? Whom had we hurt? Did we unjustifiably arouse jealously, suspicion or bitterness? Were we at fault, what should we have done instead? We got this all down on paper and looked at it!

Top of page 67 states:

“We ask God to help us show the same tolerance, pity and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended us we said to ourselves “This is a sick man. How can I be helpful to him? God save me from being angry. Thy will be done!”

On page 70 in the third paragraph, they provide us several more assets while summarising the inventory process:

“We have listed and analysed our resentments. We have begun to comprehend their futility and their fatality. We have commenced to see their terrible destructiveness. We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will towards all men, even our enemies”.

Where possible the law of cause and effect should be born in mind – we know what we did, but we are now trying to discover the reasons why?

One very difficult area which sadly many alcoholics have personal experience of, is abuse. This can take several forms, mental, physical or sexual. In such cases we urge you not to omit from step 4.

The Big Book authors tell us this on page 70. Starting in the first paragraph they write:

“If we are sorry for what we have done and the honest desire to let God take us onto better things, we believe we will be forgiven and have learned our lesson.
If we are not sorry and out conduct continues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink again. We are not theorising. These are the facts born out of our experience”.

That completes our presentation of the fourth step. If you still have doubt about the value of this step let us read what the Big Book has to say. In the fourth paragraph on page 70 it makes it clear that if we admit our wrongs and are willing to set such matters right, God will take away all our difficulties:

“In this book you read again and again that faith did for us what we could not do for ourselves. We hope you are convinced that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him”.

This brings us to the end of the second session in which we have covered:

STEP 2 – CAME TO BELIEVE THAT A POWER GREATER THAN OURSELVES COULD RESTORE US TO SANITY

STEP 3 – MADE A DECISION TO TURN OUR WILL AND OUR LIVES OVER TO CARE OF GOD AS WE UNDERSTOOD HIM

STEP 4 – MADE A SERACHING AND FEARLESS MORAL INVENTORY OF OURSELVES

Does anyone have any thoughts on tonight's readings, or your personal recovery?

























SESSION
THREE







Welcome to this third session of the v ‘Back to Basics Step Meeting’. Together, we are learning and taking the Twelve Steps as described in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. We are here to try and guide each other to a fuller understanding of the recovery programme which will free us from the deadly affliction of alcoholism .

My name is …………………………..and I am an alcoholic – Tonight my job is to act as the Big Book narrator. This means I will introduce passages which are about to be read from the Big Book.

My name is………………………….and I am an alcoholic – My task tonight is to read direct quotes and passages from the Big Book.

We are now entering the phase of the programme where more and more actions are required. These actions so produce results.

Many of these are in the form of promises which, as our lives change, become an integral part of our spiritual being.

If our lives didn’t get any better, what would be the point in staying sober? If all we had to look forward to was restlessness, irritability and discontentment, why do the work?

AA offers so much more than just freedom from alcoholism. We have found a new way of living – far better than anything we could ever have imagined. That’s why we take the steps, and that’s why we take them again and again!

Before we move onto steps six, seven, eight and nine, let’s review what the Big Book authors say about the fifth step.

This is the step during which God reveals to us, through another person. Those characteristics of self which had been blocking us from the ‘sunlight of the spirit’

Step 5 – Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs

Starting with the 22nd line on page 72, the Big Book authors tell us why we need to admit our shortcomings to another person.


“The best reason first:  If we skip this vital step, we may not overcome drinking. Time after time newcomers have tried to keep to themselves certain facts about their lives. Trying to avoid this humbling experience, they have turned to easier methods. Almost invariably they got drunk. Having persevered with the rest of the programme, they wondered why they fell. We think the reason is they never completed their housecleaning. They took inventory all right, but hung onto some of the worst items in stock. They only thought they had lost their egotism and fear, they only thought they had humbled themselves. But they had not learned enough humility, fearlessness and honesty, in the sense we find it necessary, until they told someone else all their life story”.

The one person who we choose to do our Fifth Step with has to be chosen carefully. He or She must be close mouthed, trustworthy and supportive.

On the bottom of page 74, The Big Book tells us:

“It is important that he be able to keep confidence, that he fully understands and approves what we are driving at, that he will not try to change our plan”.

The Big Book gives specific instructions for taking the Fifth step. In the first paragraph on page 75, they tell us that, as soon as we decide who is to listen to our inventory, we take action immediately!

“When we decide who is to hear our story, we waste no time. We have a written inventory and we are prepared for a long talk. We explain to our partner what we are about to do and why we have to do it. Most people approached in this way will be glad to help, they will be honoured with confidence”

In the second paragraph on page 75, the Big Book provides us with more directions:

“We pocket our pride and go to it, illuminating every twist of character, every dark cranny of the past”

Starting with the second line in the second paragraph on page 75, the Big Book authors provide us with a list of benefits we receive as the direct result of taking this step:

“Once we have taken this Step, withholding nothing we are delighted. We can look the world in the eye. We can be alone at perfect peace and ease. Our fears fall from us. We begin to feel the nearness of our creator. We may have certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience. The feeling that the drink problem had disappeared will often come strongly. We feel we are on the broad highway, walking hand in hand with the spirit of the universe”.

We are now well on our way towards recovering from addiction. The Big Book authors state we are having a Spiritual Awakening and as a result, our obsession to drink is being removed.
In the third paragraph on page 75, the Big Book gives us specific directions on what to do after we have finished sharing our inventories.

“Returning home we find a place where we can be quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done. We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we may know him better. Taking this book down from our shelf we turn to the page which contains the twelve steps. Carefully reading the first five proposals we ask if we have omitted anything, for we are building an arch through which we shall walk a free man at last. Is our work solid so far? Are the stones properly in place? Have we skimped on the cement put into the foundation? Have we tried to make mortar without sand?”

The Big Book authors suggest we review the first Five Steps to make sure we haven’t omitted anything. If we have done this, we are ready to proceed to the Sixth Step:

STEP 6 – WERE ENTIRELY READY TO HAVE GOD REMOVE ALL THESE DEFECTS OF CHARACTER

In this Step, the Big Book authors have us answer a simple question. Starting with the third line in the first paragraph on page 76, they ask:

“Are we ready now to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are now objectionable? Can he now take them all – every one? If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us to be willing”

So according to the Big Book author’s, it is decision time once again. We realise they want you to take your sixth step right after you take your Fifth Step. If you have taken your Fifth Step but not taken your Sixth Step then please make arrangements as soon as possible to complete this step.

It’s quite simple really. You will be asked one question.

“Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable?”

If you answer ‘YES’ to this question you have completed Step Six.

We are now ready to move onto Step Seven.

STEP 7 – HUMBLY ASKED HIM TO REMOVE SHORTCOMINGS

This step is straightforward. It consists of a prayer in which we ask God to remove our liabilities and strengthen our assets so we can be of maximum service to all.

This Seventh Step prayer can be found in the second paragraph on page 76, it reads:

“My creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding”.

We have now completed Step 7!

Now it’s time to clear away the wreckage of our past. We do this by making amends or restitution,

STEP 8 – MADE A LIST OF PERSONS WE HAD HARMED, AND BECAME WILLING TO MAKE AMENDS TO THEM ALL

The Big Book author’s state on page 76:

“Now we need more action, without which we find that “Faith without Works is dead”. Let’s look at Steps eight and nine. We have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took inventory”.

Now let’s move onto Step Nine:

STEP 9 – MADE DIRECT AMENDS TO SUCH PEOPLE, WHEREVER POSSIBLE, EXCEPT WHEN TO DO SO WOULD INJURE THEM OR OTHERS

The Big Book authors state on third paragraph, Page 76

“Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we haven’t the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol”.

Further along on page 76 the Big Book states:

“Probably there are still some misgivings. As we look over the list of business acquaintances and friends we have hurt, we may feel diffident about going to some of them on a spiritual basis. Let us be reassured. To some people we need not, and probably should not emphasize the spiritual feature on our first approach. We might prejudice them. At the moment we are trying to put our lives in order. But this is not an end itself. Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and people about us”

In the last sentence of paragraph 4 on page 76, the Big Book clearly states our purpose for living, it tells us, we are here to serve ‘God and our fellows’

Then on page 77, they ask us to let our actions, rather than our words, demonstrate to others that we have changed. Starting with line four they write:

“It is seldom wise to approach an individual, who still smarts from our injustice to him, and announce that we have gone religious. In the prize ring this would be called leading with the chin. Why lay ourselves open to being branded fanatics or religious bores. We may kill a future opportunity to carry a beneficial message. But our man is sure to be impressed with a sincere desire to set right the wrong. He is going to be more interested in a demonstration of good will than our talk of spiritual discoveries”

One of the most difficult amends to make is to someone we genuinely don’t like. But whether we like them or not, we must proceed. In the first paragraph on page 77 it says:

“Nevertheless with a person we dislike, we take the bit in our teeth. It is harder to go to an enemy than to a friend, but we find it much more beneficial to us. We go to him in helpful and forgiving spirit, confessing our former ill feelings and expressing our regret”

In the next paragraph on page 77, the authors even provide us with instruction on what to say:

“Under no condition do we criticize such a person or argue. Simply we tell him that we will never get over drinking until we have done our utmost to straighten out the past. We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realising that nothing worthwhile can be accomplished until we do so, never trying to tell him what he should do. His faults are not discussed. We stick to our own. If our manner is calm, frank and open, we will be gratified with the result”

The authors explain what we should do about out debts. We may not like the sacrifice required to make good on our bills, but sacrifice we must. The process forces us to rely on God for guidance which takes us out of self-will into Gods will.

Under Gods direction, we find it easier to make resolution than we ever thought possible.

In the middle if the page 78, the Book says:

“Most alcoholics owe money. We do not dodge our creditors. Telling them what we are trying to do, we make no bones about our drinking; they usually know anyway, whether we think so or not. Nor are we afraid of disclosing our alcoholism on the theory it may cause financial harm. Approached this way, the most ruthless creditor will sometimes surprise us. Arranging the best deal we can we let these people know we are sorry. Our drinking has made us slow to pay. We must lose our fear of creditors no matter how far we have to go, for we are liable to drink if we are afraid to face them.

Please keep in mind that courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is facing the fear and walking through it!

At the top of page 79, the Big Book tells us to ask God for guidance. The reliance upon God is essential, if we are to outgrow the fears that have separated us from Him.

“Although these repayments take innumerable forms, there are some general principles which we find guiding. Reminding ourselves that we have decided to go to any lengths to find a spiritual experience, we ask that we be given the strength and direction to do the right thing, no matter what the personal consequences might be. We may lose our position or reputation or face jail, but we are willing.  We have to be. We must not shrink at anything”

A word of caution, The Big Book suggests we ask others for help before we make some of our more difficult amends. We need direction, preferably from someone who understands the inventory and restitution process. We must make sure we do not create further harm as we clean up our side of the street.

We must bear in mind that what may make us feel good may cause untold harm to others. A couple of examples being:

a) Having had an affair with your friend’s wife for many years. You knock on his door one day and tell him what happened, and how sorry you are.


b) After years of defrauding an insurance company with false claims you call into the manager’s office and make a clean breast of what you had done.
Arrested and charged by the police who show no interest in your plea of “I was only trying to make amends” Your action leads to a long prison sentence resulting in your family being robbed of its only breadwinner.


In some cases we have to find an alternative means of making financial restitution. One member who consulted his sponsor agreed that direct amends in his situation was not possible so he had to find another way to make amends. He joined World Vision and sponsored a child from the Third World paying for his education and clothing. Members over the years have made amends in similar ways.

In the case of the affair with another man’s wife there is no way direct amends can be made. The only way of dealing with such a situation is to ensure you are more attentive to your wife and try to make up for lost time.

So amends making has to be approached very carefully always consulting your sponsor and discussing difficulties involved.

On page 82 of the authors state quite emphatically THAT TO REMAIN ABSTAINENT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING. We must take additional action if we are to recover.

Abstinence is not enough. On page 83 they say:

“This spiritual life is not a theory, we have to live it!”

Here we are told that, in order to recover, we have to live the program. So, we don’t just take the steps, we live them on a daily basis.

Further down on page 83, the authors give us directions on what to do if we cannot make amends to someone face to face

“If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook on life will change. Fear of people and economic insecurity will leave us, we will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves”.

What a tremendous message of hope! It is almost beyond comprehension that all of these wonderful events will occur if we just make amends to those who we have harmed. But these promises will happen, and that’s a guarantee!

Dr Bob, one of the co-founders of the twelve step program of recovery, found that he could not stay abstinent until he made his amends. He accomplished this is one day. At the top of page 156 we read about Dr Bobs Ninth step:

“One morning he took the bull by the horns and set out to tell those he feared what his troubles had been. He found himself surprisingly well received, and learned that many knew of his drinking. Stepping into his car he made the rounds of people he had hurt. He trembled as he went about for this might mean ruin, particularly to a person in his line of business”

At midnight he came home exhausted, but very happy. He was abstinent for the remainder of his life.

This concludes tonight’s discussions on session number three, in which we have covered:

STEP 5 – ADMITTED TO GOD, TO OURSELVES, AND TO ANOTHER HUMAN BEING THE EXACT NATURE OF OUR WRONGS

STEP 6 – WERE ENTIRELY READY TO HAVE GOD REMOVE ALL THESE DEFECTS OF CHARACTER

STEP 7 – HUMBLY ASKED HIM TO REMOVE OUR SHORTCOMINGS

STEP 8 – MADE A LIST OF ALL PERSONS WHO WE HAD HARMED, AND BECAME WILLING TO MAKE AMENDS TO THEM ALL

STEP 9 – MADE DIRECT AMENDS TO SUCH PEOPLE WHEREVER POSSIBLE, EXCEPT WHEN TO DO SO WOULD INJURE THEM OR OTHERS


Does anyone have any thoughts on tonight's readings, or your personal recovery?























SESSION
FOUR










Welcome to the fourth one-hour ‘Back to Basics Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. If we have followed the steps up to this point we will, according to the way of the steps were done in the 1940’s, start to experience a change in this seemingly hopeless state of mind and body known as alcoholism.
By completing all 12 steps we will, according to the Big Book, experience a Spiritual Awakening that will change our lives forever.
My name is …………………………..and I am an alcoholic – Tonight my job is to act as the narrator. This means I will introduce passages which are about to be read from the Big Book.

My name is………………………….and I am an alcoholic – My task tonight is to read direct quotes and passages from the Big Book.

Tonight we are going to discuss Steps Ten, Eleven and Twelve.
Step Ten is a summary of Steps Four through to Nine. It also shows us how we continue to take inventory ‘fine tuning’ our recovery and putting right immediately any new amends that need to be made.
Step Eleven shows us how to establish and maintain our conscious contact with our Higher Power.
Step Twelve. We finally learn how to carry this life saving message to others, and how to practice these spiritual principles ‘in all our affairs’.
Step 10 – Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
The Key to Step Ten is the word ‘Continue’. In the second paragraph on page 84, the Big Book emphasises the importance of continuing to take the Steps:
“This brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past. We have entered the world of the spirit. Our next function is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime.
In this paragraph the Big Book also tells us how to live, one day at a time.
We call this our twenty four hour plan. We continue to take inventory, continue to make amends and continue to help others.
The Third sentence in this paragraph read:
“We have entered the world of the Spirit”
This sentence contains an amazing revelation. Basically, the Big Book has informed us that our lives have already changed as the direct result of working the steps, one through to nine. The authors state that we have already experienced a Spiritual Awakening. How could this be?...Well, it’s very simple.  There is no way we can go through these steps alone. We have been accompanied by the God of our understanding and perhaps without fully realising it, have begun to develop a deeper belief in Him.
We have started to develop a deeper understanding and reliance upon this Power to help us through each stage of our inventory and restitution process. We are now starting to live in the solution, not the problem!
Starting with the eighth line in the second paragraph on page 84, the authors tell us precisely how to take a Ten Step inventory:
“..Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help. Always remembering – “Love and tolerance of others is our code”
We must always test ourselves when taking stock of ourselves. Are we acting out Self Will or Gods Will.  Always watching out for “selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and fear”
The authors even provide us with specific instructions on how to rid ourselves of these patterns of self-centred behaviour. First we must realize they are not consistent with Gods plan for our lives. Next, we must take actions necessary to move from Self Will to Gods will.
Always remembering to discuss problem areas with our sponsor, making restitution when necessary. Then, we try to help someone else.
The Big Book tells us that if we use the twelve step programme of recovery test for self-will, God will eventually remove obsession to drink.
This is one of many promises we find throughout the book. In the third paragraph on page 84, they write:
“And we have ceased fighting anything or anyone – even alcohol. For by this time sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in liquor. If tempted we recoil from it as a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude towards liquor has been given us without any thought or effort on our part. It just comes. That is the miracle of it! We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality – safe and protected. We have not even sworn off, Instead the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. This is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition”
Once again the Big Book maintains that our lives have changed – we are already experiencing a spiritual awakening. They say we have become conscious of the spirit within. This spirit is now guiding our actions and expanding our power of perception.
The Tenth Step is summed up on page 84 were the author’s write:
“…We continue to take personal inventory to set right any new mistake as we go along”
A footnote to the above:
a) At the start of our day we examine what we need to do that day
b) Throughout the say we constantly monitor our thoughts and actions
c) At the end of the day we reflect on how the day went and whether we could have done It differently. We also consider whether we need to make amends for any wrongs that we have done during the day.
Step 11 – Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
The Eleventh Step starts at the foot of page 85, and extends through to page 88. But as we have already seen the Big Book authors have been writing prayer and meditation throughout the book.
In the third paragraph on pages 85 & 86, we find:
“Step Eleven suggests prayer and meditation. We should not be shy on this matter of prayer. Better men than we are using it constantly. It works, if we have the proper attitude.
When the authors say “it works” they are telling us that two-way prayer puts us directly in contact with our Creator.
Starting with the second line down from the top of page 86 they make this statement:
“…It would be easy to be vague about this matter. Yet, we believe we can make some definite and valuable suggestions”
The Big Book then provides us with a step-by-step instruction on how to practice two-way-prayer. They tell us what to do at night, in the morning and during the day.
At night we review the day’s activities. Once again, the authors ask us to use the twelve step programme of recovery test for self-will to judge our actions.
In the first paragraph of page 86, they write:
“When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving towards all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life”
In the second paragraph on page 86, the Big Book provides us with direction for conducting a morning “quiet time”
“On awakening let us think about the twenty four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives”
How do we know that the thoughts we have throughout the day are coming from God. The Big Book suggests that we should be careful. On page 87 it says:
“What used to be the hunch or occasional inspiration gradually becomes a working part of the mind. Being still in experienced and having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, we find that our thinking will, as the time passes, be more and more on the plane of inspiration. We come to rely on it”
What about the day. How do we work this step during the daytime. On page 87, fourth paragraph down the Big Book says:
“As we go through day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought of action. We constantly remind ourselves many times each day “Thy will be done’. We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity, or foolish decisions.
We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily, for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves. It works – It really does!”
That is the iron clad guarantee that the programme offers us!
But what happens if we do not receive any God given thought or guidance? This can of course happen. Always remember that all we really have “is a daily reprieve contingent upon the maintenance of our spiritual condition” If we do not receive any guidance it means we have more work to do. Maybe we have taken back our will in certain areas?
Starting with the second paragraph on page 88, the Big Book declares, once again, that what we need is God’s help:
“We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined. But this is not all. There is action and more action. ‘Faith without works is dead’
In order for two-way prayer to be successful, we must constantly practice being in the presence of God.
If we do the work we will receive the rewards – a life filled with peace of mind and well – being beyond our wildest dreams.
That concludes our presentation of the Eleventh Step – before moving onto the final Step I think it would be appropriate if you would join us both in a few moments silence to reflect on this new relationship we now have with the God of our understanding!
Step 12 – Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principal in all our affairs.
Now that we have made conscious contact with the God of our understanding, we have received the greatest gift of this program – a spiritual awakening.
This life changing experience comes suddenly to some, gradually to others. On page 569, we learn more about this amazing event!
This appendix was written after the publication of the first printing of the Big Book in 1939. In the first printing the Twelfth step read:
“Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps”
Eventually the word “experience” was replaced with the word “awakening”. The Big Book authors made this modification in order to include those whose lives had also changed, but more slowly over a period of time.
Many of us have found this to be the case also. Our lives have changed, but gradually rather than suddenly.
We may not be able to point to a specific experience that brought about change, but the spiritual awakening has occurred nonetheless!
Starting with the first paragraph of page 569, the authors start by defining “Spiritual awakening”
“The term “spiritual experience and spiritual awakening” are used many times in this book which, upon careful reading, shows that the personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism has manifested itself amongst us in many different forms. Yet it is true that our first printing gave any reads the impression that these personality changes, or religious experiences, must be in the nature of sudden and spectacular upheavals. Happily for everyone this conclusion is erroneous”.
A spiritual awakening is nothing more than a psychic change that, among other things, eliminates our obsession to drink.
So Bill W’s rapid conversion experience in Towns Hospital is the exception rather than the rule.
In the fourth paragraph on page 569, we find the description of a more gradual spiritual experience:
“Amongst our rapidly growing membership of thousands of alcoholics such transformations, though frequent, are by no means the rule. Most of our experiences are of what the psychologist William James called the ‘educational variety’ because they develop slowly over a period of time. Quite often friends of the newcomer are aware of the difference long before he is himself. He finally realizes that he has undergone a profound alteration in his reaction to life that such a change could hardly have been brought about by himself alone.
What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been accomplished by years of self-discipline. With few exceptions our members find they have tapped an unsuspected inner source which they presently identify with their own conception of a Power greater than themselves”.
Let’s look at the fifth sentence again it reads:
“What often takes place in a few months could seldom have been accomplished by years of self-discipline”.
In the first paragraph on page 570, we learn just how easy it is to have a spiritual awakening if we follow a few simple directions:
“Most of us think this awareness of a power greater than ourselves is the essence of spiritual experience. Our more religious members call it ‘God-consciousness’
That’s all there is to it. If you have followed the suggested route map over these past few weeks to the best of your ability and understanding, then you have in fact had a ‘spiritual awakening’
But, the spiritual awakening is just the first part of the twelfth step. Let’s look at what we have to do to maintain this spiritual transformation.
Chapter 7, in its entirety is devoted to carrying the twelve step recovery message to others.
In the first paragraph on page 89, the authors tell us what we must do to expand our new God-consciousness. Page 89 says:
“Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion. Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Remember they are very ill”
When we work with others, our lives change also. In the second paragraph on page 89, the author’s state:
“Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see fellowship grow about you, to have a host of friends – this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with the newcomers and with the others is the bright spot of our lives”
On page 89 to 103, the Big Book again provides us with specific instructions on how to carry our lifesaving message of recovery to others. They offer many valuable suggestions on these pages.
For now, we are only going to cover a few of them:
“When you discover a prospect for Alcoholics Anonymous, find out all you can about him. If he does not want to stop drinking, don’t waste time trying to persuade him. You may spoil a later opportunity”
In the third paragraph on page 91, the Book even gives us specifics on what to say. We begin by telling the prospect our story:
“See your man alone, if possible. At first engage in general conversation. After a while, turn the talk to some phases of drinking. Tell him enough about your drinking habits, symptoms and experiences to encourage him to speak of himself if he wishes to talk, let him do so. You will thus get a better idea of how you ought to proceed”
For the next several pages, the Big Book provides us with additional suggestions on what to say and not say – what to do and not do during our Twelve Step calls:
In the first paragraph on page 96, the authors ask us not to give up if we are unsuccessful at getting through to the prospect.  They direct us to plant the seed and move on.
“Do not be discouraged if your prospect does not respond at once.  Search out another alcoholic and try again.  You are sure to find someone desperate enough to accept with eagerness what you offer.  We find it a waste of time to keep chasing a man who cannot or will not work with you.  If you leave such a person alone, he may soon become convinced that he cannot recover by himself.  To spend too much time on any one situation is to deny some other alcoholic an opportunity to live and be happy”
Starting with the fifth line in the first paragraph on page 98, they will tell us what to do about a person who makes one excuse after another as to why he or she can’t stop drinking:
“…He clamours for this or that, claiming he cannot master alcohol until his material needs are cared for.  Nonsense. Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth job or no job, wife or no wife – we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of God.  Burn the idea into consciousness of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone.  The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house”
How much simpler can it get?  Trust God and clean house!
In the first paragraph on page 100, the Big Book informs us that we grow spiritually when we sponsor someone else into the fellowship.
“Both you and the new man must walk day by day in the path of spiritual progress.  If you persist, remarkable things will happen.  When we look back we realise that things which came to us when we put ourselves in God’s hands were better that anything we could have planned.  Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what the circumstances”.
One page 63, the Big Book states that God is our new employer.
In the second paragraph on page 102, it provides us with a new job description:
“Your job now is to be at the place where you may be of maximum helpfulness to others, so never hesitate to go anywhere if you can be helpful.  You should not hesitate to visit the most sordid spot on earth on such an errand.  Keep on the firing line of life with these those motives and God will keep you unharmed”
Let God guide you when making Twelve Step calls and He will keep you safe and protected.
Being of service to others is critical to our continued abstinence and spiritual growth. Keep in mind that one of the primary services you can perform is to take the prospective members through the Twelve Steps.
Each time you do this, you will learn more about our life saving programme and gain additional insight into the God of your understanding who is at the heart of our new way of life.
Now, all that’s left is to practice these principles in all our affairs.
What principles are those?  Why the Twelve Steps are the principle we must practice daily for the rest of our lives.
Starting with the second paragraph on page 164, the Big Book concludes with yet one more statement concerning the importance of guidance and the necessity of working with others:
“Our book is meant to be suggestive only.  We realise we know only a little, God will constantly disclose more to you and to us.  Ask him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick.  The answers will come, if your own house is in order.  But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven’t got.  See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others.  This is the Great Fact for us! Abandon yourself to God understand God.  Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows.  Clear away the wreckage of your past.  Give freely of what you find and join us.  We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny”
We are going to close this session by reading the first and second paragraphs on page 25 of the Big Book.
We have waited until now to share this passage with you because back when we started this journey, we may not have been understood the significance of what is written here.
Having complete the Twelve Steps and as a consequence undergone a Personality Change, we are now in a position to see these words from an entirely new perspective.
Our lives have changed.  We now realise “There is a solution”
“Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the levelling of our pride, the confession of short comings which the process requires for its successful consummation.  But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come
to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When, therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit of spiritual tools laid at our feet. We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed.
The great fact is this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude towards life, towards our fellows and towards Gods universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves”.
This brings us to the end of the fourth session, in which we have covered:
STEP 10 - CONTINUED TO TAKE PERSONAL INVENTORY AND WHEN WE WERE WRONG PROMPTLY ADMITTED IT
STEP 11 -  SOUGHT THROUGH PRAYER AMD 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
STEP 12 – HAVING HAD A SPIRTUAL AWAKENING AS THE RESULT OF THESE STEPS, WE TRIED TO CARRY THIS MESSAGE TO ALCOHOLICS, AND TO PRACTICE THESE PRINCIPLES IN ALL OUR AFFAIRS
Does anyone have any thoughts on tonight's readings, or your personal recovery?