The Current Crisis In Alcoholics Anonymous

Sorry folks… I have taken on quite a few service responsibilities within my home group and my district.  I’ve also taken on some commitments carrying the message into various institutions.  In addition, giving my attention to the men that I sponsor, and more importantly, my wife at home, and our baby on the way… not to mention working full-time.  So, assuming I can delegate some of these responsibilities to others, I will try to make more regular entries.  This is presuming that some of you are actually reading this blog.

I had a few free minutes tonight, and I put together an image that I believe quite accurately depicts the current state of Alcoholics Anonymous.  I hope you like it.

Foreword to the First Edition (Part I)

Let me start by issuing an apology for my four (or are there more of you actually reading?) subscribers for not adhering to my promise of publishing a new post each Sunday.  I have been quite busy over the last week with both work and work with other alcoholics, and haven’t been able to find the time to sit down and discuss this highly important segment of the book.  So, I am breaking this one and a half page Foreword into three shorter postings (one tonight,one towards the middle of the week, and another on Sunday).  I know it seems ridiculous to spend three separate blog entries talking about one and a half simple pages.  But there is much more to this book than what is printed on the pages, and I personally find what is behind the words on the page to be quite fascinating.

We of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.

Don’t worry, I shall further discuss the use of the word “recovered” in Part II of this series.

It is my understanding that at the time Bill began writing the Big Book, there were approximately forty men (and one woman, who did not end up staying sober), in Akron (some migrated to Cleveland) and New York City that had maintained continuous sobriety in AA.  By the time the book was published, that number had grown to one hundred.  Though in the original manuscript, Bill had used the number “one hundred” to describe the members of the Fellowship.  It appears that Bill got lucky that his wishful thinking ended up being accurate.  Here is a list of the 43 men and women (and the month and year they got sober) who I believe were a part of the very first “headcount”. 

12/11/1934 – Bill Wilson (NYC)
06/10/1935 – Dr. Bob Smith (Akron)
06/1935 – Bill Dotson (Akron)
08/1935 – Ernie Galbraith (Akron)
09/1935 – Hank Parkhurst (NYC) – Later relapsed
09/1935 – Phil Smith (Akron)
10/1935 - John Henry "Fitz" Mayo (NYC)
01/1936 – Harold Grisinger (Akron)
02/1936 – Walter Bray (Akron)
04/1936 – Joe Doppler (Akron)
04/1936 – Myron Williams (NYC)
07/1936 – Paul Stanley (Akron – Later Chicago)
09/1936 – J.D. Holmes (Akron)
09/1936 – Holland Spencer (Akron)
12/1936 – Bob Oviatt (Akron)
02/1937 – Dick Stanley (Akron)
02/1937 – Don McLean (NYC)
02/1937 – Bill Ruddell (NYC)
02/1937 – Lloyd Tate (Akron)
02/1937 – Bill Van Horn (Akron)
03/1937 – Harry Zoellers (Akron)
03/1937 – Florence Rankin (NYC) – Later relapsed
04/1937 – Earl Treat (Akron – Later Chicago)
04/1937 – Bob Evans (Akron)
05/1937 – Wally Gillam (Akron)
05/1937 – Charlie Simonson (Akron)
07/1937 – Jim Scott (Akron)
09/1937 – Bill Jones (Akron)
10/1937 – Jack Williams (NYC)
11/1937 – Tom Lucas (Akron)
01/1938 – Jim Burwell (NYC)
02/1938 – Clarence Snyder (Akron – Later Cleveland)
02/1938 – Ray Campbell (NYC)
02/1938 – Norman Hunt (NYC)
02/1938 – Harold Sears (NYC)
05/1938 – Abby Goldrick (Akron)
06/1938 – Harry Brick (NYC)
06/1938 – Ralph Furlong (NYC)
09/1938 – Archie Trowbridge (Akron – Later Detroit)
09/1938 – Horace Maher (NYC)
10/1938 – John Dolan (Akron)
12/1938 – Vaughan Phelps (Akron)
01/1939 – Pat Cooper (Los Angeles – Later relapsed)

I encourage everyone to bark up their sponsorship trees and find out which of these first forty are directly connected to you.

Preface (Part II): Our Basic Text?

I have just one other thing I’d like to make a (slightly lengthy) comment on in the Preface.  The second paragraph mentions that this book is “the basic text for our Society”. 

textbook (v) [t'ekstbʊk]:  A textbook is a book containing facts about a particular subject that is used by people studying that subject.

study (v) [stuhd-ee]:  acquisition of knowledge, as by reading, investigation, or reflection

If this book is the “basic text” for the first 100 that recovered from alcoholism, then I better study and learn the program the way they did if I would like to recover from alcoholism.

Let’s say I’m taking a driver’s education class.  I know how to operate a car, but I’ve never driven anywhere but the dirt roads on my grandpa’s farm.  And, because selfishness and self-centeredness are the root of my troubles, I’m going to make a completely incompetent decision that I’m only going to learn a few key pieces of information from the course, despite the warning of the instructor.  After all, I’ve seen people drive my whole life.  I’ll just take what I want and leave the rest.  I’m going to learn what to do at stoplights and stop signs because I kind of like the pretty red, yellow, and green lights, and octagons are pretty cool too.  I like to go fast, so I’m going to learn about speed limits.  Parallel parking makes me look good, so I’m going to learn how to do that.  Other than that, I think I’ll just sort of pick up the rest later.

30 days go by, I’m obeying the speed limit, I’m stopping at stop lights, I’m parallel parking in front of a group of cute girls.  I look like a vehicle-driving badass.  My outward appearance tells folks that I’ve got it together.  I’ve even been kind enough to pass on the information that I’ve learned to some of my friends.  Now they’re all out there cruising the streets.  Then one day I see a yellow sign with a couple silhouettes of children playing.  I have a faint recollection of seeing this sign in my driver’s education course, but I don’t know exactly what it means.  As my mind traces back, I see out of the corner of my eye, a little boy chasing a baseball into the street about 30 feet ahead of me.  I swerve sharply to avoid him, my car spins out of control and hits a curb, where it flies into the air and lands upside-down.

I awake 4 days later surrounded by friends, family, and a priest.  They tell me I almost didn’t make it.  I’ve got some pretty serious injuries.  Looks like I’ll be in physical therapy for months.  But believe me, I’ll be back in the driver’s seat in no time.

To quote the Big Book, “You may think our illustration is too ridiculous.  But is it?”

This is really simple folks.  Studying the Big Book is what helps me establish, maintain, and grow in a relationship with God.  Studying the Big Book helps bring me to a position of neutrality in my attitude towards liquor.  Studying the Big Book puts me in a place where I can be of maximum service to the people about me.  The Big Book IS the program!  And I cannot “take what I want and leave the rest.”  There are no shortcuts.  There are no Cliff’s Notes.  You either learn it all, or you suffer the consequences.

I MUST have a FULL understanding of the material contained in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous if I am to help give a newcomer an accurate presentation of the program.  This means, I MUST study the book.  So, why is it that we feel the need to spend so much time bitch, bitch, bitching endlessly in ad nauseam disgusting (errr... discussion) meetings?  YES, it is too bad your dog has cancer.  YES, it sounds like your coworker is irritating.  YES, it is unfortunate your wife is leaving you.  YES, I AM sorry that your car wouldn’t start this morning and you were late getting your kids to school  But NONE of these things has a damn thing to do with getting sober folks.  NONE of them.  Study the book.  Talk about the book.  Present the promises that have come true in your life.  Pull the newcomer with a vision people!  Please!  I beg you.  This disease IS life or death.  If you don’t talk about the girl in the cubicle next to you that pops her gum and listens to European techno all day, I think you’ll survive.  If you’re drinking over that sort of stuff anyway, then I suggest working the damn steps.  If the newcomer in the back of the room doesn’t hear a solution to the bedevilments that have him coming unglued, HE’S GOING TO DIE.  You have a RESPONSIBILITY to carry a message of hope to the new person.  There are no free rides in AA.  Do this on a regular basis, and your life will flourish.  Suddenly the gum-popping coworker won’t be so irritating.  Suddenly, you’ll be able to work things out with your spouse.  Suddenly, you’ll get a raise that enables you to purchase a new car so you’re not late dropping your kids off again.  Life will take on new meaning.  Do not miss this opportunity.  Please.

The book tells us that God will show us how to create the Fellowship we crave.  If studying the Big Book, following the direction of the steps, and working with others saved your butt… It’s going to be able to save someone else’s butt too.  Go to group conscience meetings.  Change formats.  Start new groups.  This program is about action.  There’s no chapter called Into Thinking or Into Wishing or Into Theorizing.  Strive to create a Fellowship where new people can truly recover from alcoholism using the guaranteed method that is so perfectly described in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

(Coming Soon:  Foreword to the First Edition)

Preface (Part I)

preface (n) [pref-is]:  a preliminary statement in a book by the book's author or editor, setting forth its purpose and scope, expressing acknowledgment of assistance from others, etc.

The dictionary has never failed me as a reference to turn to when I’m not entirely sure what a word means.  I think it is a very important tool to use when reading the Big Book.  It helps us gain a better understanding of the material we are digesting.

Interestingly, my Pocket 4th edition Big Book has a typo in it that tells me that there were only 19,550 3rd editions in circulation.  The actual number is 19,550,000.  So, with approximately 20 million 3rd editions, 1.2 million 2nd editions, and 300 thousand 1st editions, we can estimate that prior to the 4th edition being published, there were 21.5 million Big Books in circulation.  I don’t know the exact number of 4th editions in circulation, but I do know that in 2005, the 25 millionth Big Book was presented to the warden at San Quentin prison.  My educated guess puts us at probably 30 million books having been published since 1939.  Now, I’m assuming some of these have been destroyed.  Many have probably made better coasters or door stops than guides to recovery.  I would also venture to guess that there are many non-alcoholics who own a book and many alcoholics, like me, who own many more than one.  The single largest purchaser of AA literature is the U.S. Navy.  I would imagine they have warehouses full of boxes of Big Books.

However, I imagine there are a lot of alcoholics out there who own a Big Book but aren’t aware of the powerful message inside.  Despite all of these Big Books in circulation, AA has a membership of roughly 2 million people.  I don’t want to hammer home an unsubstantiated point on this situation, but as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, I must at least ask myself, “Why are there suffering alcoholics out there, with a Big Book on their bookshelf, and a bottle in their hand, who have not been properly educated about a program that can save their lives?”

(Coming soon:  Preface (Part II):  Our Basic Text?)

Table of Contents

Again, some might think the Table of Contents as a mere formality to what is contained in the pages that follow it.  But my sponsor stressed the importance of understanding that this book was laid out a specific way.  In fact, the patterns in this book were the same exact patterns followed by the first 100 members.  The chapters were designed to bring about certain ideas and certain changes in attitude.  Essentially, the Doctor’s Opinion, Bill’s Story, There is a Solution, and More About Alcoholism outline the problem.  We Agnostics, How it Works, and Into Action outline the solution and directions on how to achieve a spiritual experience.  Working With Others tells us how to carry the message to other alcoholics.  To Wives, The Family Afterward, To Employers, and A Vision for You help us (and our families) practice these principles in all our affairs.

Though it does not show us in the Table of Contents, it is also important to note that, for the most part, pages xxv-23 are going to talk about the part of the disease known as the physical allergy (what happens after we take the first drink).  Pages 23-43 are going to discuss the mental obsession (the insane thought of the first drink).  And Pages 44-63 are going to talk about the spiritual malady (or unmanageability).  This is not a hard and fast rule though.  Much is mentioned throughout the first 63 pages that hits on all three areas of the illness.  The book also carefully stresses the importance of working with others even in the beginning chapters, preparing the alcoholic for the work and self-sacrifice required for successful practice of this program.

An interesting thing to note:  Alcoholics Anonymous has 12 steps, 12 traditions, 12 concepts, 12 (9th step) promises, and (including the Doctor’s Opinion) 12 chapters in the Big Book.  Of course, I never had the pleasure of being in contact with Bill Wilson, but after spending a little time in the literature over the years, I have learned that uniformity was incredibly prevalent in everything Bill did.

I have read that his office was always this organized!

(Coming Soon:  The Preface)

Copyright Page

I know what you’re probably thinking:  An entire post devoted to the Copyright Page?  Don’t worry.  I’m not going to spend an inordinate amount of time on this stuff.  I promise we’ll get to the meat of the book soon.  I do think this is worth taking a quick glance at though. 

If you have a book that was printed after 1993, this page should contain the statement used to replace the Circle and Triangle denoting the book as official AA literature:  This is A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature.  There is some debate in AA about using Big Books that were printed by other groups (e.g., The Anonymous Press).  On one hand, my concern is that by buying books from these other entities, you are taking money away from AA.  On the other hand, however, it seems to me that it is better that you have a book that isn’t published by AA than no book at all.

Another item of note is statement about what edition and printing your Big Book is.  For example:

My 2nd edition states:
Sixteen printings from 1939 to 1955
Second Edition, New & Revised, 1955
Thirteenth Printing, 1972

My pocket 4th edition states:
Fourth Edition, New & Revised, 2001
Pocket Edition Eighth Printing, February 2007

This information is not incredibly important to my recovery.  However, it is always good to remind myself that despite vast changes in society, after 71 years, 4 editions, and 80 printings (First Edition – 16, Second Edition – 16, Third Edition – 34, and Fourth Edition – 14), our basic text has remained largely unchanged.

I promised at the beginning that I would publish a post every Sunday.  I’m about an hour and four minutes late today.  My apologies.

(Coming soon:  Table of Contents)

Title Page (Part II): The Circle and Triangle

For those who own a 3rd Edition Big Book printed after 1993, or any printing of the 4th Edition, you won't find this very important symbol on your Title Page.  However, most of us who have been around AA are familiar with the Circle and Triangle.  You'll find it on the face of sobriety chips, the front doors of Alano Clubs, necklaces, rings, and even tattoos.  We know that this is the symbol of our Fellowship, but what exactly does it mean?

The equilateral triangle represents the three part solution – recovery, unity, and service - to our three part disease - physical, mental and spiritual, while the circle represents wholeness or oneness.

Adopted in 1955 at the 20th Anniversary International Convention in St. Louis, the symbol was discontinued by AA as their official logo in 1993.  Lawyers had advised the AA General Service Board that the copyright on the logo was unenforceable.  So, because AA did not want to go into the business of producing sobriety chips - clearly an outside issue, and because going into litigation over the symbol would most likely prove to be a futile, or even harmful, AA officially gave up their logo.

For the sake over brevity, I won’t go into further detail.  However, you may read further on the issue here. 

AA has not banned the use of the circle and triangle.  It has merely stopped using the symbol on official AA materials.  Our books and pamphlets now contain the phrase, “This is A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature."

I’m not going to take a side on the issue.  What’s done is done, and there is nothing I can do to change AA General Service Board’s efforts to keep, or decision to discontinue the symbol.  However, it is very important to remember that the circle and triangle represent something that we don’t seem to want to discuss much in our meetings, the entirety of the program.  In fact, when I sit down with sponsees for the first time, I ask them to draw the symbol on the Title page of their books.  It is so much more than a recognizable logo (like the McDonald’s golden arches or the Nike swoosh).  It can help us take inventory of the quality of our own programs, and the programs of those that we sponsor.

So, we can use the three sides of the triangle as a sort of checklist.  I open up my book and ask myself some questions about the three legacies and what they represent in my own recovery:

Recovery (bottom):  Have I worked all 12 steps?  Am I current with my first step experience?  Do I have any unfinished amends?  Where am I at with the disciplines of steps 10 and 11?  When was the last time I went back through steps 1 through 9.

Unity (left):  Am I attending meetings?  Am I loyal to my home group?  Am I involved with other members of AA outside of meetings?  Do I understand the common problem and common solution (See Page 17)?

Service (right):  How many people am I sponsoring?  Where are those sponsees in the steps?  If need be, am I prepared and available to go on a 12th step call?  Am I chairing meetings, greeting folks at the door, making coffee, or cleaning?  Am I involved in service at the group, district, area, or GSO levels?  What are my H & I commitments? 

I’ve heard it compared to a 3-legged stool.  I can stand on a 3-legged stool, even jump up and down on it, and it should continue to support me.  However, if you saw one of those legs off, I better be highly skilled at balancing.  If you saw two of those legs off, I’m going to bust my butt.  Thus, active involvement in all three legacies of the program is NOT optional.  All three areas are required for success in Alcoholics Anonymous.  Find me an AA member who is happy, joyous, and free, and I will show you a person that is in all three parts of the program.

Are you willing to go to any lengths for victory over alcohol?

(Coming Soon:  Copyright Page)

Title Page (Part I)

Anytime I sit down with a guy and open up this book, we always begin with what has become known as the "Set Aside Prayer". I have been told by a couple of people in his sponsorship lineage that it was the late Don Pritts who is credited with originally using this prayer with his sponsees. From what I understand though, he didn't like being the name "stuck" behind the prayer. Don is with God now. I hope that he will forgive me for crediting it to him on my blog that currently has zero subscribers. When we meet one day... I'm sure he will. There are many variations on the prayer, but here is the one that I use:

Dear God: Please set aside everything we think we know about ourselves, the Big Book, alcoholism, the steps, and in spiritual terms, especially you God. Father, we ask that we may have a truly open mind, so we might have a new experience with these things. Please help us see the truth. Amen.

Let's open up the book to the Title page:

"Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism"

re⋅cov⋅er (v) [ri-kuhv-er]: to regain health after being sick, wounded, or the like (often fol. by from).

During my first few years in and out of Alcoholics Anonymous, many of the meetings I attended on a regular basis read the 9th Step Promises as part of the opening readings. I remember thinking to myself each time the group replied "We think not," that it would be FOREVER before any of these Promises would come true in my life. The 9th Step seemed as far away as a 401(k) does to a kid dropping a nickel into his first piggy bank. I would later find out that it wasn't.

It wasn't until I got connected to some men that were thumping the Big Book that I learned I had to go no further than the Title page to receive the hope of a Promise. When my sponsor and I sat down for the first time, we opened up the book and I turned to the Doctor's Opinion (I thought it would impress him that I knew not to open right up to Page 1). Much to my surprise, he said, "Let's have a look at the Title page." "How stupid," I thought. "I know what the title of this book is." Then my sponsor pointed out one of the single most important sentences in our entire text, the statement that tells us precisely what the Big Book is, "The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism."

Recovered? If my half dozen trips through treatment and years in and out of AA have taught me anything, it is that I will always be recovering right? Another AA myth busted. On my count, the word "recovered" when referring to our alcoholic malady, is found seventeen times in the first 164 pages of our book. The word "recovering" only appears once, and it is in reference to our relationship with our family. Certainly, with my family, I will ALWAYS be recovering. But as a person who no longer suffers from the physical allergy, mental obsession, nor spiritual malady, I have, by definition, recovered from my illness. I no longer exhibit the symptoms of alcoholism. Sure, from time to time, I fall into resentment, fear, self-pity, selfishness, dishonesty, etc. But my life is no longer unmanageable. I have a God working in my life today that allows me to see the real truth in these things as they crop up, and then take them away, root and branch.

As a perennial newcomer, I was never given as much hope as I was finally given by this Title page. Because of that Promise, I was able to see into the future. It ignited a bonfire of willingness, fueled by one simple sentence that guaranteed me a better life if I would have it.

Of course I would.

(Coming soon: The Circle and Triangle)

Welcome

My name is Derek, and I am a grateful recovered alcoholic. Welcome to my blog.

I want to preface this whole process by saying that most of what I have to say comes out of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. You are free to agree or disagree with any or all of what is written here. I am not an AA guru, nor an expert on the Big Book. I am just an alcoholic who has found a better way of life through the 12 steps.

I realized during some early morning meditation that, due to living in a smaller town with somewhat limited 12th step work opportunities, I needed to get creative in my efforts to carry the message. So, I have created this blog. The primary goal of which will be to provide a place where the newcomer may come to gain a better understanding of the information presented in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. If all goes as planned, I will try to make regular posts on Sundays, with intermittent posts during the week. If this blog only accomplishes one thing, it is my hope that there is an alcoholic out there who will benefit from a greater understanding of the truth found in the pages of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. I will present the information found in the recovery portion of the book (Title page through Page 164), relating my own personal journey through the steps, my spiritual experience that resulted from following those directions, and how I carry this message to those afflicted with this fatal spiritual malady.