Is AA a "We Program"?

 

The program of AA is not a "We" program.

It's often heard in some AA meetings that AA is a "We" program. As an AA literature enthusiast I find that this is a misleading party line that is outright wrong in a number of ways and simply not true.

First it has to be understood by anyone who wants to practice the AA program correctly, as designed and written in the AA book that meetings are not the AA program. Meetings are the fellowship. Meetings are NOT the AA program. 

This is plainly said in "How it Works" read at the beginning of most every AA meeting. In the "How it Works" reading we  hear. "Here are the steps we took which are suggested as a program of recovery". So the 12 steps are the program. Meetings are the fellowship. Two very separate things. This must be understood. The AA book specifically lays out the 12 step practical program of action to give recovery from alcoholism. No where in the book does it say meetings of the fellowship give recovery.

 So, with that in mind let's look at how the AA program is NOT a "We program".

It is simple. The 12 steps which are the AA program have to be completed by the alcoholic themselves. Nobody can do it for them. We cannot do it for them. It does not make sense to call it a "We" program for this simple fact. "We" cannot do the AA program together. For example "we" cannot do a fourth step together. Every alcoholic must individually do their own 4th step inventory. This is true for ALL the steps. They have to be done by the individual. In the 5th step we ask someone to "hear" our 4th step but it is an individual alcoholics 4th step. The other person involved listens. They do not "do" the step. Same goes for the 9th step amends. The alcoholic who does 9th step amends must do that work themselves. Other people are involved but they receive the amends. They do not do the step.

I humbly ask the anyone reading this no longer repeat this misleading party line in AA meetings if they have in the past. It is misleading, not true and NOT the program of AA.

I can only speculate about how this party line started. My opinion it is that more than likely the majority of people who frequent AA meetings do not take the time to study the AA book. They look at the steps on the wall and make assumptions and make their own conclusions about what they mean. Many of these summaries use the word "We" so people conclude it must be a "We" program.

In reality the steps put on window shades or placards in brick and mortar AA meetings are summaries of the steps. Those summaries do not contain enough for anyone to complete the steps correctly. Any AA Book enthusiast knows that there are specific instructions in the AA book.

Secular and Agnostic AA Groups.

 

I've come across some long time AA members who claim to be agnostic or atheist.  I've also seen so called "secular" AA or agnostic "AA" group meetings advertised on the Intergroup website. I, being an AA literature enthusiast, had become interested in this phenomenon and like so much misinformation that tends to infiltrate the AA fellowship misinformation motivates members who consider themselves atheist or agnostic to think they need to create a separate type of AA. ( think this may go against tradition, since AA is just  AA) I believe organizations using the AA name like "Secular AA" may be going against AA tradition and misusing the AA name.

One such member shares that "because AA says you have to believe in God" I've needed to adjust the program to suit myself. I feel bad for this man. He's somehow never got the message that AA doesn't insist any members believe in God.

No where in the AA 12 step program outlined in both the Big Book and the 12 and 12 does it say you have to believe in God. It never says you have to.

 Simply and open mindedness to a have spiritual experience by going through and doing the steps. This spiritual experience amounts to contact with Higher Power, Power Greater, Spirit of the Universe etc etc personal to the individual. A Power Greater of ones own understanding.

It makes me chuckle but also kind of sad to see that "agnostic" or "secular" groups start up when they really don't even need to. All they needed to do is actually study carefully the Big Book Chapter "We Agnostics" and notice a couple simple directions. They jump to conclusions when they see the word God, keep their minds shut clinging to prejudice and write AA off as all about the conventional idea of God.

 

This is from my blog post extracting the specific instructions found in the program portion of the Big Book (first 164pgs)

Step 2: Information/Directions: Chapters: "There is a Solution" (from page 25 on) and "We Agnostics"

 

Direction 1: Pg 46: We found that as soon as we were 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.

 

Direction 2 Page 47: We needed to ask ourselves but one short question.“Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe,that there is a Power greater than myself?’’ 

 

Nowhere does it say you HAVE TO believe. Even a willingness to believe is enough to do step 2. If someone isn't even willing to believe than that is nothing but closed mindedness and holding on to old ideas. Something that we see in "How it Works" as being a big warning!

 

At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.

 

It seems most of the staunch agnostics and atheists that hang around the fellowship (of course they are allowed to and never discouraged from attending due to tradition)  have made a mistake.

They appear to rely on themselves to try to understand the AA program and seem to rely on themselves to stay sober instead of surrendering to the simple program. Id be curious, since these secular or agnostic AA groups are around and how much success they actually have in producing long term sobriety results. How many actual members are there in this fringe sect of AA and are they staying sober?

The difference between being a sober member of AA and being recovered.

 

I've been recently engaged in an online discussion of alcoholism in an attempt to help new comers on a forum. This question was asked of me by a member of AA.

"When I say sober in AA, what does that mean to you? "

What it means to me is what it means in English. Twisting the English language and making up our own definitions of words makes communication difficult at best. If we are talking about a method of recovery from alcoholism then "what words mean to me" is dangerous. We are talking about saving peoples lives in AA.

 

We are using the English language here correct? So let's look at a definition.

 

SOBER: adjective

1. Not intoxicated or affected by the use of alcohol or drugs.
2. Abstaining from or habitually abstemious in the use of alcoholic drink or other intoxicants.
3. Straightforward and serious; not exaggerated, emotional, or silly.

 

Not drinking does not necessarily mean one is recovered from alcoholism. Being recovered from alcoholism is the great promise as described in the Big Book. So sober time in AA does not necessarily mean a person is recovered from alcoholism. Especially if that person is not a real alcoholic as described in The Doctors Opinion, There is a Solution and More about Alcoholism chapters in the Big Book.

 

It is a sad reality in the modern day AA fellowship. A good many people, some sober awhile in the fellowship have not taken short time to STUDY the basic texts of AA society. The Big Book and Twelve and Twelve. They've been going to meetings for years and never studied even the first 164 pages of the Big Book. Why? Perhaps laziness? Resting on our laurels? Just going to meetings is easier?

 

My group is a literature group. We make sure anybody new knows exactly what the AA program is as laid out in the literature. This is so they at least have the opportunity to know what's available and the promises of hope and recovery available if they are willing to do that work.

 

This is the great hope of AA.

 

RECOVER

• intransitive verb To regain the use of (a faculty) or be restored to (a normal or usual condition).
• intransitive verb To regain a normal or usual condition, as of health.
• intransitive verb To cause to be restored to a normal or usual condition.

 

Through doing the 12step program of AA I've regained my life and been restored to what most people would say is a normal existence. Nobody would guess I'm alcoholic if they looked at a day or week in my life. (except if they observed me going to meetings)

The How it Works Reading and it's meaning explained.

From time to time there is confusion about the "How it Works" reading. May new AA's do not know where it comes from. My home group specifically makes sure everyone knows the reading is from the AA societies text book entitled Alcoholics Anonymous or more fondly referred to as "The Big Book".

 The start of Chapter 5 first paragraph reads:

Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path.

( Meaning simply that working ALL the steps will almost guarantee recovery from alcoholism)

Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program.

( This is a reiteration of the fact that half measures or more plainly NOT WORKING ALL THE STEPS will not bring about recovery from alcoholism ) 

 The steps are the program. The path they are referring is nothing more or less than the 12 step program of recovery.  It is written in plain English. 

The half measures sentence in the first part of the chapter "How it Works" refers to the ENTIRE 12 step program. 

Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon. Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:

 The steps are then listed. -- The 12 steps are the program

Can the Big Book and other AA literature be "interpreted"

 

My opinion is that the mistake of many uninformed AA's is to think that the Big Book and Twelve and Twelve can be "interpreted". Why would Bill W. write a book with the goal of saving peoples lives from alcoholism that would need interpretation? It's not written in code. It's written in English. There are many people in the fellowship of AA who never take time to actually study the book closely. I was one of those people at 7 years a dry drunk in AA.

 

Once carefully studied one finds the literature is not meant to be interpreted. It's meant as a precise guide concerning how to apply the practical 12 step program of action in ones life to recover from alcoholism. Once someone really studies the AA book and Twelve and Twelve with a qualified and reputable sponsor (or some very famous Big Book teachers like Joe and Charlie or Bob D and Scott L) they find that in several parts of the first 164 that it states just how "precise" Bill and the first 100 alcoholics have attempted to make the text. Here are a couple of excerpts.

 

Big Book Page 28/29:

In the following chapter, there appears an explanation of alcoholism, as we understand it, then a chapter addressed to the agnostic. Many who once were in this class are now among our members. Surprisingly enough, we find such convictions no great obstacle to a spiritual experience.

Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered. These are followed by forty-three personal experiences.

 

Forward to the first edition:

We of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have re-
covered 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.

 

Sometimes I get labeled a Big Book thumper with the added comment that I have some sort of strict "interpretation" of the literature and everyone can have their own interpretation. The thing is that I don't have a personal interpretation. In fact all my AA friends who are literature enthusiasts and who consider themselves students of the Big Book and Twelve all agree with what it says. I attend literature study groups and we all find together exactly what the literature states. There is very little room for interpretation. Interpretation to suit ones own personal agenda can actually kill real alcoholics because they may never be offered the true program as designed.

 

Is AA a Religion? Can an athiest be "IN" the program. The "God Word" pamphet

 

Here is a response to a blog post I read in which the author claims to have an atheists interpretation to the 12 step program of AA. 

AA is not a religion. AA shuns affiliation with religious groups.

There is no being "IN" the program of AA. One is either doing it or you are not doing it. One can be "IN" meetings of the fellowship but people can only do or not do the program.

Being "In" AA is not the same as actually doing the program of AA. There are plenty of atheists and agnostics visiting the meetings of AA everyday all over the world. BUT, if they want recovery the AA way they will have to do the program which demands they be open minded and get past their prejudices toward spiritual terms and be even willing to believe a Higher Power might exist. This is required TO DO THE SECOND STEP of the 12 step PROGRAM of recovery.

The God Word pamphlet has to do with acceptance of people from all beliefs and walks of life IN THE MEETINGS OF THE FELLOWSHIP. It has always been the case that people of all beliefs and walks of life are accepted in the fellowship. But, if they want to do the 12 step PROGRAM of AA they will have to get past their prejudices toward spiritual terms and toward the possible existence of a Higher Power, Spirit of the Universe, Universal Mind, or God.. whatever you want to call God. They will need to drop their old atheist or agnostic ideas and become open minded to the possible existence of a God of some sort. From there they do the 3rd step and through demonstration of the 3rd step decision they do the rest of the steps which brings about a personal experience of a Higher Power. 

4th Step Resentment list third column breakdown. Categories of the human instincts / drives.

3rd column of the fourth step resentment list breakdown.

Security
    a) material/financial security, survival instinct.
    b) emotional security - self esteem, feeling good about oneself.
Social
    a) The desire to have friends and keep them. Personal relationships.
    b) Desire to hold a position within a social group Example: A position at work. A position in an AA group. A position on a sports team. Leader or position within a political organization. Much of this instinct can be about the social prestige attached to having the position. I can now tell my friends I'm the leader or VP or manager etc..

  c) Desire for social prestige/acceptance (in a group or to individuals)

Sex
   a) socially acceptable sex relations.
   b) hidden sex relations (affairs, sex that you would want to hide from others)
 

Identify which one of the instincts are threatened by the person, institution or principle which have caused resentment. Then make a mental note ( to be talked about in the 5th step ) of how theses instincts / desires have been threatened. 

Also note - AMBITIONS TO SATISFY ANY OF THE ABOVE.

It could be that the resentment held against a person is threatening ambition to satisfy one of the instincts in the future. For example someone has said something bad about me to a person I am pursuing for a sexual or romantic relationship. Now I'm angry and resentful at this person for bad mouthing me. Why? Because my ambition to satisfy my social instinct (desire to have the relation) and my ambition to have sex has been threatened. How has it been threatened? It has to do with my thinking. I think that the person I am pursuing now thinks less of me and won't want to know me or go out with me because of what the person with whom I now hold a resentment said to them. 

4th step fear inventory unofficial 3rd column: How was I relying on self?

 We asked ourselves why we had them. (fears) Wasn't it because self reliance failed us? -Big Book

The below questions can help to identify why we have fears by looking at exactly how we may have a relied on self? Or in other words "played God"

• How did I set the ball rolling? What decisions based on self (my instincts) put me in a position or consequences to be in fear?
  
• Had I or have I not asked for help from others or God? If not why?
• Had I or Have I not discussed something with someone that I should have? 
• Was or Am I playing God thinking I know what others are thinking?
  
• Was or Am I playing God predicting the future? (many of us imagine worse case scenarios concerning our worries)
• Was I or am I playing God thinking I know what others are doing without direct evidence
  

Remember, fear lies only in our thinking of what the future may hold for us. Many alcoholics dwell on worries and fear of their well being or not getting what they want in the future. In basic terms it is that a person thinks that they will not be alright sometime in the future or not get what they THINK they need in the future. Sometimes it is fear of missing out. Missing out on satisfying our instincts (self). Missing out on the money I think I need, missing out on the social prestige or friends I think I need, missing out on the sex I think I need. Playing God and thinking we may know what the future holds. We imagine the outcome of any number of situations or future scenarios in our lives. In many cases we are outright wrong and spend a lot of time in fear and worry, convinced the future will include our worst case scenarios and we won't get what we want or be OK when inevitably we are wrong. 

Fear Prayer from the Big Book: We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear.

The Promises of the 12 steps as found in the book "Alcoholics Anonymous"

Here extracted from the AA text book "Alcoholics Anonymous" are promises attached to most all the steps. The text has quite a few promises and conditions for acquiring the promises. Here listed are the more significant promises attached to a particular step.

KEY: Promises are underlined and conditions are in bold and italics.

Step 2: As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe under-lying the totality of things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps. 

 Step 3: We had a new Employer. Being all powerful, He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work well. Established on such a footing we became 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 presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. We were reborn. 

 Step 4: We have listed and analyzed our resentments. We have begun to comprehend their futility and the fatality. We have commenced to see their terrible destructiveness. We have begun to learn tolerance, patience and good will toward all men, even our enemies, for we look on them as sick people. We have listed the people we have hurt by our conduct, and are willing to straighten out the past if we can. 

Step 5: 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 had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience. The filling that the drink problem has disappeared will often come strongly. We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe. 

Step 9: If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway 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 know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. The 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 upon 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. 

Step 10: 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 from a hot flame. We react sanely and normally, and we will find that this has happened automatically. We will see that our new attitude toward liquor has been given to 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. That is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.”

11th Step: We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to 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.

AA 12 step program directions and supporting information from the book "Alcoholics Anonymous"

12 step directions, information and promises as found in the book "Alcoholics Anonymous". This post written to quickly locate and identify the specific actions and supporting information to do the AA 12 step program.

Key: Directions are underlined.

Step 1: Information/Directions: Chapters: "Doctors Opinion", "Bills Story",  "There is a Solution" (up to pg 25) and "More about Alcoholism". The reader should study these chapters to fully understand what AA says alcoholism is and to identify if they have the same problem. Once understood the reader should then be able to make a determination if they are alcoholic or not. If the reader identifies as alcoholic they can then take the step one direction below. 

 

It should be pointed out that the book was written by Bill W and the first 100 AA members. So, when reading the AA book always keep in mind that "We" are the people who wrote the book. They say things like  "We learned we needed" or We found we.." So in order to complete a step we do what they did.

 

1st step direction: 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 may be, has to be smashed.

Step 2: Information/Directions: Chapters: "There is a Solution" (from page 25 on) and "We Agnostics"

Direction 1: Pg 46: We found that as soon as we were 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.

Direction 2 Page 47: We needed to ask ourselves but one short question.“Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe,that there is a Power greater than myself?’’ 

(promise) As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way.  

Conditions and promise: As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe under-lying the totality of things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps.  

Step 3: Chapter: "How it Works" pages 60 - 63

Direction 1: Pg 60 - Being convinced, we were at Step Three, which is that we decided to turn our will and our life over to God as we understood Him. Just what do we mean by that, and just what do we do?  The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success.

Directions 2 & 3: Pg 62 - 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 the Father, and we are His children. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom. 

Prayer/direction: pg 63 - Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him: “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 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!’’  

Condition and Promises: pg 63 - 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. Established on such a footing we became 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 presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. We were reborn.

Preparation and explanation of importance of step 4

Last paragraph pg 63 - Next we launched out on a course of vigorous action, the first step of which is a personal housecleaning, which many of us had never attempted. Though our decision 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. Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to causes and conditions.

Step 4: Chapter "How it Works" pages 64-71

Directions for the Resentment Inventory: 

Column 1: pg 64 - In dealing with resentments, we set them on paper. We listed people, institutions or principles with whom we were angry. 

Column 2: pg 64 - We asked ourselves why we were angry. 

Column 3: pages 64 - 65 In most cases it was found that our self-esteem, our pocketbooks, our ambitions, our personal relationships (including sex) were hurt or threatened. So we were sore. We were “burned up.’’ On our grudge list we set opposite each name our injuries. Was it our self-esteem, our security, our am­bitions, our personal, or sex relations, which had been interfered with?

Unofficial Column 4: pg 67 Referring to our list again. Putting out of our minds the wrongs others had 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 man’s. 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.

• 1st Resentment solution: bottom of pg 66
  

This was our course: We realized that the people who wronged us were perhaps spiritually sick. Though we did not like their symptoms and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too. We saw that these resentments must be mastered, but how? We could not wish them away any more than alcohol. 

Resentment Prayer: We asked God to help us show them the same toler­ance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended 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.

• Fear Inventory: Information starting last paragraph on pg 67

Advice: Notice that the word “fear’’ is bracketed alongside the difficulties with Mr. Brown, Mrs. Jones, the employer, and the wife. This short word somehow touches about every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn’t deserve. But did not we, ourselves, set the ball rolling?

Directions page 68: 

1) We reviewed our fears thoroughly. We put them on paper, even though we had no resentment in connec­tion with them. 

2) 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 the fear problem, or any other. When it made us cocky, it was worse. 

3) Unofficial third column questions concluded from the text: How did I set the ball rolling? What character defects had me make decisions that put myself in situations to be fearful. Where was I playing God? How was I relying on myself? Where did I NOT ask for help from others? These questions come from this part of the text: But did not we, ourselves, set the ball rolling? and also Wasn’t it because self-reliance failed us?

Fear Solution: Perhaps there is a better way—we think so. For we are now on a different basis; the basis of trusting and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the world to play the role He assigns. Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity.

• Sex Inventory:

Preparation advice: Last paragraph on Pg 68 to middle of 69

Directions: Page 69 - We reviewed our own conduct over the years past. Where had we been selfish, dishonest, or inconsider­ate? Whom had we hurt? Did we unjustifiably arouse jealousy, suspicion or bitterness? Where were we at fault, what should we have done instead? We got this all down on paper and looked at it. In this way we tried to shape a sane and sound ideal for our future sex life. We subjected each relation to this test—was it selfish or not? We asked God to mold our ideals and help us to live up to them. We remem­bered always that our sex powers were God-given and therefore good, neither to be used lightly or selfishly nor to be despised and loathed.  

Directions concerning creating a sex ideal for our lives: In this way we tried to shape a sane and sound ideal for our future sex life. We subjected each relation to this test—was it selfish or not? 

Sex ideal Prayer: We asked God to mold our ideals and help us to live up to them. 

Sex Relations Prayer: We earnestly pray for the right ideal, for guidance in each questionable situa­tion, for sanity, and for the strength to do the right thing.

Step 5: Chapter "Into Action" pages 70-75

Directions: 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. He should realize that we are engaged upon a life-and-death errand. Most people approached in this way will be glad to help; they will be honored by our confidence. We pocket our pride and go to it, illuminating every twist of character, every dark cranny of the past.

5th step Promises: 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 had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we be­gin to have a spiritual experience. The feeling that the drink problem has disappeared will often come strongly. We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe.

Step 6: pg 76 - If we can answer to our satisfaction, we then look at Step Six. We have emphasized willingness as being in­dispensable. Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are ob­jectionable? Can He now take them all—every one? If we still cling to something we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing.

Step 7: pg 76 - When ready, we say something like this: “My Cre­ator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.’’ We have then completed Step Seven.

Step 8 and 9: pages 76-84  

Step 8 Direction 1: 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.  

Step 8 Direction 2: (found in the summary of the steps) - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Step 9:

Directions: All of text from the middle of page 76 to the bottom of page 83.

9th Step promises: Start on bottom of pg 83 ending in the middle of pg 84 "They will always materialize if we work for them."

Step 10: Information: middle of pages 84 to end of page 85 

Directions:
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.

Step 10 promises: 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  from  a  hot flame. We  react  sanely  and normally,  and  we  will  find  that  this has  happened  automatically. We  will  see  that  our  new  attitude toward  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 have 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. That  is  our  experience. That  is  how  we  react  so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.
 

Step 11: pages 85-88  click here for a full break down of the 11th morning meditation step. Full breakdown of the 11th step evening meditation here.

11th step promise: 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.

Step 12: Directions are more or less the entire chapter titled "Working with Others" pages 89-103

Use of profanity in meetings. Acceptable or not? Tolerated or not?

Profanity in the AA fellowship? Acceptable or Not? An essay illustrating the importance of creating a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere for the new commer.

Since about 1993 I've attended AA meetings. Inevitably there are some shares that contain profanity. Occasional profanity is tough to avoid and even with an announcement that it's discouraged in the meeting people will slip. Of course this is understandable. In some cases profanity is not just occasional but consistent. I believe excessive use of profanity, talk of politics, sexual innuendo and other "hot topics" are detrimental to the atmosphere and primary purpose of the AA fellowship and should be discouraged wherever possible.

AA's primary purpose is to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. In most cases these are people new to AA. Mainly people who have never been to an AA meeting or in their first 30 days of abstinence. Our primary purpose is to carry the message of AA. Abstinence from alcohol by recovery from alcoholism through a spiritual awakening brought about by practice of the 12 steps.

AA meetings should, wherever possible, make the newcomer welcome and comfortable without being singled out or put on the spot. We must make our best effort to behave in a manner which everyone commonly agrees would most likely be welcoming and comforting to all who may enter. We can't cater to every personality but we can do our best to cater to most. During meetings, we who have recovered or are in the process of recovering, attempting to be responsible AA members, should demonstrate the spiritual awaking we have achieved or are in the midst of achieving through our behavior and our words.
Sharing our experience strength and hope can easily be done with out expletives, profanity, sexual innuendo or bringing up polarizing political stances or issues.

How does one demonstrate that they have achieved a spiritual awakening and a connection to a Power Greater than themselves through their behavior and words? I have been taught (and most Big Book students would agree) that spirituality revolves around one single and important concept - selflessness. Page 62 of the AA book highlights a very important AA concept.

Selfishness - self-centeredness! 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 the toes of our fellows and they retaliate.

If selfishness is the root of our troubles selflessness is surely the solution.


So ultimately selflessness is the essence of spirituality. All manifestations of selflessness in how we behave and in our words are Gods will for us. In Step 6 when we prepare to change and move away from letting character defects rule our behavior we make a concerted effort using OUR WILL to change. Where I may have been dishonest, be honest.  Where I was selfish be more selfless. Where I may have been inconsiderate be more considerate. Where I have hated try to love (sound familiar) The 11th step prayer is a good practical example of how to behave spiritually.

From selflessness grows concern for others, tolerance of others, love for others and RESPECT of others. Use of profanity, sexual innuendo, borderline hate speech, politics or other polarizing topics in meetings jeopardizes are efforts at being respectful and considerate of others feelings, sensitivities, moods etc..

New alcoholics are very sick, skeptical and fragile people. We must do our best to NOT ALIENATE anyone sensitive to profanity, politics, use of sexual innuendo and the like to make our AA meetings the most welcoming and comfortable as possible to anyone who may be at their first AA meeting, new to AA or even new to our group. Our demonstration of spirituality is much more powerful than our talk of spirituality.

We ought to discourage profanity, talk of politics, sexual innuendo or any other polarizing hot topics which may alienate others in an effort to make our meetings comfortable and welcoming to all who may attend.

11th Step Workshop Web Links

 

Web Links to all the Chris S. 11th Step Workshop Information and Documents.

Go Here To Get All 11th Step Workshop PDF documents

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NWsg0g0LHJZZSZ63zktSrZ97TM8bDrVM?usp=sharing

Review of the AA program up to step 11

https://neweraspiritual.blogspot.com/2020/02/11-step-workshop-outline.html

Eleventh Step Evening Review directiions pg 86 Alcoholics Anonymous

https://neweraspiritual.blogspot.com/2012/02/aas-morning-and-evening-meditation.html

Eleventh Step Morning Mediation Instructions from pages 86,87,88 AA Book

https://neweraspiritual.blogspot.com/2012/03/aas-morning-and-evening-meditation.html

Morning Meditation Quick Guide

https://neweraspiritual.blogspot.com/2016/06/11th-step-morning-meditation-short-guide.html

Eleventh Step Meditation Instructions from the Twelve and Twelve Book

https://neweraspiritual.blogspot.com/2020/02/eleventh-step-meditation-review-from-12.html

Prayer instructions from the 11th step chapter in the Twelve and Twelve Book

https://neweraspiritual.blogspot.com/2020/02/eleventh-step-guide-to-prayer-as.html

Meditation in the AA early days

http://silkworth.net/dickb/meditation.html

Acceptance. Can I accept without Gods help? My experience is no.

This idea of acceptance is good. I found I need Gods help to learn to accept.

The part of the book, that gets talked about a lot in meetings however is not the program, but from one of the stories. So it's been important for me to understand that. Just learning to accept does not make me a recovered alcoholic. I need a spiritual awakening brought about by doing all 12 steps

Acceptance, I found comes as a result of my relationship with God, not ME learning to accept.

If we look at the serenity prayer.. what are we really asking God for?

"Grant me the serenity to accept"

I need Gods serenity to accept things, because I don't have it within me to completely accept life and all that goes on around me and in the world.

I am sober a long time, but I can still catch a resentment or get in fear just like anyone else, but I have God and the program to continue to grow towards God to help me.

So, in prayer and how I live is how God helps me to accept.  there are no shortcuts I have found. There are many tricks I can use to stay sober early on in my sobriety like just not drink one day at a time, don't drink even if my butt falls off and trying to remember to call another alcoholic if I feel like drinking. these are all great ideas. Trying to accept is another one. But ultimately I do not have the POWER to stay sober permanently on my own.. that's why I need the program of AA and that's why I need a Higher Power, because I lack power myself

I am a regular attendee of The Thailand Sobriety Group Online found here. Please visit to attend our daily Zoom meetings:

https://www.aathailand.info

Eleventh Step Guide to Prayer as described in the Book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Guide to Prayer from the Twelve and Twelve Book

Chapter Step Eleven
Page 102 p2

Now, what of prayer? Prayer is the raising of the heart and mind to God—and in this sense it includes meditation. How may we go about it? And how does it fit in with meditation? Prayer, as commonly understood, is a petition to God. Having opened our channel as best we can, we try to ask for those right things of which we and others are in the greatest need. And we think that the whole range of our needs is well defined by that part of Step Eleven which says: “...knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” A request for this fits in any part of our day.
 
In the morning we think of the hours to come. Perhaps we think of our day’s work and the chances it may afford us to be useful and helpful, or of some special problem that it may bring. Possibly today will see a continuation of a serious and as yet unresolved problem left over from yesterday. Our immediate temptation will be to ask for specific solutions to specific problems, and for the ability to help other people as we have already thought they should be helped. In that case, we are asking God to do it our way. Therefore, we ought to consider each request carefully to see what its real merit is. Even so, when making specific requests, it will be well to add to each one of them this qualification: “...if it be Thy will.” We ask simply that throughout the day God place in us the best understanding of His will that we can have for that day, and that we be given the grace by which we may carry it out.
 
As the day goes on, we can pause where situations must be met and decisions made, and renew the simple request: “Thy will, not mine, be done.” If at these points our emotional disturbance happens to be great, we will more surely keep our balance, provided we remember, and repeat to ourselves, a particular prayer or phrase that has appealed to us in our reading or meditation. Just saying it over and over will often enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of all—our search for God’s will, not our own, in the moment of stress. At these critical moments, if we remind ourselves that “it is better to comfort than to be comforted, to understand than to be understood, to love than to be loved,” we will be following the intent of Step Eleven.
 
Of course, it is reasonable and understandable that the question is often asked: “Why can’t we take a specific and troubling dilemma straight to God, and in prayer secure from Him sure and definite answers to our requests?
 
”This can be done, but it has hazards. We have seen A.A.’s ask with much earnestness and faith for God’s explicit guidance on matters ranging all the way from a shattering domestic or financial crisis to correcting a minor personal fault, like tardiness. Quite often, however, the thoughts that seem to come from God are not answers at all. They prove to be well-intentioned unconscious rationalizations. The A.A., or indeed any man, who tries to run his life rig-idly by this kind of prayer, by this self-serving demand of God for replies, is a particularly disconcerting individual. To any questioning or criticism of his actions he instantly proffers his reliance upon prayer for guidance in all matters great or small. He may have forgotten the possibility that his own wishful thinking and the human tendency to rationalize have distorted his so-called guidance. With the best of intentions, he tends to force his own will into all sorts of situations and problems with the comfortable assurance that he is acting under God’s specific direction. Under such an illusion, he can of course create great havoc without in the least intending it.
 
We also fall into another similar temptation. We form ideas as to what we think God’s will is for other people. We say to ourselves, “This one ought to be cured of his fatal malady,” or “That one ought to be relieved of his emotional pain,” and we pray for these specific things. Such prayers, of course, are fundamentally good acts, but often they are based upon a supposition that we know God’s will for the person for whom we pray. This means that side by side with an earnest prayer there can be a certain amount of presumption and conceit in us. It is A.A.’s experience that particularly in these cases we ought to pray that God’s will, whatever it is, be done for others as well as for ourselves.


In A.A. we have found that the actual good results of prayer are beyond question. They are matters of knowledge and experience. All those who have persisted have found strength not ordinarily their own. They have found wisdom beyond their usual capability. And they have increasingly found a peace of mind which can stand firm in the face of difficult circumstances.We discover that we do receive guidance for our lives to just about the extent that we stop making demands upon God to give it to us on order and on our terms. Almost any experienced A.A. will tell how his affairs have taken remarkable and unexpected turns for the better as he tried to improve his conscious contact with God. He will also report that out of every season of grief or suffering, when the hand of God seemed heavy or even unjust, new lessons for living were learned, new resources of courage were uncovered, and that finally, inescapably, the conviction came that God does “move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.


Excerpts from Twelve and Twelve used under AA fair use policy

Eleventh step meditation guide from the Twelve and Twelve book chapter "Step Eleven"

How to Meditate as taken from the AA book "12 steps and 12 Traditions" chapter Step Eleven

Twelve and Twelve Page 99:
The actual experience of meditation and prayer across the centuries is, of course, immense. The world’s libraries and places of worship are a treasure trove for all seekers. It is to be hoped that every A.A. who has a religious connection which emphasizes meditation will return to the practice of that devotion as never before. 

But what about the rest of us who, less fortunate, don’t even know how to begin? (this was me) 

Well, we might start like this. First let’s look at a really good prayer. We won’t have far to seek; the great men and women of all religions have left us a wonderful supply. Here let us consider one that is a classic. Its author was a man who for several hundred years now has been rated as a saint. We won’t be biased or scared off by that fact, because although he was not an alcoholic he did, like us, go through the emotional wringer. And as he came out the other side of that painful experience, this prayer was his expression of what he could then see, feel, and wish to become:

Eleventh Step Prayer:

“Lord, make me a channel of thy peace—that where there is hatred, I may bring love—that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness—that where there is discord, I may bring harmony—that where there is error, I may bring truth—that where there is doubt, I may bring faith—that where there is despair, I may bring hope—that where there are shadows, I may bring light—that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted—to understand, than to be understood—to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by for-giving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen.”

As beginners in meditation, we might now re-read this prayer several times very slowly, savoring every word and trying to take in the deep meaning of each phrase and idea. 

Here we see how AA suggests to mediate and what their way of mediation is. AA mediation techniques were not taken from the Eastern/Buddhist styles of mediation that became popular in the 1970's. They used biblical mediation practices (refer to the AA mediation history document) The 12 and 12 book was written and published in 1952.  So AA's way of meditation is what is known as CONTEMPLATIVE or CONCENTRATIVE * meditation. This is where one concentrates thoughts on a particular idea or concept. Here we see AA suggesting the same in the 12 and 12. They say they concentrate and deeply "take in" the meaning of the prayer and what it says. They use constructive imagination to apply the ideas of the prayer to their daily lives.

(please see the essay at http://silkworth.net/dickb/meditation.html for excellent information on early AA's meditation techniques)

A great example of this is from the Book "Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers." It explains Dr. Bobs meditation practice.

Dr. Bob’s morning devotion consisted of a short prayer, a 20-minute study of a familiar verse from the Bible, and a quiet period of waiting for directions as to where he, that day, should find use for his talent (Dr. Bob and the Good Old timers, p. 314)

Twelve and Twelve:
It will help if we can drop all resistance to what our friend says. For in meditation, debate has no place. We rest quietly with the thoughts of someone who knows, so that we may experience and learn. As though lying upon a sunlit beach, let us relax and breathe deeply of the spiritual atmosphere with which the grace of this prayer surrounds us. Let us become willing to partake and be strengthened and lifted up by the sheer spiritual power, beauty, and love of which these magnificent words are the carriers. Let us look now upon the sea and ponder what its mystery is; and let us lift our eyes to the far horizon, beyond which we shall seek all those wonders still unseen.

“Shucks!” says somebody. “This is nonsense. It isn’t practical. ”When such thoughts break in, we might recall, a little ruefully, how much store we used to set by imagination as it tried to create reality out of bottles. Yes, we reveled in that sort of thinking, didn’t we? And though sober nowadays, don’t we often try to do much the same thing? Perhaps our trouble was not that we used our imagination. Perhaps the real trouble was our almost total inability to point imagination toward the right objectives. 

So again, here we see AA suggesting using our imagination inspired by the 11th step prayer to think about how we ought to conduct ourselves throughout the day. We think about how we should be in our relationships at home, at work and in our dealings with others. All inspired by the 11th step prayer or other spiritual readings.


Twelve and Twelve:
There’s nothing the matter with constructive imagination; all sound achievement rests upon it. After all, no man can build a house until he first envisions a plan for it. Well, meditation is like that, too; it helps to envision our spiritual objective before we try to move toward it. So let’s get back to that sunlit beach—or to the plains or to the mountains, if you prefer.

When, by such simple devices, we have placed ourselves in a mood in which we can focus undisturbed on constructive imagination, we might proceed like this: Once more we read our prayer, and again try to see what its inner essence is. We’ll think now about the man who first uttered the prayer. First of all, he wanted to become a “channel.” Then he asked for the grace to bring love, forgiveness, harmony, truth, faith, hope, light, and joy to every human being he could.

This idea of bringing love, forgiveness, harmony, truth, faith, hope, light, and joy to every human being he could is at the core of of AA spirituality. It is in how we behave and how we are with others that our spirituality and doing a Higher Power's will is demonstrated. AA spirituality is very much about Faith without works is dead. 

From page 99 of the Big Book:
Now we need more action, without which we find that “Faith without works is dead.” Let’s look at Steps Eight and Nine.

Twelve and Twelve:
Next came the expression of an aspiration and a hope for himself. He hoped, God willing, that he might be able to find some of these treasures, too. This he would try to do by what he called self-forgetting. What did he mean by “self-forgetting,” and how did he propose to accomplish that? He thought it better to give comfort than to receive it; better to understand than to be understood; better to for-give than to be forgiven.

Here we see another example of what AA spirituality is all about. It's again about our behavior with others. How exactly can I attempt to understand than to be understood? Well, personally I find I used to like to talk a lot. I always wanted everyone to listen to ME! But now, as an AA trying to stay recovered the AA way I try to listen more. I make en effort to listen and understand especially if someone is in distress or upset. I'll listen, then perhaps ask questions. A demonstration of selflessness. This is often very useful in working with sponsees which, of course, another important part of the AA program. The 12th step.

Twelve and Twelve
This much could be a fragment of what is called meditation, perhaps our very first attempt at a mood, a flier into the realm of spirit, if you like. It ought to be followed by a good look at where we stand now, and a further look at what might happen in our lives were we able to move closer to the ideal we have been trying to glimpse. Meditation is something which can always be further developed. It has no boundaries, either of width or height. Aided by such instruction and example as we can find, it is essentially an individual adventure, something which each one of us works out in his own way. But its object is always the same: to improve our conscious contact with God, with His grace, wisdom, and love. And let’s always remember that meditation is in reality intensely practical. One of its first fruits is emotional balance. With it we can broaden and deepen the channel between ourselves and God as we understand Him.

* Reference Wikipedia:

In the West, meditation techniques have sometimes been thought of in two broad categories: focused (or concentrative) meditation and open monitoring (or mindfulness) meditation.