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Post by SunnyGirl on Nov 1, 2009 13:02:01 GMT -5
A special thank you to Marcie for volunteering to lead our new Big Book StudyThis study is based on: "The Big Book Comes Alive!" with Jim and Dave groups.yahoo.com/group/Big_Book_SeminarsEach weekly post will be open for discussion..... Again, thank you for your service Marcie..... Peace on the journey, SG |
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Post by Marcie on Nov 2, 2009 5:50:58 GMT -5
Post 1
Welcome everyone to the newest cycle of our Big Book Study! We'll be examining the book very closely throughout the coming weeks. It is important to note that we will examine this book from the standpoint of a textbook.
I always like to note at this juncture that the title page has the following subtitle:
"The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism"
Yes - Recovered! Now that usually opens a seething couldron of debate ie: "Recovering" vs. "Recovered". The reason I bring this up here is it is important to note that lasting recovery--i.e., having recovered from a hopeless state of mind and body--is the result of what our book presents. Whether one calls him/herself a recovered or recovering alcoholic is of no consequence in this study. We will limit our discussion to the text.
Turning the page to Roman Numeral v, the Table of Contents, let's see how the book was laid out. Bill was an educated and intelligent man. He was taught to avoid repeating himself. However, he knew that he would have to make the same point repeatedly, but in several different ways, in order to get the point across. The format of our book is very much like that of a textbook in this way.
The Doctor's Opinion and Bill's Story identify what the problem is: Powerlessness, and they cover Step 1. The Doctor's Opinion, written by Dr. Willam D. Silkworth, the doctor who treated Bill at Towns Hospital (293 Central Park West at 89th Street in Manhattan) was a part of the main text in the first edition of the book. It was put into the Roman Numerals in the second edition on the advice of literary experts of the time. (And, unfortunately, who reads those Roman Numerals anyway!?!) The letter he provided was unsigned at the time of the first edition as well. Dr. Silkworth was concerned about his medical standing back when the book was being written--the ideas were so radical at the time that he was concerned about being ridiculed and ostracized about his ideas on alcoholism.
Chapters 2, 3, and 4 identify The Solution, that we need Power and cover Step 2.
Chapters 5, 6, and 7 identify the Necessary Actions to find that Power and go into the detail of Steps 3 thru 12.
With our next post, we will begin on Roman Numeral xi - The Preface to the Third edition.
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Post by caressa on Nov 2, 2009 13:46:49 GMT -5
Look forward to this. Here in Canada, we have always discussed the pages in the preface and at the back of the book. The Roman Numeral pages have some great information on recovery. We did it at the group I started and in all the other meetings that where a part of my recovery. I went to at least two Big Book Meetings a week; but mainly focused on the 12 Steps and later included the Traditions when I learned how important they were to living the program. As I heard a woman say, "I had to learn about the Traditons to live long enough to work the Steps." The Big Book told me about my disease and how I could go about changing and the Twelve Steps helped me to continue that change and live the program.
Looking forward to it.
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Post by Marcie on Nov 3, 2009 17:05:50 GMT -5
Recovered and Recovering: This is one of the places I choose to "live and let live" I've got to pick my battles today. I do call myself recovering, but I have recovered from the hopeless state of mind and body. I am recovering spiritually. Whoops we were supposed to just talk about the text. ;D
A guide for living. A set of directions to a better life.
For me Bill's Story and the Doctor's Opinion not only identify my problem of Powerlessness over alcohol, it helped me to understand Unmanageably. If I can't admit my life is unmanageable I'm going to have some problems staying sober.
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Post by caressa on Nov 3, 2009 20:50:10 GMT -5
Agree with the recovering, I will always be an alcoholic. I am given daily reprieve contingent on my spiritual connection, one day at a time. I too know that I am recovered from that hopeless state of mind and body. Yet I can still slip back into that sick and tired of being tired and sick because of my arthritis and suffering from chronic pain. I have to maintain my emotional sobriety a day at a time because stress and emotional upset can trigger my arthritis.
My life is unmanageable when managed by me.
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Post by Marcie on Nov 9, 2009 5:22:11 GMT -5
Post 2 Good morning everyone! Let's turn to page xi, the Preface to the Third Edition, and look at paragraph #2. This book is identified as "the basic text for our Society." A basic text is a book which can convey knowledge – in other words, a text book. Turn to page xiii, the Foreword to the First Edition. The first paragraph is where we want to draw our attention. Bill realized that there is strength in the collective voice. Hence, "... are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered… ." (There's that word "recovered" again!) The fact of the matter is that we are more likely to listen to one hundred than to just a single voice. "To show other alcoholics PRECISELY HOW WE HAVE RECOVERED is the main purpose of this book." A powerful statement! Note that the capitalized words in the sentence above were capitalized in the first edition of the book. Subsequent editions italicized these words. This is where I usually share my story about my Aunt Pat's strawberry shortcake: "My Aunt Pat makes a wonderful strawberry shortcake. I look forward to it every time I see her out in Newton, New Jersey. After years of visits I finally asked her for the recipe which she gladly gives to me. I went home, followed the directions as they were written and viola! the strawberry shortcake I have always loved! "Then my ego gets involved. I think a little more sugar in the whipped cream would improve it. Maybe frozen strawberries. Or let's use Cool Whip instead of real whipped cream. I make the cake using my version and it isn't as good, in fact I am disappointed." The Big Book shows us a specific recipe for sobriety and, if we follow it carefully, we will get all the benefits of The AA Program. If we change the recipe we will get something else and we will be greatly disappointed. With our next post we will go to page xv - the Foreword to the Second Edition. Thanks again, and don't forget to pass it on! Have a great day! Jim Weekend Big Book Studies with Jim & Dave - visit: groups.yahoo.com/group/Big_Book_Seminars For a weekly chuckle visit: groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Friday_Chuckle |
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Post by caressa on Nov 10, 2009 13:41:07 GMT -5
Love the story. Reminds me of a dear friend who thought that the doors of AA had swinging doors and kept coming in and out thinking that is why they said, "Keep coming back." He kep saying, "They are only suggestions!" I said, "They are darn well betters or you won't stay sober." I tried my way for eight years before I got here, I was so enthused to find something that appeared to be working in other people's lives and had the hope that it would work for me too. My dear friend came to my place one day and I said to him, "I guess you are going to have to make a decision, "Sh*t or get off the pot!" The next time I saw him, he was a rumpled (always impeccably dressed), unshaven, swollen red eyes, and hair messed (an absolute no, no) and I looked at him and said, "Oh, I see you decided to 'sh*t' but I am glad to say the last time I saw him he had 18 months of being clean and sober.
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Post by SunnyGirl on Nov 10, 2009 14:02:13 GMT -5
What an excellent start to the "Big Book Study"
Many thanks to both of you for sharing!
Keep coming back. It works if you work it.....
Peace on the journey, SunnyGirl
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Post by Marcie on Nov 15, 2009 10:59:02 GMT -5
Post 2
"To show other alcoholics PRECISELY HOW WE HAVE RECOVERED is the main purpose of this book."
The Big Book shows us a specific recipe for sobriety and, if we follow it carefully, we will get all the benefits of The AA Program. If we change the recipe we will get something else and we will be greatly disappointed. There’s the “We” word again. That word has saved me from myself so many times, since getting sober. This statement also tells me that A.A. has worked for a lot of people for a long time, exactly the way it is. In my second year I got to “thinking” that this was working really working, but not fast enough and I was curious about other things people were doing. So I started adding things that I shouldn’t have into my recovery. I tried to mix in religion, al-anon, some Zen something or other, and a couple other things. Bottom line I got really confused and started losing my focus. I was a babbling sober drunk and no one, not even me, knew what I was talking about. It was taking the focus off me. Thank God some good old-timers and the willingness I had to drop those other things and get sober. “Keep It Simple” |
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Post by Marcie on Nov 15, 2009 20:33:39 GMT -5
Big Book Study - Post #3 Good morning everyone, and welcome to those who have just joined us! Turning to page xv and reading through to the end of the foreword to the second edition, we have a brief history of AA presented. At the top of page xvi the "alcoholic friend" was Ebby Thatcher, sober two months in the Oxford Groups. The Oxford Groups were a fundamentalist Christian movement that sought to practice the principles of first century Christianity. Vestiges of this movement survive to this day, although the movement has experienced many transformations and is no longer called the Oxford Groups or Movement. Dr. William D. Silkworth is the physician who introduced Bill to the allergy theory and the mental obsession of alcoholism. Bill and Dr. Bob Smith met at Henrietta Sieberling's house (of the Sieberling Rubber and Tire family) through an introduction by Rev. Walter Tunks. When Bill was pacing up and down the hotel lobby of the Mayflower Hotel in Akron he was trying to choose between going to the bar and scraping up an acquaintance or search for an alcoholic to help. Fortunately for all of us, he looked at the church register. He picked Rev. Tunks' name because it was an unusual name and he had a thing for unusual names. Turns out that Rev. Tunks was a member of the Oxford Group in the Akron area and steered Bill toward Dr. Bob Smith through Henrietta Sieberling. Dr. Bob was also involved with the Oxford Group, though still unable to stop drinking. The first time the two of them met they spoke for five hours, and this after Bob had elicited a promise from his wife Anne that the meeting would last no more than 15 minutes. Paragraph 1, page xvii - AA number three was named Bill Dotson - "the man on the bed". When Bill and Bob approached Bill Dotson in the hospital they had him moved from the open communal ward to a private room known as "The Flower Room". The only people who had private rooms in hospitals in those days were the rich or, in the case of "The Flower Room", the people about to die. Bill D., being destitute, thought he was dying after being brought to "The Flower Room", maybe it helped Bill and Bob carry the message to him. Keep in mind that the book hasn't been written yet and Bill and Bob would work through the next couple of years carrying the message. They used the Oxford Group's Four Absolutes Absolute Love, Purity, Unselfishness and Honesty. Tall order for any alcoholic. It wasn't until the "Drunk Squad" of the Oxford Groups separated from the Oxford Groups, starting in New York, in 1937-38 that AA itself became a separate entity. The first meeting to be called "a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous" was held in Cleveland under the auspices of Clarence S. in 1939. More on the foreword to the second edition and the beginning of the Doctor's Opinion with our next post. Jim Weekend Big Book Studies with Jim & Dave - visit: groups.yahoo.com/group/Big_Book_Seminars For a weekly chuckle visit: groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Friday_Chuckle |
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. I will be back looking for Lin and others.