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WAVE: Big Book Study with Corey Session One - The Forewords · The Daily Ripples Podcast

0:00
This is Corey. This is—
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we're gonna, we're gonna try something different
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for a couple weeks. Not different, I'm gonna go through the book instead
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of— I mean, I'm gonna keep on, we're gonna keep on doing what me and
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Mike are doing, but I'm also gonna do like a side thing,
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a little side quest, and we're gonna go through the Big Book,
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um, kind of page by page. We might
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skip around here and there, but really just page by page,
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um, through the book and find out some
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things. And I really, you know, really enjoy the book on the way
0:39
that it's all connecting. There's parallels, there's all these different things,
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and, um, I'd like to go through
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it and, you know, put it out there in case anybody ever— it's important
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to me. Um, when I was first coming
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back around these rooms and, man, my mind
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was going crazy. And the thing that helped me through
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that is going through this literature and
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learning about what it says. I think there is a— you
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can only learn it to some degree, but you have to do it.
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So the purpose of this is just to go through the Big Book and
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find some connections and hopefully find some
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new stuff, both, you know, you and me. Um,
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but I'm gonna open this with the, uh, set aside prayer.
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Um, God, please enable me to set aside everything I
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think I know for an open mind and a new experience.
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Help me see the truth about this book, the meetings,
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the 12 steps, and my disease.
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All right, so You know, I think it'd be handy
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if you're listening to this, maybe have a Big Book present. If you don't want
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to, that's okay too. Um, really on the first
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page, like right when you open it up,
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underneath where it says Alcoholics Anonymous,
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um, my sponsor at one point
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told me to write underneath that, this is everything you
2:13
know. And then underneath Alcoholics Anonymous.
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And because at that moment, that's everything I knew, and underneath that, that's nothing.
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Um, you know, I think that's debatable because,
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like, you know, I know a little bit, uh,
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you know, but I didn't know anything enough to, uh,
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obviously to— I guess knowledge
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is not the answer, but knowing what's in this book and how to use
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it on page 84, it says, our next
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function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This will last a lifetime.
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So me going through this literature and taking other
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people, this is the work to me. And this stuff's
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really important to me and to do this, and the opportunities to do
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this is really amazing. So when you flip the page over from
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the very first page, There's your first promise in
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this book. It says Alcoholics Anonymous at the top, and then it says, the story
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of how many thousands of
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men and women have recovered from alcoholism.
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So it's telling me that thousands of men and women have recovered from alcoholism.
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And to me, that's interesting, right? Because recovered is a big word,
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and I think it— I could be wrong. It's either— I think
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it's 27, could be 42. We'll find out at the end of this book study
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though. And, um, so then
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you have the contents, and we're really going to just start on the preface.
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I'm not going through all the personal stories. I have my own personal story and
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you got yours, and I don't find, uh,
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a lot of, um, help just going from, you know, for what this is,
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uh, intended for. So the preface
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on XI, um, I, you know,
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there's a lot of numbers in here and tell— telling us how many copies got
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circulated at this time And I'm
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going to skip all that. I'm going— we're going to stick with the meat of
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this through the— at least through the preface, through the foreword, because I
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don't want to just give y'all a complete history lesson. I think, you know,
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getting to the meat of it all is important.
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But on the second paragraph of this, it says,
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because this book has become the basic text for our
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society So I'm, you know, I was not really
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that good in school. Um, I didn't really pay— probably
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because I didn't pay attention. I, uh,
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so, but when people were doing math and I never opened my math book,
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it sounded like they were talking in a different language. And that's
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probably because I ever— I never opened this book or opened the book that I
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was reading at that time. And I kind of relate that to this, and it's
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like if this is the basic text of our society,
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it seems very important. Um, and then it goes on
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to say it has helped such large numbers of alcoholic men and women
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to recovery, there exists strong sentiment against
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any radical changes being made in it. So, you know,
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and that's important, right? Because they, they shouldn't be.
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To me, in my view, if it works, why would we even change
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it in the first place? It says, therefore, the first portion of
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this volume describing the AA recovery program.
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So that tells me right in the first portion of this, that's the AA recovery
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program. And it says, it has been left untouched
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in the course of revisions made for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th edition.
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The section called the Doctor Opinion has been kept intact,
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just as it was originally written in 1939
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by the late William D.
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Silkworth, our society's great medical benefactor.
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And so in the beginning though, they had the first edition.
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And what the first edition had differently was the doctor's
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opinion on the first page of the doctor's opinion started on page 1.
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And then it had more than there. And today it's in Roman numerals,
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right? So that's the difference. And I think it's funny
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because And that's kind of funny because like, you know, a lot
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of the— on down the book on page 69, page 69
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is all talking about the sex inventory and everybody's like, man, that's how Bill wanted
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it. Well, it's, it's crazy that it just fell in line like that because
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that's not how it was originally written because the doctor's opinion
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was the first page. Um,
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you know, then it goes on and talks about some more about the chapters and
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all that. So flipping on the page, the XII.
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On the very bottom paragraph, it says,
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all changes made over the years in the Big Book, a members' fond
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nickname for this volume, have had the same purpose: to represent
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the current membership of Alcoholics Anonymous more accurately.
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And that's cool because, like, you know, right now, presently in this time,
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in 2026, at August,
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and, you know, Well, it's July 31st, I guess.
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And they're making some
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changes in the personal stories. I think they're making the biggest change in the personal
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stories that they've ever made.
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And that's to reflect the current membership because older people pass on
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and different lifestyles have happened. And I'll tell you,
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one thing that's stayed the same to me is
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in the recovery program, right? Because personal stories just represent
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your view. So if you have 100 doctor's opinion,
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164 pages of the recovery program,
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that's never changed. And that's important.
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Um, then it goes on to say, and thereby to reach more
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alcoholics. If you have a drinking problem, and this is something that I was told
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that, you know, if you're in a newcomer's meeting
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or if you're somewhere, and this is the thing
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that like is important for the newcomer. And this is the important
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thing, I guess, through the first and second step, right?
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Because it says, we hope that you may
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pause in reading one of the 42 personal stories and think,
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yes, that happened to me. Or more important,
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yes, I felt like that. Or most important,
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yes, I believe this program can work for me too. So I think
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that right there is representation of the first step and second step, because if
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I believe this program can take Second step is came to believe a
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power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
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Well, do I believe this book can restore me to sanity?
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And this program and these, like, in the whole dynamic of it,
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do I believe that or not? And that's okay if I don't,
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but man, for someone like me, I needed
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that hope because I was hopeless. Um,
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so, and then, so we're going to go to the next page on XIII.
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And so I think it's important. The first sentence
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of it says, we of Alcoholics Anonymous are more
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than 100 men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless
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state of mind and body. So that's what we're talking about when
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we're talking about recovered. It's not, have you recovered from your defects?
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Have you recovered from this? No. Have I— do I drink?
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The whole deal is the body, for the alcoholic,
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when I drink, I want more. I need another drink or I feel uncomfortable.
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And the mind, when I get out of institution,
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after I get the girl back, the job gets, you know, they get
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where they're okay with me again after I've missed some work,
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I'm back on my best behavior. Then after all that
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stuff comes back, I drink again. And for me, that has been a continuation
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of my life. I drink again regardless of the outcomes,
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regardless of all the things I've done. And so that's what we're
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talking about. We're not talking about anything other than that.
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And I think it's interesting, and you might too, who knows?
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In the beginning, there were 74 members. They like to
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round up, so do I. And then 41 of
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those members permanently stayed sober. So,
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but in the beginning, man, it was in 1939 and this thing was just starting,
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right? And the difference also, I think it's important.
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So I made some notes a little bit through this book because I didn't want
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to present information. I'm probably not going to go through all the notes,
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but some information's important, right? So recovered
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in that kind of sense means the symptoms are removed.
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Cured Illness itself has been removed.
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My illness of sort has not been removed, but the
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symptoms are removed. I do not think about drinking.
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I do not think about any of that. It's like it never exists.
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And that's a promise that's on page 85.
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And so as we go through this, I think it's important because the
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way I look at this book is probably not the exact way that everybody else
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looks at this book. Is I think in parallels, and I think
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how this connects to this page and this connects to this, and the text
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proves the text, right? So if I can jump over here and it's the same
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thought, I like to prove that thought.
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And so the next sentence says, to show other alcoholics
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precisely how we have recovered is the
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main purpose of this book. That's the main purpose of this book.
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And I think about some pages, I think about page
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17. Right, so on page 17 of this book it
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says, we have found a way
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out. You know, so Alcoholics Anonymous, that's A Way Out. They were
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going to name Alcoholics Anonymous A Way Out, but they're the book,
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but 12 other books at that time were named A
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Way Out, so they found another name on which
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we can— and then it goes on to say, on which we can absolutely agree
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and upon which we can upon which we can join in brotherly and
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harmonious action. This is the great news this
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book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism.
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And then on page 20, so we're going to kind of jump around,
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and that's okay. On page 20,
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it says, it is the purpose of this
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book to answer such questions specifically, and they're talking about the
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hopeless state of the body and mind. And what do I need to do about
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that? And then on page 45, it said—
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I mean, this just tells us exactly what we're doing in this. And I think
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that says, well, that it says,
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but where it had lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find
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a power by which we could live, and it had to be a power greater
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than ourselves. And power greater than ourselves is in squiggly lines.
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And back in 1939, It took more money to
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make the squiggly lines than the regular ones. So I told— I was told that's
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important, obviously. But where and how are we
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to find this power? Well, that's exactly what this book is about.
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Its main object— so this book's main object is
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to enable you to find a power greater than yourselves
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which will solve your problem. Now, I would imagine that
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problem would happen to do with the hopeless state of the mind
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and the body. So going on,
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on the foreword on the XIIII, it says,
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for them, we hope these pages will prove so convincing that
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no further authentication will be necessary. So it's saying
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that this book, in this first— in the doctor's opinion, in the first
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164 pages, no further authentication will be necessary.
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And it's funny, me and my sponsor go back and forth on a lot of
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thoughts on this stuff, and And we talked for hours.
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Um, and,
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you know, I'll go jump over to the 12 and 12, and then he'll like
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to make his argument. He's like, well, no further authentication, Corey. And so,
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you know, he likes to win by staying in the lines
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of where he's at, but that's okay. And then it goes on
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to say, we think this account of our experience will help everyone to better
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understand the alcoholic. Many do not comprehend that
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the alcoholic is a very sick person.
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And besides, we are sure that our way of living has
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its advantages for all.
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You know, page 18 of this book, it says,
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but the ex-problem drinker who has
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found the solution, who is properly armed with facts about himself, can generally
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win the entire confidence of another alcoholic in a few hours.
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Until such an understanding is reached,
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little or nothing can be accomplished. So I
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think that, like, you know, I— and that kind of puts me
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in a place of, I can better understand the— will help everyone to better
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understand the alcoholic. Many do not comprehend that the alcoholic is a very sick
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person. Well, somebody that's been in that position does understand
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that, and I can understand that. You know, someone that
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doesn't have this malady, someone that doesn't have the
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disease of alcohol, the illness of a sort, which when I take a drink and
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that, so that we're gonna talk about, I mean, we're kind of just flowing with
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this. So in the doctor's opinion,
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it says on page XXVIII,
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it says the chronic alcohol, oh, first paragraph,
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it says, we believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the action
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of the alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation
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of an allergy, that the phenomenon of craving is
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limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker.
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Never occurs in the average drinker, temperate drinker, right?
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These allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at
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all. A normal person does not understand that. And a normal person says,
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hey, you know, just, just have a couple, you know,
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just drink beer. So I find that,
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you know, interesting, right?
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It is important that we remain anonymous because we are too few at present
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to handle the overwhelming number of personal appeals which may result from this
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publication. Being mostly business or professional
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folk, we could not well carry on the occupations in such an event.
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We would like it to— we would like it understood that our alcoholic work is
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an avocation. So avocation is a hobby.
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It's not my regular job. I don't do this for a living. I don't do
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this for money, right? I do this because this gets me out of me.
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And if I can help someone, that is my only goal in this.
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It says, but when writing or speaking publicly about alcoholism,
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we urge each of our fellowship to omit his personal name,
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designating himself instead as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. And that's
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okay. You know, I know a lot of people with my name.
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Millions. I don't know millions. I know about 15 in the area that
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I know very closely. So, you know, you'd have to do some voice recognition and
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you'd have to really go looking to find me. So I'm not
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worried about using my first name, but I will, I will not use my last
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name in a public forum. In the rooms, it's different though, because if
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you don't know someone's last name, then what if they go to the hospital?
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What if they get put in jail? Then I better— like,
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how am I going to be able to go? You know, I've run into that,
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right? I went to go visit a buddy of mine in the hospital, and I
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just knew his first name, and they looked at me and they're like, well,
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what's his last name? And I was like, well, uh,
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because I, you know, it was an awkward thing.
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So it goes on to say, very, very earnestly
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we ask the press also to observe this
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request, for otherwise we shall be greatly handicapped.
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And over to the side of, you know, talking about the traditions,
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um, of the paragraph right before that, I have beside that Tradition 11
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and Tradition 12.
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Tradition 11 is, our public relations policy is based on
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attraction rather than promotion. We need to always maintain personal anonymity at the
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level of press, radio, and films. And 12 is, anonymity is the spiritual
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foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to
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place principles before personalities. Then it goes on to say,
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we are not an organization in the conventional sense
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of the word. That's Tradition 9. There are no dues or fees whatsoever.
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Well, that's Tradition 7. The only requirement for membership
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is an honest desire to stop drinking. Well, that's Tradition 3.
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But you know what's interesting about that is they put that in there in
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the foreword of the first edition, right? Then they took it out because they were
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like, how do we even explain someone that's honest, right?
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And so they took the honest desire to stop drinking.
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And then it goes on to say, we are not allied with any particular faith,
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sect, denomination, nor do we oppose anyone.
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So this is part of the old preamble as well.
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And it goes on to say, we simply wish to be helpful to those who
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are afflicted. And that's Tradition 5.
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So it goes on to say, we shall be interested to hear from those
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who are getting results from this book, particularly from those who have commenced work with
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other alcoholics. So people that are helping others,
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we should like to be helpful in such cases.
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Inquiry by scientific, medical, and religious societies
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will be welcomed. I go to a lot of meetings that they have doctors
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and nurses and people learning about this because that's part of their schooling.
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And, you know, usually they're in open meetings, and so they can sit
20:19
there and just listen. So forward to the
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2nd edition, um, we're going to kind
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of jump down to the bottom of that page, to the bottom paragraph,
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and this is on XV. Says the spark that
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was to flare into the first AA group was struck in Akron, Ohio, and that
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was on June 10th, 1935,
20:43
during a talk between a New York stockbroker. It's, you know, I like—
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man, there's another guy that does some book studies, and I like how he said
20:51
this, you know, that's, that's kind of like Bill talking Holly
20:54
of himself, right? A New York stockbroker. Really, he was, you know,
20:58
he went out and he kind of did like some shady stuff.
21:01
It would be shady stuff today. And like, he would go out and see what
21:04
businesses were doing good and then go back to the company so they
21:08
could put money in there anyways. And, uh,
21:12
he more like a stock speculator, right? And it says,
21:16
during a talk between a New York stockbroker and an Akron physician So,
21:21
and that's Dr. Bob, right? You know, and he was a proctologist.
21:26
So he, and, you know, I don't think he would, I think he was a
21:29
struggling one too, if I, if I can remember right.
21:32
So it says 6 months earlier, the broker had been relieved of his
21:35
drinking obsession by a sudden spiritual experience.
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So he had been relieved of his drinking obsession.
21:45
So the mind, And if your mind's not— if my— if
21:49
I've been relieved of that, if I've been recovered from my mind,
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right, then I'm not like— that's the whole deal is—
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and it goes on to talk about later in the book, and we'll talk about
22:01
it, but the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Because if I know when I take
22:05
one drink, I don't know what happens because I'm powerless.
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I have no idea. You know, sometimes I make good plans But sometimes
22:14
it doesn't go as planned. And but every time I want another drink after the
22:18
first, I know that. Um,
22:22
but so if I knew that, and why don't I just not drink, right?
22:27
So Dr. Jekyll is like kind of the one that, you know, drinks the potion.
22:30
So, but that's the crazy one because, well, if I drink— for if I drank
22:34
the potion and I know what happens, bad things, Why would
22:38
I ever drink the potion? My mom's not an alcoholic,
22:42
and, um, she's, she's had the same 2-shot,
22:46
double shot of Fireball in her freezer for like 5 years.
22:50
She has a whole bar at her house, and she just, she can
22:54
just have a little sip of alcohol, have a half a glass of wine,
22:58
have a beer, and that's it. And that's all she wants.
23:02
Because if my mother had done one
23:06
of the worst things I've ever done, she would never think about drinking again.
23:11
So that's about the obsession. It says on
23:14
exit VII, on the top of the page, it says, following a meeting with an
23:18
alcoholic friend who had been in contact with the Oxford Group that
23:23
day, he had also been greatly helped by
23:27
the late Dr. Williams D. Silkworth. And that was at
23:31
Towne's Hospital, who is now accounted no less
23:35
than a medical saint by AA members, and whose story
23:39
of the early days of our society appears in the next pages.
23:44
From the doctor, the broker had learned the grave nature of alcoholism,
23:48
the mind and body, though he could not accept all the tenets
23:52
of the Oxford Group. And so the Oxford Group had some
23:56
things, that were kind of rigid
24:02
to most people. They had the absolutes and they had the honesty,
24:05
purity, unselfishness, and love. They had the 5 C's:
24:09
confidence, confession, conviction, conversion, continuance.
24:14
It goes on on page 2. If you ever want to look it up,
24:17
it's in the personal stories on page 263.
24:21
It says, and they had 6 steps, complete deflation, 1,
24:25
2, dependence and guidance from a higher power.
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2. And, you know, complete deflation, I think we could just, you know, relate that
24:34
to hopelessness, right? Hopelessness. Dependence and guidance from a higher power.
24:38
Do I— you know, that would be step 3.
24:41
Moral inventory, step 4. Confession,
24:46
that'd be step 5. Restitution,
24:49
8 and 9. Continue to work with other alcoholics.
24:54
12. So going back to the, uh, reading,
24:59
um, then it goes on to say he was convinced of the need
25:03
for moral inventory, confession of personal defects, restitution to those
25:07
harmed, helpfulness to others, and the necessity— necessity,
25:10
I think, is like, you know, a big word for much, right, or most.
25:14
And I think at a lot of these places most the places in
25:17
this book. I hope I don't miss any, but words like this I think are
25:21
important to circle. Mo— or must, necessity,
25:25
will not. I mean, you know, you can get really deep into this, and I'm
25:29
not gonna say let's do that, but you can do whatever you please.
25:33
The necessity of the belief and a dependence upon God. Dependence is a big
25:37
word too, man. Prior to his journey to Akron,
25:40
the broker had worked hard with many alcoholics on the theory that
25:45
only an alcoholic could help an alcoholic, but he had succeeded
25:49
only in keeping sober himself. And so you go through this
25:52
book and there's some very critical places, like on page 89,
25:57
on the first page of Working with Others, and it talks about immunity from alcohol,
26:01
immunity from drinking. And we'll find some more places like
26:05
that. But, and that also gives me a purpose,
26:08
right? Because what if I'm the only person that can help? That's important. And that
26:12
gives me something to do. And the feeling is overwhelming.
26:18
But he said, but he had succeeded only in keeping him sober himself. The broker
26:22
had gone to Akron on a business venture which had collapsed,
26:25
leaving him greatly in fear that he might start drinking again.
26:30
He suddenly realized that in order to save himself,
26:33
he must, so circle must, carry his message
26:37
to another alcoholic. That alcoholic turned out to be the
26:41
Akron physician, Dr. Bob.
26:44
This physician had repeatedly tried spiritual
26:48
means to resolve his alcohol dilemma, but he had failed.
26:52
But when the broker gave him Dr. Silkworth's description of alcoholism and
26:56
its hopelessness, the physician began to pursue the
27:00
spiritual remedy for his malady with a willingness he had never
27:04
before been able to muster. He sobered, never to drink again
27:08
up to the moment of his death in 1950. This seemed to prove
27:13
that one alcoholic could affect another
27:17
as no alcoholic could. So this is very
27:20
important. I would underline, highlight. I mean, I need to
27:24
do better about telling you where to underline and highlight, but this
27:28
is underlined and highlighted. I have, you know, very important places in
27:33
my book in green. You do put what you want, but I also put all
27:36
my promises and prayers in pink.
27:41
It says it also indicated that strenuous, and strenuous,
27:45
I would not imagine that means just I go to meetings. Strenuous work
27:49
with one alcoholic with another was vital. So vital,
27:53
that is a huge word in this book, and I tell you to circle it.
27:56
Vital to permanent, big word, to permanent recovery.
28:00
Is that not what I came in this thing for in the first place?
28:03
I think we get confused with, I just need my defects taken away.
28:06
No, I came in here because I was tired of hurting people and tired of
28:09
drinking.
28:14
I have above this, it says, the work in AA is not the steps,
28:18
it's taking people through the steps.
28:22
So that's important to me, right? And so it goes on to say that
28:26
hence the 2 men set to work almost frantically. Upon alcoholics
28:30
arriving in the ward of Akron City Hospital. Their very first
28:34
case. And so the very first case was a
28:37
dude named Eddie R. He did not get sober. He was at Bob's
28:42
funeral in 1950 with 1 year. And I think, you know, because we're
28:46
not going to talk about Eddie, but the very, the, the very
28:50
first case that they had success with was a
28:54
guy named Bill D. He was the first. And, you know,
28:57
his sobriety date was June 26th, 1935. And he's
29:02
an AA number 3. He also was a big part of
29:06
A Vision for You. I think his personal story,
29:10
if I'm not mistaken, is on page 182.
29:14
It says, their very first case, a desperate
29:17
one, recovered immediately and became an AA number 3. He never
29:22
had another drink. This work at Akron continued through the summer of
29:25
1935. There were many failures,
29:29
but there was an occasional heartening success. When the broker returned
29:34
to New York in the fall of 1935, the First
29:38
Air Group had actually been formed, though no one realized it at the time.
29:42
And that was kind of cool because, like, the Oxford Group, they kind of separated
29:46
and they called it the Drunk Squad from the Oxford Group. Um,
29:51
it goes on to say, a second small group promptly took shape in New York,
29:54
to be followed in 1937 with the start of a third
29:58
at Cleveland. Besides these, there were scattered all alcoholics who had picked up the basic
30:02
ideas in Akron or New York who were trying to form groups in other cities.
30:07
By late 1937, the number of members having substantial sobriety
30:11
time behind them was sufficient to convince the membership That
30:16
a new— and underline this, and I have this underlined and highlighted— that
30:21
a new light had entered the dark world of the alcoholic.
30:24
That's hope, right? So when I walk into a meeting and I
30:28
see dudes in there that are talking like I was about my story, but their
30:31
life is different, that's a new light in my world. Because in my world,
30:35
it was hopelessness and it was dark and it was in jail cells,
30:38
man. It was now time,
30:41
the struggling groups thought, to place their message and a unique experience
30:45
before the world. This determination bore fruit in the spring
30:49
of 1939. By the publication of
30:53
this volume, the membership had reached about 100 men and women. The fledgling
30:56
society, which had been nameless, now came to be
31:00
called Alcoholics Anonymous, from the title of its
31:04
own book. And they had other thoughts of that. They called it— one was The
31:07
Empty Glass. They were going to call it The Dry Frontier,
31:11
The Wilson Movement. I think, you know, if it was going to be anything,
31:15
I would like my name to be the first one. They were
31:19
going to call it 100 Men, but there was
31:23
a lady named Florence Rankin. She was the first woman, so they
31:28
couldn't do that because that'd been kind of weird. So anyways,
31:34
so it goes on to say, the flying blind period ended and
31:37
AA entered into a new phase of its pioneering time.
31:41
With the appearance of the new book, a great deal began to happen. Dr.
31:44
Harry Emerson Fosdick,
31:48
the noted clergyman, reviewed it for approval.
31:52
In the fall of 1939, Fulton Elser, then editor of The
31:56
Liberty, printed out a piece in the magazine called Alcoholics
32:00
and God. I think this is important. So at this time,
32:03
they're kind of in the slime bottom period, right? And It
32:07
says, this brought a rush of 800 frantic
32:11
inquiries into the little New York office, which meanwhile had been established.
32:15
Each inquiry was painstakingly answered. Pamphlets and books were sent
32:20
out. Businessmen traveling out of the existing groups were referred to these prospective
32:24
newcomers. New groups started up, and it was founded.
32:27
To the astonishment of everyone that AA's message could be transmitted in the mail
32:31
as well as by word of mouth, by the end of 1939, it was estimated
32:34
that 800 alcoholics were on their way to recovery. That's a
32:39
big deal, right? And I think we kind of talked, hit on this a little
32:41
bit. It was like we said it was 100, but it really wasn't.
32:45
But now they're saying it was 800 from this, you know, from this magazine,
32:49
you know, Alcoholics and God. And I was— I've been thinking about this,
32:52
and after this next paragraph I'll kind of speak on it. But,
32:56
um, this is how AA grew. Then it
33:00
talks on that in the spring of 1940, John D.
33:03
Rockefeller Jr. gave a dinner for many of
33:07
his friends, to which he invited AA members to tell their story. News got on
33:11
the world wires, inquires poured in, and again, many people went
33:16
to the bookstores to get the book Alcoholics Anonymous. By March
33:20
1941, the membership had shot up to 2,000. All right, so we
33:25
have up the top, 1939,
33:28
800. To 1941 to 2000.
33:32
That's a big deal. So it says, then Jack Alexander
33:36
wrote a featured article in the Saturday Evening Post and placed such a
33:39
compelling picture of AA before the general public that alcoholics
33:44
in need of help really deluged us. By the close
33:47
of 1941, AA numbered 8,000
33:52
members. The mushrooming— mushrooming is, you know, it's very rampant.
33:57
The mushrooming process was in full swing. AA had
34:01
become a total national institution.
34:04
That's cool. And I think it's interesting where it says institution
34:09
because it talks about in the 4-step,
34:15
people, who are we resentful of? People, institutions,
34:17
principles, right? And AA is an institution.
34:22
And I do well in institutions, by the way. When people tell me when to
34:25
go to sleep, when they tell me to eat. I do well in that kind
34:29
of environment. And this is cool because this is exciting
34:33
to me right here. It says, our society then entered into a fearsome
34:37
and exciting adolescent period. The test that it faced was
34:41
this: could these large numbers of erstwhile erratic alcoholics
34:45
successfully meet and work together? Would there be quarrels over membership,
34:48
leadership, and money? Absolutely there would be. Would there be strivings for
34:53
power and prestige? I mean, you put a bunch of alcoholics in a group,
34:56
man, you put a bunch of people, if you have that in general,
34:59
most people, right? Would there be schisms which would split
35:03
AA apart? Soon AA was beset by these very problems on
35:07
every side and in every group. But out of this frightening and very disrupting
35:11
experience, the conviction grew that AAs had to hang together
35:15
or die separately. So that's it, right? We hang together,
35:19
and that's on page 7, hang together or die separately. We had to unify
35:23
our fellowship or pass off the scene. So on page 17,
35:27
I think this is important to talk about right here.
35:31
It says,
35:35
and we are, we are like the passengers of a great
35:39
liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck, where camaraderie,
35:43
joyousness, and democracy pervade the vessel from stairs to captain's
35:47
tables, from the back of the bus to the front, right? Unlike the feelings of
35:51
the ship's passengers, however, our joy and escape from disaster does
35:55
not subside as we go in our individual ways. The feeling
35:59
of having shared in common peril— common peril, common problem—
36:03
is the one element and the powerful cement which binds us.
36:07
But that in itself would never held us together. That's a warning, and we're
36:11
going to go get to this page eventually, but that is a warning.
36:16
The tremendous fact for every one of us that we've discovered a common solution—
36:19
so you got common solution and common problem. If you didn't have both of those,
36:23
and you'll hear me say this again, it's just like us being at the library
36:27
and having a problem with not being able to read. But do they not have
36:31
a book or do they not have a way to learn
36:34
to read, to learn to go through this and a program to do that?
36:41
But we had to come together. And I think that's another reason why in this
36:44
book you'll find time and time again, it talks about us, we,
36:47
We of Alcoholics Anonymous, right? We had admitted
36:51
these things are important. And then it goes on. And so these are kind of
36:55
the— these aren't kind of, these are the traditions right here.
36:59
And it says, as we discovered the principles which, well, in the individual
37:04
alcoholic could live, that's the 12 steps. So we had to involve
37:08
principles by which the AA group and AA as a
37:12
whole could survive and function effectively. It was thought that
37:15
no alcoholic man or woman could be excluded from
37:19
our society. Well, that'd be Tradition 3, right?
37:23
That our leaders might serve but never govern. That'd be Tradition 2.
37:27
That each group was to be autonomous. That'd be 4.
37:31
And there was to be no professional class of therapy. That'd be
37:35
8. There were to be no fees or dues.
37:39
7. Our experience— our expenses was to be met by our
37:43
own voluntary contributions. There was to
37:47
be the least possible organization even in our service center.
37:50
That's 9. Our public relations were to be
37:54
based upon attraction rather than promotion. That's 11. It was decided
37:58
that all members ought to be anonymous at the level of press, radio, and TV—
38:02
press, radio, TV, and films. It's 11 and 12.
38:06
And in no circumstances should we be given to endorsements,
38:10
make alliances, or enter into public controversies.
38:13
Man, we are not,
38:17
and I think that's so important, right? Because if I start getting into
38:20
that, if I start talking about all these things, I'm holding a position down
38:25
on something that you might not, and then I've suffered, then I've hurt
38:29
however many people, or I can't be of help to however many
38:32
people if I do that. And our only choice, our only
38:36
place is to be of use in this deal, right? So that's important.
38:40
Right? So my views on things, I keep neutral,
38:43
and I keep probably pretty quiet too.
38:47
This was the— and then it goes on to say, we're on XIIX. I'm sorry,
38:50
I haven't— maybe I haven't been doing good on the page number thing, but we're
38:54
going to keep on going. Bottom paragraph: This was the substance
38:58
of A's 12 traditions, which are stated in full on
39:02
page 561 on this book. That is a very
39:06
thing— big thing to do, talk about, right? Because on
39:10
561 in this book— and we're not
39:14
definitely going to read all the traditions out right now because that wouldn't, you know,
39:17
you'd probably get bored, bored of me talking about that.
39:22
So on 561, you got the appendix of the
39:25
back and the AA tradition. On 562, on the—
39:29
that's the left side, you have the 12 traditions. And they
39:34
should have put short form, but they didn't, because on the right it
39:38
says the 12 Traditions long form. Well,
39:41
I, you know, it's the long form was the first
39:45
form, the short form was after
39:48
that. So they, to me, and like, you know, really in the traditions, you know,
39:53
they're very— it describes the traditions and really
39:57
tells us what it's about in the long version. I think they should Because
40:01
that's the real version, right? Um, but you know, Bill was
40:05
going around and talking the traditions, and they told him, they're like, hey man,
40:10
you can come as long as you don't read out these traditions.
40:13
Because it's interesting, on the 12th tradition— so
40:17
then, you know, so it— the long form covers 3
40:22
full pages. So if you imagine however long it takes to read 3
40:25
whole pages at the beginning of a meeting, they're like, man, This is taking
40:29
up half the time I can talk about me, right?
40:32
Anyways, so it says the
40:36
bottom of page 565, the first of the long form
40:40
of the 12th Tradition says, and finally— so that's what they're saying— and finally,
40:44
we of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the
40:48
principle of anonymity has an immense spiritual significance.
40:52
It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities,
40:56
that we are actually to practice a genuine humility that this is
41:00
to the end of that our great— this to the end that our great
41:04
blessings may never spoil us, that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation
41:08
of him who presides over us all. And that's interesting
41:12
because that's like you can feel the ending in that. And it says, and finally,
41:16
because it's— we're finally done reading these, right? Back to
41:20
the text on XXIX. It says, uh,
41:25
where were Where were we? All right, though, not at the bottom of the
41:29
page, in the middle of that paragraph, bottom paragraph. Though none of us— none
41:33
of these principles had the force of rules or laws that had become so widely
41:37
accepted by 1950, they were confirmed by the first international
41:42
conference held at Cleveland. Today, the remarkable unity of AA is
41:45
one of the greatest assets. Is one of the greatest assets.
41:49
I'm going to underline greatest assets. That our
41:52
society has. It goes on to say, while the internal difficulties
41:56
of our adolescent period were being ironed out,
42:00
public acceptance of AA grew by leaps and bounds. I think leaps and
42:04
bounds need to be underlined, and I haven't underlined this book, but I have it
42:08
underlined in other books. For this, there were 2 principal
42:11
reasons. This is good with math if anybody's a mathematician
42:15
out there. The large numbers of recoveries. So AA grew by
42:19
leaps and bounds. Why? For this, there were 2 principal reasons: the large
42:23
numbers of recoveries, that's one, and the reunited homes. That's important,
42:27
right? Why was AA growing? Because they were showing that it works.
42:33
And I think that's important. These made their impressions everywhere.
42:38
All right, so here we go. Of alcoholics who came to AA and
42:42
what— and really tried. So underline really tried.
42:47
50% got sober at once. At once. So 50% of
42:51
those people were getting sober right at once. That's important.
42:55
Maybe they played with the numbers, who knows? And remained that way.
42:59
25% sobered up after some relapses. So you got 25%
43:03
that came in, came back out, came back in, right?
43:07
So you got a 75% number. And among remainder,
43:10
those who stayed on with AA showed improvement. And I know a dude,
43:14
he's been coming in and coming out for 25 years.
43:18
He told me one day, he was like, you know, Corey, but the amount of
43:21
time I stayed sober in between those times,
43:25
it's a lot better and I'm still alive because of it.
43:30
I guess that's where the whole keep on coming back thing comes on.
43:35
Other thousands came to a few AA meetings and at first decided
43:39
they didn't want the program, but great numbers of these— here we go.
43:42
About 2 out of 3 began to return as time passed. So they even—
43:46
I think the number, if you really do the math, is bigger than 75%.
43:52
Then it goes on to say, another reason for this wide acceptance of
43:55
AA, the administration of Friends, Friends in medicine, religion,
43:58
and press, together with innumerable others who became
44:02
or are able to be persistent advocates.
44:06
Without such support, AA could have made only the slowest
44:10
progress. And they're, you know, I think, you know, we could agree that there's
44:14
problems with treatment centers, but I can also agree that treatment centers
44:18
promote AA. And I think, you know, it's— well, we probably wouldn't
44:23
have as many people today. Um, some of
44:27
the recommendations of AA's early medical and religious friends will be found further
44:31
on in this book. This is the underlining right
44:35
here. Alcohol— and this should be highlighted as well, it's not— Alcoholics
44:39
Anonymous not a religious organization. We are not a religious organization.
44:44
Neither does AA take any particular medical point of view, though we cooperate
44:48
widely with the men of medicine as well as with the men of religion.
44:53
Alcohol being no respecter of persons, we are an accurate cross-section
44:57
of America and its distant lands, and the same demographic
45:03
evening-up process is now going on By personal
45:07
religious affiliations, we include Catholic,
45:10
Protestant, Jews, Hindus, and a sprinkle of Muslims and Buddhists.
45:15
More than 15% of us are women.
45:18
So that's important, right? All this is important because we are
45:22
average Americans. We have everybody from doctors
45:26
to homeless, right?
45:30
Anybody in between. People in political offices all
45:33
across the world. Because I don't think alcoholism,
45:37
you know, it's not just to anybody. It's to
45:41
anybody that has a problem. It's, you know, I've been told it's 10% of our
45:45
society that when they take a drink, they want more. We talked about
45:49
that in the doctor's opinion.
45:53
So it goes on to say, at our present, our membership
45:57
is pyramiding at the rate of about 20% a year. And that is why
46:01
I don't understand why AA doesn't— isn't like that anymore. I wish it
46:05
was. I wish we could find more people to help because
46:08
people are dying, man. I bet you for every person that
46:13
gets sober and stays sober, probably 40 people die.
46:17
And I'd like to know why that is. Why aren't we pyramiding anymore?
46:20
Why, why we just stopped? You guys want to say, so far
46:24
upon the total problem of several million actually and potential alcoholics in the world,
46:29
we have made only a scratch. And that is true. In all probability,
46:33
we shall never be able to touch more than a fair fraction of
46:37
the alcoholic problem in all its ramifications.
46:41
Upon therapy for the alcoholic himself, we surely have no monopoly.
46:45
And that is circled and highlighted right there.
46:49
Yet it is our great hope that all those
46:52
who have as yet found no answer may begin to
46:56
find one in these pages of this book and will presently join us
47:00
on the high road to a new freedom. And that's what we're looking for,
47:04
you know, and that's what I have today is freedom for me.
47:09
And that's an important word, and I have it circled and underlined and highlighted.
47:14
You know, the foreword to the 4th edition— 3rd edition, I mean, I'm sorry— on
47:18
XXII, the next page over,
47:21
it's talking about that Alcoholics Anonymous is growing,
47:25
and this is in 1976. I don't
47:29
have, besides at the bottom paragraph
47:33
in there, in spite of the great increase in the size and the span of
47:36
this fellowship, at its core, it remains simple and personal. Each day,
47:40
somewhere in the world, recovery begins.
47:43
When? When one alcoholic talks to another alcoholic,
47:46
sharing experience, strength, and hope. Experience,
47:50
strength, and hope is underlined. Now it is. It wasn't before.
47:55
Now we're at the foreword to the 4th edition.
47:58
So the foreword to the 4th edition, there's some, you know,
48:02
some key points in this thing. On the first— on the second paragraph,
48:08
the first, first line of that says
48:12
literature has played a major role in AA's growth.
48:16
So a major role. I would say
48:21
that, you know, there's a major and a minor, right? You don't have 2 major.
48:24
I mean, you could, I guess, but like, if I'm looking at 100%,
48:29
I would say, because, you know, that's what this is, right? You know, you have
48:32
recovery at the bottom of the triangle. You have unity and service on the sides.
48:36
You can't have unity and service without recovery.
48:39
So that's important. At the bottom of that paragraph,
48:42
it says this, says the AC, which planet it
48:46
is, taking root slowly at first. And I have
48:49
underlined, then growing by leaps
48:53
and bounds when literature has become available.
48:57
So AA grew by leaps and bounds when literature
49:01
has become available, and that is why I'm on this here
49:04
talking and taking us through this literature,
49:07
because that's where AA has grown. So I talk about
49:11
the literature in the Big Book, and that's my job to carry this message.
49:15
Not my message, because my message can put you in some bad
49:19
places, you know, if you just tell what my experience without
49:22
this, right? And that's, you know, and I'm, and I'm very—
49:26
I don't like the word, uh,
49:30
Big Book Thumper. There's some guys in Texas that like the word
49:33
Big Book Mechanic better, and I like that too.
49:37
Um, then in the middle of that bottom paragraph right here,
49:41
it says we It says, when the phrase, we are people who would normally
49:44
not mix, on page 17, and it talks about that.
49:48
And people, man, I agree with this,
49:52
but I have friends of mine of different races and
49:55
different whatever. And I don't today
50:01
live in the thought that I have to stay in a group
50:04
even though we are people we would normally not mix. I think whatever
50:08
meeting you feel comfortable at, whatever meeting that You
50:12
know, make sure— you know what, the unity of this thing, right,
50:16
is when I was 13, I took my first drink.
50:20
And I always felt a part— didn't feel a part of. Then I took that
50:23
drink and I felt a part of. And then the camaraderie, the joyousness,
50:28
the friendship, you know, the having fun, you know, because I was
50:32
at the fun part of my drinking, you know, that was there.
50:36
And, you know, so when I came in the rooms and I started meeting people,
50:39
it started feeling a part of. That was a big thing of
50:43
this unity. So it's talking about on
50:47
page 17 when it's talking about we are people who would normally not mix.
50:52
Page 17 of this book was written in 1939, and it referred to
50:56
a fellowship composed largely of men and a few women.
51:00
Like we had said over before that, it was 15%,
51:03
with quite similar social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.
51:07
Like so much of A's basic texts, Those words
51:11
have proved to be far more visionary than the founding members could have ever imagined.
51:16
So, you know, that's good, right? I mean, that's important.
51:19
Um, now I wish I
51:23
had went over— man, I'm gonna
51:27
have to go back. We'll get— we'll hit it next time because I'm not
51:31
going to stop doing this. So we're just going to keep on doing— we're going
51:33
to go through this once, we're going to see how it goes, and We'll go
51:37
through it again, see how it goes again. But I think, you know,
51:41
the deal is, is if I can put this out as much as my time
51:44
allows me to, it's important because this work is important.
51:51
So the last page of this, on page XXIV,
51:55
you know, I can F this, take a break for me until the next time
51:59
we go through this. The first real paragraph, it says,
52:03
while our literature has preserved the integrity the AA message.
52:07
Sweeping changes in society as a whole reflected in the new customs and
52:11
practices within the fellowship. And I would imagine there was a lot of speaker meetings
52:15
back then. You know, we've done— we've started discussion meetings, Big Book studies,
52:19
step studies, any kind of thing you can think
52:23
of, man. I was told that they had a meeting in Nash— or Nashville,
52:26
I think, that they listened to music and asked how you— I'm not a big
52:30
feelings guy, and as we go through this work, you'll find that, like, you know,
52:33
my feelings they happen, right?
52:37
And this is kind of where I'm going to take a little toll about
52:41
this, but we'll probably touch on it a little bit. But in treatment, I think
52:45
they have this thing that they say,
52:49
and it's like angry, tired.
52:52
What is it? It's HALT, hungry, angry, lonely,
52:55
tired. And I'll tell you that I have drank when I
52:59
am full, When I'm happy, when I'm with people
53:03
and I'm wide awake. I used to take some supplements to stay wide
53:07
awake as well. So I know that my feelings are,
53:11
man, in the end of it, my feelings are subjective.
53:15
This book has worked for millions of others, and that shows an objective
53:21
thing, but my feelings are always changing, and they always will, and I always
53:24
get feelings. This program doesn't take away your feelings. We're not
53:28
in that business. So it says,
53:32
um, taking advantage of technological advances, for example,
53:35
AA members with computers can participate in meetings online, sharing with fellow
53:39
alcoholics across the country or around the world. And that is true.
53:42
We can have Big Book studies online. You're listening to this on some form of
53:46
online thing. Fundamentally though, the difference between
53:51
an electronic meeting and the home group around the corner is only One
53:54
form— a format. In any meeting anywhere, A's share experience,
53:58
strength, and hope. So we got— we got experience, strength,
54:02
and hope over here. So it
54:07
says, in me— in any meeting anywhere, A's share
54:11
experience, strength, and hope with each other in order to stay sober.
54:15
So my— me sharing my experience, strength, and hope in order to stay sober
54:19
and help other alcoholics modem to modem,
54:23
phone to phone, computer to computer, or face to face.
54:27
A, speak the language of the heart in all its power and simplicity.
54:32
You know, I'll end it with this. You know, like I read before on
54:36
page 18, it says, but the
54:40
ex-problem drinker who has found this solution,
54:43
the solution is in the book, the first 164 pages plus
54:47
the doctor's opinion. Who is properly armed with facts about
54:51
himself can generally win the entire confidence of another alcoholic in a few hours.
54:55
I believe it takes a lot less time than that. Until such
54:59
an understanding— or a lot less time, I might have said a lot
55:03
longer, I don't know. Until such an understanding is reached, little or nothing can be
55:07
accomplished. Huh.
55:11
Well, you know, we're going to keep on rolling next week
55:15
on the doctor's opinion and You know, I hope this is okay
55:19
to listen to. I don't know. Um, I really enjoy it,
55:23
and you know, it'll be more fun. This is kind of just the history of
55:27
that, of the book. And but you know, if we're going to
55:31
go through it, we might as well start at the first page, right? Well,
55:34
thank you guys for listening in, and you'll hear from me again.