Step12.com

[Dallas]

I believe that one of the greatest problems that our Fellowship faces is a lack of strong sponsorship -- provided by sponsors that know the program of Alcoholics Anonymous and have taken the 12 Steps precisely as they are presented in the Big Book.

As a result of weak sponsorship -- the Fellowship has strayed away from the "AA Program of Recovery -- That works" (The 12 Steps) -- (as described in the Big Book) and has turned to alternative methods of trying to achieve and maintain sobriety by "just not drinking" and "going to meetings."

While attending meetings appears to be vital to long-term sobriety, and I highly recommend them -- just going to meetings and not drinking -- will not produce a long-time sobriety -- in which the alcoholic actually get's better!

We hear those wonderful chants of "Meeting Makers Make It!" (that makes some of us want to puke when we hear it) -- and we'll often follow up their chant (sometimes under our breath) with something like, "Yep. Meeting makers often make it -- to their next meeting -- However, THE STEP TAKERS RECOVER! -- and start meetings!"

I'm often asked if I have a format for Beginner's Classes -- type meetings. Yes. I do....

However, one of the best formats that I have seen, and I have listened to CD's of the Beginner's Class Meetings (Available through AA Speaker Tape and CD providers) is a format that was provided by Mike L. for the West Orange, New Jersey A.A. "Beginner's Classes".

This is a great bunch of AA's out in West Orange, New Jersey, that are providing a much needed solution to this problem within the Fellowship, and it's the West Orange, New Jersey A.A. "Beginner's Classes".

Their results in helping AA's to recover by taking the newcomers through the 12 Steps, during their "Beginner's Classes" meetings has been so great -- that I want to help pass it on here, at Step12.com. There are many AA Groups that are adapting the West Orange, New Jersey, "Beginner's Classes", all throughout the country, and in many other countries as well.

The entire "Beginner's Classes" Format is 84 pages long... and that would take a heck of a lot of typing for me to post it all here -- especially in one setting! So, I'm only posting the format for Steps 1, 2, 3, which is what is covered in the first week of the Beginner's Class meetings.

And, I've included below, the info to help you contact the author of the format, Mike L., so that you can contact him for the rest of of the format if you are interested in starting a group or incorporating the format in your existing group -- for Beginner's Class Meetings.

To get in touch with the author and obtain the entire format, the contact information is provided below, at the bottom of this page.

And... if you are in or nearby West Orange, New Jersey, you may want to look up this great group of AA's and attend some meetings with them in person!

Dallas B.


Here's the Step 1, 2, 3, portion of the Beginner's Classes format:

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Session #1 - Steps 1, 2, & 3

My name is __________ and I’m an alcoholic. Before we
begin, let’s have a moment of “quiet time” to invite the God
of our own understanding into our hearts and ask for an
open mind and the willingness to have a new experience…
followed by the “Serenity Prayer”…

Before we get into the first three steps, I’d like to first thank
a few people…

WELCOME to the Wednesday morning 7am Beginners’
Classes. During the next four weeks, you will learn how to
recover from alcoholism by taking the Twelve Steps as
outlined in the book “Alcoholics Anonymous”. The Program
of AA is a spiritually based plan of action that will remove
the compulsion to drink and enable you to live a life that is
happy, useful, and whole.

AA instructional meetings are said to have been started in
Cleveland, Ohio by Clarence S. in the early 1940’s. After
the publication of the “Saturday Evening Post” article about
Alcoholics Anonymous, AA started growing so rapidly it
became impossible for the early members to individually
take new prospects through the Steps. These meetings
were held for the purpose of acquainting both the old and
new members with the 12 steps upon which our program is
based. So that all twelve steps could be covered in a
minimum amount of time, they were divided into four
classifications, and one meeting each week was devoted to
each of the four subdivisions.

Each group has developed its own guidelines for teaching
the “Beginners’ Classes.” However, all these groups have
something in common. They provide a safe, structured
environment in which newcomers learn the principles of
AA, take the Steps, and have spiritual experiences.

The book, Alcoholics Anonymous, is our textbook for
recovery. We will be using it extensively during these
sessions.

As the title of the books implies, we are an anonymous
society. You can be assured we will protect your anonymity
at this and any other meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The Big Book was first published in April 1939. It was
written by several of the first 100 people to recover from
alcoholism. Since then, alcoholics have used it all over the
world as a program for recovery.

So that we can complete each class within an hour and still
provide ample time for questions, please write down
anything that you do not understand or need clarified and
save it until the end of the session. Questions can be asked
at that time.

The “Big Book” is the only book we will discuss during
these sessions except for possibly an occasional reference
to the book “Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions” or the
“Little Red Book” which was at one time used in
conjunction with the Big Book in meetings similar to this
one in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Miami, Florida. If you
cannot find something I say in the “Big Book”, consider it
to be my opinion rather than fact.

I’ll do my best to keep my opinions out of these
discussions. I’m here to pass on the AA program as written
and practiced by the early members. I am not here to
present my interpretation of the program.

In order for this process to work during the next four
weeks, certain guidelines will need to be followed by the
newcomer (or the person going through the Steps) and for
the sponsor.

1. The newcomers’ primary obligation is to be here every
week for the next four weeks. If you do not have
transportation, your sponsor will help you make the
necessary arrangements. It is our experience that this
process works best when the sponsor and newcomer
attend all four classes together.

2. Because some of us have difficulties reading when we’re
newly sober, I will be doing the reading from the Big
Book during these meetings. If you’ve brought your Big
Book with you please follow along as I read. Sometimes
we will be going through the material rather fast. If you
are unable to follow along, it’s ok – just listen the best
you can. Remember: we are here to take the ACTIONS
that the Big Book prescribes, not just to study the book.
If you take the Steps as described in the Big Book, you
will recover from alcoholism.

3. It is imperative that when writing your 4th Step inventory
you receive help and guidance from your sponsor and /
or other members here that have been through the work.
Many people try to do their 4th Step by themselves and
wonder why many weeks or months later they’re still not
finished. It’s very dangerous to go it alone in spiritual
matters. That’s why as part of our second week we’ll be
starting our inventories together in this meeting. We
understand that this phase of our development can get
quite personal. That’s why the 5th Step will of course not
be taken in class (obviously) but should be completed
between the second and third weeks.

4. Sponsors should call or visit with the newcomers (or
those going through the steps) frequently to see how he
or she is doing and to offer encouragement and
assistance through the work. Make use of the phone list
this meeting offers.

Can I get a show of hands of how many people would like
to take the 12 Steps with us during the next four weeks?
(Take a count.) Of those that raised your hand, how many
do not have a sponsor. (Take a count.) It is vital that
newcomers get a sponsor to guide them through the Steps
during the next four weeks. If you do not have a sponsor,
you will be assigned one after the meeting. Please stick
around after we close.

Let’s start this session by turning to the Forward of the Big
Book which is on Roman numeral page 13 (xiii).

“We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one
hundred men and women who have recovered from a
seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show
other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the
main purpose of this book.”
(page xiii, ¶ 1, lines 1-5)

So, the Big Book tells us immediately that it’s purpose is to
show alcoholics how to recover from alcoholism. Until this
book was written, there was no hope for alcoholics. Now,
anyone who is willing to follow the directions they have
provided, can recover.


During this session, we’ll be reading through material in
the Big Book and drawing from our own experiences to
help us answer the following questions:
1) Am I an alcoholic?
2) Do I need help?
3) Am I willing to take certain actions to receive that help?


So, let’s begin our journey with the first Step:


Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol —
that our lives had become unmanageable.

Surrender is essential in order to recover from alcoholism.
The first 51 pages of the Big Book is devoted to the first
part of the surrender process which is to admit we have a
problem. It’s suggested you read through these pages to
find your truth with alcohol and the illness of alcoholism.

The book begins by describing the physical and mental
symptoms of alcoholism. Later the book asks us to
acknowledge that we are alcoholics. Before we can do this,
we need to know what an alcoholic is. We’ll be using
information from “The Doctor’s Opinion”, Chapters 1, 2,
and 3, and the first page of Chapter 4. Let’s start on
Roman numeral page 24 (xxiv), second paragraph:

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

The doctor’s theory that we have an allergy to alcohol
interests us. As laymen, our opinion as to its
soundness may, of course, mean little. But as ex-
problem drinkers, we can say that his explanation
makes good sense. It explains many things for which
we cannot otherwise account.”
(page xxiv, ¶ 2 & 3)

Turn now to page xxvi where in the first paragraph Dr.
Silkworth further describes the alcoholics’ physical reaction
to alcohol after it is ingested into the body.

We believe, and so suggested a few years ago, that the
action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a
manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of
craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the
average temperate drinker. These allergic types can
never safely use alcohol in any form at all; and once
having formed the habit and found they cannot break
it, once having lost their self-confidence, their reliance
upon things human, their problems pile up on them
and become astonishingly difficult to solve.
(page xxvi, ¶ 1)

Notice that Dr. Silkworth referred to our physical reaction
to alcohol as an “allergy” and after one drink the
“phenomena of craving” develops. At the time the Big Book
was written very little was known about why the alcoholic
reacts to alcohol differently than other people. Since then,
science and the medical community have discovered some
things. We’ve learned that the body of the alcoholic is
physically different. The liver and pancreas of the alcoholic
process alcohol at one-third to one-tenth the rate of a nonalcoholic’s
pancreas and liver. As alcohol enters the body,
it breaks down into various components, one of which is
acetate. We know now that acetate triggers the
phenomenon of craving. In a normal drinker, the acetate
moves through the system quickly and exits. But that
doesn’t happen in us. In us, the acetate is not processed
out, so by staying in our body, it triggers a craving for a
second drink. We have a second drink, putting in us two
times as much acetate, and that makes us want a drink
twice as much as the normal drinker. So we have another.
Then, having three times the craving as a normal drinker,
we have another. You can see from that point how we have
no control over how much we drink. The craving cycle has
begun. Once the acetate accumulates in your body, (and
that begins to happen with the FIRST drink), you will crave
another – IF you’re an alcoholic. And how many times did
we think it’d be nice to have JUST ONE drink to relax, but
you had more? Now you see why. And this can NEVER
change – IF you’re alcoholic.

Go to the 4th paragraph on the page (xxvi)… and Dr.
Silkworth describes the common drinking cycle of an
alcoholic and begins to describe the second factor of the
alcoholic illness – we know the first factor is the abnormal
reaction of the body: the physical craving. The second
factor is the mental obsession. He’s going to describe the
mental state of the alcohol before we pick up the first
drink:

“Men and women drink essentially because they like
the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so
elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they
cannot after a time differentiate the true from the
false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only
normal one. They are restless, irritable and
discontented, unless they can again experience the
sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by
taking a few drinks—drinks which they see others
taking with impunity. After they have succumbed to
the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon
of craving develops, they pass through the well-known
stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm
resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over
and over, and unless this person can experience an
entire psychic change there is very little hope of his
recovery.”
(page xxvi, ¶ 4)

If our minds didn’t lie to us and tell us that it’s ok to
drink, we would never trigger the physical allergy
which produces the craving for more and more alcohol.
So, we have an abnormal reaction of the body and an
obsession of the mind which dooms us to drink again.
It’s important to note that the body of an alcoholic can
never recover, but the mind can. If alcoholism were
solely a physical disease then we could just stop
drinking and that would be the solution. But the
mental factor is why just quitting is not enough…


That’s why Dr. Silkworth says we need an entire psychic change.

On page xxvii, Dr. Silkworth says that all we have to do is
follow a few simple rules and we won’t have the desire for
alcohol. We can never be cured. But, the problem won’t
exist for us as long as we remain in a fit spiritual condition.
Those few simple rules Dr. Silkworth talks about are the
actions we’re going to take in the twelve steps to bring
about that entire physic change. Let’s go to page xxviii,
paragraph 1.

This concludes our readings from the “Doctor’s Opinion”.
During the next week, please read Chapter 1, “Bill’s Story”.
Bill W. is the New York stock analyst who is one of our cofounders.
His story is a perfect example of an alcoholic.
Some people have difficulty identifying with Bill because he
was such a low-bottom, hopeless alcoholic. Here, as with
the rest of the book, we ask that you look for similarities
rather than differences. See where you can identify with
Bill as he continues to use alcohol long after it has become
a problem. It was suggested to me to try to identify with the
way Bill felt, the way Bill thought, and the way Bill drank.

The first 8 pages of “Bill’s Story” give an example of the
problem of the alcoholic. And the last 8 pages of “Bill’s
Story” describes the spiritual solution. The only thing I’m
going to read from Bill’s story this morning is the first full
paragraph on page 8 because it describes so well what we
alcoholics call our bottom. Bill writes on page 8:

“No words can tell of the loneliness and despair I
found in that bitter morass of self-pity. Quicksand
stretched around me in all directions. I had met my
match. I had been overwhelmed. Alcohol was my
master.”
(page 8, ¶ 1)


If you have felt like that in the past, then you identify with
Bill. If Bill says he’s a real alcoholic then you might be too.

Let’s skip Chapter 2, “This is a Solution” for now and I urge
you to read it during the next week.

Turn to page 30, the first page of Chapter 3, “More About
Alcoholism”.

“Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real
alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and
mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not
surprising that our drinking careers have been
characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we
could drink like other people. The idea that somehow,
someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the
great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The
persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many
pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.

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.

(page 30, ¶ 1, & 2)

So, in these paragraphs, the book confirms that we are
different from the “average” / non-alcoholic drinker in both
the bodily and mental sense. They restate that we continue
to believe in the lie that we can somehow control and enjoy
our drinking. When I was trying to control my drinking I
didn’t enjoy it. And during the time I was enjoying drinking
I certainly was not controlling it. And the books tells us
again that if we continue to believe in the lie that our
minds tell us and we continue to kill our bodies by
drinking alcohol, then we’re either going to go insane or
die.

The first step was stated in the second paragraph and we’ll
be getting back to that statement in just a moment…

Now, let’s briefly cover one of the examples that this
chapter gives us describing the mental obsession we
alcoholics have when it comes to alcohol. We’ll start with
the first full paragraph on page 35:

“What sort of thinking dominates an alcoholic who
repeats time after time the desperate experiment of the
first drink? Friends who have reasoned with him after
a spree which has brought him to the point of divorce
or bankruptcy are mystified when he walks directly
into a saloon. Why does he? Of what is he thinking?

Our example is a friend we shall call Jim. Jim is a nice guy.
He’s well liked by friends and family. He inherited a car
dealership and was pretty successful for a time. Jim
started drinking at age 35 and a few years later was
committed to an asylum. He was in touch with AA and the
old-timers worked with him. They shared there stories and
told Jim about the first two steps. He made a beginning,
but failed to go forward with the spiritual Program of action
described in this book. He got drunk seven times in rapid
succession. Each time, the old-timers worked with him. He
described to them what happened. Basically, because he
failed to go ahead with the rest of the Program, he
succumbed to the lie that he could drink whiskey safely
and his trivial excuse was if he poured the booze into milk
it wouldn’t hurt him on a full stomach. Because Jim didn’t
continue with the rest of the Program and take the rest of
the steps, he DID NOT have the entire physic change that
Dr. Silkworth talks about and fell victim to the lie that he
could drink safely.

On page 37, our book describes that kind of thinking as
pure insanity. The text says in the first full paragraph of
the page:

Whatever the precise definition of the word may be, we call
this plain insanity. How can such a lack of proportion, of
the ability to think straight, be called anything else?”
(page 37, ¶ 1)

Isn’t that a perfect definition to describe alcoholic insanity

– the lack of proportion, of the ability to think straight.
We can’t see the truth from the false when it comes to
alcohol. The insanity of alcoholism is not all those crazy
things we do while drinking: like crashing cars, getting
arrested, hurting other people mentally and physically.
Sure, it’s crazy to have done those things, but the real
insanity is thinking we can safely drink alcohol in the first
place... even after all the pain, suffering, and humiliation
we’ve gone through. Like Dr. Silkworth said, the main
problem of the alcoholic centers in the mind rather
than the body.

Let’s wrap up our discussion of the physical and mental
aspects of alcoholism by turning to the first page of
Chapter 4, “We Agnostics” – page 44. In the first
paragraph, four lines down, the Big Book gives us a
statement that can be turned into a question for us to ask
ourselves so we can determine if we have the mind and
the body of an alcoholic. The book reads:

“If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot
quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little
control over the amount you take, you are probably
alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering
from an illness which only a spiritual experience will
conquer.”
(page 44, ¶ 1, lines 4 – 9)

I will be asking a couple questions to each person who
wants to take the first step with us. This first one is to help
us determine if we have the mental and physical
symptoms of alcoholism. Newcomers and people taking
the steps with us, please stand…

(Ask both questions to each person standing, one at a
time.)

If, when you honestly wanted to, could you quit
drinking entirely (by yourself)?

Or

When drinking, did you have little (or no) control over
the amount you took?

Well, if that be the case, you are probably alcoholic and
you may be suffering from an illness which only a
spiritual experience will conquer.



Please be seated.

Now, let’s take a look at a third factor involved in the 1st
Step – the spiritual malady. Hence, the need for the second
part of the first step: - “… - that our lives had become
unmanageable”:

On page 64, the Big Book says, “When the spiritual malady
is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically.”

Let’s turn to page 52, and look in the second paragraph for
symptoms of the spiritual malady or as this paragraph
describes them as bedevilments, which means to be
confused. And that’s what we alcoholics suffered from all
our lives – a “confused and baffled spirit”… Let’s turn these
statements into questions that we can answer for
ourselves. These questions can be answered in the past
tense (i.e.: when we were drinking) or in the present tense
(i.e.: now, not drinking, suffering from an unmanageable
spirit because of untreated alcoholism). As I read them,
answer these questions for yourself to see if you had been
or presently may be experiencing these symptoms:

1) We were having trouble with personal relationships
(and we include ourselves here). Does that apply?

2) We couldn’t control our emotional natures (ever have
“up and down” days?). Does that apply?

3) We were a prey to (or had bouts of) misery and
depression. Does that apply?

4) We couldn’t make a living (or a decent successful life).
Does that apply?

5) We had a feeling of uselessness. Does that apply?

6) We were full of fear (ever worry about things?). Does
that apply?

14

7) We were unhappy. Does that apply?

We couldn’t seem to be of real help to other people.
Does that apply?

So, if several of those apply to you -- your life really is
unmanageable and chances are you are suffering from a
malady which only spiritual experience (or awakening) will
conquer.

Back on page 44 in the second paragraph the book told us
that we have only two alternatives: 1) to be doomed an
alcoholic death… or 2) to live on a spiritual basis.

So, if your choice is to live on a spiritual basis, rest assured
that not only is a spiritual awakening possible, it is a
guarantee, provided we keep an open mind and take the
Steps as described in this book.

We’re going to begin this process of admittance with the 1st
Step. Before we do that, let’s review exactly what we
alcoholics suffer from:

If I can’t drink safely because of the allergy of the body (the
first factor of the 1st Step) and I can’t stop drinking because
of the obsession of the mind (the second factor), then I'm
powerless over alcohol – first half of the 1st Step. If I suffer
from symptoms of a life run on self will described on page 52
then my life is unmanageable (third factor).

On page 30, the Big Book tells us exactly what we have to
do to make the admission that we’re real alcoholics.
Remember we read, “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.”

In order to smash the delusion that we’re not alcoholics,
I’m going to ask each of you to answer a simple question,
“Are you ready to concede to your innermost self you are
powerless over alcohol?” In other words, “Are you
alcoholic?” All that is required is a yes or no answer.

If you are not convinced you are an alcoholic or that your
life is unmanageable, please let us know. Your “sponsor” or
“spiritual advisor” or one of the members of this group is
willing to spend time with you this week to discuss your
reservations.

For those who are ready, let’s take the 1st Step together.
Will the newcomers and everyone that is taking the Steps
with us over the next few weeks please stand. This is the
final First Step question:

Do you concede to your innermost self you are an
alcoholic?

Please answer, one at a time, yes or no and then be seated.

(Have each person answer the question.)

Thank you. Those of you who have answered yes to this
question have taken Step One. Congratulations!


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16


Now that we have admitted we are alcoholics, let’s look at
what we have to do in order to recover. Just in case we’re
not convinced that we need a Power Greater than
ourselves, the authors of the Big Book wrote this statement
as the last paragraph of Chapter 3, “More About
Alcoholism”. On page 43, last paragraph, the book states:

“Once more: The alcoholic at certain times has no
effective mental defense against the first drink. Except
in a few cases, neither he nor any other human being
can provide such a defense. His defense must come
from a Higher Power.”
(page 43, ¶ 3)

Let’s dispel a myth that’s quite often heard in the meeting
rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous. Many welling intentioned
people make the statement… “When I feel like drinking, I
remember where I came from… I think the drink through
and I keep my memory green.” Well, that’s good advise
provided I have a mental defense against drinking alcohol.
The paragraph we just read tells us that at certain times
we don’t have a mental defense against the first
drink. That implies that sometimes I might have a mental
defense. So, sometimes I might be able to remember where
I come from… sometimes I might be able to think the drink
through… sometimes I might be able to keep my memory
green. BUT, the scary thing is, sometimes I won’t. The
real scary thing is, I don’t know when that “sometime” will
be. And if I knew when I was going to have the mental
defense, then I wouldn’t be truly powerless of alcohol,
would I?

So, what this paragraph is telling us is that in order for me
not to drink alcohol, I must have a Power Greater than
myself and that Power will provide my defense and keep
me safe and protected from alcohol – guaranteed… of
course, provided I take certain steps.

So, since we’ve admitted that we’re powerless and we have
a need to find a Power, let’s proceed to the 2nd Step which
is:

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves
could restore us to sanity.

Chapter 4, “We Agnostics” gives us a lot of information and
direction for us to take Step 2. Be sure to read this chapter
in addition to the other chapters we’ve covered during the
next week.

To give us a basis for taking the Second Step we’re going to
cover four main points.

1) Do you believe or are you even willing to believe that
there is a Power that will solve your problem?

2) Do you have a conception of that Power which makes
sense to you and works for you?

3) Is that Power, which the book quite often refers to God,
everything… if not, it is nothing. At this point, we’ll
have to make a choice.

4) Where are we going to find this Power.

Page 46, starting with the 3rd line in the 1st paragraph the
text says:

On pages 46 & 47 the book gives us certain requirements
for the second step. In a nutshell, they are:

We have to lay aside prejudice
We have to express a willing ness to believe
We have to come up with our own conception of God
We have to admit the possible existence of that Power
We have to honestly seek that Power

So, if we’ve met these requirements, let’s look at the
question on page 47, -second paragraph:

“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?” 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. It has been repeatedly proven among us that
upon this simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective
spiritual structure can be built.”
(page 47, ¶ 2)

Let’s see who is ready to proceed and take the first part of
Step 2. Will the people who have completed Step One
please stand. I’m going to ask you the following question:

“Do you now believe, or are you even willing to believe,
that there is a Power greater than yourself?”

Please answer one at a time, yes or no.

(Have each person answer the question.)

Thank you. Please be seated. Now we can move forward.

If we don’t have a conception of God that makes sense to
us, pages 46 & 47 give us some good ideas. The following
are some of the words and descriptions the old-timers used
to describe God:

Power greater than ourselves (page 45, ¶ 1)

All Powerful (page 49, ¶ 0)

Guiding (page 49, ¶ 0)

Creative Intelligence (page 46, ¶ 2 / page 49, ¶ 0)

Spirit of the Universe (page 46, ¶ 2)

the Realm of Spirit (page 46, ¶ 2)

Supreme Being

Power

Great Reality (page 55, ¶ 3)

The Presence of Infinite Power and Love (page 56, ¶ 4)

Maker (page 57, ¶ 1)

And of course, “God”

Keep in mind, these are only examples of terms found in
this Chapter to describe God. Feel free to use these or any
other conception you have provided it makes sense to you.
Remember, use your own conception, however limited it
may currently be. The important thing is that it’s your
conception.

Now that we 1) believe or are willing to believe and 2) we
have our own conception of God, we have to consider the
proposition that many people call “the Second Step
Choice”. It’s on page 53 in the second paragraph:

When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-
imposed crises we could not postpone or evade, we
had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is
everything or else He is nothing. God either is or He
isn’t. What was our choice to be?”
(page 53, ¶ 2)

Let’s take a moment to consider both sides of the coin. If
we believe what our book says and we believe the
experience of thousands of recovered alcoholics that have
gone before us, we can easily answer this question in the
affirmative. But, let’s consider for a second that we choose
God to be “nothing” in our lives and that he “isn’t” a part of
us. Where do we go from here? Well, if that be the case, we
won’t be able to go much further. And if we’re really, truly
POWERLESS, we need God now, more than ever.

So, are we all ready to proceed? I know I am…

The last thing we need to look at in the Second Step is
where do we find God. Well, we find our answer on page 55
when it says in the second paragraph:

“Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in
every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea
of God. It may be obscured (means hidden or blocked)
by calamity, by pomp, (by resentments, by fears, by
guilt shame and remorse for the harms we’ve caused
others), by worship of other things, but in some form
or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than
ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that
power in human lives, are facts as old as man
himself.”
(page 55, ¶ 2)

So, now we know where to find God – deep down within
ourselves.

At the end of the chapter, they tell a story of a man who
had been relieved of his drink obsession and restored to
sanity by the Loving hand of God. The book says on page
57, first paragraph:

“What is this but a miracle of healing? Yet its elements
are simple. Circumstances (Step 1: the pain,
suffering, and humiliation of his drinking experiences)
made him willing to believe. He humbly offered himself
to his Maker—then he knew.”

He took Steps 1, 2, & 3.

“Even so has God restored us all to our right minds.
To this man, the revelation was sudden. (As in a
spiritual experience, like Bill W. had in Towns
Hospital.) Some of us grow into it more slowly. (As in a
spiritual awakening as Apendix II describes as the
“educational variety”.) But He has come to all who
have honestly sought Him.


When we drew near to Him He disclosed Himself to
us!”
(page 57, ¶ 1 – 3)

-----------------------------------------------------

We’ve completed the first two Steps in the Program of
Recovery. In order for God to disclose Himself to us, we
have to draw near to him. That means we have to move
forward to Step 3.

Step 3 reads: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to
the care of God as we understood Him.

Let’s clarify a couple words that confuse some of us in the
Third Step.

First, the word decision implies that action will follow.
We’re all familiar, I’m sure, with the story of the three frogs
on a log… one frog decides to jump off… How many frogs
are left on the log? … Three. The one frog only decided to
jump. He didn’t take any action.

Secondly, let’s look at the words… our will and our lives.

What is my will? And how can we turn our lives over to
something? Well, my will is my thinking and my life is no
more than an accumulation of my actions.

Let’s reread the step using these new words.

“We’re going to decide to turn our thoughts and our
actions over to God as we understand Him.”

Easier to understand now?

Let’s begin the reading of Step 3 on page 60 after the a, b,
c’s:

“Being convinced, we were at Step Three, which is that
we decided to turn our will (our thinking) and our life
(our actions) over to God as we understood Him. Just
what do we mean by that, and just what do we do?

Well, there are more requirements to be met. Be sure to
read pages 60 – 62 during the next week. Unfortunately, we
don’t have time to read them together, now. Basically, the
book tells us the requirements of the Third Step are:

1) I have to be convinced that my life, run on my own self-
will, can hardly be a success.

2) I have to quit trying to run my life and self-will. I have to
quit playing God. Why? It doesn’t work.

3) I have to “let God be God” and let Him run my life.

Now we’re ready to make our Third Step decision together.

In the next paragraph they tell us what our decision is to
be:

“This is the how and the why of it. First of all, we had
to quit playing God. (Why?) 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.”
(page 62, ¶ 3)

This means:
We have to quit playing God.
We decide God is going to Direct us.
We decide to let God be the Boss and we’re his employees.
We decide that God is the Father and we’re his kids.

Have we all made this decision, together?

Great! As the result of just making this decision, the book
tells us we will receive several promises. They are listed in
the first paragraph of page 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 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.”
(page 63, ¶ 1)

Let’s affirm the decision we just made by saying the Third
Step Prayer that’s in the next paragraph together as a
group:

“We were now at Step Three. 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!” We thought well
before taking this step making sure we were ready;
that we could at last abandon ourselves utterly to
Him.”

(page 63, ¶ 2)

“This was only a beginning, though if honestly and
humbly made, an effect, sometimes a very great one,
was felt at once” the book tells us.

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 (3rd Step) was 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.

That ends today’s session. Next week we will learn how to
do the 4th Step inventory and we will begin it in class. It’s
not as difficult as some of the things you may have heard
shared in meetings. My experience is, we can have fun
with inventory and learn to laugh at ourselves and see
the truth about how we were running our own lives
providing we take inventory the “Big Book” way. We’ll
also cover the directions for Step 5 and we’ll prepare to
complete these two Steps before we meet for the third
week. Please review what we’ve covered during this past
hour and asked someone who’s gone through the work
before if you have any questions during the next week.
Remember, you can put your name on the phone list and it
will be available for next week so we can begin to call and
support each other during our journey through the 12
Steps.

Are there any questions on what we’ve covered so far?

Remember our reading assignments for the next week:

Review “Doctor’s Opinion”

The first four chapters and Appendix II: “Spiritual Experience”

Read the Third Step from Chapter 5 And familiarize yourself with the information and directions for Step 4 in Chapter 5

Thanks and may God Bless.

We’ll CLOSE with the Lord’s Prayer.

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Prepared by Mike L. for the West Orange, New Jersey A.A. “Beginners’ Classes”. This format may be used and distributed provided that a fee, except for photocopying reimbursement, is NOT charged. Please do not change, modify, or alter without prior consent from the author. For additional copies of this guide call (note: I was just informed that the phone number posted and the email address are no longer valid. I'll try to locate the current info for anyone that's intereste... You may want to call the AA Intergroup for West Orange, NJ, and see if they can help you locate Mike L. and the group, and the time and location of their meetings ... Dallas B.) May God bless you in your journey through taking and teaching the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
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[DiggerinVA]

I feel AA really needs this. Wally P does a good one too. I saw it last Saturday and it was excellent. Very similar too. His is based on the classes from the 1940's. I would be very interested to see their 11th step.

The sponsorship is a real problem in AA. I went through three people trying to find one. My sponsor and I have had some very interesting discussions on the steps. One problem I see, is the number of sponsors who let their sponsee's be meeting makers and not step takers.

[DiggerinVA]

The phone number is disconnected and the email was returned undeliverable.

[Dallas]

I'll post a pdf file so that you can download the rest of it. Perhaps someone out there will get an updated phone number and email address. Until then, I'll post what I have and you can download it.

If the talks are not available on CD from some AA speaker tape provider, I'll upload a copy of the ones I've got and send you a link.

Dallas

[DiggerinVA]

Thank You

[Mitchell25418]

Moring All - My name is John & I'm an alcoholic. I have visited this site quite often but never posted. I'm in the program almost 3 months and doing pretty well. Going to as many meetings as I can (didn't make 90 in 90). I have a home group & sponser. I completed step one and am working on step 2. Some days I feel like I'm doing well can see a path in fornt of me. Other days I feel like I'm not doing this program "correctly" & fear not recovering. This forum is helpful so that I can stay on track!

[Dallas]

Hello John, thanks for participating. I appreciate you.

I understand. It was that same way for me, too, in the beginning. And, if you hang in there and continue to do the work -- those feelings will pass.

I was talking on the phone with a friend the other say and we talked about the hardest thing we ever did in our lives: and, it was the same thing. Staying sober that first year in AA. Nothing comes near as tough, I don't believe. I don't think I could survive with having to do it again.

The other thing we talked about was how it was so different now. And, that with each year sober, we were still having problems, but nothing like the severity of problems in staying sober as a newcomer.

Then, we talked about how life just keeps getting better and better and better and better. And, t will be that way for you, as well.

Take a look at the last paragraph on page 164, Big Book. That, I believe is one of the keys to turning it all around!

Best wishes,

Dallas B.

[Mitchell25418]

Thanks Dallas - Having wise folks (like everyone here) pointing me in the right direction is the greatest tool. I never would have made it this far without AA. Thank You!