Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
I look at step 12 as 3 pieces.
First is the guarantee of a spiritual awakening.The beginning of step 12 tells us that from working the steps we will have a spiritual awakening.We are not told we will receive or be anything else.In the Big Book there are the 12 promises and other rewards for working the various steps, but nothing is associated with any of the steps until we have completed the first 11 then we will have had a spiritual awakening.
Through the other 11 steps we are creating the path for this spiritual awakening.As we have gone through the steps we are lead through a process, and in my opinion, the only process that we as alcoholics can follow to achieve a spiritual awakening.And through a spiritual awakening is the only way to achieve lasting sobriety.As the BB tells us.What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Big Book pg 85
Second is carrying the message.Many read this as going out and finding the practicing alcoholic in the depths of despair.I believe that this is not only to the practicing alcoholic but also to those who are among us at meeting that are struggling.In my opinion carrying the message is not only talking to another alcoholic but is all service work we do.We cannot always find the alcoholic as they were portrayed in the Big Book. There are so many treatment centers and groups now that to work with the new or struggling alcoholics there just arent enough to go around.When the Big Book was written there were 100 members and several groups.So today our service work shows up in many other ways, making coffee, setting up chairs, speaking, greeting new comers, just to name a few.It is all service work helping others to stay sober, insuring that when a new comer arrives there will be a meeting.There are still the traditional 12 step calls.
I recall being in detox and talking to another patient about having to get rid of any alcohol on the house so he wouldnt go home to drink.I new nothing of the 12 steps at the time having been clean for only a day or 2 but I knew for me that if there was alcohol around I would use so I carried this small message to someone else.And so began my journey to spirituality,
To carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers is not limited to the using addict but also to the new or old timer that is going through a trying time they too are struggling we are all only one drink away from our next drunk.
Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion: Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when other fail. Remember they are very ill.
Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends - this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives. -A.A. Big Book p.89
And our 5th tradition - Each group has but one primary purpose--to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
5th tradition long form - Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose - that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
Third is practicing these principles in all our affairs.You could be the only copy of the Big Book that a person ever sees.How you are living, practicing these principles is the example people will see and derive their opinion of AA.
For a great explanation of the principles follow this link, it will be explained much better than I ever could attempt.
-- Edited by Dan B 76 on Sunday 29th of April 2012 06:00:37 PM
Wolfie55 said
May 4, 2012
Thanks Dan. You're a hard act to follow. I agree with everything you said. Carrying the message. That's what its all about. Ebby brought a message to Bill, Bill brought a similar message with slight improvements to Dr. Bob and then he in turn carried the message to others and it continues today with a conservative estimate of 4 million members worldwide. It makes me feel small and insignificant when I look at the big picture but then I remember that no alcoholic is small or insignificant because no alcoholic is less than or better than another. we are all equal, all parts of a greater whole. I believe that service and sponsorship are two of the best ways to insure immunity against the first drink. Every time I take a new person through the twelve steps, I get to do the twelve steps again. So I think I've done my steps.....counting my fingers and toes.....about 50 times so far. And I'm still learning. LOL. What the heck, I'm good for another 50 tries.
And every time I do some form of service work, I make a 12 step call possible. Making coffee, giving someone a big book, writing an article for the AA grapevine, attending a workshop, letting your name stand on a committee, shaking someone's hand at a meeting whether a new person or someone who's been around for a while trying to go it alone, well they are all just different ways of making coffee. Some of us are just better at different things.
Thanks for taking the time to do this for us.
Fyne Spirit said
May 13, 2012
Dan,
Thanks for all your work on this board. I was just thinking what a great example it is of the twelfth step. Carrying the message on the one hand, but practicing these principles in all our affairs was what really came to mind. It was a big commitment to run through all the steps. You said you would do it and you did. Which makes you a man of your word, someone to be trusted and relied upon. To me this is the mark of someone who has had a spiritual awakening.
Carrying the message, I have learned, carries also some responsibilities. When someone, be it the alcoholic, or his friend, or professional (DR) asks AA for help I must bear in mind that whatever I do and say will be seen by these people as what AA does and says. One of the most important things for me is always to keep the door open, especially to friends of AA. Example, recently I had a call to a motel where a drunk was holed up. Turned out he had been self harming and there was blood on the walls in the unit. The guy wouldn't let me clean it up. When the motellier asked what was going on I told her about the condition of her room and she decided to chuck the guy out. It's her room, it is my responsibilty to be honest with her, she will call us again and we may yet be able to help someone. After thinking about the situation I ended up calling the cops to pick this guy up as he was a suicide risk, and they kept him safe. So it wasn't your typical call, but the alcoholic ended up in a safe place, and the motelier can trust AA not to lie to her.
Another unusual one was recently in our intensive care unit. The poor man didn't make it, but the physicians observed a huge psychological change for the good in their patient once he had AA visits. They made a special effort to let us know that AA had made a very positive impression with them, which bodes well for the next alcoholic in their care who needs help.
So my message is AA and the yet to recover alcoholic need as many friends as we can get out in the world, and our behaviour as AA members carrying the message, can have a hugely positive effect. People notice and people talk.
Step 12 AA
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
I look at step 12 as 3 pieces.
First is the guarantee of a spiritual awakening. The beginning of step 12 tells us that from working the steps we will have a spiritual awakening. We are not told we will receive or be anything else. In the Big Book there are the 12 promises and other rewards for working the various steps, but nothing is associated with any of the steps until we have completed the first 11 then we will have had a spiritual awakening.
Through the other 11 steps we are creating the path for this spiritual awakening. As we have gone through the steps we are lead through a process, and in my opinion, the only process that we as alcoholics can follow to achieve a spiritual awakening. And through a spiritual awakening is the only way to achieve lasting sobriety. As the BB tells us. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Big Book pg 85
Second is carrying the message. Many read this as going out and finding the practicing alcoholic in the depths of despair. I believe that this is not only to the practicing alcoholic but also to those who are among us at meeting that are struggling. In my opinion carrying the message is not only talking to another alcoholic but is all service work we do. We cannot always find the alcoholic as they were portrayed in the Big Book. There are so many treatment centers and groups now that to work with the new or struggling alcoholics there just arent enough to go around. When the Big Book was written there were 100 members and several groups. So today our service work shows up in many other ways, making coffee, setting up chairs, speaking, greeting new comers, just to name a few. It is all service work helping others to stay sober, insuring that when a new comer arrives there will be a meeting. There are still the traditional 12 step calls.
I recall being in detox and talking to another patient about having to get rid of any alcohol on the house so he wouldnt go home to drink. I new nothing of the 12 steps at the time having been clean for only a day or 2 but I knew for me that if there was alcohol around I would use so I carried this small message to someone else. And so began my journey to spirituality,
To carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers is not limited to the using addict but also to the new or old timer that is going through a trying time they too are struggling we are all only one drink away from our next drunk.
Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion: Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when other fail. Remember they are very ill.
Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends - this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.
-A.A. Big Book p.89
And our 5th tradition - Each group has but one primary purpose--to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
5th tradition long form - Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose - that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
Third is practicing these principles in all our affairs. You could be the only copy of the Big Book that a person ever sees. How you are living, practicing these principles is the example people will see and derive their opinion of AA.
For a great explanation of the principles follow this link, it will be explained much better than I ever could attempt.
http://www.aabibliography.com/aa_principles.html
-- Edited by Dan B 76 on Sunday 29th of April 2012 06:00:37 PM
And every time I do some form of service work, I make a 12 step call possible. Making coffee, giving someone a big book, writing an article for the AA grapevine, attending a workshop, letting your name stand on a committee, shaking someone's hand at a meeting whether a new person or someone who's been around for a while trying to go it alone, well they are all just different ways of making coffee. Some of us are just better at different things.
Thanks for taking the time to do this for us.
Thanks for all your work on this board. I was just thinking what a great example it is of the twelfth step. Carrying the message on the one hand, but practicing these principles in all our affairs was what really came to mind. It was a big commitment to run through all the steps. You said you would do it and you did. Which makes you a man of your word, someone to be trusted and relied upon. To me this is the mark of someone who has had a spiritual awakening.
Carrying the message, I have learned, carries also some responsibilities. When someone, be it the alcoholic, or his friend, or professional (DR) asks AA for help I must bear in mind that whatever I do and say will be seen by these people as what AA does and says. One of the most important things for me is always to keep the door open, especially to friends of AA. Example, recently I had a call to a motel where a drunk was holed up. Turned out he had been self harming and there was blood on the walls in the unit. The guy wouldn't let me clean it up. When the motellier asked what was going on I told her about the condition of her room and she decided to chuck the guy out. It's her room, it is my responsibilty to be honest with her, she will call us again and we may yet be able to help someone. After thinking about the situation I ended up calling the cops to pick this guy up as he was a suicide risk, and they kept him safe. So it wasn't your typical call, but the alcoholic ended up in a safe place, and the motelier can trust AA not to lie to her.
Another unusual one was recently in our intensive care unit. The poor man didn't make it, but the physicians observed a huge psychological change for the good in their patient once he had AA visits. They made a special effort to let us know that AA had made a very positive impression with them, which bodes well for the next alcoholic in their care who needs help.
So my message is AA and the yet to recover alcoholic need as many friends as we can get out in the world, and our behaviour as AA members carrying the message, can have a hugely positive effect. People notice and people talk.