Aa history Lovers 2004 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page

natural to us.

We have all come to know that as alcoholics we are suffering from

a serious disease for which medicine has no cure. Our condition may be the

result of an allergy, which makes us different from other people. It has never

been, by any treatment with which we are familiar, permanently cured. The only

relief we have to suggest is absolute abstinence - the second meaning of AA.

There are no dues nor fees. The only requirement for AA membership

is an honest desire to stop drinking. Each member squares his debt by helping

others to recovery.

An Alcoholic Anonymous is an alcoholic who, through an application

of an adherence to the AA program, has completely foresworn the use of any and

all alcoholic beverages or narcotics in any form. The moment he drinks so much

as one drop of beer, wine, spirits or any other alcoholic beverage, he

automatically loses working status as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. He

cannot attend a meeting if he has had a drink on any meeting day. He is barred

from making contact calls on any new or prospective member until he has had

thirty days sobriety, unless accompanied by an eligible member or directed to

do so by the Dispatcher. He cannot hold office or be a candidate for office

until he has had three months sobriety and must submit his resignation as an

officer if a slip occurs during his tenure in office.[i][i]

AA is not interested in sobering up drunks who are not sincere in

their desire to remain completely sober for all time. Not being reformers, we

offer our experience only to those who want it.

We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which

we can join in harmonious action. Rarely have we seen a person fail who has

thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who will not

completely give themselves to this simple program.

You may like this program or you may not. But the fact remains

that it works and it is our only chance of recovery.

There is, however, a vast amount of fun about it all. Some people

might be shocked at our seeming worldliness and levity. But just underneath

there is a deadly earnestness and a full realization that we must put First

Things First.

With each of us the First Thing is our alcohol problem, to drink

is to die. Faith has to work 24 hours a day in and through us - or we perish.

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*From:* Glenn Chesnut

[mailto:[e-mail]]

*Sent:* Monday, July 26, 2004 12:15

AM

*To:* [e-mail]

*Subject:* [AAHistoryLovers]

[e-mail] on the Old Preamble

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Lee N. (Woodstock, Maine)

[e-mail] wrote on

Sun, 25 Jul 2004:

An elder

member who was a great friend of our Archives during my tenure, and another

member also, were close to Captain Jack near the end of his life. When he

passed from us both these folks donated a very large amount of Captain Jack's

memorabilia to the Archives, including this old Preamble which I described in

my previous post to the group. We were able to fill a display case 4' long

with

his memorabilia at the Central Office where our Archives is located. Anyway,

she has passed this question to me and I would very much like to give her an

answer. How do we describe this old Preamble which we have on display? What

kind of tag or information should we put on it?

Tom E.

[e-mail] responded:

Hi,

Folks:

Variations

of that preamble were discussed in AAHistoryLovers and the earlier

AAHistoryBuffs forums. Here are some of the posts:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/247

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/271

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/826

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/827

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/828

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/829

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/836

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/841

Article

828 quotes a GrapeVine article with Searcy W taking partial credit. In Message

841, Art Sheehan is saying that it was a Preamble from Texas but it predated

Searcy's sobriety.

Lacking physical evidence, I'm not going to attempt to validate any

attribution

of the source.

This

Google search gets you thirty-four examples of the same or similar preambles

on

web sites.

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22We+are+gathered+here+because+we+are+faced+wi

th%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF_8&c2coff=1&filter=0 [87]

Most of

these sites have no attribution or are vague. I believe they got their

information when it was argued out without agreement in the Usenet news group

alt.recovery.aa in the mid 1990s.

______________________

En2joy!

Tom En2ger

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++++Message 1947. . . . . . . . . . . . A Pint of Dignity, a Sip of Humour

(2004)

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/26/2004 4:03:00 PM

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This is from the Toronto Star

Jul. 20, 2004.

A pint of dignity, a sip of humour

JIM COYLE

Tonight, in a Toronto church basement that's bright and cheerful as such

places go but is still a church basement, a man I know will receive a

medallion marking 20 years of sobriety.

To say the least, 7,305 days is a long time between drinks. To illustrate just

how long, the year the last one was taken Wayne Gretzky and his Edmonton

Oilers won their first Stanley Cup, the Soviet Union boycotted the Los Angeles

summer Olympics and Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" was a

top single.

If it's a long time, it's also a long way from a life of self-centredness,

irresponsibility and despair to one of generosity, duty and contentment. To

some, such a transformation is a miracle. At the very least, it is

astonishing. And this one happened, as such things frequently do, in the rooms

of Alcoholics Anonymous.

If tonight's medallion is a celebration of the power of AA, so too is a new

biography by Susan Cheever of Bill Wilson, co-founder of what's come to be

regarded as one of the more important social breakthroughs of the 20th

century.

In My Name is Bill, Cheever says the method Wilson devised for addressing

alcoholism "didn't work perfectly. It didn't work all the time. But it worked

often and fairly well, which was worlds ahead of anything else that has been

thought of to combat addiction before or since."

Some regard Wilson as having been divinely inspired in drafting AA's 12 Steps.

Whatever one's view on that, there can be little argument that his fusing of

ideas from medicine, psychology, philosophy, religion and the power of

storytelling into a program of recovery was no small act of genius.

As it happens, the writer Christopher Hitchens has a bash at AA in the current

issue of Vanity Fair in an entertaining but facile review of U.S. Preside nt

George W. Bush's battle with alcohol. Hitchens calls it "a quasi-cult that

demands surrender to a higher power." He dismisses what goes on there as

"church-basement babble."

In truth, far from acting as a proselytizing cult, AA has resisted even much

in the way of advertising since its founding in 1935, believing in attraction,

rather than promotion. In his day, Wilson even turned down honorary degrees

and other public tributes in order to avoid the cult of personality.

In reality, AA demands nothing. Those who arrive at its doors - and nobody

does by accident or without having made rather a botch of things - are free to

take it or leave it, their misery cheerfully refunded.

But should they wish to try a different way, they are shown what has worked

for millions of others like them around the world. And considering the toll

untreated alcoholism takes on families, highways, in workplaces, the health

and justice systems, anything that transforms so many of the perpetrators of

such mayhem into responsible citizens must be doing a lot more than talking

babble.

Actually, you'd think AA and its founder, who was a lifelong conservative and

staunch Republican, might appeal to Hitchens. As Cheever notes, AA is a

society with no laws, one that is fully self-supporting. Its leaders "are but

trusted servants, they do not govern."

To be sure, it is a program often perplexing for being so counter-intuitive

and rooted so much in paradox. It is about personal responsibility and mutual

support, surrender as a means to freedom, concern for others as the route to

understanding the self, and selfless service as a path to personal gain.

For all it accomplishes, Hitchens might be pleased to know he would still

probably run into as many practicing rogues as holy rollers at most AA

meetings. Wilson himself dabbled in spiritualism, psychedelic drugs and

regular adulteries after sobering up. AA doesn't get you saintly. It gets you

sober. What you do after that is pretty much up to you.

If nothing else, it will probably involve some laughter. Given the horror

stories told at AA meetings, newcomers and outsiders often find that odd. But

there was probably no greater expert on humour than E.B. White, and perhaps he

said it best. "There is often a rather fine line between laughing and crying,"

he once wrote. "(Humour) plays close to the big hot fire which is truth." And,

as has been famously said, the truth will set you free.

On the back of the medallion my friend will receive tonight is engraved his

first name and last initial, his group, his dry date - July 20, 1984 - and the

word "merci."

In any language, gratitude is hard to miss. It gives warmth and light and hope

and example. One day at a time.

And sometimes for a good long time, indeed.

Jim Coyle usually appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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++++Message 1948. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: on Ebby T.

From: Arthur Sheehan . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/26/2004 4:25:00 PM

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I'd strongly recommend a very enjoyable and informative book from a member of

AAHistoryLovers - it's Mel B's book "Ebby The Man Who Sponsored Bill W." You

can order it on-line from Hazelden.

Searcy W (now deceased) was one of several members who tried to help Ebby stay

sober when he lived in Texas. Another important name was Olin L who also

served as the Northeast Texas Area's Panel 1 Delegate to the General Service

Conference. I have a graphic of Olin and Ebby together if you'd like a copy.

Cheers

Arthur

----- Original Message -----

From: Glenn Chesnut

To: AA History Lovers

Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 1:08 AM

Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] on Ebby T.

Gilbert G. [e-mail] has written in asking "does anybody have any

info on Ebby T's life (like the times he spent sober, where he sobered up

at, with whom, etc.) any and all info will be greatly appreciated."

[e-mail] writes:

The piece by Walter L. in http://www.barefootsworld.net/aaebbyt.html is a

great article on Bill's "sponsor." He was the one that carried the message

to Bill from the Oxford groups. Ebby had various relapses until 1964.

Ebby had carried the message of the Oxford Group to Bill with great care and

dedication -- that recovery from alcoholism was possible using spiritual

principles, but only if it was combined with practical actions. Bill Wilson

never took another drink, and left Towns Hospital to dedicate the rest of

his life to carrying the message to other alcoholics.

Ebby, however, took a different path, one that caused him to have a series

of relapses. The man whom Bill Wilson called his sponsor could not stay

sober himself, and became an embarrassment. There were periods of sobriety,

some long, some short, but eventually Ebby would, "fall off the wagon," as

he called it.

Ebby drifted in and out of sobriety, and in and out of AA, with many AA

members trying to help him regain a more stable sobriety. The person who was

ultimately successful was Searcy W., who had established a hospital for

alcoholics in Texas. Early in 1953, Searcy had asked Bill what he would like

to see happen in AA, and Bill said, "I would like for Ebby to have a chance

to sober up in your clinic." Several months later, it came to pass, and

after a

short slip in 1954, Ebby remained sober for seven years.

In 1961, Ebby's girlfriend died and the next day Ebby got drunk. He

apparently still believed that his sobriety was conditional on having the

right woman, and now she was gone. Ebby moved back to New York and lived at

several places for the next two years, one of which was at his brother Ken's

home in Delmar, a suburb of Albany. He had emphysema, the same disease that

caused Bill's death, and was in poor health, his weight having dropped from

170 to 122 pounds.

Ebby eventually came to Margaret and Micky McPike's farm outside Ballston

Spa, New York, in May, 1964 and it was under their loving care that he

finished the final two years of his life, dying sober on March 21, 1966.

FROM: [e-mail]

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++++Message 1949. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Question from Gilbert G. on Ebby

T.

From: Robert Stonebraker . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/26/2004 1:15:00 AM

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Dear Gilbert and Group,

I found a book by Mel B., _'Ebby The Man Who Sponsored Bill W.''

_ to be a fascinating

read. (153 pages) Published by Hazelden.

Another book is by Nell Wing, _'Grateful To Have Been There'' _tells many

interesting

stories about Ebby in New York. (187 pages) Also published by Hazelden.

10.0pt;font-family:Arial;">Bob S.

_

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-----Original

Message-----

*From:* Glenn Chesnut [mailto:[e-mail]]

*Sent:* Sunday, July 25, 2004 11:35

PM

*To:*

[e-mail]

*Subject:* [AAHistoryLovers]

Question from Gilbert G. on Ebby T.

Gilbert G. has

written in asking

"does anybody have any info on Ebby

T's life (like the times he spent sober, where he sobered up at, with whom,

etc.) any and all info will be greatly appreciated."

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++++Message 1950. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: keep coming back, it works if you

work it

From: Al Welch . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/26/2004 5:42:00 PM

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We have been told that this is one of the "mantras" supplied by recovery

institutions to stamp their identity on the program.

There are so many of these "worthy additions" that if you were to chant them

all, the meeting would last an hour and a half instead of an hour.

----- Original Message -----

From: David Ingram

To: [e-mail]

Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 5:31 PM

Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] keep coming back, it works if you work it

Greetings;

I have inadequately searched the archives trying to answer this question and

thought I would try a broad appeal.

In my home group we close our meetings holding hands and reciting the Lords

Prayer, but before breaking the chain we say "keep coming back, it works if

you work it". We're trying to learn anything about the origin & introduction

of the latter statement.

Many grateful Thank You's in advance - David

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

Do you Yahoo!?

Yahoo! Mail [88] - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.

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++++Message 1951. . . . . . . . . . . . The Lord''s Prayer (1944)

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/27/2004 1:33:00 PM

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This is from a series of eight editorial articles on 'The Lord's Prayer'' in

the Cleveland Central Bulletin, an AA newsletter that began before the AA

Grapevine.

February 1944

"Our Father..."

These are crucial words. Of all the words of the most universal of all

prayers, these two words are of greatest importance to us.

In uttering them, we turn to a Power greater than our own. We turn from

complete reliance upon our own egotistical natures, from exaggerated self love

and self exaltation. We confess that our efforts to run our entire lives in

our own willful way have led to error, frustration, defeat, failure. We admit

that the self justification that resulted from our errors has only deepened

our defeat.

Even when we have seen the depth of our failure, the folly of self

justification and the pitfalls of egotism, we have discovered that our efforts

to re-establish ourselves solely through will power have led to more

stumbling. Our wills, as one writer has observed, are where we are sickest.

So we, out of desperation turn to the sure Power that has always existed and

make that Power the rock upon which we will rebuild our lives.

Many of us had long since lapsed in belief in any Supreme Power. Most of us

had not addressed ourselves to that Power for many years, except, perhaps, in

an occasional desperate moment.

In the realization of the position in which we have found ourselves, we come

to a crossroads. We may continue to rely upon our sick wills and our erring

judgements, which so often speak the words of justification. Our experience

should show us what the result of following along that path may be.

Most of us find it better to choose the other path. Certainly all who have

succeeded in application of the AA program have found this other path better.

We turn from our selves to anchor our lives on something outside. Preferably,

we anchor our lives to that something outside that we consider greater than

ourselves, and eventually, we recognize that something as being the Supreme

Power.

We bring that Supreme Power into our lives, and by so doing, we lift ourselves

up. We think of that Supreme Power in our own terms, but we know that the

realm of that Power is of realm of the Good, where the spirit may find peace.

With these words, Our Father, we address ourselves to the Supreme Power. In

the morning when we get up to prepare for the day's work; in the evening when

we retire and think for a few moments about our actions during the day that

has just past, we place ourselves in the presence of that Supreme Power with

the words, Our Father.

When occasion arises during the day, when we are sorely tempted, when we are

angry, when we are resentful, when we pity ourselves, when we feel frustrated

or worried, we can shift gears and connect ourselves with the Supreme Power by

uttering the words, Our Father. There we will find help.

March 1944

'Hallowed Be Thy Name''

'Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name…''

When we discovered ourselves powerless over alcohol and unable to manage our

own lives, we turned to a Power greater than our own.

When we have denied that Power, or ignored it, or when we have turned to that

Power only mechanically, we have failed in our efforts to meet our problems.

When we have turned to that Power and have done so sincerely, we have

succeeded in regaining control over our lives and have progressed in the

solution of our problems.

So other test of the existence of that Power, or our dependence upon it, is

necessary.

That Power we recognize as being the supreme power in the universe. It has,

and has had throughout history, many names. To most of us today, the name of

the Supreme Power is simply God.

In our prayer, we say, 'hallowed be thy Name.'' That means that the name of

God is to be set aside as being holy; it is consecrated for sacred uses. It is

revered, held in profound respect and at the same time regarded with love.

However, these are attitudes that are not limited merely to the name of God,

as if the name were magical (as the ancients believed). These are attitudes

that we take in our approach to God. We regard God as being apart from the

profane world even though concerned with it. And in our approach to God, we

are to put off all that is profane. We approach God with reverence, with

profound respect, with love, and perhaps with fear. We acknowledge God's power

over the universe. We acknowledge that the realm of God is the realm of the

good. And we recognize that if we are to receive the help of God, we must

strive consciously to separate ourselves from those things that are

antagonistic to the good.

It is good for us to use restraint in the use of the name of God (the name

being. for most of us, God), simply be-cause the profanation of the name tends

to weaken and then destroy the meaning of the word in our minds. The name of

God should call God into our minds, and should cause us to think of God's

power, God's goodness, God's help to us. Through it, we should be able to

shift gears from the profane world.

But again, 'Hallowed be Thy Name'' must mean something more to us than respect

for God's name. It must be the supreme acknowledgment of God himself, and of

our entire dependence upon God.

April 1944

'Thy Kingdom Come''

In our thoughts on the Lord's Prayer. we are inclined to pass over the words,

Thy kingdom come. The words seem to us to refer either to life beyond the

grave, or to the age-old hope of the prophets and the religious for the day

when God's kingdom shall be set up on earth and swords shall be beaten into

plowshares.

But the Lord's Prayer is essentially a prayer for our daily needs, one through

which we strive to place ourselves within the sphere of God's works. While the