Tagged: Box 459

A longtime member recently took stock of her A.A. giving: “You know, as I was planning my Christmas shopping this year, I realized how much more I spend on gifts now than I did...

Sponsorship in A.A. has been described variously as a one-on-one meeting, a Fifth-Step partnership, Twelfth Stepping, and a godsend. It is as old as co-founders Bill W. and Dr. Bob keeping each other sober...

A.A. co-founders Bill W. and Dr. Bob met in Akron, Ohio, on June 10, 1935. By 1937 Bill and the New York alcoholics had left the Oxford Group (forerunner of A.A.), largely out of...

While much has been written in A.A. literature about anonymity, including in a General Service Conference approved pamphlet called “Understanding Anonymity,” communications coming into the General Service Office from members of the Fellowship suggest...

“Practical experience shows that nothing wlll so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.” This opening sentence, of the chapter “Working With Others” in the Big Book, is further emphasized...

Does anyone coming to A.A. for the first time not think, even fleetingly, that “this may be okay for them but, for me, well, I’m different”? With this likely in mind, cofounder Bill W....

The influx of nonalcoholic drug addicts into A.A. meeting halls is a matter of growing concern to A.A. groups in the U.S. and Canada. Groups are also concerned over the effect that alcoholics with...

It’s a phrase heard in A.A. meetings around the world. But where does it come from? Why do we say it? And should we keep doing so? Surely, identification is an important concept in...

Much is said but little is written about the practice commonly referred to as 13th-stepping- which takes place when a more-or-less-seasoned A.A. member acts out a sexual attraction to a newcomer, often under the...

When A.A.s talk about service, they generally mean making coffee for the group, acting as general service representative, answering phones at the local central office, or taking meetings to a hospital or prison. But...

A.A. members who work in the field of alcoholism (formerly called two hatters) confront many issues and are beset with many dilemmas not commonly found in other occupations. Professional practices may, at times, seem...

Some A.A.s in the Central New York Area who carry the message into prisons have also found a way to “carry” some inmates out from behind the walls and make them a unique part...

Early in May A.A.s in India joyfully gathered for the 27th General Service Conference of A.A. in India. Conference members were seated in the front and, unlike our Conference, other A.A.s and Al-Anons could...

For many years, long after the Serenity Prayer became attached to the very fabric of the Fellowship’s life and thought, its exact origin, its actual author, have played a tantalizing game of hide and...

Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to be twelfth-stepped by Bill W. and Dr. Bob? Well, Bill D., a well-known attorney and Akron city councilman, who in the summer of...