Big Book Study - Post #39
Good morning all!
There are a great many places that have marked AA's early history.
The Mayflower Hotel in Ohio is one. Towns Hospital - 293 Central
Park West at 89th Street in Manhattan is another. (Coincidentally I
used to live half a block down 89th Street from there). Stepping
Stones was the home in Bedford Hills, NY in Westchester County, just
north of New York City, where Bill and Lois lived. They moved there
in 1941. I was fortunate enough to meet Lois there in 1980. She
passed on in 1988. Stepping Stones has a website at
www.Steppingstones.org or make an appointment to see it with the
director of the place. Another place is Bill's birthplace in East
Dorset, VT. The Wilson House ~
www.wilsonhouse.org ~ has been fully
restored and a former pigeon of mine, Dean M., can give you a
detailed history of the place. Dean has been doing service as the
assistant manager of the place since 1995. Rooms are available to
stay in for a reasonable cost. Dinners are served family style and
the food is great!
Bill and Lois are buried nearby. One of the most moving experiences
is to go to Bill and Lois' grave and read the touching notes and see
the pictures of children left there by those expressing undying
gratitude to Bill's work.
Page 164 - Paragraph 2 is a place where people will lift something
out of context in an attempt to prove a spurious point. "Our book is
meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little." Some
people seize upon this to mean that the instructions outlined in the
book are optional. (I wrote an article on this topic which was
published in the April 2002 edition of The Grapevine
entitled "Spiritual Kindergarten" by Jim K. of Manhattan - a copy of
it is located in the "Files" section at the study home page). What
the first 100 knew only a little about was the spiritual experience.
They had the answer to recovering from alcoholism. Keep in mind that
Bill was sober only four years at the time the book was written. The
word "suggestive," in this context, means "a starting point," or "a
beginning." It means "an introduction to spiritual principles." AA
is but a means to the end of living a spiritual life. Our lives
aren't meant to be lived in AA but outside of it.
"The answers will come if your own house is in order. But obviously
you cannot transmit what you haven't got." The "2 step" trap -- to
carry the message effectively you need to have a message to transmit.
"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God (Steps 1, 2 and 3).
Admit your faults to Him and your fellows (Steps 4, 5, 6, and 7).
Clear away the wreckage of the past (Steps 8 and 9). Give freely of
what you find and join us (Steps 10, 11, and 12). We shall be with
you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, (The Fellowship of God) and you
will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.
May God bless you and keep you until then." In his classic style,
Bill sums up at the end.
With our next post, we will wrap up our study cycle with Dr. Bob's
Story.
Then we will post the Study outline/instructions.
On Thursday we will begin a new study cycle.
Jim