http://www.RA-News.org/ The E-Newsletter of Recoveries Anonymous; the Solution Focused Twelve Step Fellowship en-us http://www.RA-News.org/RA-News.gif http://www.RA-News.org/ 86 78 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/10/NL_7-Jul10.htm It must seem like common sense. Why else would someone joining most Twelve Step Programs be told that they must immediately stop whatever behavior has brought him or her to that program. Alcoholics must immediately stop drinking forever. Gamblers must stop gambling. Overeaters must commit to avoiding certain foods for the rest of their lives, etc. Everyone knows, or at least thinks, that the Twelve Steps require this. However, the pioneers found that this attitude, when presented to a newcomer, can often do more harm than good. July, 2010 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/10/NL_6-Jun10.htm "We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free." Many people are familiar with this quote from the Big Book. It is on page 133, in the top paragraph. Most people are also familiar with this next quote. It is from page 14, in the first paragraph. It says that developing a new relationship with God is "Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid. It meant destruction of self-centeredness. I must turn in all things to the Father of Light who presides over us all." However, most people are not aware that Bill adapted these famous quotes from "The Sermon on the Mount" by Emmet Fox. This was one of the main books the pioneers read in the early days of the program, before they had the Big Book. June, 2010 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/10/NL_5-May10.htm Recoveries Anonymous is open to everyone, including family and friends. This is different from many of the other Twelve Step fellowships. They often have a separate branch or an entirely separate organization for family and friends to attend. However, R.A. prefers to go back to the founding days of the program. We do this in order to thoroughly follow the pioneers' path to recovery. For more than a decade family and friends attended the same meetings as the pioneers. They worked the same program and had the same recovery." May, 2010 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/10/NL_4-Apr10.htm Powerlessness! It is a simple concept. However, R.A.'s experience is that many people from other programs only give lip service to this concept. They readily say they are powerless. But, deep in their hearts, they still believe that they are responsible for controlling their problems and behaviors. This is not unusual. Bill Wilson, in his essay on the First Step in A.A.'s Twelve and Twelve on page 21, explains it by saying, "Who cares to admit complete defeat? Practically no one, of course. Every natural instinct cries out against the idea of personal powerlessness." April, 2010 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/10/NL_3-Mar10.htm In the Twelve Step program, people often discuss personal responsibility. They question what part of their lives they are responsible for, and what part of their lives God and the program are responsible for. While no one has to agree with us, in R.A. we believe that the pioneers of the program resolve this debate. In the Big Book, on page 85, in the first full paragraph they say that, "Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. 'How can I best serve Thee—Thy will (not mine) be done.' These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will." March, 2010 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/10/NL_2-Feb10.htm When asked to quote the Eleventh Step, many people unintentionally abbreviate it. They usually say that this step is where we "Pray for knowledge of God's will, and the power to carry it out." They forget the first part of this important step. The full wording of the Eleventh Step, the way the pioneers actually wrote it, says that we, "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." February, 2010 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/10/NL_1-Jan10.htm In the Big Book on page 17, in the third paragraph the pioneers tell us that, "The tremendous fact for every one of us is that we have discovered a common solution. We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree, and upon which we can join in brotherly and harmonious action. This is the great news this book carries to those who suffer from alcoholism." January, 2010 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL__12-Dec09.htm In the Big Book on page 133, in the top paragraph it says, "We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free. We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it is clear that we made our own misery. God didn't do it. Avoid then, the deliberate manufacture of misery, but if trouble comes, cheerfully capitalize it as an opportunity to demonstrate His omnipotence." December, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL__11-Nov09.htm In other fellowships, it is sometimes said that, "There are no 'musts' in the program." This misunderstanding is probably based on a quote from A.A.'s Twelve and Twelve. On page 129, in the third paragraph, we are told that the Twelve Traditions "repeatedly say 'We ought... ' but never 'You must!'" However, the Big Book and the program of recovery do tell us that there are certain "vital and crucial" things we "must" do to be successful in our search for recovery. While no one has to agree with us, in R.A. we have found that these "essential requirements" really are "vital to permanent recovery. November, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL__10-Oct09.htm Did you know that Dr. Bob said that there is more than one way to break the anonymity tradition? In "Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers," on page 264, in the third paragraph, Warren, an early A.A. member, says that, "He [Dr Bob] said there were two ways to break the anonymity Tradition: (1) by giving your name at the public level of press or radio; (2) by being so anonymous that you can't be reached by other drunks." October, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL_9-Sep09.htm In the Big Book, on page 53, it says, "When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crisis 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?" In R.A., we take our cue from the way the pioneers of the program talk about powerlessness and God in the Big Book. September, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL_8-Aug09.htm In the Multilith Big Book on page 40, in the last paragraph it says. "There is action and more action. 'Faith without works is dead.' What works? We shall treat them in the next chapter which is entirely devoted to step twelve," which is all about working with others. In the Multilith Big Book on page 41, the very next words they wrote, the first words in the chapter "Working With Others," say that, "Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure your own immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other spiritual activities fail." August, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL_7-Jul09.htm The Big Book, on page 85, in the first paragraph, describes what we, in R.A., believe to be the essence of recovery. It says that, "What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. 'How can I best serve Thee—Thy will (not mine) be done.' These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will." July, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL_6-Jun09.htm In some other programs, you may have heard it said that we have a progressive illness. However, in R.A., we find that we can have a progressive recovery. This simply depends upon which direction we are facing. If we face the problem, we may progress into the problem. If we face the recovery, we can progress into the recovery. We learn to live in the solution—we get better—we recover—by practicing the spiritual principles of the program. June, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL_5-May09.htm For various reasons, many people in the program do not work the Twelve Steps. Some of them prefer to work a physical program of going to meetings and making phone calls. They go to meetings and share about their lives. They choose to depend upon people and make phone calls asking for someone to help stop them from hurting themselves or others. While we are glad that this seems to work for some people, our experience is that this does not work for everyone. May, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL_4-Apr09.htm Almost everyone in the program has heard of the "Promises." Starting on the bottom of page 83 in the Big Book, the pioneers say that these promises will happen before we are halfway through the Ninth Step. They go on to say that these promises "will always materialize if we work for them." Many people also know about the Tenth Step's so-called "Hidden Promises" on the bottom of page 84. Among other things, they promise that as the result of working the steps, "sanity will have returned." However, we venture to guess that a lot of people are not aware that the Big Book has many other promises. All of these promises come as the result of following the pioneers' "clear-cut directions" for working the Twelve Steps of our program of recovery. April, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL_3-Mar09.htm The pioneers had an understanding of God that they shared throughout the Big Book. No one has to agree with what they wrote. However, we would like to share a few quotes from the Big Book that give insight into how the pioneers understood God. We believe that this can help someone come to their own understanding of God so they can work the Twelve Step program of recovery. March, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL_2-Feb09.htm "Suggest how important it is that [a newcomer] place the welfare of other people ahead of his own." This "clear-cut direction" is from page 94 in the Big Book. It is one of the first instructions that the pioneers give to a sponsor. While no one has to agree with us, we suspect that this simple sentence angers some people. February, 2009 http://www.RA-News.org/Newsletters/09/NL_1-Jan09.htm The phrase, "God helps those who help themselves," represents a commonly held belief. Some might find comfort in it. However, many may be surprised to learn that this concept is not in the Big Book or in any of our other program literature. It also might surprise people to find out that this phrase is not in the Bible. January, 2009