All Addictions
12-Step Study
Workshop
12-Step Study
Workshop
6/28/2018 0 Comments Recording For June 28, 2018(week 337) 28 June 2018 12 Step Study Big Book All Addictions Workshop
Call back number: 641 715 3900 pin no. 95666# (available for a week) Open Study Buddy group on Sundays 11-12am EST. 319 527 3511 pin no. 587213# Tuesdays 8am EST Reading the AA literature: Living Sober & As Bill Sees It. Everyone is encouraged to come to this awesome group. To listen to the recording: 641 715 3900 pin no. 298913# Donations towards the cost of the website please send via Pay Pal on the website or mail a check to: Stephanie Whiting P O Box 531 North Pembroke MA 02358 If you are new to the workshop (or not receiving the questions) please phone Sue W *HS Ruddock on: 434 987 4346 and email her at: [email protected] If you do not have a members’ list ask Sue to email it to you to enable you to phone other members. If someone is no longer on the meeting it is an opportunity to ask if they would be interested in joining the next Big Book workshop which will start after we finish Step 12 & Tradition 12. IMPORTANT: The next Big Book Study Group will start on Thursday 13 September 2018. Pass this message onto anyone you think may be interested in joining. Step 12: “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.” AA 12 x 12 Page 110-111 Practically every A.A. member declares that no satisfaction has been deeper and no joy greater than in a Twelfth Step job well done. To watch the eyes of men and women open with wonder as they move from darkness into light, to see their lives quickly fill with new purpose and meaning, to see whole families reassembled, to see the alcoholic outcast received back into his community in full citizenship, and above all to watch these people awaken to the presence of a loving God in their lives—these things are the substance of what we receive as we carry A.A.'s message to the next alcoholic. Nor is this the only kind of Twelfth Step work. We sit in A.A. meetings and listen, not only to receive something ourselves, but to give the reassurance and support which our presence can bring. If our turn comes to speak at a meeting, we again try to carry A.A.'s message. Whether our audience is one or many, it is still Twelfth Step work. There are many opportunities even for those of us who feel unable to speak at meetings or who are so situated that we cannot do much face-to-face Twelfth Step work. We can be the ones who take on the unspectacular but important tasks that make good Twelfth Step work possible, perhaps arranging for the coffee and cake after the meetings, where so many skeptical, suspicious newcomers have found confidence and comfort in the laughter and talk. This is Twelfth Step work in the very best sense of the word. “Freely ye have received; freely give . . .” is the core of this part of Step Twelve. We may often pass through Twelfth Step experiences where we will seem to be temporarily off the beam. These will appear as big setbacks at the time, but will be seen later as stepping-stones to better things. For example, we may set our hearts on getting a particular person sobered up, and after doing all we can for months, we see him relapse. Perhaps this will happen in a succession of cases, and we may be deeply discouraged as to our ability to carry A.A.'s message. Or we may encounter the reverse situation, in which we are highly elated because we seem to have been successful. Here the temptation is to become rather possessive of these newcomers. Perhaps we try to give them advice about their affairs which we aren't really competent to give or ought not give at all. Then we are hurt and confused when the advice is rejected, or when it is accepted and brings still greater confusion. By a great deal of ardent Twelfth Step work we sometimes carry the message to so many alcoholics that they place us in a position of trust. They make us, let us say, the group's chairman. Here again we are presented with the temptation to over manage things, and sometimes this results in rebuffs and other consequences which are hard to take. Soulwork Look up: rebuff Q1. When I give unselfishly I get everything I need and even extra. Give an example where you have gotten more than your wildest dreams. Q2. When I want to receive in a selfish ‘gimme gimme gimme’ state I can never get enough to fill me up. Give an example when tried to get people’s attention, to carry you, and how it was never enough. Q3. How does kindness define the 12th step? Q4. If you cannot help an alcoholic, at least don’t hurt them. Q5. “Freely ye have received; freely give . . .” Write about how that is the core of step 12. Q5. Here again we are presented with the temptation to over manage things…, Do you still have a tendency to push, pull, prod, dictate and dominate? Why is this so damaging to you and others? Ends
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6/21/2018 0 Comments Recording For June 21, 2018(week 336) 21 June 2018 12 Step Study Big Book All Addictions Workshop
Call back number: 641 715 3900 pin no. 95666# (available for a week) Open Study Buddy group on Sundays 11-12am EST. 319 527 3511 pin no. 587213# Tuesdays 8am EST Reading the AA literature: Living Sober & As Bill Sees It. Everyone is encouraged to come to this awesome group. To listen to the recording: 641 715 3900 pin no. 298913# Donations towards the cost of the website please send via Pay Pal on the website or mail a check to: Stephanie Whiting P O Box 531 North Pembroke MA 02358 If you are new to the workshop (or not receiving the questions) please phone Sue W *HS Ruddock on: 434 987 4346 and email her at: [email protected] If you do not have a members’ list ask Sue to email it to you to enable you to phone other members. If someone is no longer on the meeting it is an opportunity to ask if they would be interested in joining the next Big Book workshop which will start after we finish Step 12 & Tradition 12. IMPORTANT: The next Big Book Study Group will start on Thursday 13 September 2018. Pass this message onto anyone you think may be interested in joining. Meanwhile Stephanie is looking for four people to help out with the workshop for the second Thursday in August when she will be in England. Think about whether you want to be one of the four and do a topic. If so, Stephanie asks that you text or call her on: 617 774 7916 or email: stephaniew324.gmail.com Step 12: “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.” 12 x 12 Page 109: ‘Now, what about the rest of the Twelfth Step? The wonderful energy it releases and the eager action by which it carries our message to the next suffering alcoholic and which finally translates the Twelve Steps into action upon all our affairs is the payoff, the magnificent reality, of Alcoholics Anonymous. Even the newest of newcomers finds undreamed rewards as he tries to help his brother alcoholic, the one who is even blinder than he. This is indeed the kind of giving that actually demands nothing. He does not expect his brother sufferer to pay him, or even to love him. And then he discovers that by the divine paradox of this kind of giving he has found his own reward, whether his brother has yet received anything or not. His own character may still be gravely defective, but he somehow knows that God has enabled him to make a mighty beginning, and he senses that he stands at the edge of new mysteries, joys, and experiences of which he had never even dreamed. Practically every A.A. member declares that no satisfaction has been deeper and no joy greater than in a Twelfth Step job well done. To watch the eyes of men and women open with wonder as they move from darkness into light, to see their lives quickly fill with new purpose and meaning, to see whole families reassembled, to see the alcoholic outcast received back into his community in full citizenship, and above all to watch these people awaken to the presence of a loving God in their lives—these things are the substance of what we receive as we carry A.A.’s message to the next alcoholic.’ Soulwork Due to the depth and quantity of these questions you can, if you wish, do them over the next two weeks. Look up: paradox Q1. Write on the undreamed rewards that come when we try to help a brother/sister alcoholic (or whatever your step one fellowship is). Q2. Listen to the words of Amazing Grace (AA’s unofficial anthem) Q3. Can you sponsor someone, walk beside them and not demand anything? Q4. Do you sponsor? Why? b) Do you expect those you help to respect you; care about you? c) Do you even want them to ‘love you’ in a brotherly/sisterly way? Q5. How do you feel about only women sponsoring women and only men sponsoring men? b) Have you had any experience of sponsoring someone of the opposite sex? c) Do you know of an example where it worked and where it didn’t? Q6. Do you believe that you cannot sponsor because you have too many character defects? If so, think about sponsorship and that when you pick up the phone it is not all about you. It is about them and you sharing your experience strength and hope and you being 100% honest. It doesn’t matter about your character defects, it is just about being honest and saying: I cannot help you with this as I am struggling with the same thing. There is no perfect sponsor. Q7. Think about instead of saying: I will be your ‘sponsor’, suggest: I will walk alongside you. I will give you my experience strength and hope and I will be 100 percent honest with you. [That feels to me so much better than ‘sponsor’ to me. I personally don’t like the word as it can really set in my pride and fear too: I won’t live up to expectations. I only expect when I walk alongside somebody that I will do my very best to be there and to walk beside them.] Ends 6/14/2018 0 Comments Recording for June 14, 2018(week 335) 14 June 2018 12 Step Study Big Book All Addictions Workshop
Call back number: 641 715 3900 pin no. 95666# (available for a week) Open Study Buddy group on Sundays 11-12am EST. 319 527 3511 pin no. 587213# Tuesdays 8am EST Reading the AA literature: Living Sober & As Bill Sees It. Everyone is encouraged to come to this awesome group. To listen to the recording: 641 715 3900 pin no. 298913# Donations towards the cost of the website please send via Pay Pal on the website or mail a check to: Stephanie Whiting P O Box 531 North Pembroke MA 02358 If you are new to the workshop (or not receiving the questions) please phone Sue W *HS Ruddock on: 434 987 4346 and email her at: [email protected] If you do not have a members’ list ask Sue to email it to you to enable you to phone other members. If someone is no longer on the meeting it is an opportunity to ask if they would be interested in joining the next Big Book workshop which will start after we finish Step 12 & Tradition 12. IMPORTANT: The next Big Book Study Group will start on Thursday 13 September 2018. Pass this message onto anyone you think may be interested in joining. Step 12: “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.” 12 x 12 From line 14 on page 108: ‘Then, in Step Seven, we humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings such as He could or would under the conditions of the day we asked…’ until end of paragraph 1 on page 109 ‘…and who still considered his well-loved AA group the higher power, would presently love God and call Him by name.’’ Soulwork Q1. How does doing Steps 1-6 seem like a launching pad for step 7 to fly you into the willingness to go onto 8 and 9 and then to continue the work in 10, 11 and 12? Q2. What was your experience with taking your mistakes, character defects, shortcomings, to Quiet Time and praying to replace the shortcoming with an asset? Give some experiences e.g. judgmentalism and the asset of acceptance of others. Q3. a) What was your experience, were you successful? b) So many years later are you still seeing the fruits of doing steps 6 and 7, 8, really concentrating on your ownmistakes? c) Have you replaced your old thinking pattern with a new one? Q4. Give an example of baulking at making an amend. What was the impact on you? Q5.a) Was the overall process of making amends a positive or negative experience? b) Give an example of an interaction you had with someone when making amends. Q6.a) Do you do Step 10 on a daily basis? b) How does this step fit into the overall success of staying on the AA beam, living one day at a time and taking one mistake at a time rather than looking at the whole thing? Q7. Has your Higher Power restored you to sanity? Do you have peace of mind? Q8. Is there anything about step 11 that still sticks in your throat? If so, do you take it to God? Ends 6/7/2018 0 Comments Recording for June 7, 2018(week 334) 7 June 2018 12 Step Study Big Book All Addictions Workshop
Call back number: 641 715 3900 pin no. 95666# (available for a week) Open Study Buddy group on Sundays 11-12am EST. 319 527 3511 pin no. 587213# Tuesdays 8am EST Reading the AA literature: Living Sober & As Bill Sees It. Everyone is encouraged to come to this awesome group. To listen to the recording: 641 715 3900 pin no. 298913# Donations towards the cost of the website please send via Pay Pal on the website or mail a check to: Stephanie Whiting P O Box 531 North Pembroke MA 02358 If you are new to the workshop (or not receiving the questions) please phone Sue W *HS Ruddock on: 434 987 4346 and email her at: [email protected] If you do not have a members’ list ask Sue to email it to you to enable you to phone other members. If someone is no longer on the meeting it is an opportunity to ask if they would be interested in joining the next Big Book workshop which will start after we finish Step 12 & Tradition 12. IMPORTANT: The next Big Book Study Group will start on Thursday 13 September 2018. Pass this message onto anyone you think may be interested in joining. Step 12: “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.” 12 x 12 top of page 108 ‘…we decided that an inventory, taken alone, wouldn’t be enough. We knew we would have to quit the deadly business of living alone with our conflicts, and in honesty confide these to God and another human being. At Step Six, many of us balked—for the practical reason that we did not wish to have all our defects of character re- moved, because we still loved some of them too much. Yet we knew we had to make a settlement with the fundamental principle of Step Six. So we decided that while we still had some flaws of character that we could not yet relinquish, we ought nevertheless to quit our stubborn, rebellious hanging on to them. We said to ourselves, “This I cannot do today, perhaps, but I can stop crying out ‘No, never!’” Then, in Step Seven, we humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings such as He could or would under the conditions of the day we asked.’ Soulwork look up: balked, relinquish. Q1. Write on this acronym: DETACH: Don’t Even Think About Changing Him/Her Q2. Write on: a) Acceptance of others is the answer to all my problems and the fundamental principle of step six. b) Acceptance of my need to change myself is the answer to all my problems. Q3. Listen to another You Tube talk by Sandy Beach, Joe Hawke or Mark Houston. [Sandy Beach has written a book on Step 7 entitled: Drop the Rock]. ‘So we decided that while we still had some flaws of character that we could not yet relinquish, we ought nevertheless to quit our stubborn, rebellious hanging on to them.We said to ourselves, This I cannot do today, perhaps, but I can stop crying out ‘No, never’” Q4. Write on this and talk to God about it. Q5. Step 12 in the AA 12 x 12 is really an inventory of your time with the workshop. Really dig deep. Where are you after these past six years? b) If you plan to join the new workshop in September ask yourself what will be your step one that you need to work on. Ends |
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Our live phone meetings are every Tuesday at 8:00 AM EST. The phone number for these live meetings is (712) 775-7031, and the meeting ID number is 714744988#.
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P O Box 531 North Pembroke MA 02358 |
You can listen to our recorded meetings at (641) 715-3900, pin 95666# for our Tuesday Big Book Step Study workshop. You can also hear our Thursday Big Book Study recordings at (641) 715-3900, pin 298913#. These meetings can be accessed at any time.
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