( week 20 ) Big Book Step Study Workshop 17 May 2012

From the start of the 2nd paragraph page 13 of Bill’s story: ‘There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would.’

Until end of the next paragraph: ‘I was to right all such matters to the utmost of my ability.’

How not to rest on your Laurels Workshop (Was done by Stephanie in the fall of 2011 and you can listen online

Instructions on how to do a Quiet Time and what the Big Book says about prayer and mediation.

http://steps-10-11-12.12stepstudyworkshop.com/

For a two part summary of steps 1-3 (1.5 hours each)  641-715-3900

Part one (from Doctor’s Opinion to Page 20) pin number: 235934#

Part two (from page 20 onwards) pin number: 578290#

Donations for upkeep of website:

Stephanie Whiting
PO Box 64
Hanover, MA 02339

Stephanie welcomes questions:

stephaniew324@gmail.com

In 1960 Bill Wilson gave a talk: The 12 reasons why people slip.

1. Rebellion against God. Against the principles and the traditions and suggestions of the program.

2. Illusion of being cured.

3. Carelessness: not caring enough to do morning prayer, meditation and guidance; not doing the evening review regularly; not taking others through all 12 steps.

4. Complacency: not doing the above.

5. Guilt over wrongs that we refused to stop doing.

6. Too little self-forgiveness.

7. Too little prayer.

8. Don’t find spiritual resources. Not doing what is stated above (nos. 3 & 4). Not really seeking resources in spiritual mentor, community, books, etc.

9. Physical illness.

10. Exhaustion.

11. Anxious and fearful (have not learned to love).

12. Depression (which indicates suppressed anger, which indicates unfinished inventory and amends).

To learn more about Dr Bob and Bill Wilson read: ‘Dr Bob and the Good Old-timers’, ‘Pass It On’ and Dick B’s writing on AA history:

www.dickb.com

Soul work

Find the description of humility in the seventh step in 12 x 12.

Look up: laurels (as in ‘resting on your laurels’), humble, unreservedly, care, direction.

1.Write in your own words, including ‘to do with me as you would’, how you would humbly offer yourself to the God of your understanding. And then speak it aloud. (If uncomfortable sharing it with your buddy group, say you wrote it out and humbly offered yourself to the care of the God of your understanding).

2a. What does God’s care look like?

b. How does your higher power give you directions?

c. How does care differ from direction?

d. Are you willing to put yourself unreservedly under God’s care?

e. Are you willing to put yourself under His direction?

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Soul Work: Chapter 1 Bills Story; pages 12 and 13.

Words: convinced, humble willingness, delirium tremens, abandon, trudge

Questions:

1 a) What is your definition of complete willingness?

1 b) How does that (definition of complete willingness) show up in your life?

1 c) What do you do when you admit to yourself you are not completely willing?

1 d) What did Bill see in his friend, upon which he might build a foundation of complete willingness?

2) Are you convinced that a Higher Power is concerned with us humans when we want Him enough?

3 a) How do we get a foundation in the God of our understanding?

4 a) When did you see?

4 b) When did you feel?

4 c) When did you believe?

5 a) Write about your scales of pride.

5 b) Write about your scales of prejudice today?

5 c) When did it (scales of pride and prejudice) fall from your eyes?

5 d) Are you seeing a new world of hope, love and tolerance as your code?

6) Next time you speak at your Step One Fellowship, speak on God is everything or God is nothing

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(Week 18) Big Book Step Study Workshop  3rd May 2012

Started on last line of page 11 ‘…I see that my friend was much more than inwardly reorganized.’ until end of 3^rd paragraph page 12 ‘…Would I have it? Of course I would!’

prejudice: strong feelings of antipathy and hostility, opposition.

contempt prior to investigation: prejudice.

Page 570: “There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance – that principle is contempt prior to investigation.” Herbert Spencer

Soul Work

look up: vestiges, antipathy, Czar, novel, foundation.

1a) Are you inwardly reorganized?

1b)  Are you on a different footing?

1c)  Are your roots grasping a new soil?

1d) Where do you want God to take you?

2.  If you have any vestiges of prejudice concerning God write about what your fear is.

3a) Write on being willing to be willing to believe. 

3b)  How does that help you in your recovery?

3c)  How would you explain being willing to be willing to a newcomer?

4a)  Write about what Bill says is required to make a beginning.

4b)  Are there any requirements in 12-step fellowship meetings?

4c)   If you don’t know what the requirements are in your step one fellowship, look it up in your meeting list. Are there closed meetings?

5. Why is growing in a willingness to believe in a power greater than myself, the most important part of my recovery foundation?         

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Week 17

Started page 10 of Bill’s Story middle of 2^nd paragraph: ‘…of some church folk and their doings…’ until end of final paragraph page 11 ‘…He shouted great tidings.’

Page 53: ‘God is everything and God is nothing.’

After the recording ended Stephanie wanted this to be shared with the group:

This process is to help us to keep practicing turning to God. This week’s questions are deliberately hard so that we will get to practice turning to God. And through steps one, twoand three we will have that experience behind us when we do the even harder questions in the fourth step. It is also why we need a group and our buddies to help us go through these questions and to go to God.

The big Book gives us a promise: more will be revealed. That’s why Stephanie is so opposed to telling people what they should believe. She will share her experience, strength, and hope (ESH). Share with them what she knows and then let them go and find it out for themselves. She does not want us to take as gospel what she says. She wants us to investigate it (ignorance is prejudice prior to investigation). She does not want us to own her ESH but to own our own. She is here as our sponsor to help all of us open up any prejudice and see it in a different light. (Similarly Ebby helped Bill to open up and have a new way of thinking, but Bill had to be willing to investigate this thinking for himself).

We are spiritual beings having a human experience. If I am a spiritual being then everything I do as a human being is a gift from God.

Soul work

look up: atheist, agnostic, contempt, tidings, goodwill.

1. Do you have a resentment against organized religion? And if so why and how did it come about?

2a. Does that affect your concept of a Higher Power?

2b. Does that effect your trusting and relying on a Higher Power?

3. Think about your prejudices and where they came from. Do they well up from the past? Do you have negative experiences? As a child did you ask God for help and turn way in resentment when your prayers were not answered? When Stephanie talks about a Higher Power do those same prejudices well up from your past and make you swallow hard?

4. Do you become irritated when you hear talk of a God personal to you, is a God of love, has superhuman strength and willing to give you directions? Does your mind snap shut against such a theory of a personal HP?

5. Do you have any power in you to overcome your addiction?

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Soul Work: Chapter 1 Bills Story; Pages 7 paragraph 3 thru page 9 last paragraph,

Words: delirium tremors, wet brain, obstacles, insidious, resigned, debauch, catapulted, oasis, jag, futility, inexplicably different, ranting

Questions:

1) What was or is a physical consequence of addiction?

Write on the consequences you had before recovery and those that are still with you today.

2) Do you think you can proceed in recovery by yourself? What is your ability to surpass obstacles? Why do you believe or why do you not believe that?

3) We have 4 dimensions: physical, emotional intellectual and spiritual. This is called the Mind and Body Connection. What connects us is the spiritual.

Write on your understanding of this.

4) Write on what did you use as an oasis in your active days and what do you use today?

5) Look up Ebby Thatcher, read his story

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Bill Story: from page 5, beginning of 2nd para: ‘Gradually things got worse…’
until end of 2nd para. page 7: ‘Surely this was the answer – self-knowledge.’

Words: prodigious, oblivion, confidence, cock-sureness

1. Where are you when something happens to rock your world? What mode do you go into? Is your glass half full or half empty?
Do things gradually get worse or can you feel your feelings, go to God and ask ‘how can I turn this around?’

2. Write about what happened when you woke up; when you got self-awareness and self-knowledge and realized that you had to stop (your addiction). What happened after that?

3.’My mind is weaker than the disease. When I align my mind with a Higher Power it becomes stronger than the disease/addiction.’
Write on the times that you tried to overcome your addiction without aligning your mind with God and the times when you did align with God.

4. Write about being in recovery, taking the first bite/sip of alcohol and having that nanosecond when you knew that it was not a good idea and, with the help of God, you pulled yourself away. If you have not had that experience, e.g. accidentally picked up the wrong glass at a wedding, write out an action plan of what you would do?

5. Write on self-knowledge. Is it the answer? Has it been your answer with your addiction and other areas of your life?

6. Read pages 6 and 7, look for Bill’s feelings and identify with them.

Stephanie’s e-mail: Stephaniew324@gmail.com
Feel free to e-mail any questions or concerns to Stephanie and she will get back to you within a couple of days.

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Step One – “Bill Story” pg 2-5

Words: maelstrom, alloy, forge, lunacy, remonstrance, sumptuous, infidelity, carom

1. Go to the website and poke around, become familiar with your website. Sign up for email notification of new postings. Or listen to the recordings in iTunes.

2. Look up the Oxford Group. (our roots)

3. Look up “Stepping Stones” Bedford, NY. the home of Bill and Lois.

4. Own your beginnings, take what has been said about Bill and zoom back to before you were an addict. How can you relate this to you? Then bring it all the way up to when you became a lone wolf in your addiction.

5. Did you make any geographic cures?

6. Were you jittery? Write about this period of your life.

7. What is the acronym for “ego”?

8. Write on what is the status of your recovery today?

9. Is there any doubt in your mind that you have control over your addiction? Is there any area of your life that you are still trying to keep control of? Write on control, Is there any good use for control?

10. Take Bill’s story from the top of page one to the top of page 5 and underline everywhere that Bill talks about his feelings. Then write on whether you felt the same or still feel the same way as Bill felt. Practice identifying with Bill’s feelings, so that you can identify with a speaker’s feelings, instead of comparing your story with their story.

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Words:

Sublime

Hilarious

Prejudices

Doggerel

Ominous

Fancied

Questions:

1. In reading and studying, “The Doctor’s Opinion” what did your learn about your disease?

2. Is your quiet time in place?

3. Is your action plan around your addiction in place?

4. Are you doing the level of work in the Big Book step study workshop that you want to be doing?

5. Have you defined what your sobriety is? (alcohol, drugs, sobriety around the food, cluttering?)

6. Do you have a foundation to do the rest of this work?

7. What are your boundaries around your sobriety?

8. What are your boundaries around what you are going to do in this Big Book Step Study Workshop?

9. Do you have accountability around these pieces of your recovery?

10. Do you have people that you can be 100 % honest with?

11. If you’re not feeling like your foundation is strong and sturdy, how are you going to change it?

12. Can you relate to this sentence? “I was very lonely and again turned to alcohol.” (pg 1, last sentence of paragraph one)

13. Write on the slogan, “HALT: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.”

14. Is there any thing in your life that you are having an “ominous warning-which you are failing to heed?”

15. Are you willing to bring God into this area where you are having an “ominous warning”?

16. How are you doing in thanking your high power, for the good things and for the things that you are not happy about?

17. Did you make excuses for your addiction to others and yourself?

18. Think about it…”If you’re are talking about the problem, you can’t possibly be talking about the solution.”

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Step 1-”The Doctor’s Opinion”. pg 6-8(xxx-xxxii)

Words:

manifestation, allergy, distinct, entity, precipitates, seething, pathological, mental, deterioration, moral, psychology, scoff, earnestly.

Questions:

1. How can you go to your step one fellowship and identify with speakers that have different stories than you?

2. What type were you when you were in your active addiction? Were you a psychopath, unwilling, manic-depressive type, normal?

3. What is the one symptom we have in common?

4. how is singleness of purpose describe as a distinct entity when I pick up a substance that I am allergic to?

5. why do we need to use the acronym “think” to be sober? (Is it…True, honest, integrity, necessary, and kind?)

6. What is the solution? What is the plan outlined in this book?

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