Father Joseph Martin passed this morning at Ashley in Harve de Grace, Maryland. His chalk talks taught me so much and I’ll take them with me and pass them on where I can. To paraphrase one very important thought that works so well for me; “There is one undeniable fact about my past – I can’t change it. I can only commend my past to the mercy of God. There is also one undeniable fact about my future – I have one, I just don’t know how long it will be. I can only commend my future to the providence of God.” From the Ashley web site and Fr.’s biography; Father Martin’s Legacy In the words of the late Mike Deaver, former White House Chief of Staff under President Ronald Reagan, “Father Martin changed... [Read more]

In response to Kathy’s question… I hope this helps – “AA’s Service Manual” “This is AA’s Service Manual – an outgrowth of the “Third Legacy Manual” which served the movement so well beginning with Bill W.’s first draft in 1951. All of the basic service principles and procedures outlined in that document have been retained. In the interests of convenience and completeness the material has been edited and rearranged. The Conference Report and Charter Committee is responsible for reviewing and approving the updating and revision of The A.A. Service Manual/Twelve Concepts for World Service. This revision was approved by the 1999 General Service Conference.” If that isn’t... [Read more]

And ours too… From the current online Grapevine issue – “A Child of Woodstock”, additional validation of many years of my adult life. Similar thoughts had been expressed to me well after the divorce when I had seen my ex for the first time in many months. She didn’t appear to be the person I had known and I brought it to my sponsor. His explanation was quite close; “What is relevant here, as I began to realize slowly in AA, is that it was alcohol that made our marriage possible for all the years we stayed together. We drank as our parents did, and liquor flowed into the fissures between us. It erased our reality. It cloaked our deep estrangement from each other and ourselves. It made deception and inauthenticity... [Read more]

I walked into a sandwich shop for lunch today and ran into a young man who had been coming to meetings at my home group for a short while a couple of months ago. He’d been “out” before after a few weeks but had stayed dry this time for a couple of months. I hadn’t seen him recently. Ordered my sandwich and soda and had a seat with him. It’s funny but I know he didn’t like me when we initially met but we’d grown on each other. We made small talk briefly then I asked him where he’d been going to meetings. He isn’t. He went out again and now meetings are a source of mental irritation for him. Additionally, someone who he had hooked up with who has considerable time and was helping him had now... [Read more]

Since I began writing here at A Dozen Steps one of the more controversial posts I’ve made was about a “Functional Alcoholic.” I feel I am able to speak on the topic because I was more than happy, as a newly sober person, to make claim that I had been influenced by alcohol in a “dysfunctional family” which had a lot to do with my drinking. That is until an oldtimer refused to cosign my bs and interrupted my sharing one night to inform me, in no uncertain terms, that the reason my family was dysfunctional was because I was in it. I know we’ll continue to hear this in meetings – ““I was a functioning alcoholic – I had a job, went to work, made money,” etc. etc. And I know those folks will... [Read more]