Alcoholics Anonymous Origins and You as the Reporter

This is a shortie.

It repeats the theme: Most of us go to meetings, groups, seminars, and conferences expecting to take something away. And maybe we do if it's the right meeting, the right speaker, the right topic, the right agenda, and the right group. Right from our perspective that is.

But how many of us go to share information that others may not have heard and might consider very relevant to their reason for attending.

I am talking about an accurate, succinct, piece of information on the real origins of Alcoholics Anonymous, of the Christian recovery movement, of the original Akron Christian Fellowship founded in 1939, and about how the first three AAs really got sober simply by turning to God.

Most of the time you won't hear a word about these matters. Yet 20 years of communicating to others have demonstrated to me that there is a hunger on the part of newcomers and particularly some of the earlier members to hear how it all started, why it was so successful, where it came from, and what the real "old school A.A." program was.

You don't have to teach or preach or reach to convey what you know. You just have to know that you know that you know. And that means preparation.

How about going to something like a Founders' Day Celebration, an area or state or national or international conference, a roundup, or a birthday event and dropping a piece of information about the origins and history and development of A.A. that someone may want to hear.

Today, we have prepared two major sources that will provide you with a start. The first is The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed, 2010 (www.dickb.com). The second is a four part, brief series of classes that lay out the whole picture in video, audio, and guidebooks. (www.dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml) - the "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery Class" just filmed and released within the last month or so.

dickb@dickb.com