The Forever Books about Alcoholics
Anonymous
If you participate in A.A. and
appreciate A.A., learn A.A. – all of it, bite by bite
Dick B.
Author of The Good Book and the Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible
© 2013 Anonymous. All rights reserved
What the “Forever Books” Are
What are the
“Forever Books” about Alcoholics Anonymous? They are those in the 29 volume
Alcoholics Anonymous History Reference set by Dick B. Those that give the
12-Step follower (including a speaker, sponsor, newcomer, historian, recovery
leader, clergyman, physician, therapist, or writer) an accurate, truthful, comprehensive,
cohesive account of the many varieties of programs A.A. has had; the varied
roots A.A. has had; the conflicting ideas about A.A. language and texts; and how
to meld and utilize them today. And much much more.
How the “Forever Books” Enable
You to Study a Complete History One Bite at a Time
The “Forever Books”
are those comprising my 29 volume reference set on A.A. History and the
Christian Recovery Movement. Accompanied by the several recent works by my son
Ken B. and me. Plus the new books to come and the 1500 articles already
published which show our continued learning process. Plus the fruits of our continued
research and learning. The 29 “Forever Books” by Dick B. and Dick B. and Ken B.—when
bolstered by the dozens of articles by me as well as the materials by other
respected AAs and recovery leaders---constitute a lifetime library. But this
particular Dick B. library is a personal reference library. It is not meant to
gather dust. Individuals can learn particular subjects, one or more, from the
books and use the information in a wide variety of ways. In fact they are doing
so now.
Groups can study
several subjects, or one or more—bite by bite. Speakers, sponsors, newcomers,
Christian recovery leaders, and treatment folks can present the book topics—one
bite at a time, or as a related segment. And the immense bibliographic material
in most of the volumes or taken as a whole exceeds anything you may try find in
other histories and biographies. They represent the heart of A.A. and provide a
specific detailed, usable, body of material on each of the many subjects
covered.
And this 29 volume reference
set of “Forever Books,” involves a list price for each book of over $700.00 for
the 29 books. Right now, however, the entire set is offered and available for
you at the very substantial discount price of $249.00 plus free shipping in the
United States. The set can be ordered right now from the front page of my main
website (www.dickb.com), or
by contacting Dick B. or Ken B. in the manner listed below.
To be without this
set is to be without access to what are closely related individual topics and to
be without a complete picture of Alcoholics Anonymous and to be without an
accurate and truthful recovery story and approach than can really help the soul
who still suffers. And grow as a resource, particularly as future works become
available.
In the 27 years I’ve
served in A.A., and done my best thoroughly to tell its story, I have never
found an adequate history in a single book, or even in just a few books by some
particular writer. Not only do such limited approaches and circumscribed
writings represent little more than a half a loaf; but they frequently report
subjectively treated facts, conflict with the complete story, or simply fail to
cite or include adequate footnotes enabling usable references found elsewhere.
Yet a story about
Benedict Arnold and the American Revolution could not be and is not a complete
picture of the founding of the United States or the people who were involved in
the task. The useful, informative story for drunks to digest needs to be
presented one bite at a time, but in chunks that are a vital part of the
details. In a non-monolithic, varied, and diverse array of alcoholics—who have
largely been guided and “taught’ by their own
non-professional volunteer, altruistic, and basically uninformed
brothers and sisters. Whereas it takes the lot of books, articles, viewpoints,
stories, and facts —the lot of subjects and research writings--to arm the
reader with facts, references, and cross-references much needed to produce a
recovered alcoholic let alone a truthful and complete account for him to learn
and implement.
Today, however, the
alcoholic who still suffers, and those trying to help him, can study and digest
the contents of the Dick B. 29 volume Alcoholics Anonymous History set at the
bargain price of $249.00. And they can own the complete history and many
little-known but preciously valuable facts that can tell readers “precisely how
to recover” as the successful AAs did.
The Importance of Acquiring
This Set for Yourself, Your Group, Your Meeting, and Your Fellowship or
Facility
I believe I have a
vital body of completely related pieces of A.A. history that can, not only
inform others, improve recovery work, and set in perspective the great recovery
service A.A. performs. It can also bring stability, tolerance, and comfort to
the many in A.A. who are Christians, believers in God, and students of the
Bible and have no desire to leave or condemn or trash A.A.
After many travels,
vast reading, personal interviews, talks at conferences, and research, I have
come to know thousands of such Christians, believers in God, students of the
Bible, and alcoholic AAs who are hungry to remain in A.A. To tell others the
golden text of A.A. To pass along the vitally gathered history of where it came
from, where it acquired its ideas and program, how the program has many
different approaches and has changed with the years, and how the history can be
applied to enhance 12 Step fellowship prospects today and eradicate some
grossly absurd or dangerous ideas that have sprung from sources outside A.A. or
nonsensical “wisdom of the rooms.”
I also believe
that--considering my more than 27 years of continuous sobriety; my consistent
active role in the trenches of A.A.; my more than 24 years of research,
reading, investigating, comparing, and sourcing A.A.; and my sponsorship of
more than 100 AAs in their recovery, I have had a unique agenda. It has been to discover how much of A.A. came
from the Bible (as Dr. Bob suggested) and what other sources of ideas it embraced—whether
harmonious or not. And then, as the facts were unearthed, it was and is to show
how they can be applied today and the appropriate way to do this, working
primarily with A.A. Conference-approved supportive literature.
Subjects the Dick B. “Forever Books” Place at
Your Finger Tips and Also Enable you to Relate to and Use the Set as an
Accurate, Comprehensive Whole.
There are many books
about Alcoholics Anonymous, its origins, and the meaning of its principles,
practices, and language. Some are good. Some are not. They often conflict with
one another. They often offer a very limited understanding of the real A.A.
They often short-change the very suffering souls who desperately need accurate and
useful recovery information. Yet these books have laid out some important
landmarks to guide the researcher.
The body of these
books includes: (1) A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature—a “must
read” for successful understanding of A.A. (2) a large number of biographies
about Bill Wilson, and also Bill’s own autobiography. (3) mostly limited and
seldom investigated snippets about the life of Dr. Bob, his upbringing,
training, studies, and religious views. (4) books on the Twelve Steps and how
to take them. (4) subjectively presented, inadequately related, and singleness
of approach accounts that divert necessary broad and complete training into
specific persons, places, and viewpoints that preclude study of subjects of
major importance to the sick, bewildered, fearful, suffering newcomer in A.A.
The body of books includes
many attacks on A.A. on and from every front. Sometimes: (1) pointing to the
aberrations of the founders and the unjustified pasting of A.A. itself with
their shortcomings. (2) claiming the early Akron A.A. fellowship and its carefully
developed successful program has no relevance today and has been superseded by
the writings of Bill W. (3) claiming A.A. is too religious. (4) claiming A.A.
has created its own god or has its own kind of special “Christian God” and is
no place for Christians to be. (5) claiming that God has been shoved out of
A.A. (6) believing attendance at or fellowship with AAs by Christians is a sure
ticket to hell. (7) asserting that A.A. is “spiritual, but not religious”—whatever
meaning that phrase is intended to
convey. (8) fashioning or manufacturing self-made religion and relying upon endless
absurd gods like light bulbs, chairs, “Something,” Big Dipper, tables,
radiators, and Ralph.
Often sincere analysts
and historians include in their histories and biographies very very few pieces
of literature that will give you a complete, accurate, comprehensive picture of:
(1) the Christian origins of A.A. and
its fellowship ideas; (2) the importance of the Bible as the foundation of the
A.A. story; (3) the highly important Christian upbringing of both Dr. Bob and
Bill; (4) the immense influence Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker had on: (a) the course
and content of the Big Book, (b) the Twelve Steps, (c) the idea of a turning
point, (d) the separation of man from God among those meant to be His companions;
(e) a “vital religious experience,” (f) “finding” God, and (g) the need for
Jesus Christ (5) a host of horror stories about how A.A. doesn’t work, is
dangerous, has harmed someone, and should be replaced by a Christian program
like Celebrate Recovery or an unbeliever program like Rational Recovery.
There are a few
historians who have done a good, but much limited, job in their areas of
interest—(1) some of the beginnings of A.A. in Akron, (2) the religious
upbringing of Bill and Bob as youngsters, (3) “spirituality,” “not-god-ness,” the
roles of Ebby Thacher, Clarence H. Snyder, the Oxford Group, and the
Washingtonians, (4) the many faces of Bill Wilson, (5) the real contributions
of the Oxford Group, (6) the later roles played by Sister Ignatia, Father Ed
Dowling, S.J., and Father John Ford, S.J. (7) Even by the Catholic priest,
Father John Doe. But their writings seldom depict the relationship of their
subject to the real A.A. that was, is, and ought to be.
What’s missing today? Now look at What
Dick B. Found about A.A.?
(1) An understanding of the fact and
details that A.A. had Christian origins applicable today.
(2) A knowledge of the basic ideas from
the Bible that formed the foundation for the early Akron A.A. Christian Fellowship program
and Bill W.’s new version in the 12 Steps.
(3) A knowledge of how Bill Wilson’s
grandfather Wilson had a mountaintop religious
experience,
was saved, and was cured of alcoholism for the remaining 8 years of his life.
(4) A knowledge that both Rowland Hazard
and Ebby Thacher were converted to God through
accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior—two men that had much to do with the
Oxford Group ideas Bill later codified in the 12 Steps.
(5) A knowledge that Dr. William D.
Silkworth told his patient Bill W. that the “Great Physician” Jesus Christ
could cure him of his alcoholism.
(6) A knowledge that Bill Wilson soon
went to the altar at Calvary Mission in New York and accepted Jesus Christ as
his Lord and Savior—as confirmed by 4 people.
(7) A knowledge that Bill wrote in his own
autobiography: “For sure, I’d been born again.”
(8) A knowledge of the “golden text of
A.A.” which Bill wrote in what is now the 4th edition of Alcoholics Anonymous: “Henrietta, the
Lord has been so wonderful to me curing me of this terrible disease that I just
want to keep talking about it and telling people.”
(9) An
understanding that, when Bill had his vital religious experience in his
Towns Hospital room, he saw a blazing, indescribably white light fill his room;
sensed the presence of Spirit; thought: “Bill, you are a free man. This is the
God of the Scriptures;” stopped doubting God; and never drank again.
(10)
A
knowledge of the prayer meeting in Akron prior to the meeting of Bob and Bill
and prior to the founding of A.A. in June, 1935, where Dr. Bob and his friends
dropped to their knees and prayed for his deliverance from alcoholism.
(11)
A
knowledge that Dr. Bob (after he met Bill in Akron and after Bill moved in with
Dr. Bob and his family in the summer of 1935) had heard Bill say he was cured
of alcoholism, and (after his own last drink) himself said that he had been
cured of alcoholism, and then ended his personal story in the Big Book: “Your
Heavenly Father will never let you down!”
(12)
A
knowledge of how, immediately upon his discharge from Towns Hospital, Bill ran
around feverishly to the Bowery, flea bag hotels, Bellevue Hospital, Towns
Hospital, Oxford Group meetings, and drunks in the street; and that Bill had a
Bible under his arm, telling every drunk he could find that he must give his
life to God—with Bill’s then relating his own story.
(13)
The
growing proof that Ebby never said to Bill: “choose your own conception of God”
and that this alleged language was written by an unidentified hand and inserted
in the typed Big Book printer’s manuscript just before the Big Book went to
press.
(14)
A knowledge
that Bill, his wife Lois,, and others were constantly going to Oxford Group
meetings; that Bill participated in a Calvary Church processional led by Rev.
Shoemaker—with a member carrying a sign “Jesus Christ changes lives—and went to
Madison Square, got on a soap box, and witnessed to others.
(15)
Knowing
that it was Rev. Samuel Shoemaker, Jr., who urged Bill—even when Bill was, at
first, getting nobody sober—to work with drunks, witness, and continue to do so.
Just as Bill then did when he went to Akron and relentlessly sought a drunk to
help there.
(16)
A
knowledge of the real origins of the “Four Absolutes” in the writings of professors
Robert E. Speer and Henry B. Wright.
(17)
A
knowledge of the biblical origins of A.A. expressions like First Things First,
Easy Does It, One Day at a Time, and But for the Grace of God.
(18)
A
knowledge of the critical necessity and importance of hospitalization for early
AAs.
(19)
A
knowledge of the influence of the Oxford Group’s 5 C’s (Confidence, Confession,
Conviction, Conversion, and Continuance) on A.A.’s 12 Step content.
(20)
The wide
participation in and observance by varied pre-A.A. Christians of “Quiet Time,”
“Quiet Hour,” “Morning Watch,” and devotionals like The Runner’s Bible, Upper Room, My Utmost for His Highest among
A.A.’s sources; how they found their way into the original Akron A.A. Christian
Fellowship program, and then into the Eleventh Step of Bill’s new version of
the program in the 1939 Steps.
(21)
A
knowledge of the content and purpose of regarding as “absolutely essential” the
Book of James, Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, 1 Corinthians 13
(22)
An
understanding and knowledge of how much the Christian upbringing of Bill and
Bob influenced the original Akron A.A. program as well as Bill’s “new version”
embodied in the Twelve Steps.
(23)
An
understanding of exactly how and why the first three AAs got sober.
(24)
An
understanding of the whole panoply of
pre-A.A. influences in Vermont—influences of Ebby Thacher, Rowland
Hazard, F. Shepard Cornell, Cebra Graves, Cebra’s father Judge Graves, Rev.
Sidney K. Perkins, Bertha Bamford and her family, Mark Whalon, the Griffith
family, the Wilson family, even the Burnham family of Lois Wilson.
(25)
A realization that A.A. ultimately adopted
effective principles and practices that were used and typical long before A.A.
in: (a) the Young Men’s Christian Association, (b) the Gospel Rescue Missions; (c)
the “Great Awakening of 1875” in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; (d) Congregationalism;
(e) the great evangelists like Dwight L. Moody, Ira Sankey, Francis Clark,
Allen Folger, F. B. Meyer, Amos Wells and Henry Drummond; the United Christian
Endeavor Society; and later the Oxford Group itself
(26)
A
knowledge of the Christian training, biblical studies, sermons, Scripture
reading, hymns, church services, and prayer meetings that Dr. Bob and later
Bill W. attended or participated in.
(27)
A
knowledge that the Academies (St. Johnsbury for Dr. Bob; Burr and Burton
Seminary for Bill; and Norwich University for Bill) had daily chapel; that this
included sermons, reading of Scripture, prayers, and hymns; that all students
were required to attend church (usually a Congregational one), and a Bible study; that Bill W. took a four
year Bible study course at Burr and Burton Seminary; that Dr. Bob and his
family were much involved in the Young Men’s Christian Association, that Bill
was president of the Burr and Burton YMCA, and his girl-friend Bertha was
president of the YWCA there.
(28)
Learning
the original Akron A.A. Christian fellowship Group Number One program,
summarized in 7 points, and printed on page 131 of DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers.
(29)
The
sixteen practices of the Akron A.A. pioneers that implemented the 7 point
program; and are laid out in “Stick with the Winners” by Dick B. and Ken B.
(30)
The
contents of the journal and the morning quiet times of Anne Ripley Smith (Dr.
Bob’s wife), who recorded in and taught from them during 1933-1939 the
principles and practices she gleaned from the Bible, Oxford Group, and
Christian literature she recommended.
(31)
The
specific principles and ideas found in the large number of books read by Dr.
Bob, recommended by him, and distributed by him to the early Akron A.A. pioneers.
(32)
The
specific ideas of early A.A. that Bill W. gleaned from the writings of
Professor William James on the variety of religious experiences.
(33)
The
essence of what Dr. Carl Jung told Rowland Hazard, and later Bill W., about
conversion as a possible solution to alcoholism for those with the mind of a
chronic alcoholic that had rendered them “medically” incurable.
(34)
The
immense influences of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr. on Bill Wilson’s
formulation of his new version of the A.A. recovery program.
(35)
The fact
that Bill Wilson asked Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr. to write the Twelve Steps;
but that Shoemaker declined, telling Bill they should be written by an
alcoholic, namely Bill.
(36)
The real picture of what Shoemaker did, wrote,
and said about the ideas of the Big Book and Steps.
(37)
The
immense influence of some 28 Oxford Group ideas which, like the Shoemaker
ideas, found their way into the actual language of the Big Book and Steps.
(38)
The
exact details of and their sources on the subject of Quiet Time.
(39)
The
position of the early Akron A.A. Christian Fellowship on belief in God, and on
“surrender” to Him through accepting
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
(40)
The
sources and meaning of the strange phrases like “higher power,” “Power greater
than ourselves,” “God as we understood Him,” “spirituality,” and “spiritual but
not religious.”
(41)
The
cures that early Akron AAs claimed, wrote about, and widely publicized.
(42)
The
nonsense gods, self-made religion, and half-baked prayers that emerged after the
changes in the Big Book text; the new language introduced in 1939 in the
wording of the Twelve Steps; the original view of Bill on God (using an
unqualified and undeniable description of “the God of the Scriptures”); and the
compromise with atheists and agnostics that took place just before the Big Book
went to print in 1939.
(43)
The rapid
growth, exact program, and recorded successes of the Cleveland A.A. group
founded by Clarence Snyder in 1939.
(44)
The best
information on the “counting of noses” in 1937, the success rates Bill and Bob
counted and recorded thereafter, and the real early Akron A.A. group record.
(45)
The
Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous.
(46)
The
testimonies of Christian deliverance found in the personal stories of the
pioneers in the First Edition of the Big Book—stories that were removed from AAs’
view for years.
(47)
The
importance of the First Edition of the Big Book when Bill’s new version of the
program is compared with what the pioneers testified had happened in the
personal stories.
(48)
The
importance and purpose of the personal stories in the Big Book, and the
restoration of these to a conference-approved book many many years after early
A.A.
(49)
The
practices of First Century Christians as recorded in the Book of Acts.
(50)
The
various people—including some Congregational leaders, the Rockefeller group,
Frank Amos, Lois Wilson, and Dr. Bob--who specifically likened the principles
and practices of the First Century Christians to the early Akron pioneer group
which Dr. Bob called a “Christian Fellowship.”
(51)
The
heart of the Christian Endeavor program in which Dr. Bob and his family were
involved in St. Johnsbury, and how much early A.A. principles and practices
seem to have embodied that program in the Akron program and their special “Christian
technique” (as Rockefeller’s agent Frank Amos described it).
(52)
The
emphasis on daily prayers, listening to the Word of God, witnessing, breaking
bread together, gathering in the homes and temple daily, the healings, and the
conversions and growth in numbers of the First Century Christians.
(53)
The many
comparisons of early Akron A.A. Christian Fellowship practices as well as those
of the Congregational churches of the Bill W.-Dr. Bob youth to those of First
Century Christianity.
(54)
The
frequency of biblical words like God, Creator, Maker, Father, Heavenly Father,
Father of Lights, and God of our fathers in the Big Book in all editions.
(55)
The
critical importance of beginning one’s journey on the path to recovery by mastering
the contents of A.A. General Services Conference-approved literature such as
the Big Book, The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous Pamphlet P-53, RHS—the Grapevine
Memorial on Dr. Bob’s death, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, DR. BOB and the
Good Oldtimers, “Pass It On,” The Language of the Heart, and the Best of the
Grapevine editions..
(56)
How to
restore, incorporate, apply, and utilize “old school” Akron A.A. principles and
practices in 12-Step programs today for those who are Christians, want God’s
help, or want to learn and know what pioneer AAs did to attain complete cures
they claimed.
(57)
Why the
new “broad highway” open to atheists and agnostics and those of other than
Christian religious persuasions in no way excludes their unbelieving views or
excludes the privileges of Christians and other believers in God to seek His
help and healing as the “abc’s” of A.A. clearly suggest can be done.
(58)
The
evidence—underlined by the numerous statements by William D. Silkworth, M.D.--that
alcoholism and addiction can be cured by the power of God versus the claims
that these maladies are still incurable and the borrowed from Richard Peabody allegation
that--as occurred in the case of the “choose your own conception of god”
insertion once again “added”) that “once an alcoholic always an alcoholic”—despite
the crystal clear statements by both Bill Wilson and Bill Dotson (A.A. Number
Three) on page 191 of the 4th edition of the Big Book that “the Lord”
had “cured” them of their terrible disease.
(59)
How to
cope with the insults, intimidation, and attacks of various AAs in A.A.
meetings when an A.A. Christian or
believer mentions God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, or religion.
(60)
Using
Conference-approved literature to phrase and frame such defensive but warranted
remarks.
(61)
Learning
the real answer to the efforts within A.A. groups to ban or prevent the use and
mention of any but “conference-approved literature.”
(62)
Learning
the relevance of the Twelve Traditions (including the Long Form) in dealing
with comments about what AAs can believe, can read, can study, and can discuss
in their meetings.
(63)
Using
the powerful expression “a loving God as He may express Himself” when opening,
conducting, deciding, and recording an “informed group conscience” by a group.
(64)
Understanding
the number of times, A.A.’s own literature emphasizes that there are no laws,
rulers, rules, governors, officers, trustees, or employees who control or
decide what A.A. members and groups and meetings can discuss, read, or bring to
meetings.
(65)
Understanding
there is no “index of forbidden books,” no “Conference-disapproved” literature
in the A.A. lexicon, and nothing in the phrase “conference-approved” that
bestows control of groups and reading by A.A. officers, employees, delegates,
office managers, and trustees.
(66)
Dealing
with listings in A.A. meeting schedules when notifying A.A. offices of the name
of a group, its purpose, and what it will conduct.
(67)
Knowing
the amount of A.A.-related literature that is published, distributed, sold, and
discussed—literature like the Cleveland Central Bulletin, the AA of Akron
pamphlets, the Bible, books about A.A. sources, the founders of A.A., the way
to “take” the Steps,” what the meaning of words and phrases in the Big Book and
A.A. literature is.
(68)
Knowing
exactly what the founders and early AAs did, wrote, and said that can help
today and yet is often spurned, criticized, or hindered in use by A.A. members
who mistakenly or intentionally cite some alleged Tradition or “Conference-approved”
rule.
(69)
In A.A.
meetings, groups, and conferences, the things that newcomers are missing today.
(70)
In A.A.
meetings, groups, and conferences the things that sponsors are not doing today.
(71)
In the
A.A. fellowship today, how newcomers can be introduced effectively to the vital
parts of all these principles.
(72)
In the
A.A. fellowship today, how AAs themselves can be urged to script and use more
effective orientation, indoctrination, or beginner’s meetings to start the
newcomer off on his path with a full quiver of arrows.
(73)
Knowledge
of the variety of viewpoints on the origins of the Twelve Steps—those of Bill
Wilson, those of Dr. Bob, those of A.A. “cofounder” Rev. Sam Shoemaker, and others.
(74)
Knowledge
of the exact contributing sources to the language of the Big Book and Twelve
Steps.
(75)
And
there are more!
What Does “Forever” Mean in
Reference to the Dick B. A.A. History Books and Articles?
Surely there will be
much more reading, study, and research in the future. Not only by me, but also
by those who recognize that the lacuna has not been filled and is still
voluminous. A.A. frequently publishes promotional materials, pamphlets,
guidelines, and other writings that are not binding on any person, meeting,
group, or conference. But A.A. never intended to write a complete history or
become a research organization, nor did Bill W. or Dr. Bob or practically all
the “historians” that have dipped their toes into this or that subject. Or, if
they tried, they left out subjects intentionally, failed to do the extensive
traveling and interviewing necessary to a reliable account, or were not willing
to consult with colleagues and researchers for more information before pushing
their own particular subject and attendant conclusions.
The reason I have
called the books in my 29 volume reference set the “Forever Books” is that they
provide as complete a foundation for useful recovery enhancement today as my
continuous efforts have made it possible for me to unearth.
The suggestions,
facts, citations, and discoveries set forth in these foundational books should
keep readers going for years and years. And challenge many to search further,
analyze further, report further, and utilize further.
Relapses,
recidivism, “slips,” and further “returns” to the bottle or needle are
commonplace today—in and outside of A.A., treatment, and religious endeavors,
and probably always have been. But that does not mean they are the norm, the
aim, the goal, or the desired result. Early AAs were pressed to be “teetotalers.”
Later they were urged to attain the status of “recovered” and to tell precisely how they
recovered. They were also invited to tell, from their own standpoint and their
own language, how they established their relationship with God. Their solution—as
embodied in page 25 of the Fourth Edition of the Big Book—does not include
failure. It includes what the Creator can do when sought.
Recovery needs to be
sought, worked for, published, and cherished. The Forever Books—all 29 of them—can
provide you with the tools that many years of A.A. experience and successes
have used. Recovery needs to be studied,
learned, and applied one bite at a time. But it should not be read or quoted or
founded on subjective bits and pieces that do not fit with the whole. It’s
meant to lead to the kind of cure Bill Wilson described on page 191 of today’s
Big Book edition. It’s to let you select the pieces as desired and know that
they will fit together when your study is completed.
For information on the books, orders, or
content, contact Dick B. at 808 874 4876, or at dickb@dickb.com.
You may also contact Ken B. at 808 276 4945. Or you may find additional contact
information on www.dickb.com.
Gloria
Deo
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