459 News and Notes From the General Service Office of A.A.®

VOL. 41,No. 6/ HOLIDAY ISSUE 1995

We realize we know on{y a little. God will constant{)’

come, ifyour own house is in order. .. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact

seasons’ greetings and our prayers that we may each improve our relationship with our Higher Power, so that “the Great Fact” continues to be a reality, A.A. love, All at your General Service Office* *Seepage 12

Box 4-5·9 is published bimonthly by the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115, ©Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1995 /

Mail address: 1′.0. Box459, Grand Central Station

r.

New York, NY 10163

Subscriptions: Individual, $3.50 per year; group, $6.00 for each unit of 10 per year. Check- made payable to AA.W.S., Inc.~hould accompany order.

A.A. in Romania Grows with Help From Our Friends Historically, beguming with co-fotmders Bill W. and Dr. Bob, all that’s needed to make an A.A. meetmg is one d.nmk sharing with another. Now comes word from a comer of Rom<:orua, the largest of the Balkan countries, that the rruracle of A.A. can also happen when a drunk talks to one of our ffiends- a professional who sees alcoholics and is familiar with the A.A. message. Writes nonalcoholic psychiatrist Dt·. Roclica Stan from Pi.a tra Neamt, a town that nestles at the foothills of the Crupathian Mow1tains in Northeastern Romania: “I had often treated alcohol-dependent cases, but sonowfi.tlly noticed that the medical treatment and programs of soctal integration did not lead to any solution. Then I read about the A.A. method in the Romanian literature ru1d also received material from a doctor in Bucharest. Soon I began to explain the A.A. program to my patient Stelica; he was a longtune sufferer of tlus disease who had already tried the known medical procedur es, but to no avail. So, on May 8, 1.994, the Piatra Neamt Group came into bemg as Stelica and I together started to study the A.A. principles.” Soon after, Dr. Stan relates, she and Stelica “came in touch with an A.A. group in Timisoara,” a city in westem Romama. Together they traveled there for a two-day conference and, says Dr. Stan, “Stelica was amazed to discover that he was not alone and tha t these anonym ous alcoholics live in Romama as well as everywhere else in this world. He remained abstinent, and soon 1 recommended him to other patients of mine. Stelica spent many days initiating these people into the progrrun of Alcoholics Anonymous.” Today, Dr. Stan reports, “the Piatra Nerunt Group has several more alcoholics who are staying sober. They have asked me to \A/fite to you at the General Service Office that they are not alone anymore. As for Stelica: After one of ow· meetings his father told me, full of emotion, ‘Mrs. Doctor, I fully regret I’m not your patient!'”

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Personally, says Dr. Stan, “I am not alone anymore either. I have learned to be more tolerant, less thoughtless, and I have learned to be my own precious :ti’iend. I consider A.A. a real miracle, a gift given by God in order to give life agam to lost people; and I am one of those seeing this miracle take place.” On a synergistic note, G.S.O. has also heard from Jane D. of the Arad Group in western Romania. She writes tha t “among the visitors at the miniconference in Timisoara were two persons from Piatra Neamt. . .. They went home and found a meeting room. Now there is a group of nine members there, with daily meetings and even a P .0. Box. We are very excited and want you to know that half the copies of the Twelve and Twelve and assorted prunphlets you are sendmg us will be f(nwarded to them.” Meanwhile, j an e notes, “another member and I are going to the city ofDe1ia, abou t two hours a way fi·om here by tram, to help five people start a group. They are patients of a young doctor who has shown great interest in A.A. She has found them a meetmg room so that in time others will come; and she also hopes to arrange for A.A. meetings to be held at the psychiatric hospital where she is on staff. This spurt of growth is veiy exciting, and we feel that eve:ry growing pain, disappointment and occasional cloud of confusion was worth it. We know more will crop up, but our cow·age has been gtven a tremendous boost!”

~r.ltockefeller

Sends a Letter In the fall of 1937, co-founder Bill W. relates in A.A.

Comes of Age, “we met with Mr. jolu1 D. Rockefeller, Jr. and his fi·iends .. .. Or. Bob and I, and indeed most of us, were awfully broke. Ideas of comfortable and well-paid jobs, chains of A.A. hospitals ru1d tons of free literature for suffering alkies seized our in1agination. But Mr. Rockefeller had other ideas. He said, ‘I tlllnk money will spoil this.'” Little more than nine years later, on December 30, 1946, Mr. Rockefeller sent a letter. “Dear Mr. Wilson,” he wrote, “In December a year ago you ve:ry kindly sent me a copy ofAlcoholics Anonymous with a beautiful insCJiption on the flyleaf. To my consternation and chagnn I now find that I have never written you to express my appreciation of this gracious gesture on your part. Please forg1ve the oversight and accept, at this late date, the assurance of my cordial thanks for both the book and the inscnption. “It must give you the greatest satisfaction to know

that the friendly hand which you held out to a needy brother some years ago has resulted in such widespread extension of that helpful act. The regeneratmg power of the spirit in which that friendly hand was extended has

been the means of saving countless valuable lives that would otherwise have been wrecked. May God conttnue to bless you in your work and use you increasingly as his chosen instrument in the rebuildmg of broken lives!”

BiU w. Centennial Probably few (if any) of us A.A.s stopped for a moment in our daily rotmds during the year 1979 long enough to give a tiny thought to the fact that, on August 8 of that year, exactly 100 years had passed since the birth of our co-founder, Dr. BobS. For most of us, the centenary of the birth of the compassionate physician, famous today as A.A.’s “prince of twelve steppers,” in Bill W.’s worcli., probably slipped by totally unnoticed. Yet, how meaningful for A.A.s eveiywhere is that invisible marker of passing tune. One hundred years ago, in 1879, Dr. Bob was born. Some say that thi~> kind of low key observance was exactly what our founders desired when they were alive; ordmary stone markers on their graves, quiet, conventional funerals. Both co-founders sought the spirit of anonymity after passing on, just as both had attempted to achieve it in their lifetimes. This year, 1995, is the centenary of the birth of an mfant son born to Emily and Gilman Wilson christened William Gnffilh W.tlson, who anived in the early rooming hours of November 26, 1895, in East Dorset, Vermont. The rest, as the scribe says, is history, 100 year’s worth.

For some few of us still going, Bill is remembered as the man whose legend has been recounted so many tunes in print, or as a face lookmg out from a skillfully posed photograph. He was a lanky, amiable friend who may have sat with us in a hotel coffeeshop “shooting the breeze” about some trivial topic, long forgotten. For most of us, who did not meet him in life, Bill may well have assumed in the world of our imaginations near mythical stature. Some A.A.s recently must have created a personal Bill out of an actor’s characterization on a television drama. So what should we do about it, as this centennial day, month and year inevitably come and go? Bill would almost certainly not have wanted a good deal of the kmd of exploitation of his memory that is carried on today. We know this because he said so, forcefully and in no uncertain terms, many times in many ways. What we shall do here at G.S.O. is precisely what we would ask of AA.s everywhere old or young, newcomer or bleeding deacon. For one minute on November 26, 1995, we shall rest from our daily affairs, whatever they are, in order to thank the God of our understandmg that, 100 years before tlns day, a man ruuned Bill was born.

Bill W. at hLs desk at “Wit’s End,” a smaU studio on tlzeground.s ofhis and Lois’s home, Stepping Stones, Bedford Hills, New York.

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Please post Twelve Tips on l{eeping Your Holiday Season Sober and]oyous (page 10) on your group bulletin board.

First Asia/Oceania Service Mee1ing One drunk talking to another; one A.A. group reaching out to A.A.s in prison; A.A. seiVice structures in adjoinin~ states commwucatmg through Regional Forumsthe means of carrying the AA. message has adapted as A.A. has grown. Bill W. saw the need for global A.A. meetmgs in 1967 when he put forth the idea of a World SeiVice Meeting (WSM); the first WSM was held in New York City in 1969. Subsequently, two “zonal” meetings evolved to meet in years when there was no WSM: the Ibero American Meeting of South America and the European Service Meeting. Many years ago, Bob P. from New Zealand conceiVed the idea of a zonal meeting seiVlng Asian and Pacific Island countrtes, and this dream became a reality on March 23, 1995 when the First Asia/Oceania Service Meetmg (AOSM) was held in Tokyo, Japan. Those attending included four officers, six delegates from five countries, and four observers. George D., general manager of G.S.O. U.S/Canada, was invited to give the keynote address. The theme of this first AOSM was “Twelfth Stepping Your Neighbor Country,” emphasizing the shared responsibility ofcarrying the A.A. message in this part of the world. Chauperson Bob P. put it this way: “We need to look beyond our own shoreline to the rest of our region, to help bring unity to the area and a stngle sense of purpqsc.” George D. said that Asia and Oceania offered tremendous opportunities for twelfth stepping: “There arc all the major religions, more people, probably more alcoholics, and more languages than the rest of the world combined. A.A. is not well understood everywhere in Asia/Oceania. It may be thought to be an American, a Western, and a Christian movement. And alcoholism may be little understood in terms of being an illness that is treatable.” Five delegates reported on the status of A.A. m their counhy. Hong Kong- Hong Kong A.A. celebrated 25 years in October 1994, and has one group, 27 meetings and 120 members. Delegate Donna P. explained that because Hong Kong AA. is very small, and the populatior. seiVed lives in a small geographical area, “all of its meetings fall under one umbrella called Hong Kong Group of Alcoholics Anonymous. Our group functions with one 4

committee consistmg of a chaitperson, vice chatrperson, treasurer, and secretary. Also working with that committee we have secretaries to handle Public Information, Hospitals and Institutions, Literature, Housekeeping, Phone List, and a Telephone Answenng Machine Team. . . . A committee/business meeting is held once a month and . .. we usually have many areas to discuss, such as finances, problem solvmg, sobtiety events, meeting support and attendance, etc.” Membership fluctuates greatly due to the transient nature of the Hong Kong population, and summer departures. One meeting is Chinese speaking. One of Hong Kong’s most active Chinese members has translated the Big Book into Chinese, along with five pamphlets. Korea – Delegate J.Y. H. explained that AA began in Korea in December 1982 through an A.A. fi·om Ireland, and now has 300 m embers meeting in 23 groups. As the number of meetings grew slowly, it was necessary to establish a general office, now located in downtown Seoul. Literature and P.I. comrruttees help cany the message::; the Hospital committee bMgs 25 meetings a week into treatment centers. ].Y. said that recently more women and young people have shown interest in A.A. The Btg Book was translated into Korean in 1985; ‘IWelve Steps and ‘IWel~ ‘Iraditions in 1989; and Living Sober in 1994. Japan-Japan A.A. celebrated its 20t11 anmversruy this past March (following the AOSM). Delegate Naoto 0. said that there are six central offices in seven areas, servmg 275 groups and 3,500 members. Steps are betng taken to set up a general servtce structw-e and board. Naoto reported that ‘We have a good 1-elat:J.onslup with the professional commumty. ApproXlmately 1,000 hospitals, clinics, and nonmedical facilities regularly receive the A.A message. . .. with the guidance of our Higher Power, AA. groups are growmg slowly but steadily, not only m urban areas, but also in rural areas which, in the past, AA. bad penetrated very little.” Naoto concluded, “We now have in print a new, revised translation of the Twelve and Twelve in which spiritual terms are more sensitlvely rendered than in the past edition.” Vanuatu -Formerly New Hebrides, Vanuatu is a group of islands which lies east of Australia, and at the present time has only one group, which meets twice a week ”lith nine members. Delegate Teresa A. said that “the first seeds of AA. were planted by Dick K. from Austr.alia who lived sober in Vanuatu for more than ten years, as a Loner.” In mid-1991, an A.A. meeting was begun by expatriate A.A.s; today, members hail from New Zealand, the United States, Mexico, and Australia. Literature exists in English a nd French, and chapters four and five of the Big Book have been translated into Vanuatu’s indigenous language, Bislama. N ew Ze alan d- Delegate Bob P. said that A.A. began in New Zealand when an alcoholic read a Reader’s Digest article called “Maybe You Can Do It Too”

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and wrote to the New York office for help. “Early members,” 13ob said, “relied heavily on the Big Book to work the program. Dy 1951 there were six groups with a total membership of 46; today there are 4,000 members, 358 groups and 34 institutions groups. The first woman member joined in May 1949.” Bob explained that his country’s General Service Board is incorporated as a legal entity, which AA. itself is not: ”This enables the Fellowship to enter into commercial contracts; for example, contracts of insurance, lease agreements, and such things as the purchase of literature. This removes the liability fi·om the members of our serv1ce structure. Very importantly, it also enables us to apply for legal ownership of the A.A. logos, the words ‘Alcoholics Anonymous,’ and the A.A. symbols.” Larry N., trustee-at-large/United States, an observer at the AOSM, descnbed the spuit of communication at this first meeting: “Although the message [of AA.] has been effectively transmitted through literature alone, most frequently the message has found its way through the personal hands and hearts of members.” The “hands and hearts” of AOSM members have now linked AA. not only across national borders, but across oceans.

When A.A. Literature Gets A Glitch in Translation «Sometimes when A.A. literature is translated, there are language hiccups,” writes Taylor C., a transplanted Californian living in Antwerp, Belgmm. For example, Taylor says, “in the Flenush (Dutch) Big Book,’. .. make du·ect amends wherever possible’ comes out with a different connotation. ‘Direct’ (spelled the same in Dutch as in English), or ‘rechtstreeks,’ means both ‘right now!’ or ‘at once,’ whereas in English we seem to intend makmg amends ‘one on one’ or even ‘face to face’-but preferably after we have some quality sobriety under our belts and not in a big hurry. The Amends Step is No. 9, remember, not No. 1.” Quite a few other language hiccups occur regularly, he relates. “Most are amusing, but they can be confusing too, and probably will be ‘fixed’ in later editions.” “In Antwerp,” Taylor adds, “it seems I’m reaching out to more active alcoholics than I did back home in Califonua. Besides mal<ing a Twelfth Step call in Thilisi, the Republic of Georgia, last summer, I was privileged to help a Polish ‘potential’ [alcoholic] in hospital here in Antwerp. Z. spoke more. English than Flemish, but we enjoyed interesting conversations in a sort of Flem-lish. With hiccups, ofcourse. “

From

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Mailbag

The article “How We Behave m Public Mirrors A.A. as a ‘Whole” (Box 4-5-9, Aug.-Sept. ’95), discussing the disruptive conduct of a few members that threatens to tarnish the trust tmd respect the Fellowship enjoys at the public level, drew thought-provoking responses from members. A sampling. Writing to G.S.Q. from Idylwild, California, Bob B. tells how his group resolved a critical politeness cnsis: “A local church has been our group’s landlord for numerous meetings over the past 20 years, and the relationship between members and clergy until recently had been harmonious. Suddenly there were problems, and they were with several of our members, who thought our meager rent allowed us to run roughshod over the church secreta1y, the clergy and even fellow members dunng meeting time. It was sad to see several mdividuals, all with at least two decades of sobriety, show such little concern for the feelings ofothers.” Fortunately, says Bob, “two of our more stable members were able to meet with church offictals; they saved a meeting place that was home to four meetings a week. Since then, the mam ingredient of continued goodwill is regular commupication and a renewed effort by most group members to be less selfiSh and self-centered.” A call for courtesy comes as well from John H., of Lancaster, Ohio. “I have enjoyed continuous sobriety since December 1978,” he writes, “and I too have noticed a pronounced laxity in the demeanor some A.A.s present to the public. I agree with Jean P., who said in your article that sheer numbers have· an impact. However, I Hunk it also reflects a lack of values. ‘When I came into A.A., I was taught by oldtimers that I must place a value on sobriety; over the years I have strived, through usmg the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of A.A., to regain those living values I let slip away through my cbinkmg. “A major area of responsibility is to share my experience with the newcomer; one way is to be the best

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example I can b e inside and outside the meeting rooms of A.A. I have been fortunate in having many exempla1y powers of example, who did not hesitate to set me straight when my behavior was inappropriate or when my lack of mrumers did not conform to A.A.’s b’Piiitual principles.” At times, Jolm says, “I thlnk that we members tend to practice the principle of tolerance to the detriment of A.A. as a whole.” Recently, he relates, “a young fellow at a speaker meeting made a comment that was laced with profanity. Afterward, I told him that the meeting room wasn’t a bar and that we don’t use language like that in the rooms of A.A. This was a minor incident, but I could not, .in good conscience, allow this to go on because of the effect it has on the Fellowship. Earlier, a person in that meet.ing had said it was his f1rst in A.A. I feel I was remiss in not apologizing to that newcomer for the language he had heard; so I too am guilty of taking tolerance to the extreme and diluting my responsibility.” In conclusion john stresses that “this business of sobriety is a life-and-death situation. Therefore it is in our best interest to adopt habits of decent b ehavior.”

Paying Attention to Twelfth Step Calls Nearly everythmg you ever wanted to know about how to handle a Twelfth Step call C’dil be learned at a workshop conceived and produced by Southwestern Ohio’s District 4 in the Cincinnati .Area. Reports district committee member Melody T.: ”The workshop was frrst successfully produced in December 1994. More than 60 people attended, which was remarkable for our small district. We repeated it at ow· Ohio State General Setvice Conference in June, and so much interest was generated that several groups decided to have similar work..c;hops in their areas.” Freely sharing 1ts experience, the Southwest Ohio A.A.s have produced a simple flier titled “Pass It On,” bsting suggestlons on how to conduct a Twelfth Step call workshop. The seven main areas of discuss10n include: (1) Establish Goals; (2) Develop Agenda; (3) Develop Specifics; (4) Publications; (5) Housekeeping; (6) Topic..c; of Concern; and (7) Post-Workshop things to do. The b ack of the flier carries this time proven observation from the Big Book (p . 89) : “Practical expenence shows that nothing v.rill so much insure immunity from dnnking as intenstve work with other alcoholics.” For more information, please contact the Group Services desk at the General Service Office. 6

How Does Your Group End Its Meetings? “It is obvious,” writes Graham, an Olympta, Washington, member, “that the time has come for the Lord’s Prayer to be retired from within A.A. Though it is just as obviously not time for the prayer’s retiremen t from practice within its native denomination, the question of its use inside A.A. (which is ‘not allied \”‘ith any sect, denommation, politics, organization or institution’) has sparked sometimes heated discussion in meetings I have attended, heard of and read of elsewhere ii1 the country. One fact rising clearly from the heat is th a t we- current members of AA.-are not united on the question.” Graham makes these observations in response to an article in the Feb./Ma rch issue of Bo.r 4-5-9 (“Some Shanng from 1he Pacific Regional Forum,” p. 10), which told how the Lord’s Prayer was introduced irito,A.A.: “In the early days, the Fellowship was more religiously Oliented. We had no literature, not even a name of our own, so the early groups leaned heavily on Bible reading for mspiration and guidance. Besides, using the Lord’s Prayer at meetings freed speakers from the task, embarrassing to many, of composing prayers of their own. As time went on, co-founder Bill W. explams in A.A. Comes ofAge (p. 197), ‘we began to emphasize the fact that A.A. was a way oflife that conflicted with no one’s religious belief.'” “In our G.S.R. [general service representatives] meeting,” Graham reports, ”we found that we are united in our devotion to the principle of unity: for on A.A. unity depends ‘ our Jives, the Jives of all to come.’ We also found that we are united in our acceptance of the A.A. responsibility statement: ‘When a nyone, anywhere reaches out for help!I want the hand of A.A. always to be there/And for tha t, I am responsible.’ And we voted to use this commitment in closing our G.S.R. meetmgs. The vote showed that many who continue to respect, even cherish the Lord’s Prayer, realize that it belongs to their religion, to their own understanding of a higher power, and that A.A. must cast a wider net so as not to exclude those of other faiths, other world views. We may forget, but it is true, that not all the drunks needing our help are Christians.” Letters of sharing directed to the General Service Office indicate that an increasing number of A.A. groups throughout the U.S./Canada and Europe are choosing to end their meetings \”‘ith the Serenity Prayer: “God grant m e the serenity!fo accept the thmgs I cannot change/ The courage to change the things I can/And the wisdom to know the difference.” And, accordmg to the Grassroots Forum, the B.C./Yukon Area newsletter, there is a closing p rayer used in Russia Cwhich the Forum had reptinted from its fellow Canadian newsletter serving the Parksville, Qualicum, Area) that empha-

sizes the unity, hope and love to be had in A.A: I put my hand in yours and together we can do what

we could never do alone. No longer is there a sense of hopelessness, No longer must we depend on our own unsteady willpower. We are all together now, reachmg out our hands for power and strength greater than ours, and As we join hands, we fmd love and understandmg beyond our wildest dreams. How does your group end its meetmgs? G.S.O. welcomes your sharing.

The Minority Voice: Watchdog ofA.A.’s Democratic Process In what co-founder Bill W. sometimes called A.A.’s “benign anarchy,” the small but often not so still voice of the minority, or dissenting, member is a valued element in arriving at a group conscrence. At the same time, Class B (alcoholic) trustee Peter B. of Arlington, Vrrginia, told a sbanng session at the General Service Board weekend in July, “we must understand the importance of not mistaking ‘ego run rampant’ for a legitimAte role in bringing a minority view to the discussion table.” Additionally, he said, “it is central to a healthy grotlp process that we eliminate the concept of winning or losing from our motivations and e>.pectalions. Either we do it mrr way and everyone is at risk of losing something-or we do it right and everyone WU1S.” In A.A.’s continuing quest for unammity in decision making, within its groups and at the General Service Conference level, assurance tha t the smallest voice will be heard is built into Concept V as well as Warranty Four, which states “That all important decisions be reached by discussion, vote, and, whenever possible, by substantial unanimity. Here on the on e hand we erect a safeguard agamst any hasty or overbearing authority of a sunple majority; an d on the other hand w e take notice of the 1ights and the frequent wisdom of minorities, however small.” (Twelve Conceptsfor World Selvice, p. 67) Class B (alcoholic) Canadian trustee Gerry F., of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, a presenter at the sharing session, noted that “in his Concept V essay on the subject, Bill W. quotes some French character [De Toqueville] as saying that ‘ . .. greatest danger to democracy would always be the “tyranny” of apathetic, self-seeking,. uninformed or angry majmities’ (Twelve Concepts for World

Service, p. 24). So it seems to me that the primary importance of the minority voice is to keep the majority from becoming flabby; to keep it from making such uninformed, self-seeking or angJy decisions.” Then Gerry asked: “But whose minority voice are we talkmg about? Is it, for example, the voice of someone from the Bender’s Group in Elbow, Saskatchewan, who has a burr under his saddle and a good photocopier or fax machine? Or is it possibly the voice of a past trustee whose personal choice for the theme of some past International Convention wa~:>n’ t accepted and, with nose out of joint, has set out to Hx the General Sefvice Board? l believe not. I don’t think a lone voice \vith an axe to grind is necc:.sarily a ‘minonty vo1ce’; I think it is a lone voice with an axe to grind.” Nevertheless, Gerry continued, “it is true that in A.A. we oflen dlscover wisdom from the strangest sources. I remember sittmg in my home srroup meeting one everu.ng, fi11strated that my wife was late yet agam, and I was fuming. My daughter, newly sober at the time, mentioned in her shanng at the meetmg that ‘patience is simply a matter offigurmg out what to do in the meantime.’ I find that enlightenment comes, often unexpectedly, as long as we stay tuned.” At the same sharing session, Jane S., a Class B (alcoholic) trustee from New York City, shared her personal experience as a m inonty voice. “I was born in 1940,” she said, “too late to be a beatnik, too early to be a hippie. I grew up with heroism and valor defmed for me by the likes ofJohn Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando and everything Hermngway wrote: They were loners all, who fought lonely and b itter bat ties against a crushing, brutal e..c;tablishment. Then I drank for 20 years, during which my heroes were superb fodder for demal. They were oppressed; obviously they were right. Then I got sober. I joined this cockamamie outfit called A.A., where they spoke only of ‘we’: ‘We came to…. ‘; ‘We admitted…. ‘; ‘We sought. .. .’Who were these ‘we’ people? Some of us maybe? Those of us with the sophistication, the managerial experience to tmderstand what was best fo r the group? Som e of us, like you and me, for instance-and privately, I was not so sure about you!” When she was about eight years sober, jane related, “my sponsor at the time introduced me to service, and for several years I had a lot of experience as the minority voice. Sometimes I won, but sometimes I lost, and that was the problem. Then I became a Grapevine dlrector, one of the ones with ‘power.’ The frrst thing that struck me was that it didn’t feel h.ke power. Now when I went to Regional Forums or the Conference, I was one of the ones being banged on. And I learned that my conception of the minority voice, with which I’d lived all my life as one that railed against evil and such, wasn’t that at all. The point wasn’t to win; the point was to participate in a group process.” The more sensitive the issue, jane pointed out, “the

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more urgent it is to use the principle of substantial unanimity as the voting criterion, and it could take a long time to get there. But I no longer feel the point is to win; it’s to fmd a solution that works for us all. Toward that end it is my responsibility to support my minority position in debate. What happens to me, though, ifi am not a part of the two thu·ds majority needed to Swing a vote? There are some personal guidelines I use for myself, includmg; (1) I not only accept the group conscience unmediately, I support it in the best way I can. I don’t do it grudgingly, but with a full heart; and (2) After the heat has died down and the dust has settled, I seriously consider the possibility that I am wrong (remote as that possibility may be).” When she drank, jane recalled, “I railed, I shook my fists at the walls ofthe establishment. I was an outsider, a rogue. Mostly I was a drinker. But now I am inside A.A., hopefully somewhere near the center where the frrelight is, not at the back where I could be picked out by one of the monsters of my denial that live in the dark. I do not pretend that it isn’t difficult. There often are issues about which I have strong, disturbing feehngs that put me in the minority. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I remain a part of it all, listening, maybe even changing the majority opinion now and then-and maybe not, but always trying to fmd a solution. In fact, my life depends upon it.”

SERVICES AT G.S.O.

Spanish Services Desk Recently Danny M., coordinator of Spanish Services at the General SerVJce Office, attended a roundup of Spanish-speaking groups in Southern California. Opening his laptop computer at an informal break, he pushed a few keys and, there on the monitor, the A.As with him were seeing the history of their group as it appears in G.S.O. records. “They saw their name, address, the date the group was formed, list ofcontlibutions and more,” says Danny, “and as always happens when I do this, they were very pleased and excited. It gave them the same sense of community, of history, that many Spanish-speakmg members get when they visit G.S.O.” Here he stops and, with a smile, notes that “many first-ttrne visitors look for G.S.O. at Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, because they have he.lrd so much about both.” Heidentifies with all alcoholics, he says, but especially with those in a land where the language, as a means of communication, is different from their mother tengue. “I know how

isolated one can feel,” he recalls. «But there is help in A.A. for every alcoholic who wants it, just as it was there for me, and for those yet to come.” A typical day in the life of the Spanish Services coordinator begms, Danny says, “with a call from an intergroup office in California, which needs 250 Spanish Big Books and, course, needs them by tomorrow. It is not unusual that the caller, a recovering alcoholic, would like to share briefly with another alcoholic while trying to place the rush order. “Simultaneously, visitors arrive from Lima, Peru or Barcelona, Spain and stop to share, embrace and sip coffee; and a stack of paperwork is sitting on the desk, begging for attention. The coordinator’s job is manyfaceted and challenging, and the rewards are great, like the thrill of being able to assist an A.A. phoning as early in the mornmg as 6 a.m. Pacific time to obtain information on how t·o start a new group.” Throughout the years, G.S.O. has provided services in ~verallanguages, including Spanish. But it was not until 1984 that the Spanish Services assignment was formally initiated. Today there are more than 35,000 Spanishspeakmg A.A. members, who do not speak English, meeting in approximately 1,500 groups in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. The Spanish Services liaison, who does not rotate, coordinates and revises Spanish translations of A.A. materials. Most A.A. literature, including Bar 4-5-9, has been translated into Sparush (a catalogue is available a t no charge). And in April an Advisory Action of the General Service Conference provided for “a bimonthly Spa rush edition of the Grapevine to be produced,” with funding obtained from the Reserve Ftmd. At the same tlme, monthly articles in Spanish will no longer appear in the English-language edition of the magazine. Danny participates in conventions, various Hispanic intergroup meetings, Regional forums and the bierunal World Service Meeting, among others. ”To have the opportunity to serve om· Spamsh-speakmg brothers and sisters is a very specral privilege,” he says. “Everything w e do is meant to make Spanish-speaking A.A.s, the newcomers in partlculat, feel part and parcel of the Fellowship.”

Holiday Gift Ideas A nice way to remember your home group this Holiday Season is with a gift subscription to Box 4-5-9. A bulk subscnption (10 copies each of 6 issues, $6.00) is a gift that will last all year. A.A. Everywhere-Anywhere, the souvenir book celebrating our 60th Anniversary, is a photographic overview of A.A.’s histmy. Newcomers and seasoned A.A.s alike will all fmd it a wonderful keepsake. (B-50; $6.50). Also available in Spanish (B-51).

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The soft-cover, pocket editions (3 7/8″ x 5 5/8″) of both the Big Book (without stories) and the Twelve and Twelve enable A.A.s to have the program with them at all tunes, in pocket or purse. $3.50 each. And, of course, for years, A.A. members have been solving gift-giving p roblems by sendmg friends a Grapevine subscription. The L.wguage of the Heart, a collection of Bill W.’s writmgs, is a popular Grapevine book; now available in Spanish, El Lenguaje del Comz6n (GV-08; $12.00). Most of these books may be ordered from G.S.O. or through your local interg roup or central office. Grapevine books and other items are available by contactmg the A.A. Grapevine: Grand Central Station, Box 1980, New York, NY 10163-1980.

Treatment Facilities

Unity and Purpose Are The Glue of So. Florida’s Bridge the Gap Program “Bridgmg the gap from treatment to A.A. is basically Twelfth Step work; for many an alcoholic, it is the critical transitional period between being discharged from a treatment facility and being guided to an A.A. meeting by a concemed member.” Speaking at a workshop of A.A.’s 10th International Convention in San Diego, California, lastjuly,Joyce K. of Coral Springs, Florida, an appointed member of the trustee’s Committee on Treaunent Facilities, emphasized that “there are many ways and dynamics on bridging the gap smoothlyways that are best left to local, d.i:strict and area autonomy, since that’s where you’ll fmd the AA.s who know exactly what needs to be done.” Joyce, who also chairs the South Florida Area T.F. Corrunittee, explained that the Bridge program in her area “stays wtthin the structure of A.A. We have 15 dlstricts and, hopefully, 15 disll1ct T.F. corrunittees, each with a chauperson. In some districts they may call themselves Institutions conunittees and be fmancially self-supporting; most, however, have separate T.F. and Correctional Facilities committees. But all are under the umbrella of the local intergroup, central office or general service. We meet together under one roof, in unity, at our South Florida Quarterly weekends. All ofus understand that we have one pnmaty pUlpose: to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. At the Quarterlies we have a T.F. workshop and business meetmg where we exchange our expe1ience, strength and hope on how we can best cany A.A.’s message into the treatment centers.”

HereJoyce offered some examples of how various districts operate: “In one,” she said, “th e chairperson coordinates a list of A.A. volunteers ,vilJ.ing to serve as tenlporruy contacts. A staff member from the treatment facility phones into the voice mailbox when someone is leaving the treatment environment; then, matching the zip code of the individual leaving treatment as closely as possible, the chairperson sets up a corresponding A.A. contact. Usually this A.A. member calls the facility, furrushmgidentification, and the patient returns the call.” Another district, Joyce continues, “has set up a telephone voicemail system that is paid for by the local committee. The way it works: The local treatment facility is provided with calling cards for interested alcoholics which read: ‘Ten1porary contact-caLl this number and leave a number where you can be reached before or upon leaVU1g detox or treatment. An A.A. member will call you and introduce you to our Fellowship in your area.’ At the end of each day, m essages are retrieved from the voice mailbox, and calls are made. This works vCJy well, espeoally since the time alcoholics spend in treatment facilities tends to be shorter than in previous years.” Noting with a smile that “my Broward County District, in the heavily populated Ft. Lauderdale area, is sometimes called Fort Liquordale,” Joyce said that “our local Institutions committee was started in 1968, so we have been doing this bridge the gap work for 27 years. As of March ’95, we had 241 volunteers carrying themessage each week to 5,990 alcoholics-3,510 in j ails and 2,480 in treatment facilities. And we still needed volunteers to chair 14jail meetings and 12 b·eatment facilities meetmgs. But even when shorthanded, we almost always manage to provide a temporary contact whenever needed, thanks in Large part to the help of our local groups. My own home group takes a meeting into the county treatment center just down the street. We provide a chaiJ:person and speaker every other week, and we bridge the gap by inviting the alcoholics in treatment to our beginners meetmg and offermg sponsorshtp.” Another way to bridge the gap, Joyce suggests, is to take informational present a lions into the facilities. “There are two particularly helpful service presentation guideltnes available from the General Serv1ce Office, one geared to professionals and administr ators and the other to clients. Included in these presentations ts a viewmg of the video Hope: Alcoholics Anonymous. And let’s not forget the pamphlet ‘Biid.ging the Gap’ and the wonderful general service piece Information on Alcoholics Anonymous. ” In closing, joyce told the assembled A.A.s, “I want you all to know that we in South I’lorida are not a secret. If any alcoholic is leavmg a treatment facility fi·om another area or state, we shall be happy to help you m any way we can to make sure that the hand of A.A. is there if they have a cbinktng problem and desire ow· help.” 9

Tvvelve Tips on Keeping Your Holiday Season Sober and Joyous Holiday parties \Vithout liquid spirit<> may still ~>eem a d reary prospect to new A.A.s. But many of us have enJoyed the happtest holidays of our lives sober- an tdea we would never have dreamed of, wanted, or believed possible when drinkmg. Here are some tips for having an all-round ball with out a drop of alcohol.

tions given by groups in your area, and go. If you’re timid, take someone newer than you are. Ltne up extra A.A. activities for the holiday season. Ar ran ge to take newcomers to meetmgs, answer the phones at a clubhouse or central office, speak, help With dishes, or visit the alcoholic ward at a ho~>pital.

Be host to A.A. friends , especially newcomers. If you don’t have a place where you can throw a formal party, take one person to a cliner and spnng for the coffee.

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Don’t sit arourul brooding. Catch up on those books, museums, walks, and letters. Skip any drinking occasion you are nervous about. Remember how clever you were at excuses when drinking? Now put the talent to good use. No office party is as impOiiant as savmgyour life.

ifyou have to go to a drinking party and can ‘t take an A.A. with you, keep some candy handy.

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Keep your A.A. telephone list with you all the time. If a drinkmg urge or panic comes-postpone everything else until you’ve called an A.A.

Find out about the spectal holiday parties, meetings, or other celebra-

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Don’t start now gettmg worked up about all those holiday temptations. Remember- “one day at a time.”

Eryoy the true beauty ofholiday love and joy. Mayb e you cannot give material gtfk-but this year, you can give love. Don’t think you have to stay late. Plan m advan ce an ” important date” you have to keep.

Go to church. Any church.

“Having had a . . .” No n eed to spell out the Twelfth Step here, since you already know it.

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BULLETIN BOARD

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Items and Ideas on Area Gatherings for A.A.s-Via G.S.O.

HOLIDAY ISSUE 199S

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Calendar of Events Events listed here are presented solely as a service to readers, not as an

endorsement by the General Service Office. For a ny adctitional information,

please use the addresses provided.

1Z-14-Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. VICYPAA. Write: Ch., Box 151, St. Kilda, VIctoria 3182, Australia 18-Z1- Raleigh, Nortll Car’Olina. 29th Tar Heel Midwinter Conf. Write: Ch., Box 18412, Raleigh, NC 27619 19-Z1-]ame.stowp, North Dakota. District 6 RoWldup. Write: Ch., Box 1655,Jamestown, ND 58402

25-28-Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

December :1-3-Ponte Vedra Beac/1 , Florida. 20th Annual North Florida/South Georgia Gratitude Weekend. Write: Ch., Box 51134,jacksonville Beach, FL 32250 1-3- Pittsbttrgil, Pennsylvania. 55th Anniversa&y Golden Triangles. Write: Ch., Box6501, Pittsburgh, PA 15212 1-3-San Antonio, Texas. Southw est Regional Forum. Write: Forum Coordinator, Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163 7-10-TorremaUnos, Malaga, Spain. Sixth Anniversary Conv. Write: Ch., Apartado 360, 29640 Fuengirola (Malaga) Spain 8-10-Minot, North Dakota. Fifth Annual Magic City Conv. Write: Ch., 508 9th St. N\V, Minot, ND 58701 24-25-Keam}’, New jersey. Sixth Annual Chris tmas Alkathon. Write: Secy., 101 Hudson Ave., Red Bank, 1’ij 07701 3 1-]anucuy 1-]ackson, Mississippi. New Year’s Celebration. Write: Ch., Box Z0664, Jackson, MS 39289-1664

Seventh Annual E merald Coast Jamboree. Write: Ch., Box 875, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32549-0875 28-U–Wasau, WISCOnsin. Area 74 Service Assembly. Wrice: Ch., 2737 Morningside Dr., Eau Claire, WI 54703

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From the Grapevine

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For more detailed suggestions, see the pages noted.

December (page 19): Along SpirituaJ Lines

]anual’y (page 55), A.A. Around the World

Annual Lower Rio Grande Valley jam boree. Wrltc: Ch., Box 5453, BrownSVille, TX 78520 11 -14-Kailua, Kana, Hawaii. Big Book Seminar. Write: Ch., Box 5135, Kailua, I<ona, HI 96745 1.2-14-P/easanton, California. 24th Annual ACYPAA Roundup. Write: Ch., Box 328, Danville, CA 94526-0328 12-14-College Stati.on, T=s. 34th SETA Assembly and Conv. Write: Ch., Box 9120, College Sta lion, TX 77840-9120

1Z-14-Ciarksburg,

West

Virginia.

Jackson’s Mill 16th Winter Roundup. Write: Ch., Box 825, Clarksburg, WV 26302-0825

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23-25-Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Febr·uary 2-4-Predericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Ninth Annual Mid-Winter Roundup. Write: Ch., Box 742, Station A, Fredericton, NB E3B 5B4 Z-4-ChriStclmrch, New Zealand. New Zealand 50th Anniversary Conv. Write: Conv. Set.-y. Box 2062, Christchurch, NZ 9-11-Napier, Illinois. JSCYPAA. Write: Ch., 1009 Terrace Lake Dr., Aurora, IL 60504 16-18—Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Western Canadian Re@onal Forom. Write: forum Coordinator, Box 459, Grand Central Scation, New York, NY 10163 16-18-Uverpool, Nt’W York. Ninth Annual Salt City Mid-Winter Roundup. Write: Ch., Box 3588, Syracuse, NY 13220

Saskatoon Roundup. Wrlce: Ch., 8878, Saskatoon, SK S7K 6S7 23-25–Honolulu, Hawa&i. Aloha Roundup (sponsored by gayi>lesblan members). Writ e: Ch., Box 88293, Honolulu , Hl 96830-8293 23-25-Cheny Hill, New Jersey. NERAASA ’96. Write; Ch., Box 8541, Cherry Hill, t-{1 08002

March :t-3-Bundoran, Ireland. 17th lrish!Scotlish Gathering. Write: Secy., Gargrim, Tullagaan PO, Co. Weitr!rn, Ireland 29-31- Tacoma, Washington. Puget Sound jamboree. Write: Ch., Box 111948, Tacoma, WA98411-1948

january 5-7-South Padre Island, Te.ras. 22nd

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Closed Meeting Topics

Plarming a Future Event? Please send yow· information on February, March or April events, two days or more, in time to reach G.S.O. by December 10, the calendar deadline for the Febnt::~ry-March issue ofBox-:t-5-9. For your convenience and Out’S- please type or prilll the information to be listed on the Bulletin Board page, and mail to us: Dale ofevent: from _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 19 _ __ Name if evmt: – – – – — — – — — – – – – – – – – – – — —

Place (city, state or- p,-ov.):

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}Or iriformation, writ~:

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(t:mct mailing~ss) – – — – – – – – – – – – – – – – — – — –

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Contact phone # (/or office use only):—-~—————

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Xuliann BrhC. BnneS. Husa JennIFER StelA boarolyn Susanu. Richandye wm9ome me ilma Tum mon orusloree Bett m ahute 3omme Margie Jaleie Coreene talla. Gicngia ho AwildA mille.8 graverencl Hodit Mariln le Wo Cind dmse ema Stenel fouuS Jeler t dderG. Vhrwie CmA.Cbone edrbres