Step Twelve tells me that since I have now had a spiritual awakening because I have done the preceding 11 steps and have been given the power to help others, I now must continue with them and get out into the field to try and bring this very same message to alcoholics.
I can't seem to find any 12-step work of the coffee & cake variety in this Program anywhere. Bill mentions it a little in the 12 X 12, but when did this sort of work become a substitute for working for others. Probably when the first lazy sponsor decided to stay home to listen to Jack Benny, later watch Dragnet and now The Intern.
I automatically think of Carrying This Message being as being a recovered alcoholic, armed with facts about himself, Big Book in hand, eye-ball to eye-ball working with other alcoholics, in sordid places if necessary; along the order of how Ebby worked on Bill, how Bill worked on Bob, how they both worked on Bill D. A 12-step call is used to Twelve Step - to literally convince the prospect to begin taking the 12 steps so he could recover and do the same with still other alcoholics.
When did Twelve Stepping and STEP TWELVE become one single concept? Twelve step work in BIG BOOK context means bringing the 12 steps to a prospect, whereas step 12 is just step 12.
It takes me 5 full chapters to cover Step 12. 7 covers Working with others and 8,9,10 and 11 cover "all my affairs" (My wife, my family, my business and the Fellowship) When I want to know about Step 12, I read Chapters 7 thru 11.
The entire idea was to perform this work in order to stay sober ourselves with the eventuality of doing it just out of love. The self-less ness quality is gone, and it is the deflating of the self by which our entire healing takes place to begin with.
We know that in order for a 12-step call to be effective, the 12 steppers message has to carry depth and weight. If a drunk suspects someone has an axe to grind of any sort, EVEN TO STAY SOBER HIMSELF, the process becomes shallower and lighter. I know my heart softened when I realized the incredible truth that these people, were doing what they were doing, not for personal gain but out of love. It made an impression that kept me coming back allot more than just telling me to "Keep coming back"
Peace,
Danny S
Friday, February 25, 2005
Coffee & Cake 12 Stepping
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Thanks Danny.
I believe that there are an almost infinite number of ways to "carry the message." Unless one "mans" a hotline actual Step 12 out-calls are pretty few and far between. I am still a bar owner and have had several people come to me privately and ask for help, just because they know I'm in AA and they have seen the change in me. I do not actively promote the program, except by example. Obviously the most effective method of carrying the message is by attending meetings and additionally, sharing in those meetings. I try to meet all newcomers, give my phone and email and often ask them out for a coffee.
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