The GSR Says!
George T. is away this month so here’s some history…
This is an email from George, March 18, 2020
Hi All, Mark C and I would like to try and hold our meetings using Google Hangouts. Starting tomorrow, Thursday, the 19th, log in through the link below, or call in from your phone at the number listed below and enter the pin followed by the # sign when prompted. If you use the link on your computer you will have access to video as well as audio. For phone dial in it will be like you are on a conference call with all participants, but of course you will have no video.Ideally, we will meet just as our regular meeting: Monday through Friday @ 11:30 am. If our current secretaries are logged in on their regular days once folks have joined us they can conduct the meeting in the usual manner. We will give it a try and see how it goes! Should be fun!See-yaz! Stay Healthy!
George T.
It’s hard to believe it’s (only) been a year!
Tripping on Step 3
I have to admit, when I came to AA I wasn’t sure I could ever complete the Steps.
It began when I was advised about honesty. If I could put aside all the usual BS I told myself to make
things okay, and look honestly at myself I figured Steps 3 , 4, 5, and 9 were non starters.
4 and 5, because I am lazy, I’ll never do it.
9 because some of those people had it coming.
And 3…… I don’t turn my will over to anyone…. “Don’t you know who I am? “.
However, because I kept going to meetings and having a couple of good sponsors along the way, slowly I began to break down.
I took the time a couple Sunday afternoons and did a Step 4. Three times before taking it to a sponsor to do a Step 5. In the end, I put the last version in a Chapter of Microsoft Notebook and it has become the journal of the Journey, so to speak. I am always adding, revising and deleting. It’s therapeutic. And it’s another tool to stay focused on staying sober.
My sponsor at the time, did get me to start on Step 9 and my current sponsor, who was around Up Close and Personal for the carnage, keeps me at it today….. as situations come up.
Step 3 though, that was and is a challenge. The very concept was difficult to acknowledge, understand and implement. I mean, what did they mean, turn my will over to a Higher Power?
After I got past the “I’m in charge of me, no one knows me. like me, so …… whatcha gonna do for me because I am me” philosophy of the past, the thought of turning over my will to a God as I understood him started to appeal to me.
Turn everything to the God of my understanding? Alright! The God of my understanding is extremely busy. That God will forget all about me while putting out fires everywhere else. Get to Lazy Boy and get me a recliner and hand me the remote.
Damn, would that work?
Unfortunately, not. There were other chapters in the Big Book about doing the right thing and practicing these principals in all my affairs. You know, you can’t get rid of your conscience and after awhile one does have to get up and walk around.
Worse, there was taking a daily inventory and asking myself am I a better person than I was yesterday? I was if I didn’t drink. And I suppose a tool in keeping that so, is keeping busy doing the right things. Good thing its practice and not perfection.
But like everything else in AA, its keeping at it. Keeping a commitment to keep trying.
Contributed by John M.
Weekends at Mckinley
THE LITERARY CORNER:
“They said she was cruel because she’d been harmed in the past. They she was cold because she just hadn’t met the right fellow to warm her. Anything to soften her edges and sweeten her disposition—and what was the fun in that? Zoya’s company was like strong drink. Bracing— and best to abstain if you couldn’t handle the kick.”
― Leigh Bardugo, King of Scars
“Trust me. You can dance”
-Vodka
― Darynda Jones, Summoned to Thirteenth Grave
“She had a glass of Bushmills in one hand and a glass of Bacardi in the other because she was still at that stage of working out what to have for her first drink.”
― Anna Burns, Milkman
“He had, he verily believed, overcome all tendency to fly to liquor – which, indeed, he had never done from taste, but merely as an escape from intolerable misery of the mind.”
― Thomas Hardy
“If drinking alcohol gives people Dutch courage, then drinking coffee gives me Dutch energy.”
― Stewart Stafford
“Unless your sober life is more meaningful than your drunk life, you’re going to relapse. YOU create the life that matters.”
― Toni Sorenson
Our Trusted Servants Continue to Be:
The current Step 2 Men’s Group meeting schedule is 7 days a week at 11:30am. All meetings are online until further notice. The Thursday meeting is a “Book/Step Study” format. Saturday is “Daily Reflections”. Each of the gatherings is one hour. Great job men!
- Monday: Tim C.
- Tuesday: Dick M.
- Wednesday: John M.
- Thursday: Bob R.
- Friday: Brad W.
- Saturday: David K.
- Sunday: Mark C.
Want to add your name to the “Back-up-Help-Substitute Secretary List”? Just contact Group GS, Tom W., Treasurer Mark W. or any Monday through Sunday Secretaries and let them know!
Step2MensGroup.com
February, 2021 Meeting Data
Here’s the connection info for joining the meeting, in case anyone missed it.
You may have notice the “Recommended Meetings” on the front page. If you have a meeting you’d like to add, please let us know!
Ever wonder why we used the numeral 2 instead spelling out “two” in the website URL for Step 2 Men’s Group?
https://steptwomensgroup.com
Contributed by Mark C.
“Mouse’s Corner”
A.A. member Dave Mc. curates a few selected readings from a variety of A.A. related publications each month. Dave is a life long friend of the editor and has been sober 34 years. His childhood nickname was “Mouse!”
“I’m sure, for instance, that I ought to seek out the finest definition of humility that is possible for me to envision. This definition doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect – I am only asked to try. Suppose I choose one like this: ‘perfect humility would be a state of complete freedom from myself, freedom from all the claims that my defects of character now lay so heavily upon me. Perfect humility would be a full willingness, in all times and places, to find and do the will of God’.”
The Best of Bill, pgs. 49 & 50
Essay on Humility, June 1961
“perhaps the best thing of all for me is to remember that my serenity is inversely proportional to my expectations.”
Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition, pg. 420
Acceptance Was The Answer
Contributed by Dave Mc.
First Wednesday… March 3rd
Come join a review of Step 3 on March 3rd (First Wednesday). “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”
John M. reviews the step corresponding to the number of that month on each first Wednesday. It’s a rewarding meeting with John outlining the step of the month, how he was challenged by it and how we tackle it ourselves, with and without success! Look for his monthly contribution in this edition!
THURSDAY ‘Book & Step Study’
Bob R. takes us through selected readings to start the meeting every Thursday. Each missive is packed with fine prose, fascinating insights and challenging reading. Following the reading the floor is open to everyone’s thoughts on how they may have been influenced or impacted by that reading. It’s really fun to be a part of and members are enjoying it.
Get on in here and show Bob support and contribute something to the newcomer. Every Thursday at 11:30.
We’ll try to make readings available ahead of time on the website.
Daily Reflection Saturdays
Join David K. on Saturdays as he leads us in a discussion of that day’s reading from Daily Reflections. Bring some friends!
Alcoholics Anonymous ‘Daily Reflection…’
1
March
IT WORKS
It works—it really does.
— ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 88
When I got sober I initially had faith only in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. Desperation and fear kept me sober (and maybe a caring and/or tough sponsor helped!). Faith in a Higher Power came much later. This faith came slowly at first, after I began listening to others share at meetings about their experiences—experiences that I had never faced sober, but that they were facing with strength from a Higher Power. Out of their sharing came hope that I too would—and could—”get” a Higher Power. In time, I learned that a Higher Power—a faith that works under all conditions—is possible. Today this faith, plus the honesty, open-mindedness and willingness to work the Steps of the program, gives me the serenity that I seek. It works—it really does.
From the book Daily Reflections
Copyright © 1990 by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
March Birthdays… IF They Make It!
March 10th… Brad W. celebrates 1 year
March 14th… Paul T. celebrates 5 years
March 17th… Tim C. celebrates 13 years
March 29th… Mark C. celebrates 2 years
If your birthday has been missed…. fill out the birthday form.
We really want to celebrate your AA anniversary because your birthday made ours possible!
Thanks everybody and apologies to you if you were missed or incorrectly noted.
Funny Papers
Step 2 Men’s Group Believes…
“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
We’d never presume that the 12 Steps are not clear. Nor would we imply that they need ‘improvement’. However…for purposes of assisting to keep the meeting pointed in an important direction each day, the ‘Step 2 Men’s Group statement is read as follows:
Step 2 Men’s Group is founded on the belief that spirituality is essential to our sobriety. Our group is non-religious, but we do not oppose anyone’s religious beliefs. We believe that respect for others and their beliefs is essential to our spiritual development. Accordingly we ask that avoid criticism of others or of their religion or lack of religion, their race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, physical appearance, trade or profession, length of sobriety, or personal beliefs. Our goal is to further our spirituality, our sobriety and our personal development, not to confront or belittle others. Always remember to be kind to others.
Extra Special Thanks Dept:
Thanks to our ‘GSR’ George T. for “The GSR Says”. Thank you John M. Thanks to Mark C. for your contributions in making our online meetings a reality. Thanks to Dave Mc. for “Mouse’s Corner.” Thank you Anthony S. for the ‘Joke Box’. We’re still waiting for YOU gentle reader…Why don’t YOU contribute a short “something?” Any length, most any AA related topic. Reply now and it will get included next month!
Men’s Gazette – February 2021
Men’s Gazette – April 2021