NOVEMBER 1
I CANNOT CHANGE THE WIND
It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe.ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 85
My first sponsor told me there were two things to say about prayer and meditation: first, I had to start and second, I had to continue. When I came to A.A. my spiritual life was bankrupt; if I considered God at all, He was to be called upon only when my self-will was incapable of a task or when overwhelming fears had eroded my ego. Today I am grateful for a new life, one in which my prayers are those of thanksgiving. My prayer time is more for listening than for talking. I know today that if I cannot change the wind, I can adjust my sail. I know the difference between superstition and spirituality. I know there is a graceful way of being right, and many ways to be wrong.Our Updated Meeting Secretaries:
(effective Thursday, November 14)
The current Step 2 Men’s Group meeting schedule is Monday, Wednesday & Friday at Tim’s (3809 J St), Tuesday & Thursday online, Saturday in the park is “Daily Reflections” and Sunday is our Rogue meeting in the park. Each gathering is one hour and starts at 11:30am. Great job men!
- Monday: Tim C.
- Tuesday: Mark
- Wednesday: John M.
- Thursday: Chuck S.
- Friday: Jon B.
- Saturday: Dave M.
- Sunday: Mark C.
Want to add your name to the “Back-up-Help-Substitute Secretary List”? Just contact Group GS, John M., Treasurer Mark W. or any of our other Secretaries and let them know!
Thanks for your service on Thursdays, Sean F!
Annual Business Meeting
November 8, 2024 11:00am
3809 J Street
Elections, Suggestions, and the Grant Miller Award
Food, drinks, and Fellowship
Followed by our regular Friday meeting
November Birthdays… IF They Make It!
November 3rd… Jon B. celebrates 6 years
November 15th… Bob A. celebrates 39 years
November 26th… Josh W. celebrates 6 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.
“Mouse’s Corner”
A.A. member Dave Mc. curates a few selected readings from a variety of A.A. related publications each month.
A.A., and the steps of recovery, have shown me how to look at events in a different way. I can now understand how some things, which once seemed like major disasters, turned out to be blessings. Certainly my alcoholism fits that category.
I am truly a grateful alcoholic today. I do not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. Those events that once made me feel ashamed and disgraced now allow me to share with others how to become a useful member of the human race.
Big book page 492
Contributed by Dave Mc.
Tradition 11
Short Form
“Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.”
Long Form
“Our relations with the general public should be characterized by personal anonymity. We think A.A. ought to avoid sensational advertising. Our names and pictures as A.A. members ought not be broadcast, filmed, or publicly printed. Our public relations should be guided by the principle of attraction rather than promotion. There is never need to praise ourselves. We feel it better to let our friends recommend us.”
Tradition Summary
Attraction Rather Than Promotion
Bill W. once said, “We had no public relations policy except for a fear of public relations. Our relations with the general public should be characterized by personal anonymity. There is never need to praise ourselves. We feel it better to let our friends recommend us.”
Good public relations are A.A. lifelines reaching out to the fellow alcoholic who still does not know us. For years to come, our growth is sure to depend upon the strength and number of these lifelines.
Conversely, think about this. Should we identify ourselves by our first and last name when we speak at closed meetings of A.A? Does this violate the eleventh tradition? Of course not. We are only anonymous at the level of press, radio, and films. The press has not attended any closed meetings I have spoken at, so I am free to use my whole name. The final paragraph on page 37 of the pamphlet “Frequently Asked Questions About A.A.” states: “It should also be noted that within A.A., at A.A. meetings and amongst themselves, A.A. members are not anonymous.”
Step-Tradition Parallel
The eleventh step is related to the eleventh tradition: by praying only for knowledge of his will for me and the power to carry that out, I become a source of attraction to God and give Him all credit for my wonderful life. The eleventh step poses the question, “How can we improve our conscious contact?” The eleventh tradition answers that question by pointing out that when we do not take credit for the good we do, we become closer to God in our prayer.
From an idea by George T.
First Wednesday… November 6th
Come join a review of Step 11 on November 6th (First Wednesday). “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”
John 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!
Yo, Eleven! A Roll of the Dice Column
Why is it I can find no inner peace striving to meditate like they suggest we do in Step Eleven, that describes meditation as a means to Inner Peace?
Some people have wondered how did a program like AA get into the meditation business in the first place. I will likely get this story a little mixed up but as I recall from a book I read, Distilled Spirits, by Don Lattin.
There was this common thread. It wove its way through famous writer Aldous Huxley, (Brave New World), philosopher Gerald Heard (Founder of Trabuco College ), Bill Wilson (co-founder of AA) and the writer Lattin, who once worked at the SF Chronicle. They were all once hopeless drunks and drug users.
Bill Wilson, though committed to AA, did explore other means to ensure sobriety including meditation and LSD. Not at a Timothy Leary “Be In” or aboard Further, the Ken Kesey bus, but at the VA Hospital in Los Angeles, off San Vincenzo Ave and Gerald Heard has arranged it.
While Wilson was enthralled by the experience, he did not believe it would be a solution and it led to later writings that all stimulants or mind distortions, except coffee, should be avoided and abstained.
Also, at this time, Gerald Heard was expanding Trabuco College, where a daily meditation was required. Over time, Heard was meditating up to six times a day. Wilson and Huxley both thought that was too much.
Eventually, in According to Bill, Wilson’s supplemental guide to AA and the 12 Steps, Wilson concluded that one, two if needed, meditations a day should be sufficient.
I have a hard time meditating. My mind starts to wander after about seven minutes. I use You Tube sometimes to help me out. An in-person meeting I find can be helpful but most of the time the meetings I have been to in the Sacramento Area are on folding chairs, and I dunno, it doesn’t quite do it. But if you are new you should try. Here are the ones I know of:
Sunlight of the Spirit 11th Step Meditation Meeting
Location: Lutheran Church of the Cross, 4465 H St, East Sacramento
Time: Fridays at 5:30 PM
11th Step Meditation Group
Location: Online
Time: Fridays at 6:00 PM
Group One Meditation Meeting
Location: 2804 T St, Downtown Sacramento
Time: Sundays at 7:00 AM
Oak Tree Fellowship
Location: Parkside Community Church, 5700 S Land Park Dr, South Sacramento
Time: Sundays at 7:00 AM
Traditional Group Meditation Meeting
Location: 1355 Fulton Ave, Northeast Sacramento
Time: Sundays at 9:30 AM
I have been to Traditional, Group One, and Sunlight of the Spirit. I liked the last one the best. I know this column is a little different but so is the 11th Step if you think about it.
Contributed by John M.
Funny Pages
My First Meeting
Please be “of service.” If you’ve never contributed a “My First Meeting”, please help to keep this column going…we need you! What do you remember most of your first meeting? It can be one sentence; it can be up to two paragraphs. Could be funny, poignant or strictly “clinical”. Write what you want…you might have enjoy writing it!
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 General Secretary John M. for “Yo! 11…”, Dave Mc. for “Mouse’s Corner” and our Treasurer Mark W. for all your contributions. 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 – October 2024