FEBRUARY 4
WHEN FAITH IS MISSING
Sometimes A.A. comes harder to those who have lost or rejected faith than to those who never had any faith at all, for they think they have tried faith and found it wanting. They have tried the way of faith and the way of no faith.TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 28
I was so sure God had failed me that I became ultimately defiant, though I knew better, and plunged into a final drinking binge. My faith turned bitter and that was no coincidence. Those who once had great faith hit bottom harder. It took time to rekindle my faith, though I came to A.A. I was grateful intellectually to have survived such a great fall, but my heart felt callous. Still, I stuck with the A.A. program; the alternatives were too bleak! I kept coming back and gradually my faith was resurrected.February Birthdays… IF They Make It!
February 1st… Marv P. celebrates 39 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.
A 2nd Step Ponderence
I had this buddy, Mark. I know right? Only Mark was not one of us. He was younger than me, so by deduction, would be younger than most of you. He was a saint too. I used to wonder if he was related or a reappearance of the St. Mark in the bible.
You see, this Mark did everything right. Like me, Mark had a special needs kid, and Chance is perfect. My Grace is lovable, but each day I second guess everything we ever did. Mark’s other two kids were great too. They were in my other two daughter’s classes. They too, Perfect. Mine, drive you nuts.
Anyway, Mark and I were pretty good friends but not particularly close most of the time I knew him. We had a bonding moment in church one day, when the priest wandered into a big lecture sermon railing against people like us. It was way too political I will leave it at that. And it happened again.
I was probably looking for an excuse anyway, but I stopped going to church. I had heard Mark had too. Then he got cancer. I sent him one of those corny get-well cards because I had heard the prognosis was it was getting handled.
Fast forward to the California High School basketball championships and I see Mark with Chance. I’m sitting with a bunch of guys I have known since grammar school at that same church. I wave Mark over, As you may know, the high school basketball championships give you plenty of time to talk between action. Mark and I talked up a storm. He was so positive, so optimistic so upbeat about everything. I was amazed.
Sometime after, I descended into the hell of another relapse. My buddy Mark never drank much that I saw and if you saw him, you knew he didn’t. He was big and strapped. He started as a LB for the University of Missouri football team.
Only once did he give me grief about my drinking. I was shooting my mouth off and he gave me this look that registered with me to shut up. When I got out of my third rehab, I got this.
This time, it didn’t look so good. He never lost his positive attitude. Never got bitter. Looked at the while process as some step to somewhere else. When I last saw him, I was a couple years sober. His head was all wrapped up and chemo had aged him. He could not get up very easily. And told me he was about to cut off visitation rights to all but his family. When I was walked out that last time, I stopped in the doorway and looked back. He had that smile on his face. And that was the last I saw him.
My point in telling you all of this was Mark was an agent of a Higher Power. An Example of what anyone should strive to be. I have botched up the job in trying to describe what an extraordinary person he was. Suffice it to say, that Higher Powers present to us these examples of what we could be, flaws and all.
We can look around Our Room today, our Fellowship and see that sanity for many does get restored. We have many examples of men and people of who we could restore our lives in a similar manner.
We should study them wisely and adapt their manner.
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!
The GSR Says!
Central California Fellowship of AA Delegates Meeting
January 18,2025
The following is a summary of the January 18, 2025 CCFAA Delegates Meeting
Opening
a. Call to order at 3:00PM. Moment of Silence, Serenity Prayer
b. Readings: Twelve Traditions, CCFAA Preamble
c. 7th Tradition Reminder
Delegate and Visitors Check-in
a. Total Delegates attending – 40
b. A Quorum was reached
Sobriety Birthdays for December
252 years of sobriety for the January birthdays
New Group Applications for January 2025
There were no new groups to be approved for this month
Approval of Minutes
The minutes for the December 21, 2024 meeting were approved
CCFAA Budget Information
● FYI – The main source of revenue for CCFAA comes from literature sales, medallion sales and group contributions
- Literature Sales were strong for December 2024 at $8,138 vs. the budget of $7,083
- Medallion Sales for December 2024 were good at $3,265 vs. the budget of $3,125
- Group Contributions for December 2024 were above budget at $12,227 vs. a budget of $12,000
Overall, CCFAA remains in a good financial position.
Vontage Call Report
- Answered Calls – 367
- Outbound Calls – 71
Teleservice will cover the following dates:
- January 20, 2025 – MLK Birthday
- February 17, 2025 – Presidents Day
This is all for the January 2025 delegate meeting
Thank you for letting me be of service to the 2nd Step Men’s Group.
Mark Q.
Step 2
“Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
Literature Reference: Step 2 Promise: “In the face of collapse and despair, in the face of the total failure of their human resources, they found that a new power, peace, and happiness, and sense of direction flowed in them.” (Big Book – Page 50, We Agnostics)
Step Summary
In Step 1, we learned our problem wasn’t alcohol – it was/is our mental states (our thinking) that was the crux of the real problem. How perfect it is that just 10 pages later (page 45, “We Agnostics” – 4th Edition), Bill shared with us the solution to that problem: “Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. That’s exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem.”
Check! How simple is that? This one of twelve simple suggestions is much easier than I ever imagined. I thought solving the drink problem was going to be insurmountable. When I figured out that it’s not a drink problem I need to solve, but a think problem – and that simply believing there is a Power out there that is greater than I am that can help me solve it – well, that made life much easier to bear.
I then get to ask myself why I shouldn’t apply to life’s problems this same readiness to change my point of view. I was having problems with relationships, couldn’t control my emotions, was prey to misery and depression, couldn’t make a living, had a feeling of uselessness, was full of fear, was unhappy and couldn’t be of help to others. I was/am “maladjusted to life, in full flight from reality and an outright mental defective” (B.B. – Doctor’s Opinion – Page xxvi – 4th Edition). All of this was true until the day came I could finally believe that a Power greater than myself could run my life better than I could – and all I had to do was let it.
MYTHS ABOUT THIS STEP
Your higher power has to be God. This is a big misconception in Alcoholics Anonymous. Your higher power can be anything that you believe in: the Universe, nature, Buddha, music, love, Allah, humanity or even AA itself. Another thing to remember is that your Higher Power doesn’t need to have a gender (even though in 1939, Bill W. felt it easier to use one for our basic text). AA doesn’t require you to believe in anything that you don’t want to; each step is a suggestion along the road to a sober life.
From an idea by George T.
“Mouse’s Corner”
A.A. member Dave Mc. curates a few selected readings from a variety of A.A. related publications each month.
“Not all large decisions can be well made by simply listing the pros and cons of a given situation, helpful and necessary as this process is. We cannot always depend on what seems to us to be logical. When there is doubt about our logic, we wait upon God and listen for the voice of intuition. If, in meditation, that voice is persistent enough, we may well gain sufficient confidence to act upon that, rather than upon logic.”
“As Bill sees It” page 202
Contributed by Dave Mc.
First Wednesday… February 5th
Come join a review of Step 2 on February 5th (First Wednesday). “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
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!
Our Trusted Servants Continue to Be:
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. Great job men!
- Monday: Tim C.
- Tuesday: Mark C.
- Wednesday: John M.
- Thursday: Sean F.
- 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!
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 2nd Step Ponderence, Dave Mc. for “Mouse’s Corner”, Tom W for comics, Mark Q for the GSR work, 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!