OCTOBER 1
LEST WE BECOME COMPLACENT
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
When I am in pain it is easy to stay close to the friends I have found in the program. Relief from that pain is provided in the solutions contained in A.A.’s Twelve Steps. But when I am feeling good and things are going well, I can become complacent. To put it simply, I become lazy and turn into the problem instead of the solution. I need to get into action, to take stock: where am I and where am I going? A daily inventory will tell me what I must change to regain spiritual balance. Admitting what I find within myself, to God and to another human being, keeps me honest and humble.Announcement
Revolution at the Newsletter
If you noticed this month’s featured image proclaiming a “Revolution at thet Newsletter,” you may already suspect that changes are afoot. Why it says “thet” instead of “the” remains unclear, but no revolution is without a little confusion.
For the past several years, I’ve had the privilege of putting together the Step 2 Men’s Group newsletter, building on the work Mark W. did before me and gradually adding my own assortment of automation, tinkering, and probably more technology than any AA newsletter strictly requires.
One constant throughout that time has been John M.’s monthly contribution. John, our previous General Secretary, has faithfully supplied an article month after month, and now the revolution is complete: the newsletter itself is moving into his capable hands.
I’ll still be around to help with the machinery behind the scenes, but going forward John will be taking the lead on the newsletter. Considering he already chose this month’s revolutionary artwork, the transfer of power appears to be well underway.
Thanks to everyone who reads, contributes, sends in announcements, catches mistakes, and helps make this little newsletter part of the life of the group.
Long live the revolution. And perhaps, someday, long live the newsletter.
— Mark C.
October Birthdays
…if they make it!
| 15th | Mike B. | 20 years |
| 16th | Kevin O. | 6 years |
| 19th | Mike F. | 15 years |
| 19th | Ed D. | 41 years |
| 20th | Mike M. | 8 years |
| 22nd | Jeff S. | 4 years |
| 23rd | Scott Y. | 8 years |
Your birthday made ours possible.
Missing, or listed wrong? Our apologies. Please let us know.
First Wednesday… October 7th
Come join a review of Step 10 on October 7th (First Wednesday). “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.”
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!
Alert
2026 Annual Business Meeting
The Step 2 Men’s Group annual business meeting will be held Friday, December 4, 2026 at 11:00 a.m., followed by our regular meeting.
We’ll cover the usual business-meeting business: trusted servant updates, the Treasurer’s Report, the annual Grant Miller Award, and anything else the group needs to discuss. Ideas, suggestions, questions, and other matters for the group are welcome.
There will also be food, drinks, and fellowship, because apparently we’ve learned not to schedule a business meeting without feeding people.
If you have questions, suggestions, or something you’d like added to the agenda, let a Mark know.
— Mark C.
LET’S SEE WHAT’S IN HERE
I have a confession to make. Most of the time, I have written this column with someone in mind. Mike T. Occasionally, I could scribe a line and Mike would tell me he laughed. That was all I needed to hear. It was like getting paid. I truly miss you, Mike.
I just got back in town. Irt was a trying week away. Not only did I not get to my original destination, but I was also taken to a circumstance where every moment…I wanted to be doing something else.
Talk about a time of retesting one’s personal inventory.
I felt I was emotionally, spiritually and dictionally handcuffed.
I was supposed to be on a cruise in the Gulf of America nee Mexico, nee dead south of Galveston. I was travelling with my Ex and our Special Needs daughter. That was the original group. Along the way, we added a 90 year old ex father-in-law, whom I normally get along with.
Now the trip got cancelled because my Ex had a medical issue and she did not want to risk having to go to a hospital in Mexico or Honduras and the ship said their sick bay was not really equipped should the worst happen. So, we ended up in New Braunfels, Texas with my Ex sister in law, her husband, my niece, her husband, and their two kids, who used to be brats but were pretty cool.
Now I have found in my many years, that my Ex, April, when in pain, is like a study in Marlon Perkins Wild Kingdom and wounded animals. (Much like that last sentence is a study in apostrophes.) It wisest to give her a lot of space.
Encroaching in that space, were my ex-father-in-law. Who had taken an attitude of. “If she is well enough to keep me stuck in New Braunfels for a week, she could have been on that cruise.”
The second impediment was my sister-in-law. She worked for 20 years for the Lark Corporation, the electric wheelchair people. She should have taken about 4 of them when she retired. Instead, or maybe because she didn’t, she decided to become a practicing alcoholic. Severe.
My brother-in-law is a pain but he was fine. The rest were okay too.
Of course I have an example. One of a dozen or so.
Texas weather is designed by God. It can be beautiful in the morning. You don’t wonder why the citizenry is so fiercely loyal. Then around noon there are a few clouds. By 3 in the afternoon… it’s a monsoon. So the Old Man decides he wants to sit in the rain. The Ex and I set him up in a wheel chair and umbrella. We get soaked.
About 45 minutes go by… I go out to check on him. Get soaked again. And the Old Man is furious at all of us because no one is out there sitting with him.
Normally, the half a dozen quips floating around my brain would have left at rocket speed. Especially back in the day when I was drinking. But they didn’t.
Which means… Sometimes you have to retake your inventory to give you self a pat on the back, a congratulation, an accolade for someone who has prided himself to stay as immature as possible.. actually having some growth.
And I will leave it there. I will have to guess on Mike’s review.
Contributed by John M.
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 even enjoy writing it!
The Literary Corner
Writers on drinking, and on finding the way back
A man who drinks too much on occasion is still the same man as he was sober. An alcoholic, a real alcoholic, is not the same man at all. You can’t predict anything about him for sure except that he will be someone you never met before.
Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye
First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
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”. 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.
Want to add your name to the “Back-up-Help-Substitute Secretary List”? Just contact Group GS, Mark C., Treasurer Mark W. or any of our other Secretaries and let them know!
“Mouse’s Corner”
A.A. member Dave Mc. curates a few selected readings from a variety of A.A. related publications each month.
Our sense of humor allows us to squeeze a positive attitude out of a negative self-image. When we are able to laugh at ourselves, we lighten up a little. We do the work, but we also learn to play. We see our defects, but we also see what there is to love about us. Balance in our lives is dynamic, like walking on a tightrope. It only works when we are moving. We are constantly in motion—and so is the way we see ourselves.
Living Clean page 145
“AA is not a separate country, cut off from the mainland of the real world; rather it is tH the schoolroom I missed somewhere along the line…a treasure house of other people’s experience, strength and hope”
Alcoholics Anonymous, Daily Reflection
Contributed by Dave Mc.
Step 2 Men’s Group Believes…
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Step Two
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 you 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.
To everyone who made this issue happen:
- Mark W., Founding Editor, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, and Treasurer
- Mark C., Once-Enthusiastic Modernizer / Outgoing Editor
- John M., Incoming Editor and Leader of the Revolution
- Terry M., Our Central Office Liaison
- Dave Mc., for Mouses Corner
We’re still waiting for you, gentle reader. Why not contribute a short “something”? Any length, most any AA-related topic, and it could appear next month.
