Bob Francis, Licdc

BOB FRANCIS, LICDC

Thanks Rick! THE TWELVE STEPS

STUDY GUIDE TO AID IN DISCUSSING THE TWELVE STEPS AS DESCRIBED IN “THE BIG BOOK” ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS Bob Francis, LICDC BOB FRANCIS, LICDC STEP ONE

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (addiction) – that our lives had become unmanageable.

We: All of us. Admitted: admit not accept. Powerless: Lack of power. - : End of thought, beginning of new thought. Our lives: Everything we do, say, & feel. Had become: Happened after we became addicted. Unmanageable: Not able to predict or control outcomes.

Step one is the PROBLEM. Step one asks you to admit, that because of your present problems with addiction, you have lost control and cannot safely predict what will happen when you start to drink or use drugs. It is also written in the PAST TENSE, denoting that those who were before you had already done this, and are telling you what happened to them. It is not a theory that you should try in hopes of solving a problem.

Bob Francis, LICDC Page 1 BOB FRANCIS, LICDC

STEP TWO Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Came to believe: Came, came to, came to believe. Power greater than ourselves: Alcohol, drugs, God, two recovering people, Judge, police, etc. Could: not would. Restore: Returning us to what we once were. Sanity: Refers to insanity; as choosing to consume something that we know is killing us. Step Two is the SOLUTION. If the problem (step one) is powerlessness, than the only solution is power. All you need to do is believe. That doesn’t mean you have all you need to solve the problem. Faith can only be obtained after you believe and do some research to be convinced. Before you move to step three you will have some evidence that you have a problem and you can see a solution in others.

On page 60, of The Big Book, it states, “Being convinced, we were at Step Three”. This is the where acceptance comes into play. Bob Francis, LICDC Page 2 BOB FRANCIS, LICDC STEP THREE Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him. Made a decision: I am now convinced I have a problem, I can see a solution, I will take action. Our will and our lives: My thinking and my actions. Care of God: His care, not his control. He will give direction and I will do the action. As we understood Him: Not as I understand him, not as you understand Him, not as my Sponsor understands Him, Not as the Priest understands Him, but as WE understand Him. It is a collective understanding from which you can draw a conclusion.

If we have done one and two correctly, we see the problem and the solution. Now all we need to do is continue on with the steps to solve the problem. The work needed is to look and see how WE understand God. When we have a collective understanding, you will use that in becoming grounded in you own personal understanding. The third step Prayer is on page 63, in The Big Book. After you have done that with your Sponsor, you “launch out on a course of vigorous action”. That begins with step Four.

STEP FOUR Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Made: means CREATE. Searching: Is looking at what you already know searching? Fearless: If you are fearful at this point, back up, something is not right in the first three steps. Moral: The most common meaning of this word in 1939 was TRUTH. Bill Wilson was asking us to take a truthful inventory of our self. Inventory: Taking stock of what you have, identifying damaged inventory, and seeing what needs to go. Any inventory is done on paper. Write it out! Ourselves: What is wrong with us, not what is wrong with others or what they did to us? We already know what we did. What we are searching for is why we did it. It must be truthful and to the point. If we have lied or cut corners, things will continue to come up and cause problems in the future. Page 63, in “The Big Book” states; Next we launched out on a vigorous action, the first step of which is a personal housecleaning, which many of us had never attempted.

Bob Francis, LICDC Page 4 Bob Francis, LICDC STEP FIVE Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Admitted to God: At this point prayer should be a regular daily thing. To ourselves: we have done this in step four. And to another human being: “we pocket our pride” Who will that person be? The exact nature of our wrongs: at this point Bill calls our defects wrongs. This step starts on page 72 and ends on page 75. Four pages for this job. The major work is finding that person. Bill states, “If we skip this vital step, we may not overcome drinking.” He goes on to say, “We must be entirely honest with somebody if we expect to live long or happily in this world.” He gives examples of who might be best to do this with. When this step is done we find the only reference to time. “Returning home we find a place where we can be quiet for an HOUR, carefully reviewing what we have done.” This whole paragraph has a lot of direction that is between five and six. He asks some questions: Is our work solid so far? Are the stones properly in place? Have we skimped on the cement put into the foundation? Have we tried to make mortar without sand? If we can answer to our satisfaction, we then look at Step Six Bob Francis, LICDC Page 5

Bob Francis, LICDC STEP SIX & SEVEN 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. Entirely ready: “If we still cling to something, we will not let go, we ask God to help us be willing.” Defects of character/shortcomings: Bill was asked one time why he used these two words. He stated, as a writer if you use the same word twice you look stupid. These two principals and exact nature of wrongs, all mean the same thing. Asked Him to remove: He removes, you don’t. In six you get ready, in seven you let him remove. In other words, you let go of them so He can remove them. Steps six and seven are on page 76, and are in only two paragraphs. The second paragraph is the Seventh Step prayer. Unlike the Third Step prayer, this one ends with Amen. That is why most people in AA start their morning by saying the Third and Seventh Step prayers together. Most people will agree, that when solving a problem, you first must prepare and then execute. That is how these two steps are written. We become willing and then we ask Him to do it. After the Amen it states, “ We have then completed Step Seven”. The next paragraph starts with, “Now we need more action, without which we find that “Faith without works is dead”. Let’s look at Steps Eight and Nine.

Bob Francis, LICDC Page 6 Bob Francis, LICDC STEP EIGHT & NINE 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Made a list: On page 76 it says, “We have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took inventory.” became willing: “If we haven’t the will to do this, we ask until it comes.” Made direct amends: This means face to face. Steps eight and nine take eight pages. A lot of direction is laid out here. We are, for the first time, going to people and directly amending things. An amend is not an apology! An amend is to repair the wrongs we have done. In other words, RESTITUTION. We have to set things straight for us to go on without having to be looking over our shoulders. The 12 promises are in step nine, on pages 83 and 84. “If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. This is half way through step nine, not all the steps. Some people think the promises come around step six. Bill meant, they come when we are getting right with people we have harmed. “They will materialize if we work for them.” Bob Francis, LICDC Page 7 Bob Francis, LICDC STEP 10 Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. Continued to take personal inventory: This is a continuance of step four. This is done throughout the day, and continued for our lifetime. When we were wrong promptly admitted it: Early in the recovery process promptly could be in a day or two. As this living becomes more ingrained, promptly can mean just that, immediately. Remember what the book states, “We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.” The book states, “Continued to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. These are the four areas that we focused on in step four. This step is the beginning of the LIVING STEPS. One thru nine is the PROGRAM OF RECOVERY. Ten, eleven, and twelve are living steps. We now have a program of recovery in place that we have worked; now it is time to live one day at a time in recovery. Step ten is where this begins. On page 85 it states, “What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.” In the last paragraph of step ten it states, “To some extent we have become God-conscious. We have begun to develop this vital sixth sense.” The next paragraph states, “Step Eleven suggests prayer and meditation.

Bob Francis, LICDC Page 8 Bob Francis, LICDC STEP 11 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. Sought: means seek, not go find. Conscious contact: not unconscious. Knowledge of his will for us: We are alcoholics, and his will for us is these steps. Power to carry that out: Once again, as in step two, we are coming to a power that fills the hole of powerlessness we once had. On page 86, 87, and 88 Bill lists out the way we should pray and meditate. The shortest paragraph in this book is on page 88. It states, “It works-it really does.” The next paragraph is only two sentences. It states, “We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined.” In the next paragraph and the last in this chapter Bill writes,” But that is not all. There is action and more action. “Faith without works is dead.” The next chapter is entirely devoted to Step Twelve.”

Bob Francis, LICDC Page 9 Bob Francis, LICDC

STEP TWELVE Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Spiritual awakening as THE result: Not one of the results, The result! Carry this message: the message is the steps. Practice these principles: the principles are also the steps.

The first paragraph of Chapter 7 sums it all up. “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion: Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail. Remember they are very ill. This whole chapter, WORKING WITH OTHERS, is all devoted to step 12. Bill goes to great extent to give us some direction on how we should help others, as well as ourselves. This chapter ends up with this statement: After all, our problems were of our own making. Bottles were only a symbol. Besides, we have stopped fighting anybody or anything. We have to!

Bob Francis, LICDC Page 10 Bob Francis, LICDC

The Practices of The Oxford Group: 1. Admission of personal defeat. 2. Taking of personal inventory. 3. Confession of one’s sins to another person. 4. Making restitution to those one has harmed. 5. Helping others selflessly. 6. Praying to God for guidance and the power to put these Precepts into practice.

Six Steps of “The Drunk Squad” of The Oxford Group:

1. Complete deflation. 2. Dependence and guidance from a Higher Power. 3. Moral Inventory 4. Confession. 5. Restitution. 6. Continued work with other alcoholics.

I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR ALL THOSE MEETINGS!!! 24 HOURS IN A DAY X7 DAYS IN A WEEK 168 HOURS IN A WEEK -40 HOURS FOR WORK 128 HOURS LEFT -56 HOURS FOR SLEEP 72 HOURS LEFT -20 HOURS FOR EATING 52 HOURS LEFT -21 HOURSFOR RELAXATION/FUN 31 HOURS LEFT -10 TRAVEL TIME FOR WORK 21 HOURS LEFT -03 HOURS TO WORSHIP 18 HOURS LEFT -10 HOURS FOR FAMILY 8 HOURS LEFT

1 HOUR FOR AN AA/NA/CA MEETING X7 DAYS IN A WEEK 1 HOURS LEFT YOU STILL HAVE 1 HOUR LEFT AND YOU WENT to 7 MEETINGS SO, DON’T TELL ME YOU DON’T HAVE TIME FOR A MEETING EVERY DAY!

Bob Francis, LICDC Page 12