Some introductory bloviation

For several years, I had the privilege of leading a discussion of the AA Big Book and other literature at the Happy Hour Group in Troy, Michigan which met at 6:00 PM Fridays (hence the name).

Several people have prevailed upon me to write down the things we discussed, but up until now I have resisted that for a couple of reasons. The first is that I don't remember what I said. To try to re-create that would be futile. And the medium is not the same. Having a lively face-to-face discussion can't be replicated in this format.

The second is that I have always sought the spotlight and have to discipline myself not to seek adulation. This is not humility. I am quite proud of my ability to convey my message in an enjoyable and thoughtful way. So this undertaking is a fertile ground for my grandiosity and thus a spiritually risky endeavor.

HOWEVER

It was pointed out to me that what I have is a talent. The term refers to the parable of the talents, whose lesson is that when the master gives you something, he expects you to use it for his benefit. And to keep it hidden is an offense against the grace of God. (BTW, if you see something highlighted when you roll over it, it is a link to another page that relates to the subject). So in that spirit I offer to you that which God has graced me with.

SO, about the Big Book. As we discuss the basic text of AA, we should always be aware that it was a book written for a specific purpose at a certain time by men who were just beginning to grasp what was happening. If every one of its authors (and there about 50) were to show up at an AA meeting today, most of the people in the room would have considerably more sobriety than they did at the time. They wrote the book in response to the tremendous demands for information about how they got sober. And, when the Rockefellers turned down Bill W.'s request for money to pay for AA "missionaries" to spread the message, they came up with alternate plan, namely publishing a book.  The fellowship would derive its name from the book.

So to study it as if it where some inerrant text would be a bit laughable to its all-too-human authors. I've seen AA's squabbling with each other over the meaning of some lines or even a word. Lighten up. It's not the Bible.

And yet, as we read it more closely and discover the depths of its insights, we begin to wonder if there was a divine hand at work. How could such a hastily written group effort survive intact to this day and be revered by so many? It's my opinion that both are valid. I read the book in its historical context, but I also read it more deeply because people often reveal more of their inner selves when they write than they are aware of.

Oops. I guess that applies to me too. Hope I put on clean underwear this morning.

So I will discuss "The Doctor's Opinion" in my next posting.

In the meantime, please take the time to comment. One of the reasons I decided to do this was to keep the dialogue alive and without your feedback I'm just fartin' in the breeze.

And pass the link along to anyone you feel would benefit from it. As this blog gets a bigger following it will begin to approach what we had back then.

God bless.