Good morning all!

There are a great many places that have marked AA's early history. The Mayflower Hotel in Ohio is one. Towns Hospital - 293 Central Park West at 89th Street in Manhattan is another. (Coincidentally I once lived half a block down 89th Street from there). Stepping Stones was the home in Bedford Hills, NY in Westchester County, just north of New York City, where Bill and Lois lived. They moved there in 1941. I was fortunate enough to meet Lois there in 1980. She passed on in 1988. Stepping Stones has a website at www.Steppingstones.org or make an appointment to see it with the director of the place. Another place is Bill's birthplace in East Dorset, VT. The Wilson House ~ www.wilsonhouse.org ~ has been fully restored and a former pigeon of mine, Dean M., can give you a detailed history of the place. Dean has been doing service as the assistant manager of the place since 1995. Rooms are available to stay in for a reasonable cost. Dinners are served family style and the food is great.

Bill and Lois are buried nearby. One of the most moving experiences is to go to Bill and Lois' grave and read the touching notes and see the pictures of children left there by those expressing undying gratitude to Bill's work.

Page 164 - Paragraph 2 is a place where people will lift something out of context in an attempt to prove a spurious point. "Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little." Some people seize upon this to mean that the instructions outlined in the book are optional. (I wrote an article on this topic which was published in the April 2002 edition of The Grapevine entitled "Spiritual Kindergarten" by Jim K. of Manhattan - a copy of it is located in the "Files" section at the BBS home page). What the first 100 knew only a little about was the spiritual experience. They had the answer to recovering from alcoholism. Keep in mind that Bill was sober only four years at the time the book was written. The word "suggestive," in this context, means "a starting point," or "a beginning." It means "an introduction to spiritual principles." AA is but a means to the end of living a spiritual life. Our lives aren't meant to be lived in AA but outside of it.

"The answers will come if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit what you haven't got." The "2 step" trap -- to carry the message effectively you need to have a message to transmit.

"Abandon yourself to God as you understand God (Steps 1, 2 and 3). Admit your faults to Him and your fellows (Steps 4, 5, 6, and 7). Clear away the wreckage of the past (Steps 8 and 9). Give freely of what you find and join us (Steps 10, 11, and 12). We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, (The Fellowship of God) and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. May God bless you and keep you until then." In his classic style, Bill sums up at the end.

With our next post, we will wrap up our study cycle with Dr. Bob's Story.

We will then post the Study outline/instructions.

On Friday August 11th we will begin a new study cycle.

Jim