There are a great many places that have marked AA's early history.
The Mayflower Hotel in Ohio is one. Towns Hospital at 293 Central
Park West at 89th Street in Manhattan is another. (Coincidentally I
happen to live 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. I was fortunate
enough to meet Lois there in 1980. Stepping Stones has a website at
www.Steppingstones.org or drop in and see my friend Eileen G., the
director of the place. Another place is Bill's birthplace in East
Dorset, VT. The house is 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 for many years.
Rooms are available to stay in for a reasonable cost. Dinners are
served family style and the food is great. (Dave and I will run a Big
Book Study weekend there in February '03). 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 one where people will lift something out of
context to prove a 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 has been published in the April
2002 edition of The Grapevine entitled "Spiritual Kindergarten" by
Jim K. of Manhattan). 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.

Tomorrow, we will wrap up our study cycle with Dr. Bob's Story.

Also tomorrow, we will post the Study outline/instructions.

Then on Wednesday, June 26th, we will begin a new study cycle. Honey
will post much of the beginning of the study since I'll be on
vacation, and away from my computer, from June 28th to July 7th.

Jim