Good morning,

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. (Jim 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. (Jim 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 Jim's, 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. (Jim wrote an
article on this topic. It 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. Then,
we will post the Study outline/instructions. On Tuesday, February 6, we will
begin a new study cycle.





Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the
rest to God.
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ø!º°^°º!ø,¸
DOS: 05/17/1993
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