January 13, 2000
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HERE'S A WAY TO INCREASE YOUR TOOL KIT AND ALSO HELP THE WORK AT DR. BOB'S HOME.
FIRST EDITION COPIES: Many people are asking Dick B. how to get copies of the First Edition of the Big Book. The answer is that Ray G., Archivist at Dr. Bob's Home, makes these books available as exact reprints of the first edition, shrink-wrapped, with circus cover. The copies sell for $18.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. Dick B. refers to the First Edition in many of his historical books; and it is a valuable tool for those trying to understand the Twelve Steps. Sentimentally, it is appealing for its importance, its size, and the circus jacket which has been so popular. Moreover, the stories in the back represent the real A.A. program in action. You could plot your own recovery from these and be sure you are doing it the way the original pioneers did.
POE'S CONCORDANCE TO THE BIG BOOK (Third Edition): Here is a valuable tool for those who don't care how many editions New York puts out and simply want a reference guide to the well-known Third Edition. The Concordance is a wonderful resource. Dick uses it all the time in his research and reference works on A.A. history. And it is a model of good printing and careful work. Again, it can be obtained from Ray G.. The large book sells for $39.95, plus $7.00 shipping.
Neither Dick B. nor his publishers or nor his distributors have any connection with Dr. Bob's Home or with the publishers of the foregoing works, nor any financial stake or connection Ray G. in the sale of the foregoing works; nor do they have any financial interest in the sales. But inquiries come in frequently by mail, phone, fax, and email about how to get these valuable resources. And we checked today (March 13, 1999) to see if Ray now has them available. We believe the proceeds go to help Ray's archival and other expenses as he travels around displaying his important historical materials from the archives at Dr. Bob's Home on Ardmore Avenue in Akron, Ohio--the birthplace of A.A.
Contact:Ray G., Archivist, Dr. Bob's Home:
Summer: 5347 Pritchard-Ohltown Road, Newton Falls, OH 44444
Winter: 7389 - 121st Way North, Seminole, FL 34642
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"Higher Power"
and Professor William James
HIGHER POWER: What is the origin of that strange expression? If you listen to Norman Vincent Peale's comment, the "Higher Power" is God. If you read the Big Book carefully at pages 43, 45, 46, and 100, you will see that the Higher Power is God. If you read the 12 & 12 and a lot of other material in later A.A., you will find that the "higher power" is the group, chair, doorknob, lightbulb, good orderly direction, group of drunks. You have heard them all. But where did this come from.
The answer the author has dug up to date points to three sources, all somewhat related:
- 1) Ralph Waldo Trine, In Tune with the Infinite. Trine was a new thought writer whose book was read by Dr. Bob and whose ideas may have reached Bill Wilson. See Ralph Waldo Trine, In Tune with the Infinite (Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1933), p. 199: "All through the world's history we find that the men and the women who have entered into the realm of true wisdom and power, and hence into the realm of true peace and joy, have lived in harmony with this Higher Power." In the next few breaths, Trine speaks of God. His work was first published in 1897.
- 2) Professor William James of Harvard: The name of William James appears in A.A.'s Big Book. Dr. Bob and Bill read VRE. Sam Shoemaker repeatedly quoted William James in his books, articles, and sermons. And the Oxford Group writers and their mentors occasionally quoted James. In William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (New York: Vintage Books/The Library of America, 1990), here are some usages by James:
- p. 195: "throwing of our conscious selves upon the mercy of powers which, whatever they may be, are more ideal than we are actually..."
- p. 255: James quotes Trine's In Tune with the Infinite.
- p. 429: "The great field for this sense of being the instrument of a higher power is of course 'inspiration.'"
- p. 435, "That union or harmonious relation with that higher universe is our true end."
- p. 454: "The solution is a sense that we are saved from the wrong-ness by making proper connection with the higher powers."
- 3) Bill Wilsons good friend (who was also a write for Shoemaker's Calvary Evangel) was Victor C. Kitchen. See Victor C. Kitchen, I Was a Pagan (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1934), p. 85: "I concluded that there must be some Higher Power to account for all the things taking place in space much as scientists concluded that there must be an atom to account for all the things taking oplace in physics.
- 2) Professor William James of Harvard: The name of William James appears in A.A.'s Big Book. Dr. Bob and Bill read VRE. Sam Shoemaker repeatedly quoted William James in his books, articles, and sermons. And the Oxford Group writers and their mentors occasionally quoted James. In William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (New York: Vintage Books/The Library of America, 1990), here are some usages by James:
You can read more in Dick B.'s The Golden Text of A.A. (to be released in May, 1999) and in New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A. (to be released in February, 1999). See list of titles.
A.A. History Articles
& Tributes
A.A. History Articles By Dick B.
Utilizing A.A.'s Spiritual Roots Today
Learning A.A.'s six major roots is only the beginning. The question is whether a knowledge of this history is important and of value today. Can our history be utlized to produce the same kind of recovery from the "seemingly hopeless condition of mind and body" from which the pioneers recovered? Now you can read chapter eight of Dick B.'s title Utilizing A.A.'s Spiritual Roots for Recovery Today, for some valuable suggestions!
Alcoholics Anonymous Study Groups
Probably the most beneficial thing in the author's learning of the recovery program (as embodied in the Big Book and theTwelve Steps) were the Joe and Charlie Big Book Seminars. They did a line by line study of the first 103 pages. They made the unclear clear. They did it with humor, with purpose, and with brevity.
Many have wanted to do something similar with A.A.'s roots, as a complement to the Big Book study. This is being done in some areas. But there can be a much more precise approach, one that will complement the Big Book and enable spiritual growth within A.A. itself.
Learning A.A.'s Six Major Spiritual Roots
A.A. co-founder Bill W. pointed out many times that Alcoholics Anonymous was not invented (As Bill Sees It, p. 67). He said that every one of its principles was borrowed (A.A. Comes of Age, pp. 231-32). And it is quite clear today just where the principles came from; for there were six major sources - all thoroughly documented as to their contribution.
A.A.'s Consistent Focus on Finding God
Early AAs were intent upon finding and establishing a relationship and fellowship with our Creator - Almighty God.
Let's Go to Early A.A.!
The phrase "early A.A." refers to the early fellowships and meetings those held in Akron, Ohio, between 1935 and 1939 when A.A. was an integral part of "A First Century Christian Fellowship" (also known as the Oxford Group)....
Basic ideas early AAs took from the Bible
A number of AAs, A.A. historians, and religious groups have assembled lists of Bible verses from time to time verses which they believe are relative to, or explanatory of the Twelve Steps. But the author's particular research focus has been limited, at the outset, to those books, chapters, and verses in the Bible from which A.A. pioneers actually took the basic ideas they fashioned into their spiritual recovery program....
A.A. "co-founder", Reverend Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr.
Sam Shoemaker was a source of inspiration and guidance for countless individuals. The following article uncovers some rarely seen excerpts from Sam's writings, including his impressions of "The First Century Christian Fellowship" back in 1928, and his well-known article "Act As If", first published in the Christian Heraldin 1954.
The Rev. Sam Shoemaker and sharing experience: News, not views.
Bill Wilson obtained lots of A.A. ideas directly from Sam Shoemaker. Some he got indirectly. But there was one message which came to Bill loud and clear and which he repeated in one way or another in every edition of the Big Book.
A.A.'s Dr. Silkworth on Jesus Christ
Dr. William D. Silkworth (who wrote "The Doctor's Opinion" at the beginning of the Big Book) had much to say about Jesus Christ and recovery from alcoholism."
A.A. Tributes By Dick B.
Tribute to Frank M.
Some comments about the passing of A.A.'s legendary Geraldine D.
...I had had no contact with the actual women AAs of the early days. Then a grateful mother of a recovered AA asked me to write a book about Mrs. Geraldine O. Delaney. I went to Little Hill-Alina Lodge at Blairstown, New Jersey and was given the run of the place. Mrs. Delaney had retired as founder and CEO emeritus, but she was very much present. I interviewed her in her home and at the Lodge. And I discovered she was something special....
Some comments about the passing of Dr. Bob's daughter-in-law, Betty
Betty was gracious, humorous, and serious. Once she became acquainted with my quest for information on early A.A., she gave me every support I could ask for. So did Bob. Each time I would call by phone, both of them would get on the line and pour out love, friendship, and information. The same was true of their correspondence with me--almost always as a team...
Grace Snyder, "That Amazing Grace" has gone, but . . .
She knew for certain where she was going. She knew for certain whom she would join. And, with emphatic zeal, she spent a great part of her life endeavoring to make the same hope available to anyone she met. She wanted her kids, as she called them, to become God's kids. And they did, by the hundreds - perhaps by the thousands.
How many of us will remember her kneeling in a corner with some beleaguered newcomer, showering that person with love and leading that person to Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. She did it unashamedly and boldly. She did it because she knew it was God's absolute will for all to be saved and to come unto a full and accurate knowledge of the truth in His Word. She studied that Word. She believed it. And she spoke it. She was unquestionably a woman of God. That Amazing Grace.....
An Early Tribute to Dr. Bob's Wife Anne Ripley Smith
Recently, the author learned that Dorothy S.M. had been asked to write a tribute to Anne Ripley Smith for the Grapevine in 1952. This she did, and her tribute appeared in Volume 9, Number 6. However, the article was much edited and shortened; and Dorothy's daughter-in-law made available to the author the original tribute, just as it was first written, penciled corrections and all. It is a wonderful piece of history.
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Dick B.
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