Sobriety News
March 2005

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The Sobriety News is a publication of the Harrisburg Area Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous. It is written, edited, and read by AA members, and those interested in the AA program of recovery from the disease of alcoholism, linking one alcoholic to another.
Our desperation to find relief from the bondage of alcoholism has led us to this program as a new "design for living". Many members utilize meetings, sponsorship, self examination, amends, prayer, meditation, AA literature, service to fellow alcoholics, and many other tools to maintain their recovery. This publication is intended as one more tool to live a life of recovery. Because each AA member has an individual way of working this program, divergent views to recovery, within the concept of the Program of Alcoholics Anonymous, are welcome. An effort is made to print all viewpoints in this forum. Articles are not intended to be statements of AA policy, nor does publication of any article imply endorsement by AA or the Harrisburg Area Intergroup.

March Calendar of Events*

Mar 3	Thursday 6:45PM	Harrisburg Area Intergroup Meeting
Mar 4	Friday 8:30PM	19^th Street speaker Ricky Z
Mar 5	Saturday 8:00PM	Hershey Speaker Vivian F from Middletown
Mar 6	Sunday 8:00PM	Bridge Street Speaker Jim S of TMTL
Mar 11	Friday 8:30PM	19^th Street speaker Rich F
Mar 13	Sunday 8:00PM	Bridge Street Speaker Michael K of Happy Destiny
Mar 13	Sunday 5:00PM	Sponsorship Group of Chatham, NJ 4^th Anniversary with Clancy I and Tom F**
Mar 14	Monday 6:30PM	District #36 General Service Meeting
Mar 18 - 20	Fri - Sun	Serenity Weekend Richmond, VA**
Mar 18	Friday 8:30PM	19^th Street speaker Keith K
Mar 19	Sat 12- 5PM	Acts of Recovery in Reading**
Mar 20	Sunday 8:00PM	Bridge Street Speaker Jonathan D of Happy Destiny
Mar 25	Friday 8:30PM	19^th Street Anniversary Night
Mar 27	Sunday 8:00PM	Bridge Street Speaker Cory K of Happy Destiny
Mar 29	Thu - Sun	EACYPAA Conference in Wilmington, NC

LOOKING AHEAD

Apr 1	Friday 7:00AM	20^th Anniversary ~ Attitude Adjustment**
Apr 2	Saturday 8:00PM	Hershey Group Speaker Chet H of Hershey
Apr 7	Thursday 6:45PM	HAI Rep Meeting
Apr 9	Sat 12 - 5:00PM	Acts of Recovery in Newark, DE**
April 18	Monday 6:00PM	It Works Group 10th Anniversary
May 7	Sat 12-5:00PM	Harrisburg Area Acts of Recovery**
May 15	Sunday 2:00PM	Sunday Afternoon Meeting (SAM) Father Mark of Caron Foundation
Jun 16 - 18	Weekend	35th Area 29 Maryland State Convention
Jun 30 - Jul 3, 2005	Thurs - Sun	70^thYear AA International Convention in Toronto, Canada** To register now visit: https://www.one-stop-registration.com/2005ic/OSR.Index
July 2008		International Convention of Al-Anon in Pittsburgh, PA
* Look for more information about these events in Sobriety News. ** See links page for flyer

To links and current events

Your Help for the Calendar of Events

A complete Calendar of Events depends on our active members contributing information about their coming events, participation of Intergroups in surrounding Districts, and our ability to gather information. We feel it is worth trying. Let us know what you think. Often, we miss opportunities within the fellowship because the message didn't get out. We all want to carry the message to other alcoholics. This will be one more way we can accomplish that.

Recovery is discovery.

OUR FACE IS CHANGING

    Sobriety News is updated during the course of the month, so events can be added to the Calendar. You may, therefore, find it helpful or informative to check back to the website periodically to see what has been added.
    The HAI index page has links to flyers of coming events, or you can click on the AA blue button above. Did you know that the links page also has links to other AA websites and to back issues of Sobriety News? Also there is a link to the Meeting Schedule (or click the coin at right) so you can print out the schedule (if you can access Microsoft Word) on a single sheet of 8 1/2X11 paper. This schedule is current with the latest information available. If you see an error, or information for your meeting has been changed, the schedule will be updated if you notify us at aa@aaharrisburg.org , or if you notify an Intergroup Officer, or mail the info to HAI, Fellowship House, 1251 S. 19th Street, Harrisburg, PA 17105. This current schedule can be duplicated for group purposes from this link or by clicking on the chip at the right.
    Flyers will be added as they become available and removed when an event passes. If you are looking at this on the Internet, you will see that many of the insert pictures are links you can click on to get added information or flyers. Keep checking.
    The above suggested service opportunity to bring internet information back to the group could also be broadened to include flyers, and current meeting schedules. The printed schedules and flyers will still be available but may continue to have their current disadvantages too.

AA Radio Meeting is now streaming at: Check it out!
http://www.live365.com/stations/312363?play Discussion of AA Radio Meeting can be found at http://radioaa.blogspot.com/

Attitude Adjustment Becomes 20

The Attitude Adjustment meeting has been held at Fellowship House now for the last 20 years at 7:00AM on weekdays. It has been a regular way to get the day started for many local alcoholics in recovery. They expect to hold their 5,201^st meeting on April 1^st, and they think anyone that doesn't join them in their celebration that morning is an April Fool. Why not come join in, and bring some pastries, fruit, cookies, or juice along to share?

Intergroup Dinner and Speaker/Dance Evening

The Harrisburg Area Intergroup Dinner/Speaker/Dance Evening was held at the Oberlin Fire Hall on February 26th. There were about two hundred in attendance for the superb spaghetti social. Following the food, there was a program m-c'd by Joe G from the Monday Night Men's Group. He introduced Bill C from the Winding It Up Group, who spoke about the benefits he has gotten from his involvement in Intergroup service work. There were brief messages from 'Buckskin' Bob, our District #36 DCM, whose home group is There's More To Life, and Robert H (known as RC) from the Big Book Study Group, who is our newly elected Intergroup Chairman. After a short break, Doug K from the West Shore Area Group, our newly elected Co-Chair Person read How It Works. Joe then introduce Moses B from the Hershey Group, who told some of the history of AA in the Harrisburg Area and how and why the Harrisburg Area Intergroup was formed. He mentioned how important it is for someone to serve in publishing meeting schedules; bring meetings to State and county prisons, half-way houses and the State Hospital; visits to recovery house meetings; respond to the public's needs on cell and central office hot line phones; make available a supply of AA literature; publish the Sobriety News newsletter and maintain the internet site; and the occasional eating/speaking/and fellowshipping event. Joe especially thanked Dennis H from the There's More to Life Group and the core of people from various other groups that helped set up, before introducing the DJ, Ronnie G from the 40th Street Group who provided the music for dancing. Seeing the underlined names of different groups that were involved in putting on this function, you can see how the unity of people from all areas of the local recovery scene are needed to carry the message. They would like to enlist your involvement in service, and assure us the benefits outweigh the effort.

Help for Hearing Impaired?

If anyone in our AA community knows sign language and is willing to be of service, there is a need in the Harrisburg Area for their help. If you are willing to help a hearing impaired person, please notify Intergroup through you Intergroup Rep.

INTERNET SOURCE FOR RECORDED AA TALKS

There is a new source for some good AA recordings of talks from the Harbor City Speakers, Acts of Recovery, South College Speaker Group, Steps in Action, Unity in Action, White Rose, and various others. These are free for you to download in MP3 format on your computer. The web address is http://greatfact.org

God seldom becomes a reality
Until God becomes a necessity.

Acts of Recovery

The Acts of Recovery are spreading rapidly across the country, making it possible for those new in parenting, or in the job market, to obtain the flavor of conferences that can otherwise cost hundreds of dollars. These events, condensed into five hours, provide four quality messages of experience, strength and hope, and a lunch, free of cost. The Philadelphia Acts was at a new location, at the Tabernacle Unity Church at 37^th and Chestnut Streets on Saturday, February 19. It was not difficult to find from The Schuylkill Expressway and some help from a Higher Power.

The first speaker was JD from Lancaster, whose home group is the White Rose Group of York. He, like the others to follow, briefly told enough of what it was like, and what happened to convince this alcoholic that they pretty much drank the way I did. What was of more interest to me were the stories of willingness or unwillingness, trial and error, success of The Program, and failure of their own inventions to keep them sober. One of the really moving stories JD told was of the brother of a friend who he'd thought of offering help, but didn't, while pursuing his own interests. Several weeks later he heard the young man had died from his disease. Maybe he could have helped, and maybe not, but this was a lesson to him that he is responsible when someone reaches for help, and helping is the solution that has always worked for him when he has used it.

He was followed by Cindy S who is an active member of the Day by Day Group in Ellicott City, MD. Cindy shared an analogy with us about what she has learned in this spiritual program, after white knuckle sobriety didn't work for her. She told how she is a passenger on the bus of life. God is the bus driver who determines where the bus stops, who gets on or off the bus, what the seating arrangements are, and what route they take. Cindy can only see a few yards ahead, so doesn't really know where she's going, but she is able to look out the windows and enjoy each moment of the ride, interacting with those other passengers put in her life. She is not in charge of who enters and leaves her life, or the roles others play in her life. She knows that she can take over driving the bus but knows she'll crash, because she doesn't know how to drive bus. She has learned to be God centered instead of Cindy centered, and being God dependent is the key to joy in her life.

After lunch we were treated to the saga of Joellen F's journey in recovery. Joellen is a member of the Harbor City Speakers Group of Baltimore, and she shared her story with confidence and ease. Her experiences that led her to the rooms weren't unique, but we all sat with her in that 76 Pinto in the parking lot of her first meeting while she watched people arrive and greet each other, and hug each other with sincere joy at seeing one another. We understood the feeling she expressed, when she said that what she heard at her first meeting was irrelevant after that, because she wanted so much to experience that joy those people obviously experienced at being part of something. All she needed to know was that if she wanted, she could be part of that too.

The final speaker was Bobby C from the McKee Street Miracles, in Philadelphia, who shared a story of a real alcoholic, who came into AA comparing everyone to the same standard that he had used his whole life. It's no wonder that nothing changed except that he wasn't drinking. He did finally accidentally start working the Steps that allowed him to get to know Bobby C and become reconciled to who he had been. He shared with the packed house some of those "never" stories that we drunks guard vigorously when facing our Fourth and Eighth Steps. We realize from hearing Bobby that it is the very sharing of these secrets that no one need ever know, (sins that we think are certainly more terrible than any of the rest of you committed) that allows an alcoholic to be able to start anew. To adopt a more spiritually based life, to become comfortable in our own skins, is the result of becoming honest with ourselves and gaining the humility necessary to recover. Thank you Bob, for sharing some of those secrets that demonstrate that taking these Steps works.

You can participate in this experience by attending the next Harrisburg Acts on May 7, or if you don't want to wait, attend the Acts of Recovery in Reading on March 19. See the flyers on the links page.

When there is nothing left but God,
That is when you find
That God is all you need.

Anecdotage

ALWAYS NEAR
By Ron G from the 40th St Group

The battle's over, the fight is done,
A final surrender, a flight to the sun.
Letting go means freedom supreme,
The grace I'm feeling isn't a dream.

Through trials and confusion; deep rooted fear.
I finally understand why I'm here.
To feel, to love, to comfort and to care.
I'm blessed to know he's always been near.

New Meetings and Changes
The Big Book Study Group Friday night meeting needs support. The group meets Tuesdays and Fridays at 7pm at Faith United Church of Christ, 1120 Drexel Hills Blvd. in New Cumberland. Both meetings are in different sections of the first 164p. It is located on the street that is the first right turn, after you exit Interstate 83 at Cedar Cliff Exit 40B and turn towards the river on Simpson Ferry Road.

The Easier, Softer Way Group which started on February 1, 2005, will be a Tuesday Noon AA Open Discussion Meeting at the Trinity Lutheran Church, 20^th and Market Sts in Camp Hill. This will be a non-smoking meeting and it is handicapped accessible.

The Sunday Big Book meeting of the 19th Street Group has been changed from eight to 7:00PM, and the change is reflected on the latest schedules.

Effective Friday January 14th the meeting at 40th Street was changed to an open discussion meeting. The fourth Friday will continue to be an open speaker meeting.
Effective Saturday January 15th the Saturday night meeting at 40th Street will be a closed Big Book meeting.

There is a new closed discussion meeting, called There Is A Solution, which started on January 6th at the Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Mechanicsburg. The meeting will be from 6:30 to 7:30PM each Thursday in Room 207 at 1480 Jerusalem Road, Mechanicsburg. See the flyer on the links page.

The Harrisburg Area (Monday Night) Men's Group will be starting a new Thursday night meeting, same time, same place, beginning January 6, 2005. The location is the Susquehanna Valley Evangelical Free Church, 6433 Union Deposit Rd. The meeting begins at 7:30PM and is a non-smoking men only closed approved AA literature discussion meeting.

The Sunday evening Alateen meeting at Holy Spirit is no longer meeting; and the Al-Anon Tuesday and Thursday evening meetings at Trinity Lutheran in Camp Hill have been changed to 7:30PM. The Tuesday Al-Anon meeting at St Patrick's Cathedral has been moved to the Teen Room. These changes are reflected on the new AA meeting schedule for February 2005.

Two editorial changes were made to the meeting schedule to correct incorrect starting times. The West Shore Women's Group meets Wednesday at 6:00PM, and the Up The Creek Group starts at 8:00PM Thursdays.

If I am upset,
I am the problem.

This-n-That
Don't forget the Harrisburg Area Intergroup meeting and Elections Thursday March 3, at 6:45pm, and the District 36 General Service Rep meeting on Monday March 14, at 6:30; both meetings need your support. The Intergroup Bookstore is still open for business following the HAI meeting and on Saturday mornings from 10:00 till 11:15 for Groups to restock their literature cabinets with books and pamphlets.

February Intergroup Meeting

At the February meeting of Intergroup, Chairperson Albert D opened the meeting with the serenity prayer.

There was discussion on the speaker/dinner/dance evening, which hopes to express the dedication of HAI to carrying the message in Central Pennsylvania in those ways no individual group can, in the hopes of enlisting cooperation and support for its service commitments. Elaine S disbursed tickets for sale for the event, and will attempt to contact groups not present to give them the opportunity to get tickets.

The election of officers for 2005 was held and the new Officers are: Robert H from the Big Book Study Group, Chairperson; Doug K from the West Shore Area Group, Co-chair; Keven C from Out of the Dark, Treasurer; and Ally W from the 40th Street Group agreed to serve temporarily as Secretary until a replacement is found.

The State Hospital was covered by the Middletown Groups in February, and the Hershey Group will make the visits in March. The New Cumberland Big Book Study Group carried the cell phone during February, and the Out of the Dark Group will answer the Hot Line in March. Volunteers for the various county and state prison and Gaudenzia Juvenile facilities continue to carry the message to those who hope to change their lives through a more spiritual way of living; if you'd like to benefit from this 12^th Step opportunity, see your Intergroup Rep, or leave a message with the hot line at 234-5390.

Groups represented at the January meeting were: HAI Officers, 40th Street, Big Book Study, Bridge Street, Dauphin County prison meetings, Hershey, Monday Night Men's, Out of the Dark, Survivors, TMTL, Trudgers, The Way Out, Up the Creek, West Shore Area and West Shore Women's. Was your group represented.

Faith dares the soul to go beyond
what the eyes can see.

Traditions Checklist

TRADITION THREE: The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking.

In my mind, do I prejudge some new AA members as losers?

Is there some kind of alcoholic who I privately do not want in my AA group?

Do I set myself up as a judge of whether a newcomer is sincere or phony?

Do I let language, religion (or lack of it), race, education, age, or other such things interfere with my carrying the message?

Am I over-impressed by a celebrity? By a doctor, a clergyman, an ex-convict? Or can I just treat this new member simply and naturally as one more sick human, like the rest of us?

When someone turns up at AA needing information or help (even if he can't ask for it aloud), does it really matter what he does for a living? Where he lives? What his domestic arrangements are? Whether he had been to AA before? What his other problems are?

*The Traditions Checklist Questions were originally published in the AA Grapevine in conjunction with a series on the Twelve Traditions that began in November 1969, and ran through September 1971. Sobriety News prints the Checklist for the number of the month that corresponds to the number of the Tradition that it deals with, because of the prohibitive length of all twelve. It is important that we be aware of the Twelve Traditions in our lives of recovery, because they help assure that AA will continue to be here for us, and for others who want it.
Printed by permission. THE AA GRAPEVINE INC., PO BOX 1980, GRAND CENTRAL STATION, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10163-1980

"Is sobriety all that we are to expect of a spiritual awakening? No, sobriety is only a bare beginning; it is only the first gift of the first awakening. If more gifts are to be received, our awakening has to go on. As it does go on, we find that bit by bit we can discard the old life - the one that did not work - for a new life that can and does work under any conditions whatever."

With permission, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Contributions are made to Food For Thought by recovering alcoholics who have this outlet to share feelings and opinions about living in recovery. The material included does not necessarily express the views of Harrisburg Area Intergroup, or Alcoholics Anonymous. It is simply an opportunity for recovering alcoholics to express thoughts they would like to share. Why not share something of yourself with our readers?

The following will be a two part article on the dilemma facing Alcoholics Anonymous as expressed in a paper handed out at the Primary Purpose Weekend held in August in Camp Hill.

Whatever Happened to Tradition Three?

"Here are some thoughts on why Tradition Three is at the heart of a currently debated issue."

"AA used to work very well. It grew by leaps and bounds and had an astonishing recovery rate by any comparative standard. There has never in recorded history been anything as successful or as long lived as AA, and we weren't the first kid on the block."

"In the first 16 years of it's history AA produced a recovery rate in excess of 75%. By 1975 it had declined to about 65%. Today all estimates put it at less than 10% (many as low as 2 or 3%) and overall membership has actually declined in the last couple of years. By all accounts the "New and Improved AA is "better than the old more religious, more rigid, more dogmatic, more exclusive AA of the past. What happened? How can something that is said to be so much better work so much worse?"

"Could it be that the early members hit upon the keys to success and that subsequent "improvements that were well intentioned were in reality the literal curse of death?"

"The founders were clear that they had a solution to the alcoholic dilemma and they were offering it freely to those who wanted it. If a prospective member didn't want what was being offered they went looking for someone else who did."

"They didn't beg anybody to join and they didn't coddle the ones who balked at the rigor of their program. They figured the ones who didn't stick would drink some more and if they lived they would get them later. They expected the grave nature of alcoholism to force compliance with our spiritual principles."

"They expected those who outright refused to follow the program to end up drinking their way to an open mind. Little did they know."

"The long form of Tradition Three begins with the statement: "Our membership should include all who suffer from alcoholism." This statement implies that the potential member must be alcoholic. The more commonly stated short form:

"The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Is not a substitute for the long form. It was never meant as a "loophole for a non-alcoholic to gain membership." There were very good reasons for excluding non-alcoholics at closed meetings, and excluded they were."

Here are some examples of how the early groups interpreted this principle before Bill wrote it down as such.

"Definition of an Alcoholic Anonymous:

"An Alcoholic Anonymous is an alcoholic who through application of and adherence to rules laid down by the organization, has completely forsworn the use of any and all alcoholic beverages. The moment he wittingly drinks so much as a drop of beer, wine, spirits, or any other alcoholic drink he automatically loses all status as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous."

"A.A. is not interested in sobering up drunks who are not sincere in their desire to remain completely sober for all time. A.A. is not interested in alcoholics who want to sober up merely to go on another bender, sober up because of fear for their jobs, their wives, their social standing, or to clear up some trouble either real or imaginary."

"In other words, if a person is genuinely sincere in his desire for continued sobriety for his own good, is convinced in his heart that alcohol holds him in its power, and is willing to admit that he is an alcoholic, members of Alcoholics Anonymous will do all in their power, spend days of their time to guide him to a new, a happy, and a contented way of life."

"It is utterly essential for the newcomer to say to himself sincerely and without any reservation, "I am doing this for myself and myself alone."

"Experience has proved in hundreds of cases that unless an alcoholic is sobering up for a purely personal and selfish motive, he will not remain sober for any great length of time. He may remain sober for a few weeks or a few months, but the moment the motivating element, usually fear of some sort, disappears, so disappears sobriety."

"TO THE NEWCOMER: It is your life. It is your choice. If you are not completely convinced to your satisfaction that you are an alcoholic, that your life has become unmanageable; if you are not ready to part with alcohol forever, it would be better for all concerned if you discontinue reading this and give up the idea of becoming a member of Alcoholics Anonymous."

"For if you are not convinced, it is not only wasting your own time, but the time of scores of men and women who are genuinely interested in helping you." (A Manual For Alcoholics Anonymous published by the Akron Group in the early 40s.)

"The pass key to the door of understanding of alcoholism, as we members of ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS understand the problem, is the recognition and the admission on the part of the prospective member that he is an alcoholic, If he is not alcoholic, our group has nothing to offer him."

"If he is, an observance of our program will eliminate the alcoholic problem from his life. We have nothing to offer the controlled drinker." (page 2 Impressions Of AA, published by Chicago Group in early 40's.)

"MANY PEOPLE can "drink like a gentleman, hold their liquor and feel no after-craving for a drink."

"Alcoholics Anonymous has nothing to offer these drinkers. There exists no liquor problem for them, and we can only say, "More power to them; may they always be able to control their drinking."

www.aaharrisburg.org

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