Central Oregon Intergroup

Title: Tumalo Speaker Meeting
Start Time: 19:00

Title: Intergroup Business Meeting and IGR Meeting
Location: TEC

Start Time:
Intergroup Business Meeting 5-5:30 PM
Intergroup IGR Meeting 5:30-7:00 PM

Date: 4th Sunday of each month

I spent the month of November being grateful. Grateful for all the gifts that the program and the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous has given me. Now that December has arrived, it is time for us to give back what has so freely been given to us. We can give hope to another alcoholic that still suffers. We can offer an easier, softer way. We can suggest steps that build a foundation that allows us to never have to pick up a drink again. We can offer a textbook that has a design for a happy, joyous, and alcohol free life. This all begins in step twelve.

I really didn’t understand the concept of a spiritual awakening when first arriving in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous. My awakening, however, started at step one. I was powerless over alcohol, and my life had become unmanageable. My drinking pattern had proved this. The fact is that I was insane by trying to control my drinking. My ego convinced me to continue years of research proving that my will was greater than God’s will for me.

My sponsor suggested that I turn my will and my life over to the care of God as I understood him. I wasn’t really sure what this meant, but I made a decision to do it anyway. I had nothing else to lose. Taking my inventory made me accountable for my own actions. I could no longer blame others for why I drank, the way I drank, or the ensuing problems directly related to my drinking.

I was awakened by humility. I was far too proud and arrogant in my early days of sobriety to learn anything from Alcoholics Anonymous. After all, I was the one with the right answers. I was wrong. However, I was not prompt in admitting it.

Today, I like to let things happen, instead of making them happen. I no longer worry. I no longer enjoy conflict. I no longer expect things in return. I live in, and enjoy each moment. I feel connected with others. I have no interest in judging myself, or others. And for once in my life, I am no longer afraid to ask for help, I seek it out.

The core principle behind the twelfth step is that once we’ve experienced the benefits of working the steps, we will want to continue to strengthen our own recovery by helping others and by doing service work. We can then continue to practice and live by the principles in our everyday lives. We may not notice the changes in ourselves instantly, but others will.

The fact remains, anyone can do twelfth step work. I doesn’t take much recovery to make coffee, greet people, or to clean up after a meeting. Besides, it’s the best way to get to really know people whether you’re a newcomer, or you have years of sobriety. You can’t really give what you don’t have is not always true. Each and every one of us has a story, and every story is worth sharing. If I can tell my story at a meeting, and reassure a newcomer so they might find a little more hope to stick with the program, and keep coming back. And for me to hear a newcomer’s story in order for me to remember how bad it was, believe it or not, that is twelfth step work in itself.

I remember hearing “you’ve got to give it away in order to keep it.” I didn’t understand this concept either at first. After being in the program for awhile, I began to feel the gratitude, I was overwhelmed by the gifts, and by what others had so freely given of themselves to me. I began to realize how helping others revitalized and strengthened my own recovery. I need to help others as much for my own recovery as for their recovery as well.

A spiritual awakening is very different for each of us. The changes I have finally found in myself after working the steps have been deep and positive changes in the way I look at things and in the way I react to life. I am able today to live life on life’s terms. I have gone from dependence to freedom. I am now able to let go, and find peace even when everything seems to be going in the opposite direction. I no longer have to try and control everything by myself, I now have the help of God and the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Brent H. Bend, OR

Held the first and third Friday of each month

Title: Central Oregon Speaker Meeting
Location: Environmental Center
Start Time: 7:00 PM

Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas Ave.

View Larger Map

The following summarizes the description of the 11th Step provided in Alcoholics Anonymous (primarily on pp. 86-88). This is supplemented by some suggestions [in brackets] that have found helpful.

Preparing for the Day Ahead

1. We ask God to direct our thinking, asking especially that it be divorced from selfpity, dishonest or self-seeking motives.

2. We consider our plans for the day. We can now use our mental faculties with assurance.

3. If we face indecision or we can’t determine what course to take, we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy.

4. We pray to be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of problems.

5. We ask especially for freedom from self-will. [We might also pray for help with specific defects or problem areas, and review our 10th step corrective measures for the day ahead.]

Prayers to be of Use

6. We ask for guidance in the way of patience, kindness, tolerance and love especially within the family.

7. We pray as to what we can do today for the person who is still sick. [We might also pray for specific people in need, or those with whom we're angry.]

Spiritual/Religious Exercises

8. If appropriate, we attend to our religious devotions, or say set prayers which emphasize 12 Step principles.

9. We may read from a spiritual book.

Practicing the 11th Step Throughout the Day

10. We pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action.

11. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day “Thy will be done.”

Questions to think about when working Step 11

With help from the book, Alcoholics Anonymous

1. On awakening, do you think about the 24 hours ahead and consider your plans for the day?

2. Before you begin, do you ask God to direct your thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives?

3. Do you refrain from making requests for yourself only, except in cases where others may be helped?

4. How do you handle indecision? Do you ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision? Do you relax and take it easy, or do you struggle?

5. Do you pray to be shown all throughout the day what your next step is to be, and that you be given whatever you need to take care of such problems?

6. Do you ask for freedom from self-will?

7. Do you refrain from making requests for yourself only, except in cases where others may be helped?

8. Are you careful never to pray for your own selfish ends?

9. If circumstances warrant, do you ask your spouse or friends to join you in morning meditation?

10. Do you attend to your religious morning devotion?

11. Do you pause when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action? Do you remind yourself that you are no longer running the show, humbly saying to yourself many times each day, “Thy will be done”?