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Post Info TOPIC: The Wilmington Preamble


MIP Old Timer

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The Wilmington Preamble
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I heard a guy read this in a meeting the other day...
I liked it. So I looked it up and thought I'd share it. 

 

The Wilmington Preamble

We are gathered here because we are faced with the fact that we are powerless over alcohol and unable to do anything about it without the help of a Power greater than ourselves. We feel that each person's religious views, if any, are his own affair. The simple purpose of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous is to show what may be done to enlist the aid of a Power greater than ourselves regardless of what our individual conception of that Power may be.

In order to form a habit of depending upon and referring all we do to that Power, we must at first apply ourselves with some diligence. By often repeating these acts, they become habitual and the help rendered becomes natural to us.

We have all come to know that as alcoholics we are suffering from a serious illness for which medicine has no cure. Our condition may be the result of an allergy which makes us different from other people. It has never been by any treatment with which we are familiar, permanently cured. The only relief we have to offer is absolute abstinence, the second meaning of A. A.

There are no dues or fees. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Each member squares his debt by helping others to recover.

An Alcoholics Anonymous is an alcoholic who through application and adherence to the A. A. program has forsworn the use of any and all alcoholic beverage in any form. The moment he takes so much as one drop of beer, wine, spirits or any other alcoholic beverage 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 sober for all time. Not being reformers, we offer our experience only to those who want it.

We have a way out on which we can absolutely agree and on which we can join in harmonious action. Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our program. Those who do not recover are people who will not or simply cannot give themselves to this simple program. Now you may like this program or you may not, but the fact remains, it works. It is our only chance to recover.

There is a vast amount of fun in the A.A. fellowship. Some people might be shocked at our seeming worldliness and levity, but just underneath there lies a deadly earnestness and a full realization that we must put first things first and with each of us the first thing is our alcoholic problem. To drink is to die. Faith must work twenty-four hours a day in and through us or we perish.

In order to set our tone for this meeting I ask that we bow our heads in a few moments of silent prayer and meditation.

I wish to remind you that whatever is said at this meeting expresses our own individual opinion as of today and as of up to this moment. We do not speak for A.A. as a whole and you are free to agree or disagree as you see fit. In fact, it is suggested that you pay no attention to anything which might not be reconciled with what is in the A. A. Big Book.

If you don't have a Big Book, it's time you bought you one. Read it, study it, live with it, loan it, scatter it, and then learn from it what it means to be an A.A.

The History Of The Wilmington Preamble

The Wilmington Preamble has long been surrounded by controversy and discussion of such has sparked many a debate almost from its inception in the early years of Alcoholics Anonymous. The history of our fellowship has mostly been passed from member to member over the expanse of many years; member whose very disease has a tendency to distort one's memory. Inaccuracies may prevail. The following is in no way an attempt to dispel those controversies, but an effort to establish an accurate history of the birth of the Wilmington Preamble and to keep it's true history alive for the enlightenment of future generations. Documentable corrections are welcomed.

The Wilmington Preamble's birth ties in with one of Wilmington's earliest members, Shoes L. Shoes joined the Wilmington Group and got sober in May of 1944.The following month in June, Shoes was Chairman of the group and in charge of getting speakers for their meetings. There was at this time a sportswriter in town covering the horse races at Delaware Park. His name was Mickey M. and Shoes asked him to speak at the group's meeting. Mickey replied that he wasn't much of a speaker but that he would write something appropriate. He reportedly went back to his room at the Hotel Dupont and wrote the Wilmington Preamble as we know it and it was read the following Friday night.

Being a sportswriter, Mickey M. covered events in other towns, and while in Baltimore covering the races at Pimlico gave the same preamble to the Baltimore Group which they also adopted as their own. Where it was actually read first is the subject of many debates but one fact remains clear, that this "Preamble" was widely accepted in Maryland and Delaware long before World Service sanctioned the shorter A.A. Preamble that is more universally accepted today.

 

Source:

http://www.barefootsworld.net/aa-oldpreamble.html

 

 



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MIP Old Timer

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LOVE it Stepchild, ... and I stole it ... taking it with me to Tennessee ... once I get settled in, I'll spring this on 'um, ... LOL



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MIP Old Timer

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Yeah...It's pretty cool.

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MIP Old Timer

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Thanks for posting this, Stepchild!

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There is a mother-load of info at Barefoot Bob's. That site is a big part of my recovery.

All the best.

Bob R

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MIP Old Timer

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That Bob...Is the truth....I was fortunate enough to stumble upon....Or be led...To that site very early in my recovery....It is a goldmine.

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MIP Old Timer

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All I can find when I did a search is Barefoot Bob's Bar and Grill...feel sure that is not the site you are referring to. Am I doing something wrong?



-- Edited by betterthanyesterday52 on Monday 2nd of December 2013 12:48:19 PM

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MIP Old Timer

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Try this...Add it to your favorites.

http://www.barefootsworld.net/index.html#recovery



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MIP Old Timer

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Wow! What an awesome site! Thanks so much for the link, stepchild!

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I got sober in Wilmington Delaware in the late 70's and that's not the version that was read at The Wilmington group. This was the version read: THE WILMINGTON AA PREAMBLE We of Alcoholics Anonymous are a group of persons for whom alcohol has become a major problem. We have banded together in a sincere effort to help ourselves and other problem drinkers recover health and maintain sobriety. Definitions of alcoholics are many and varied. For brevity we think of an alcoholic as one whose life has become unmanageable to any degree due to the use of alcohol. We believe that the alcoholic is suffering from a disease for which no cure has yet been found. We profess no curative powers but have formulated a plan to arrest alcoholism. >From the vast experience of our many members we have learned that successful membership demands total abstinence. Attempts at controlled drinking by the alcoholic inevitably fail. Membership requirements demand only a sincere desire on the part of the applicant to maintain total abstinence. There are no dues of fees in A.A.; no salaried officers. Money necessary for operating expenses is secured by voluntary contributions. Alcoholics Anonymous does not perform miracles, believing that such powers rests only in God. We adhere to no particular creed or religion. We do believe, however, that an appeal for help to oneās own interpretation of a higher power, or God, is indispensable to a satisfactory adjustment to lifeās problems. Alcoholics Anonymous is not a prohibition or temperance movement in any sense of the word. We have no criticism of the controlled drinker. We are concerned only with the alcoholic. We attempt to follow a program of recovery which has for its chief objectives: Sobriety for ourselves; help for other alcoholics who desire it; amends for past wrongs; humility; honesty; tolerance; and spiritual growth. We welcome and appreciate the cooperation of the medical profession and the help of the clergy. I think it's still read at The Wilmington Group and occasionally by other groups in the area. I used to love hearing Shoes and all the old timers who started AA in the Wilmington area tell their stories. They weren't Big Book thumpers. They were about cleaning up with The Twelve Steps, and helping the still suffering alcoholic. It was all about service, service, service.

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I think they mention it was read in the 1940's...Maybe you went to a different group and they still read that one . I don't know...I doubt if thet are making it up. I like it...That's all that counts. I have to ask you about this...

They weren't Big Book thumpers. They were about cleaning up with The Twelve Steps,

What is a Big Book thumper?....Is that someone that knows the directions to the steps? If it's all about cleaning up with the steps?....And the book is the clear cut directions to do that...Is it held against you for knowing the directions? If I walk into a heart specialist...And I ask him a question about my heart...And he gives me an answer...Or he tells me....I need to go look that up....I think I'll go with the heart book thumper.



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MIP Old Timer

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Thanks Stepchild. I like both versions but , if I had to chose, the first most accurately reflects my beliefs and experience.

I have been stooging around barefoot's site too. A lot of very interesting material particularly around Greshams law, and spiritual means of recovery.

BTW, I had a coffee today with a nice gent in AA who sometimes refers to AA Taleban, nazis, big book thumpers etc. Not in a nasty way, just sort of descriptive. I think these terms are quite unreasonable, especially taleban and nazi and don't bare any relation to the behaviour or motivation of the individuals concerned. I've met a few of these folk in my time and don't have a problem with them at all. They might be a bit OTT but their heart is in the right place and they help a lot of people.

The thing is I once felt the same way. I got real uncomfortable if someone read from their Big book during a meeting, or quoted it too often. Why, because I didn't/wasn't reading the book, I was ignorant of much of the program. They made me feel guilty and uncomfortable because I did not know what I needed to know to be an effective member of AA. These people exposed my lack of knowledge which, of course, damaged my EGO. They woke me up, which is just what I needed.

God bless,
MikeH.

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MIP Old Timer

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I find that's usually the problem....Usually people that are offended by someone that knows the book...Either don't have a good grasp of what it's about...Or they haven't done what's in it. It's a set of directions that can save a life....Why the hell would I not want to know them inside out?....I still study it with two oldtimers that know it better than I do at 2 different meetings each week....I can't get enough of it. I had an oldtimer with 30 some years tell me in a meeting a few months ago....He said your recovery sounds like it's right out of the book....I think that's the best compliment I've ever had.



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A Big Book thumper is someone who just quotes from The Big Book without sharing their own experience, strength, and hope on what they just quoted. This is a program of action. There is a big difference from being able just to quote The Big Book, then to know what you read and can live it and share how to put it in to action. There are many people in Fellowship who just don't have the memory capacity to remember The Big Book in and out. They do have the 12 Steps down and how to live them in their daily lives. And , knew how to share and explain how they do it. Many of the old times I remember we're not about share quotes, but of sharing how to apply the steps in their daily lives. I know of many people who can quote The Big Book up and down, yet can't seem to stay sober. It was that sharing of how to live the steps that will enable me to celebrate 36 years without a drink near the end of this month.

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Db1105 wrote:

A Big Book thumper is someone who just quotes from The Big Book without sharing their own experience, strength, and hope on what they just quoted. This is a program of action. There is a big difference from being able just to quote The Big Book, then to know what you read and can live it and share how to put it in to action. There are many people in Fellowship who just don't have the memory capacity to remember The Big Book in and out. They do have the 12 Steps down and how to live them in their daily lives. And , knew how to share and explain how they do it. Many of the old times I remember we're not about share quotes, but of sharing how to apply the steps in their daily lives. I know of many people who can quote The Big Book up and down, yet can't seem to stay sober. It was that sharing of how to live the steps that will enable me to celebrate 36 years without a drink near the end of this month.


Maybe I should be on here bitching about a musical video.....Let me know if I'm doing it wrong.



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We have meetings here (thankfully less and less) who define a big book thumper as anyone who thinks the AA program resides in the Big Book and not in the fellowship. I prefer DB1105's definition. Though I have been sober in AA for almost as long, I couldn't name a single individual, with a good working knowledge of the book, who slips and slides.

Living in the steps is the solution and I have found as I do that, my experience begins to look very similar to that recorded in the Book, thus confirming the truth contained therein. There is still a good deal beyond my personal experience and on those occasions the book is the first point of reference I would direct someone's attention to.

God bless,
MikeH

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All you need to do is direct them to these few sentences...This says it all for me.

Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power?

Well, that's exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem.

I just needed to solve my problem...



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MIP Old Timer

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Good point SC. Direct them to the book or God for answers. This idea seems to have been very important in my own recovery. My sponsor seemd to understand the meaning of this passage;

".It is not the matter of giving that is in question, but when and how to give. That often makes the difference between failure and success. The minute we put our work on a service plane, the alcoholic commences to rely upon our assistance rather than upon God."

Thank God he taught me to rely on God to solve my problems, and didn't try to solve them all for me. That (sort of) overly prescriptive sponsorship seems to make for dependence on human aid which doesn't seem to provide a long term solution for many of us.

God bless,
MikeH.

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What do you really want to say SChild?

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