Dr. Bob worked with thousands of drunks in Akron. But, after spending as much as 4 or 6 hours with them, many declined to “follow our path.” They were not “ready to go to any length” to get what we have.
Dr. Bob determined to become more efficient in the use of his time. With this in mind, he developed a checklist to quickly determine if a new pigeon was worth investing time in. Here is the where and the how we come to know of his checklist.
Early on, before the Big Book and the Twelve Steps, Rockefeller and his advisors were introduced to Bill W and heard the story of this new recovery process and movement. They were impressed enough to send one of the senior advisors, Frank Amos, to check it out. He met with the New York crowd and then went to Akron for a week to confirm the reality of this new sobriety society. He summarized the checklist that Dr. Bob and the others in Akron used to qualify a new pigeon.
Paraphrasing the report, he (Dr. Bob) had a checklist of seven items, five essential and two optional. If the pigeon did not commit and agree to all five essentials, Dr. Bob would politely decline to spend any more time with the fellow. He would wish the prospect well and move on. The optionals were, well, optional.
The five essentials were: (1), a complete admission that he was an alcoholic and could not drink again, (2) an obvious and heartfelt surrender to God, (3) a promise that he would work with others, carrying the message of sobriety and hope, (4) a promise of abandonment and cessation of all sinful activities, and (5) a commitment to daily meditation, a daily morning devotion and quiet time (my emphasis).
The two optionals: it would be nice if he attended the weekly meetings held at that time, and it would be nice if he went to church.
This explains why daily meditation is highlighted as being more important than going to meetings in both ‘Pass It On’ and ‘Dr. Bob And The Good Oldtimers.’ A commitment to daily meditation was one of the essentials required to qualify; meetings were optional.
Wow. In the old days, they challenged a newcomer to spend quiet time each day. And if the newcomer did not agree to a daily meditation practice, they moved on politely and firmly explaining that mediation was a requirement. They probably said something like, “if you want what we have, and are willing to go to any length to get it, then you are ready. But you are not, so keep drinking; you will become ready in due course.”
In those days, AAs would have been puzzled if you said, “90 in 90” (90 meetings in 90 days), or “meeting makers make it,” or “keep coming back.” Meetings were optional.
It was meditation that was required. Maybe, instead of our modern admonishments to newcomers, we could be saying, “90 meditations in 90 days,” or “meditators make it,” or “quiet timers quit.”
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Very interesting that meetings were optional in the early days. At least, Dr. Bob thought so.
Great thoughts Jack, thanks
It is interesting and useful.
Yes, it is interesting, though remember, meetings were not as well developed as they are today. The modern AA meeting is a long way from the meetings of earlier times.
The big take away for me was not that meetings were optional, but that meditation was required.
Yes. Modern meetings are open or closed discussion meetings. In the early years meetings were like an old fashioned prayer meeting. There was reading from the Bible, prayer for those still suffering alcoholics. And reading from the Big Book was an honor. It had just came out and was very expensive. Each group may have only had one Big Book.
Now today most of the open or closed discussion meetings are whining and moaning sessions about life, their bad day or their drunken past.
Rodney, thanks for this comment; it is a great observation. And our job is to share in a meaningful way, to provide an example and lead the way. Keep it up.
Andy
The required “morning quiet time” to be more specific was meditation, Bible reading or other religious literature and prayer. And you also ended the day with self reflection and prayer. asking yourself where you were wrong today and if you were wrong you were to make it right the next day.
True that Rodney. The bookmarks that are offered on the website are an attempt to recreate that process. And they are enormously popular with the guys I work with, as well as the Daily Checklists. We have to maintain these habits, or at least I have to maintain them, to develop spiritually.
Thanks for your comments and additions.
And thank God for Anne Smith, the font of these practices.
Andy
You are absolutely correct, thanks for the correction.
Andy
Remember meetings today are different from meetings then.
The big takeaway for me was not that meetings were optional, but that meditation was required.
Thanks Alan
Yes. Dr. Bob sponsored over 4000 drunks in 15 years. Most remained sober.
Fascinating. Last time I led an Eleventh Step meeting I shared that I would not be sober were it not for a daily meditation practice of more than 35 years. I’ve been sober more than 42 years and was given TM meditation instructions by a friend in the program who had been a counselor at Hazelden. I would not have done well with the promise to sin no more if required to make an honest commitment to that ‘essential’. After years of reading, research and practice I have observed that a daily meditation practice is missing in many sober people. I attribute that to our Western culture where a daily formal meditation practice has begun to make inroads from Asia only in the last 50 years. The process described in the 12 and 12 is CONTEMPLATION on the St. Francis prayer, not meditation. An ‘activity’ like concentrating on our breath or repeating a mantra gives us access to the universal silence of the Spirit. I can understand the stated essential nature of the practice. And who knows what Dr. Bob and company meant by a daily meditation practice? I would have failed that interview. Truth is, the subject is largely ineffable.
Thanks for this note Jack, Dr. Bob seems to have meant a practice called Guidance in the Oxford Group tradition. Which you probably would have passed easily. He also referred to a mere spiritual reading, again, a low bar.
Meditation is getting a topic I can thinking about that topic
Think think think
I had never tied meditation to that poster, good thought at some levels.
Great thought, I had never connected the poster to meditation but makes some sense.
Eastern mysticism type meditation was not the kind of meditation they were doing in Akron, Ohio in early AA. You have it wrong.
Thanks for the comment. Though I agree with you and your point about meditation styles. That is not what they did. The most common meditation guide was the Upper Room, a decidedly Christian guide. And I tell the fellows I work with to focus on the day ahead, not breathing or breathe, especially at the beginning.
Glad that you are enjoying some of the older posts.
The members of the Beatles Rock & Roll band had not even been born yet, much less had went to India learning from the Yogis, Swamis and Gurus of Hinduism and Eastern meditation techniques utilizing LSD. So, I am quite sure Dr. Bob and his recovered associates meditation practices were nothing like concentrating on your breathing or repeating mantras. All that came with the New Age of the mid 1960s and after.
Yes, what what you mentioned in the book “12 steps and 12 traditions” was contemplation or meditation on the St. Francis prayer. Also what Dr. Bob and his over 5000 sponsees did was read a passage in the Bible and set in quiet and listen to God for guidance on how they could help someone that day. If their answer passed the standards of the 4 absolutes then they knew it was from God and not from their selfish, self centered selves. Four absolutes of: honesty, love, unselfishness and purity (motives were pure).
You wouldn’t have failed the interview because you would have been shown how to pray and meditate by Dr. Bob. He wouldn’t have left you hung out to dry.
One correction. The date was actually February 1938. Not 1937.
Thank you for posting this for the entire world to see what original AA was really like. It certainly is not like Original Akron Ohio AA anymore. It’s as if it has been hidden purposefully. Thank for getting the truth out there.
Thanks, Rodney. Some of us are on a warpath to refind, and announce, what the Founders did and how they worked the Program.
Andy. Are you able to change the title date to 1938 instead of 1937? I just don’t want their to be any misinformation out there by accident.
It was February 1938.
Rodney, I cannot find the 1938 reference, but the warning is posted for all to see. Thank you for your careful and assiduousity in following the blogs. I hope you are well and content.
Andy
The 1937 error reference is in the title of the article. Can you change it to 1938 to make it correct?
Thanks, Rodney; your correction is now attached to the blog note, permanently correcting the error without cluttering emails with another send-out.
We will work on amending the blog itself in due course.
Your attention to detail is gratefully acknowledged.
Thanks