I would like to share a metaphor which B.M. of the Ft. Worth group shared recently. He said that his sexual addiction could be described as follows:

The group here at K.S.P. is doing fine so far. It has dropped in attendance to about eleven. Our sobriety is getting stronger thanks to our Higher Power. Longest…so far is a little over a year by one inmate and four months for another.

I would like to take this time to express my thanks for all the help and prayers from C.O. Our Sat. night group is still going strong. We made some bad decisions and mistakes, but God in his wisdom has been with us the past few months. We have three regulars each week, and the important thing is that we are very serious about SA and our lives. I want to urge all new groups to heed what C.O. says about running ads in any newspaper.

One member’s response to a Convention: “The program told me what I needed to do to be sexually sober; the Convention gave me joy in doing it.”

As announced in L.A. in December, the plans for voting on the IGC proposal (included with January Essay), were that initial group feedback on the proposal would be summarized and forwarded to groups via an Essay mailing. Initial feedback from some fifty-four groups (see list in this issue) has been received. Last word from the Committee is that they are still processing all these comments and that their summary will be out as soon as possible.

From one member we have the following request for help; groups/members are asked to respond from their experience.

We all know how far we get in this program if we as individuals don’t have that First Step realization of our utter powerlessness over lust. Nowhere! Have you ever thought there might be such a thing as the group or SA as a whole being powerless over lust? If our malady has been telling us anything, it is that none of us as individuals or groups has the power to conquer lust and create sobriety, joy, and freedom.

My Ninth Step work began in March 1987, and the only reason I had was because there is a Ninth Step in the program. I sent a letter to the firm where I worked in 1972 and added a check for the electronic parts that I had stolen. I made another amends similar to this to the hospital where I had worked in 1974.

“Darkness” and “light” are sometimes used to symbolize things going on inside of us. The song Starry, Starry Night (sometimes known by the title Vincent) is about the painter, Vincent Van Gogh. One of the lines says, “There is a darkness in my soul.” In the story of ET, the space visitor has a heart-light that visibly glows at times.

I’d like to let you know that our son Simon Alexander was born in the morning of October 28th. We…thank God for his everlasting help. My thanks also to SA, which I found in August 1985 and where I learned so much about myself…and about the love and grace of God, who is with me (and was) all the time in good and bad days.

We are hoping one of us can come in December. Our thoughts, hopes, and prayers are with you! We have added a second meeting night, once a month…and hope to continue to grow—slow but sure!

Our group in Wichita is really growing. We have three meetings a week now! With 10-20 at each meeting! We’re not very sober yet, but our group seems strong. I hear no rationalizing that one form of acting out is okay… Everyone’s goal seems to be SA sobriety.

Our Lexington SA group has recently gone to a second meeting per week.… All the fellows in our group sincerely want sobriety and are earnestly striving for it.…

Some groups have expressed the desire to meet with Roy K. if and when that becomes possible; in the following message, he asks for group response.

I benefitted immensely. I got enough courage to share what I had never been able to share in my home meeting.

Enclosed with this ESSAY is a document which is a first for SA—a proposed method for determining a fellowship-wide group conscience. This tells how every SA group will be involved in voting on matters affecting SA as a whole. This proposal must be ratified by the fellowship—that includes your group—before it can take effect.

Just an update on our group at the Medium Security Facility of the Kansas State Penitentiary [begun in May]. We have averaged 17 persons per meeting after two months, with a high of 22.

We are growing and need more books. This is wonderful, but also scary.… We are thankful that you are there to send us literature and strength.

I’ve been in this program over three years and still wonder why I still don’t feel entirely comfortable in a room full of men. Before becoming sexually sober, my obsession/compulsion included both heterosexual and homosexual urges. The former produced a great deal of guilt because of taking advantage of a younger sister and later in life taking advantage of women. The latter produced great emotional difficulties as well.

Contact with others in recovery is our lifeline.