Many of us are either just starting our groups or trying to get one started. In our last general letter of 12 October, we listed some hints for 12th Step work—getting new members. Chapter 7 of the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous) is entitled “Working With Others,” and is a “must” for every serious member of S.A. Here’s the first sentence (with references to alcohol changed):

“Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from slipping as intensive work with other sexaholics.”

One is hard put to offer anything better on dealing with prospective members.

By the way… I hope everyone knows by now that I’m not engaged in some sort of philanthropic or benevolent enterprise. I’m active in SA as an avocation; (my vocation is writing.) And for this very reason—it’s the best insurance I can have for not “going back out there.” Plus, there’s nothing I enjoy more, once I’m doing it. But I suffer the same inertia, procrastination, and lack of motivation anyone else does. It’s just taken a lot of practice to learn that to feel better, to stay sober, to experience real joy, there’s no better way than trying to carry the message of my recovery—wherever it happens to be at—to another. I can’t stand just plain sobriety; it’s not enough. I need something to live for, and nothing better fills that black hole of emptiness always lurking behind the center of my being. The measure I give is the measure I get back.