Thank you for sending the September ’94 issue of Essay, the pamphlet on the International Unity Conference in January ’95, and the International Directory. I thoroughly enjoy the Essay, especially the stories of those who have experienced healing in their lives.
What a fantastic one-day SA seminar I attended yesterday in Montreal. We were 33 SA members, and most benefited from intensive sharing and discussions about the powerful spiritual program provided by our SA fellowship.
We had our “International Convention” here on October 22, 1994. There was some great sharing about recovery. We had one member with over a year of sobriety and another with over six months. The others had varying times of sobriety. I had the privilege of hosting three of the members at my home. We are hoping that numbers will increase and our fellowship will grow spiritually and that we will be able to enjoy a quality of life which we know is available if we work the Steps and abide by the Traditions.
Last year the Central Office Oversight Committee (COOC) felt that the high cost of producing and mailing the Essay should be offset by a subscription to cover these costs, and beginning December 1993, the newsletter was sent to subscribers only. An immediate result was an unforeseen and regrettable drop in readership. Although subscriptions have increased steadily in 1994, circulation is still only about 25 percent of what it was in 1993. That means less than one-fourth of the fellowship can participate in fellowship-wide communication!
For several years I was aware I had a sex problem and yet I was not willing to seek help. I would go on alcohol and sex binges, rotating between the two, trying to find happiness and peace. I started 25 years ago looking at pictures and fantasizing things that somehow I assumed to be normal. I began acting out some of my fantasies and that’s when everything started to go downhill.
Since the meeting in Rochester, NY in January 1994 the COOC has met six times. Quite a few matters of significance to the SA fellowship as well as the operation of the Central Office (CO) have been discussed.
Hi, my name is Roy and I’m a sexaholic. None of you knew this, but all of the speakers got together and designed the perfect program, just so we could all complement each other [laughter].
I’m Harvey, a sexaholic. You know, talking about spirituality as a separate topic here makes me think a great deal about how to talk about spirituality as a separate topic, because all weekend we’ve been talking about spirituality. I was told many years ago, there is no spiritual part of this program, it IS a spiritual program. So in thinking about talking about spirituality, I thought I would share with you some things that have happened recently that to me are the essence of spirituality.
My name is Gordon and I’m a sexaholic. My whole life was a spiritual program, but I didn’t know it, and I didn’t start growing until I had a spiritual experience, and started learning from my mistakes. In 1960 my Daddy passed away and I figured he died of a broken heart, and I couldn’t handle it, and I ended up three times in the strong room of the Marine Hospital. I was drowning it with alcohol, and the third time they wound up sending me to the nuthouse.
One of the greatest gifts I have received from Higher Power in my nearly five years of sobriety and recovery in SA has been my new-found ability to date. I’m glad that it didn’t happen how or with whom I wanted because that never worked for me before and I’m certain it wouldn’t work now.
