Group Sharing
Finding enough sober people is a problem. Loads of unsober people attend here. Things will change. Something for everyone doesn’t work.
Report on the International Group Conscience Proposal
As you remember, over the past year the fellowship has been asked to approve or reject a procedure for taking an international group conscience on issues that affect SA as a whole. What follows is a report on that process, prepared by Katherine D., the chair of the committee to determine an IGC procedure:
Memories of the “Real Connection”
Memories of the “Real Connection” International Retreat in Salt Lake City will still be fresh for many members as this issue of the Essay appears. For many of us, this retreat felt like recovery often feels: emotional, sometimes tense and uncomfortable, yet open and secure. As we walked together through sharing our struggles and victories, we began to experience the joy of true union with one another.
Feedback Corner
We have been meeting regularly for two years with mixed results. We began with a core group of two and have had ten different people attend meetings at one time or another. Our longest period of sobriety is two years, and our shortest is five days. Some older group members have recently slipped, and one has stopped coming.
The SA Misconnection
At the heart of our condition is the drive for union with Person. Bonding. This drive, instead of having been diminished by our misconnections in lust and sex, seemed to increase. Never satisfied with the substitutes, our longing for personal union merely deepened and energized the vain pursuit for the real.
Notes From the Central Office
In September, SA group donations paid for an express shipment of literature to the new group in Sidney, Australia! Literature was provided free of charge as a gift from the fellowship. The expression of support was warmly and appreciatively received.
Comments From a Friend Outside SA
I am writing to thank you for putting me on your mailing list for the Essay newsletter. It’s a terrific piece of literature filled with powerful and inspiring information which has helped me and others I have shared it with tremendously.…
Member News
The other day I learned a crucial lesson. I was feeling in a confrontative mood and was inappropriately (for meeting time anyway) challenging one after another for their lack of sobriety and recovery. A good friend of mine went last and had a slip and sounded confused in his sharing. Being disappointed, I also let him have it.
Member News
I’m so grateful for SA for putting me on a spiritual path!
Group News
SA in Ft. Worth continues to grow in numbers as well as in sobriety. We have averaged around ten people per meeting all summer. Last Thursday, we had fifteen in attendance. This is an all-time high for us and hopefully an indication of things to come.
