It Has to Be a Miracle
We are grateful to our members for our excellent 2014 financial results. We finished the year on target compared to budget! I’m excited to see members spread the word in so many directions: globally, through literature, and into the digital world.
At our meeting in February 2015, the General Delegate Assembly (GDA) voted unanimously to permit ESSAY subscribers to make up to 10 copies, either in print or electronically, to share with others. This decision is in furtherance of our primary purpose to carry the message (Tradition Five) while still protecting the integrity of our copyright.
How is your program going? Are you enjoying all of the sobriety, serenity, and sanity that your Higher Power has for you? Are you looking for opportunities to be of service to God and others? Do you want to foster new friendships with those who are seeking a shared solution to a shared problem?
In countries where there are no SA groups, SAICO depends on member volunteers to carry the SA message to those who seek help. SA’s International Committee (IC) is attempting to organize those volunteers to focus on specific areas where help is needed. We are currently looking for volunteers to answer inquiries from several countries.
On January 1, 2014, a new SA group was started in Zwolle, the Netherlands. We meet on Wednesday in a room that was kindly rented to us by an organization that deals with all kinds of addictions. The members of this meeting, however, felt that we needed another meeting in Zwolle, on another night.
I just re-read Bill’s Story (AA Chapter 1) with a sponsee of mine as part of his Step One work. It’s amazing that two Jewish sexaholics from Israel in their mid-twenties can identify with a 40-year-old alcoholic stockbroker from New York.
These thoughts from the AA Big Book run through my mind nearly constantly: “Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. How can I best serve Thee—Thy will (not mine) be done” (85). And, as emphasized on the same page, this is the proper use of my willpower.
I would like to share my recent experience in using the Serenity Prayer (SA 95). I’ve been sober in SA since October 2008, and have done lots of service work. But recently I was faced with one of the most challenging business decisions of my 30+ year career.
I came to SA in September 2005, when I realized I was hooked on Internet pornography, and I’ve been sober since that day. Before then, I thought I could stop on my own. I actually could stop for several days on my own willpower, but then I would binge on lust for days afterward and my obsession would increase.
I’ve been sober in SA for seven years now, and today I’m grateful to be a sexaholic. Because of SA, I have a life worth living, tools to help me live that life, and the ability to help others live a life worth living by working the Twelve Steps. But it wasn’t always this way; I had a lot of resistance at first. So I decided to write a few things about my early resistance to working this program of recovery, in case my experience might benefit others.
