Now I’m dealing with another problem…a spouse who is antagonistic to SA, SLAA, AA, or any other Twelve-Step program because of the references to “higher power,” a feeling that the program doesn’t reflect Christian values, and (probably most important of all) her own fears of having to face the fact that I am, indeed, just like the people she read about in the material from the various groups, addicted to sex and lust.
In the last issue of Essay, we published requests for feedback from groups that are experiencing problems or have questions about the way in which meetings should be run. R.B. in Wichita Falls wrote asking how other groups address the problem of a high rate of dropouts, and J.B. in Chicago wrote asking how other groups manage to give everyone enough time to speak.
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.
In the May Essay “Food For Thought” column, an elaboration of SA’s sobriety statement was presented for member reaction. So far, only some eight groups and individuals have responded. This small sampling, inconclusive as it is, has created quite a furor. Apparently, people are either very much for it or very much against it.
