[Magdalen] Admission

[Lynn Ronkainen]

MJL> During my brief stint with AA, I couldn't help but think that the 
second "A" of AA meant absolutely nothing to the group I was with.

This is a sad thing to hear but only human.  Adhering to one of the '12 
Traditions'  regarding anonymity is a powerful safety feature which is part 
of the success of 12 step programs.... as I posted yesterday - not all 
groups are 'the same', and in their differences some groups are 
dysfunctional in possible multiplicity of ways. Most people, even in their 
bad days can tell when a group is not for them.... I  remind myself, that 
*a* group is not the whole program. I am sad when I  hear about groups that 
are not healthy. I found myself in one that became that way about 9 years 
ago - fortunately I had  been exposed to its health, so I discerned its 
descent into something else. I am fortunate to live on the far edge of a 
large city so there are many locations to check into.  Many people have a 
'home location' even if they sometimes go elsewhere - some locations field 
meetings at many hours of the day and evening - that is my experience here 
especially with AA which probably sees more attendance than any of the 
offshoot 12 step meetings/groups under their umbrella organization.

I have also observed the downside of attending too many different meetings 
all over town where one possibly does not solidify a sense of 
companionship/camaraderie but instead might slip into stagnant behavior 
because 'nobody knows your name' (I say that to mean that when this happens 
often the sense of connection among members is traded in for a more 
self-oriented attendance mode, not engagement mode).

Lynn


website: www.ichthysdesigns.com

When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not a 
single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave me." 
attributed to Erma Bombeck
 "Either Freedom for all or stop talking about Freedom at all" from a talk 
by Richard Rohr

--------------------------------------------------
From: "M J _Mike_ Logsdon" <mjl at ix.netcom.com>
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2016 3:05 PM
To: <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
Subject: Re: [Magdalen] Admission

>>>>When I started AA, I could have sworn that everyone (males) was named 
>>>>Steve.<<<
>
> During my brief stint with AA, I couldn't help but think that the second 
> "A" of AA meant absolutely nothing to the group I was with.