<% @LANGUAGE=VBScript %> <%Response.Expires=30%> CyberGroup Discussion - Spiritual Innovators
Section Spiritual Innovators

Robert Holbrook Smith.

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"Dr. Bob's Nightmare". His story after 3 years and 10 months of sobriety.
Dr. Bob's Last Message. 1950.
Quotations

"I spend a great deal of time passing on what I learned to others who want and need it badly. I do it for four reasons: 1) Sense of duty, 2) It is a pleasure, 3) Because in so doing I am paying my debt to the man who took time to pass it on to me, and 4) Because every time I do it I take out a little more insurance for myself against a possible slip."

"If you think you are an atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic, or have any other form of intellectual pride which keeps you from accepting what is in this book, I feel sorry for you. If you still think you are strong enough to beat the game alone, that is your affair. But if you really and truly want to quit drinking liquor for good and all, and sincerely feel that you must have some help, we know that we have an answer for you. It never fails if you go about it with one half the zeal you have been in the habit of showing when getting another drink."

"None of us would be here today if somebody hadn't taken time to explain things to us, to give us a little pat on the back, to take us to a meeting or two, to have done numerous little kind and thoughtful acts in our behalf. So let us never get the degree of smug complacency so that we're not willing to extend or attempt to, that help which has been so beneficial to us, to our less fortunate brothers."

Introductory Notes by Joan Montain
DR. ROBERT HOLBROOK SMITH       1879-1950
 
In many ways, Dr. Bob and Bill W. revolutionized the treatment of alcoholism and addictions by forming the first Alcoholics Anonymous group. But they did have assistance from religious groups and medical people before them who contributed many concepts. Dr. Bob and Bill W. then adapted them to meet their own personal needs and the needs of those they helped.
 
They were initially instrumental in helping thousands of hopeless alcoholics achieve sobriety, and this grew to be millions worldwide. This eventually led to the treatment of other addictions. Most of the afflicted maintain there is no other way but A.A. And the key factor is spirituality. AA's will confirm that, without that in place--a total surrender to God--healing will not take place. Interestingly, that one step seems to be the main stumbling block for many in the 12-step program.
 
AA has led to Al Anon, Nar Anon, Alateen, and other 12- step programs. It has also led to halfway houses and sober houses, houses for teens, detoxification centres, primary residential treatment and extended care facilities.
 
But when Robert Holbrook Smith started out his life, little did he know just what he would be contributing to mankind. He was born an only child to loving, well-educated parents who placed great emphasis on Christian education. He later rebelled against organized religion, but his son later said that it still had value to his Dad years later. Dr. Bob later admitted he felt that his being an only child contributed to his selfishness which characterizes alcoholism.
 
He had a very long and ugly struggle with heavy drinking which frequently interrupted his life as a student and pre-med student. After great pain on his part, and his mentors' parts  at the colleges and universities he attended, he managed to obtain his medical degree.
 
His medical practice was a horror story of trying practice and battle his alcohol addiction and accompanying tremors which he had to hide from everyone.
 
Eventually, his long suffering wife persuaded him to attend a meeting of the Oxford Group which was a forerunner of AA. It was a British-based Christian fellowship that advocated honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. Their principles of self-survey, confession, restitution and service to others grew into the 12 steps of AA.
 
Dr. Bob did struggle with drinking and attendance at this group with his wife for 2 years while he wrestled spiritually, realizing it was an important element in his healing.
 
About this time in his life, another fellow--Bill Wilson--entered his life. (God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.) Bill was sober finally, but struggling to stay that way until he had a revelation that he needed to share his experience with a fellow alcoholic to remain sober. He moved into Dr. Bob's house at their invitation, and he and Dr. Bob practiced sobriety together with his wife as a spiritual companion. In this quiet, contemplative atmosphere, they sewed the seeds that later grew into Alcoholics Anonynous, realizing that they needed the fellowship of other alcoholics to remain sober themselves.
 
Dr. Bob began taking his message of love and service to his hospital in Akron, Ohio, where he eventually helped over 5,000 alcoholics to recover sobriety and whom Dr. Bob never charged for his services. With some mentors, together he and Bill W. formed the first AA group and fine tuned the Oxford Group's principles to formulate the 12 step program for recovery. He took his last drink in June of 1935, and the next day began to form the spiritual recovery group.
 
But they also made concessions to those with little or no faith, that God was described as a Higher Power greater than ourselves; God as we understand Him. This liberal interpretation opened the door for those who would never have approached for help.
 
In establishing the principles of AA, they borrowed the material from many sources, including Christianity, and translated them into language easier for the alcoholics to accept.
e.g.   spirituality--not religion
         sobriety--not salvation
         wrong doing--not sin
         admitting--not confessing
         strength and hope--not resurrection
         carrying the message--not sharing the faith
But the absence of direct Christian references does not take away from the program's Christian basis.
 
Some points to consider:
1.  Earlier, Dr. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist, maintained that there was a certain type of alcoholic for which there was no hope without a spiritual or religious experience.
 
2. Bill W. had a conversion experience which began his sobriety, and the need for fellowship with a fellow alcoholic led him to Dr. Bob who badly needed someone with whom he could share his experience.
 
3. Anonymity was important.
 
4.  The 12 step model has become the model for many popular lay-managed treatment programs for addictions, compulsions or dependencies--nicotene, narcotics, cocaine, gambling, eating disorders, etc.
 
It is important to realize that the humble journey which Dr. Bob and his co-founders took, has led to healing for millions around the world. If you multiply that by the numbers of affected family members, you realize how powerful this journey was.
 
Quotes from Dr. Bob's speeches:
1.  The spiritual approach was as useless as any other if you soaked it up like a sponge and kept it to yourself. The purpose of life was not "to get", but "to give".
2.  Faith has to work 24 hours a day in and through us, or we perish. 
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St. David's United Church.Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The United Church of Canada.

November 24, 2002