The A.A. Tools of Recovery

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The A.A. Tools of Recovery

A good old-timer named Don Helvey in Elkhart put together a short
piece called the A.A. Tools of Recovery, which is still read at the
beginning of many A.A. meetings in Elkhart, Mishawaka, South Bend,
and other parts of the St. Joseph river valley region along with
reading the twelve steps:

"ABSTINENCE: We commit ourselves to stay away from the first drink,
one day at a time.

MEETINGS: We attend A.A. meetings to learn how the program works, to
share our experience, strength and hope with each other, and because
through the support of the fellowship, we can do what we could never
do alone.

SPONSOR: A sponsor is a person in the A.A. program who has what we
want and is continually sober. A sponsor is someone you can relate
to, have access to and can confide in.

TELEPHONE: The telephone is our lifeline -- our meetings between
meetings. Call before you take the first drink. The more numbers you
have, the more insurance you have.

LITERATURE: The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous is our basic tool
and text. The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions and A.A. pamphlets
are recommended reading, and are available at this meeting.

SERVICE: Service helps our personal program grow. Service is giving
in A.A. Service is leading a meeting, making coffee, moving chairs,
being a sponsor, or emptying ashtrays. Service is action, and action
is the magic word in this program.

ANONYMITY: Whom you see here, what you hear here, when you leave
here, let it stay here. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of our
program."

Many of the good old-timers, like Submarine Bill and Raymond I.,
believed that it was important to repeat these basic principles over
and over, until newcomers had them instinctively drilled into their
heads, and could repeat them almost like a litany. The first
principle made it clear that the way an alcoholic kept from getting
drunk was not to take even the first drink. The next five were the
things that not only got people sober but kept them sober. Good
sponsors like Bill and Raymond noted that those who relapsed and
returned to drinking had almost invariably failed to do one or more
of these five things in any serious and dedicated way. And the
seventh principle was a constant reminder that A.A. meetings could
not function properly unless members could talk about all of their
feelings and anything that was bothering them, in an accepting and
shame-free atmosphere, without worrying about whether it was going to
be repeated outside of the group. That was a solemn pledge which the
members of the group had to make to one another.

If we want to ask what was the basic foundation of A.A. in the St.
Joseph river valley, it was the Twelve Steps and the Seven Tools of
Recovery. Everything else was based on these.