Dick B. was invited to Leesburg, Florida to
speak at the 63rd Came to Believe Retreat at
the Life Enrichment Retreat Camp. Dick came
all the way from Maui, Hawaii to spread the
good news about the great successes of early
A.A. and how Clarence Snyder and the other
Old Timers succeeded.
In summary, Dick explained that Alcoholics
Anonymous has two distinctly different
origins - one beginning in Dr. Bob's youth,
religious training, and Christian Endeavor
membership at Saint Johnsbury, Vermont; the
other beginning with Rowland Hazard's visit
to Dr. Carl Jung in Switzerland and Jung's
prescription of the need for a conversion
experience to enable cure of the chronic
alcoholic.
He spoke of the convergence of the two
timelines in the meeting of Bill W. and Dr.
Bob at the Seiberling home in Akron.
He outlined the program's development
between 1935 and 1938 in Akron and the
subsequent emergence of three new timelines
at that point. The first continued in
Akron with the emphasis on the bible,
prayer, abstinence, and hospitalization.
The second took an entirely different turn
when Bill Wilson incorporated in the Big
Book and 12 Steps the Oxford Group/life
changing teachings of Reverend Sam
Shoemaker. The third began when
Clarence Snyder organized the first meeting
of Alcoholics Anonymous in Cleveland in May
of 1939 and embraced Bill's new Big Book and
12 Step program, while also bringing with
him the bible and the Oxford Group's Four
Absolutes.
Dick commended Clarence's great
contribution, his responsibility for the
growth of A.A. from the one group to 30 in a
year's time, and the documented 93% success
rate achieved through Clarence's
comprehensive approach.
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