The chapter begins with an eloquent, poetic description of the alcoholic's emotional pain and his tragic attempts to control his drinking and indulge in nostalgia:
For most normal folks, drinking means conviviality,companionship and colorful imagination.It means release from care, boredom and worry. It isjoyous intimacy with friends and a feeling that life isgood. But not so with us in those last days of heavydrinking. The old pleasures were gone. They werebut memories. Never could we recapture the greatmoments of the past. There was an insistent yearningto enjoy life as we once did and a heartbreaking obsessionthat some new miracle of control would enable usto do it. There was always one more attempt andone more failure. (Page 151)
As he declines further, the alcoholic becomes withdrawn, seeking understanding in sordid places and finding oblivion, only then to wake up to the Four Horsem*n - Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration and Despair. In periods of sobriety he fools himself into thinking he is happy, but "[h]e will presently try the old game again, for he isnt happy about his sobriety. He cannot picture life withoutalcohol. Some day he will be unable to imagine life either with alcohol or without it. Then he will know loneliness such as few do. He will be at the jumping-off place. He will wish for the end." (Page 152)
The problem drinker who has read about how others have recovered may wonder if there is a substitute for alcohol, and where he can find the fellowship spoken of in this book. In answering these questions the authors make several assurances that can only be regarded as promises. These could be called the Newcomers Promises or perhaps the Vision Promises:
Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more thanthat. It is a fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous.There you will find release from care, boredom andworry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will meansomething at last. The most satisfactory years of yourexistence lie ahead. Thus we find the fellowship, andso will you...You are going to meet these new friends in your owncommunity. Near you, alcoholics are dying helplesslylike people in a sinking ship. If you live in a largeplace, there are hundreds. High and low,rich and poor, these are future fellows of Alcoholics Anony-mous. Among them you will make lifelong friends.You will be bound to them with new and wonderfulties, for you will escape disaster together and you willcommence shoulder to shoulder your common journey.Then you will know what it means to give of yourselfthat others may survive and rediscover life. You willlearn the full meaning of Love thy neighbor as thy-self. (Page 152-153)
The authors hope that the alcoholic now reading this book will follow its suggestions and approach others in the manner described in Working With Others. Unlike the other chapters that describe carrying the message to others, this one shares a hope for the future of the fellowship and for the newly-sober alcoholic who begins to work with newcomers. In sharing the experience and strength of A.A.'s pioneers, they seek to give the newcomer hope.
The story of Bill's failed business tip to Akron and his subsequent meeting with Dr. Bob is recounted next. (More detailed accounts can be found in the Foreword to the Second Edition and Bill's official A.A. biography Pass It On, beginning on Page 135.) One notable element of this account is that Bill had just suffered an important business setback, was broke, physically weak and lonely - conditions many newcomers may be experiencing as they read the story. Tempted by the sounds of gay laughter in the hotel bar, he nevertheless decided to seek out another alcoholic to help, his sanity having returned to dispel the temptation. Though sober only a few months at the time, Bill was able to summon the strength in those trying circ*mstances to successfully carry the message to Dr. Bob and get him started on the road to recovery. The two friends, a term used for both the giver and receiver of the A.A. message, then began seeking out others to work with. They came across Bill D, the "man in the bed", and soon there were three sober friends in Akron. The three friends eventually found a fourth man, and the fellowship grew from there.
Regular meetings soon began among all the friends and their wives. "In addition to these casual get-togethers, it became customaryto set apart one night a week for a meeting to be attended by anyone or everyone interested in a spiritual way of life. Aside from fellowship and sociability, the prime object was to provide a time and place where new people might bring their problems." (Pages 159-160) Many an alcoholic and his wife entered the meeting place and
succumbed to that gaycrowd inside, who laughed at their own misfortunesand understood his. Impressed by those who visitedhim at the hospital, he capitulated entirely when, later,in an upper room of this house, he heard the story ofsome man whose experience closely tallied with hisown. The expression on the faces of the women, thatindefinable something in the eyes of the men, thestimulating and electric atmosphere of the place,conspired to let him know that here was haven at last. (Page 160)
There are descriptions of the reception the newcomer can expect in the meetings, which are also implied guidelines for veteran members to follow: "The very practical approach to his problems, the absence of intolerance of any kind, the informality, the genuine democracy, the uncanny understanding which these people had were irresistible." (Page 160) And this: "No one is too discredited or has sunk too low to be welcomed cordiallyif he means business. Social distinctions, petty rivalries and jealousiesthese are laughed out of countenance." (Page 161) The caveat 'if he means business' is, in turn, an implied suggestion to the newcomer of the attitude expected of him.
The fellowship was growing at that time, with another major center in New York, a community in Cleveland, and small groups of twos and threes in many other cities. Friends travel back and forth between the two centers and to the smaller clusters of sober alcoholics nationwide.
Thus we grow. And so can you, though you be be but one man with this book in your hand. We believe and hope it contains all you will need to begin.We know what you are thinking. You are saying to yourself: Im jittery and alone. I couldnt do that. But you can. You forget that you have just now tapped a source of power much greater than yourself. To duplicate, with such backing, what we have accomplished is only a matter of willingness, patience and labor. (Page 162-163)
The authors share as an example the then-current experience of an A.A. member. Having just moved to another city, he discovered a large number of alcoholics, which concerned local authorities. He contacted a local psychiatrist, who cooperated with him. More referrals were expected from a large public hospital, and past experience tells us that many of these will become A.A. members. "When a few men in this city have found themselves, and have discovered the joy of helping others to face life again, there will be no stopping until everyone in that town has had his opportunity to recoverif he can and will." (Page 163-164) The new man may be alone and without contact with the authors of this book, but that is not certain. "God will determine that, so you must remember that your real reliance is always upon Him. He will show you how to create the fellowship you crave." (Page 164)
The chapter concludes with the following benediction, often known as Great Fact, and sometimes recited at the end of A.A. meetings to this day:
Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realizewe know only a little. God will constantly disclosemore to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning medi-tation what you can do each day for the man who isstill sick.The answers will come, if your own houseis in order. But obviously you cannot transmit some-thing you havent got. See to it that your relationshipwith Him is right, and great events will come to passfor you and countless others. This is the Great Factfor us.Abandon yourself to God as you understand God.Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clearaway the wreckage of your past. Give freely of whatyou find and join us. We shall be with you in theFellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meetsome of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.May God bless you and keep youuntil then. (Page 164)
