🔶The Spirituality of the Program

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R.A.’s Stories Of Recovery Revealed

We are using this newsletter to introduce stories from our latest addition to R.A.'s Suggested Literature, R.A.'s Stories Of Recovery Revealed. After many years of work, the full PDF version of this new book is now available. You can download it from the "R.A.'s Books" page on R.A.'s website.

    The stories in R.A.'s Stories Of Recovery Revealed were initially published in this newsletter years ago. Unfortunately, due to space limitations, some were abridged. In addition, the number of people reading this newsletter has tripled. Therefore, this will be the first opportunity many people will have to read the full versions of these stories.
    R.A.'s Stories Of Recovery Revealed contains the stories of R.A. members. These accounts follow the same structure used by the pioneers of the program in their original stories. In these new stories, R.A. members describe, in a general way, what they used to be like, how they found R.A., worked all Twelve Steps, and what they are like now.
    In R.A., we hope that R.A.'s Stories Of Recovery Revealed, will inspire its readers to go through R.A.'s Step Presentation. They will thoroughly follow all of the pioneers' 'clear-cut directions.' They will fully work all Twelve Steps. They will recover. We believe that R.A.'s Stories Of Recovery Revealed is a valuable addition to R.A.'s Suggested Literature.

The Spirituality of the Program

In almost every instance where recovery is mentioned,
the word "God" is right there along with it!

An R.A. Recovery Story

When I first came into an anonymous fellowship, I was in a state of panic and confusion. I had spent the past year dieting and losing weight. However, my weight was returning. I walked into my first Twelve Step meeting accompanied by the "Four Horsemen—Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, and Despair."


	When I first came into an anonymous fellowship, I was in a state of panic and confusion.

I was terrified at the prospect of gaining all my weight back. I was bewildered because I had thought I was cured when I lost my weight. I was frustrated by the fact that all my so-called willpower was exhausted, and I was unable to get it back. Despair was what actually took me by the hand and brought me to my first meeting. My thoughts at that time were, "This program has to be the last chance in my life, to, if nothing else, help me to remain where I am."

That first night I knew I belonged. I immediately took the first step. I knew I was powerless and that my life had become unmanageable. A feeling of relief settled over me, and I began my road to recovery. I embraced the fellowship and began attending meetings. After six months, I started a meeting, all in the spirit of service. However, with all this, something was still absent: that was God. The only part of the program I did not feel strongly about was the spiritual aspect. I could just try to "act as if..."

After seven months of doing okay, the inevitable happened; I lost "control." Once again, the four horsemen were my steady companions. Throughout this desperate time, I kept attending meetings. I was still hopeful that I would hear something that would click in my head.

Somewhere in the darkness of my disease, a candle was lit. I opened my Big Book to Chapter Five, "How It Works." In the course of a day, I read and reread the first page of this chapter as many times as I could. For the first time, I actually saw the words, "Rarely have we seen a person fail..." This sentence brought a total restoration of my original hope. The following words really woke me up "...who has thoroughly followed our path." I had to admit I wasn't thoroughly following anything; I was using "half-measures." I was only taking what I wanted and leaving the rest...and the rest was what I needed!


Somewhere in the darkness of my disease, a candle was lit.

The candle burned a little brighter. I remembered picking up R.A.'s Highlighting Introduction at a meeting where I heard the speaker introduce himself as "recovered." The second line said, "If all else fails, read the instructions." All else had failed for me. Since I was now willing to "thoroughly follow" the path of those who wrote the Big Book, I decided to use that assignment to help guide me through its first 164 pages.

When I followed the instructions in R.A.'s Highlighting Introduction, I saw that in almost every instance in the Big Book where it mentions recovery, the word "God" is right there along with it! I was finally able to clearly see that all the people who wrote the Big Book found recovery through a surrender of their own will to the will of God.

It was there in black and white. It now seemed very clear that I needed to stop struggling and start trusting God's will for me. From that day forward, my life has become spiritually sound.

I started attending Recoveries Anonymous meetings. I went through what is now called R.A.'s Step Presentation. I have fully implemented all Twelve Steps. Because of God's love for me, I have been able to find solutions to all my living problems. I "intuitively know how to handle things that use to baffle" me. All the promises of the program have become a working part of my life.

Once I stopped living in the problem and began living in the solution, I became free from the problems and behaviors, which were the symptoms of my disease. My recovery is contingent upon the maintenance of my "fit spiritual condition." I trust in God's will for me. I am recovered, by God's grace, through R.A.'s Twelve Step program of recovery.