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The following is my story as it was published in the collection Point of Return, edited by Andrew Martin of Serene Center. The book is a collection of recovery stories that each answer the same question: What was the one thing most important to your recovery? (link)
At the time of my spiritual awakening I was six months dry in a little room above a drugstore in the hills of Western Maine. I spent those days wandering the streets in solitude, talking to myself. I worked in a little shack behind a gas station where I counted the empty cans that people brought in for redemption. The customers that approached my shack would hear a lively conversation going on within. Then they’d find me in there, wild-eyed and alone.
Six months dry wasn’t much fun. It was like having an itch in my head I couldn’t scratch, and that itch gave me weird ideas. Continue reading
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Here’s a curiosity in the history of the 12 steps. Lois Wilson’s grandfather, the Rev. N.C. Burnham was a Swedenborgian Christian and wrote a book about the stages in the processes of “Regeneration” and “Glorification.” It’s worth a browse (complete with many illustrations), and gives a sense of the spiritual environment of New England at that time.
Much has been written (and speculated) about the involvement of early AAs with various elements of Spiritualism and New Thought. This book at least provides some sense of the religious thinking in Lois’s family.
For those new to Swedenborgianism, a quick trip to wikipedia might be productive. You can find out about Emanuel Swedenborg here (link) and read about his influence on Spiritualism here (link). For further information, check in with the Swedenborg Foundation (link).
Lois’s Grandfather’s book can be downloaded as a pdf or read online courtesy of theisticscience.org (link).
Stepstudy.org 