I will admit up front, I struggled to find meaningful things to talk about today. Most of the major events did not interest me or were topics that can derail a Spark. One significant event did catch my interest and having worked with a few people that were members, this seemed like the best fit for the day. On June 10, 1935, Robert Smith drank his last drink of alcohol. This day is recognized as the anniversary of the start of successful, world-wide organization that helps people with drinking problems, get sober and stay sober.
It would start with an organization called the Oxford Group, which was a non-denominational group founded to help members maintain sobriety. Bill Wilson was a member of that group. He met Bob Smith and they left the Oxford Group as Wilson felt that alcoholism was not a morally failing but an illness and wanted to form a group composed only of alcoholics. In 1939 they would publish “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. Better known as the “Big Book”, it contains the 12 Step recovery program. The first step is to admit powerlessness over alcohol and acknowledge the damage it does. While some parts of the program refer to a God, that is not the focus and accommodation is made for agnostic, atheist and non-theist members. When one joins the program, you have a sponsor who is there to encourage and hopefully gain from the experience as well.
The AA organizational model was referred to by the founders as “benign anarchy”. The organizational structure is an inverted pyramid and has been very successful over the years. In 2018 group membership was over 2 million and roughly 120,000 groups. 75% of members are from the US and Canada.
As with all programs, AA has not been without controversy. Trying to “hook up” with new members (Called 13 Stepping) is a real problem and some groups are now exclusively for Men or Women. Some researchers also cast doubt on the effectiveness of a social network program in dealing with addiction issues or even likening it to a cult.
The success of the program cannot be denied off-handed and certainly this model has sprouted other programs such as Narcotic Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous that follow a similar 12 step program.
Read more at these links:
Also on this day:
1846 Robert Thomson obtains an English patent on a rubber tyre
1899 Improved Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks forms in Cincinnati
1933 John Dillinger robs his first bank, in New Carlisle, Ohio. He takes $10, 600
This just in:
1910 - Howlin’ Wolf [Chester Arthur Burnett], American blues singer, guitarist, and harmonica player (“Smokestack Lightnin’”; “Killing Floor”), born in White Station, Mississippi
1942 - Preston Manning, Canadian politician
1965 - Elizabeth Hurley
This just out:
323 - BC Alexander the Great, Macedonian king, dies from either fever or excessive wine at 32
1839 - Nathaniel Pryor, American soldier and sergeant of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
1937 - Robert Borden, Canadian politician (8th Prime Minister of Canada)
Recipe of the Day:
Going through Costco last weekend my wife picked up a new cookbook called “The Two Spoons Cookbook” It was endorsed by Angela Liddon (never a bad meal from her cookbooks), so we picked it up. I will be trying a French Toast dish this weekend and wanted to share a similar dish here so this is Hannah’s French Toast Bake.
Any breakfast with cinnamon is a good thing.
What am I reading today?
We have an unofficial book club at work and we are constantly sharing around good reads we have found. So right now I am reading “The Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. The first few pages were painful, but once the story ramped up I have found it not bad at all.
The always questionable cultural contribution:
July 1 (Canada) and July 4th (US) are fast approaching. Here is a different take on an Woody Guthrie classic.
Quote of the Day:
“You can’t stand up for Canada with a banana for a backbone”
John Diefenbaker
His other quote I wanted to use was just too inflammatory.
Cartoon of the Day:
Inspirobot:
With fires burning, we had a volunteer step-up and do a first class job on Spark. Well done @cag16
Check it out here: Spark! Volunteer Series - June 9th 2022 - Roundups - Spiceworks
