Made  a  searching  and  fearless  moral  inventory  of  ourselves. In  the  past  three  articles,  we  have  been  through  the  Surrender  process  as  practiced  by  the A.A.  pioneers  during  the  1940’s.    The  sponsor  read  a  few  key  passages  either  from  the  “Big Book”   or   from   a   typed   sheet   of   these   passages,   and   together   the   sponsor   and   the newcomer  took  the  first  three  Steps. The  sponsor  read  the  “Big  Book”  passages  to  the  newcomer  because,  in  most  cases,  the newcomer  didn’t  have  a  book.    The  “Big  Book”  cost  the  equivalent  of  $95.00  today;  so  the book  was  not  only  big,  it  was  expensive.    Many  groups  had  to  pass  the  basket  for  weeks  and sometimes  months,  to  come  up  with  enough  money  to  buy  one  book.    Key  passages  from this  book  were  typed  up,  mimeographed,  and  distributed  to  home  group  members.    They used  these  carefully  selected  passages  when  working  with  newcomers.    Please  keep  this  in mind  as  we  proceed  through  the  Steps  as  they  were  taken  during  A.A.’s  early  days. We  are  now  ready  to  start  the  Sharing  process  (Steps  4,  5,  6  and  7)  by  taking  the  Fourth Step.    Many  people  today  are  unfamiliar  with  the  assets  and  liabilities  checklist  used  by  the A.A.   pioneers   to   take   newcomers   through   this   step.     This   “commercial   inventory”   is described   on   page   64   of   the   “Big   Book”   and   consists   of   Resentment,   Fear,   Selfishness, Dishonesty,  Inconsideration,  Jealousy,  Suspicion,  and  Bitterness.    These  liabilities  are  found on  pages  64,  68  and  69  of  our  “basic  text.” Why   assets   and   liabilities?     Many   early   A.A.’s   were   business   people   and   they   readily identified  with  the  “commercial  inventory”  represented  by  the  equation  for  double-­‐entry bookkeeping:  Assets  =  Liabilities  +  Owner  Equity. Why   didn’t   the   pioneers   use   the   example   on   page   65?     They   didn’t   know   how   to.     The “three-­‐column  inventory”  didn’t  come  into  general  use  until  the  1970’s  when  several  writers published  inventory  guides  based  on  the  columns. Where  did  the  assets  and  liabilities  checklist  come  from?    It  came  from  the  Oxford  Group, the  organization  from  which  A.A.  evolved.    Oxford  Group  members  (including  Bill  W.  and  Dr. Bob)  used  it  to  take  people  through  the  Steps  before  the  “Big  Book”  was  written.    The  assets they  used  were  Honesty,  Purity,  Unselfishness  and  Love  and  the  liabilities  were  Dishonesty,

Resentment,  Selfishness,  and  Fear.    These  same  four  liabilities  are  part  of  the  “commercial inventory”  in  the  “Big  Book.” In  June  1946,  The  A.A.  Grapevine  published  a  list  of  assets  and  liabilities.    The  “Little  Red Book,”  released  in  the  fall  of  1946,  used  an  assets  and  liabilities  checklist,  as  did  the  step guide  titled,  “Highroad  to  Happiness”  which  was  circulated  throughout  A.A.  in  the  1950’s. When  the  “Twelve  and  Twelve”  was  published  in  1952,  the  authors  made  no  reference  to  a three-­‐column  inventory  during  their  description  of  the  Fourth  Step.    They  did  refer  to,  in great  detail,  the  assets  and  liabilities  checklist.    On  page  42,  they  state:

“.  .  .  Nearly  every  serious  emotional  problem  can  be  seen  as  a  case of  misdirected  instinct.    When  that  happens,  our  great  natural  ASSETS,  the instincts,  have  turned  into  physical  and  mental  LIABILITIES. “Step  Four  is  our  vigorous  and  painstaking  effort  to  discover  what these  LIABILITIES  in  each  of  us  have  been,  and  are.” On  page  49  of  the  “Twelve  and  Twelve,”  the  authors  present  the  seven  deadly  sins  plus  fear as  the  liabilities  to  inventory.    These  eight  liabilities  are  quite  similar  to  the  ones  found  in our  “basic  text.” In  the  “Big  Book,”  the  introduction  to  the  Fourth  Step  starts  at  the  bottom  of  page  63:

“Next  we  launched  out  on  a  course  of  vigorous  action,  the  first  step  of which  is  a  personal  housecleaning,  which  many  of  us  had  never  attempted. Though  our  decision  was  a  vital  and  crucial  step,  it  could  have  little  permanent effect  unless  at  once  followed  by  a  strenuous  effort  to  face,  and  to  be  rid  of, the  things  in  ourselves  which  had  been  blocking  us.” This  is  a  very  important  paragraph.    The  “Big  Book”  authors  tell  us  we  are  to  take  the  Fourth Step   immediately   after   the   Third   Step   prayer.     There   is   no   waiting   period   between   the Surrender  and  Sharing  Steps. In  the  first  paragraph  on  page  64,  the  authors  describe  the  assets  and  liabilities  checklist.

“Therefore,  we  started  upon  a  personal  inventory.    This  was  Step  Four.    A business   which   takes   no   regular   inventory   usually   goes   broke.     Taking   a commercial  inventory  is  a  fact-­‐finding  and  fact-­‐facing  process.    It  is  an  effort to   discover   the   truth   about   the   stock-­‐in-­‐trade.     One   object   is   to   disclose damaged  or  unsalable  goods,  to  get  rid  of  them  promptly  and  without  regret.”

Whether  you  use  the  assets  and  liabilities  checklist  on  page  64  or  the  three-­‐column  example on  page  65,  please  sit  down  with  the  newcomer  and  fill  out  the  inventory  sheet  or  sheets together.    This  is  how  it  was  done  in  the  early  days.    The  A.A.  pioneers  knew  this  was  a  very stressful  and  uncertain  time  for  the  newcomer  and  they  didn’t  want  him  or  her  to  relapse over  this  “fact  finding  and  fact  facing  process.”    That’s  why  the  sponsor  and  the  newcomer worked  the  Fourth  Step  as  “partners.”    In  subsequent  articles,  I  will  show  how  the  sponsor and  the  newcomer  made  amends  together,  practiced  two-­‐way  prayer  together,  and  worked with  the  next  newcomer  together.