Made  a  searching  and  fearless  moral  inventory  of  ourselves. In  the  last  article,  we  examined  the  assets  and  liabilities  checklist  used  by  the  A.A.  pioneers to   take   newcomers   through   the   Fourth   Step   during   the   early   days   of   the   fellowship. Together,  the  sponsor  and  newcomer  determined  what  was  blocking  the  newcomer  from  a spiritual  solution  to  his  or  her  problems  and  together  they  compiled  an  amends  list  that  was used  to  help  overcome  these  problems. This  is  how  Bill  W.  took  the  Steps  when  he  was  at  Town’s  Hospital  in  December  of  1934.    On page  13  of  the  “Big  Book,”  Bill  describes  the  inventory  and  amends  process  his  high  school friend  Ebby  guided  him  through.

“.   .   .   I   ruthlessly   faced   my   sins   and   became   willing   to   have   my   new-­‐found Friend  take  them  away,  root  and  branch.

“My  schoolmate  visited  me,  and  I  fully  acquainted  him  with  my  problems and  deficiencies.    We  made  a  list  of  people  I  had  hurt  or  toward  whom  I  felt resentment.” Bill  doesn’t  say,  “My  schoolmate  visited  me  and  I  read  him  my  inventory  of  shortcomings.” He  also  doesn’t  say,  “I  made  a  list  of  people  .  .  .”    Rather,  Bill  writes,  “WE  made  a  list  of people   .   .   .”     So,   together   Bill   and   Ebby   discussed   Bill’s   “problems   and   deficiencies”   and together  they  made  an  amends  list. As  previously  explained,  the  assets  and  liabilities  checklist  was  used  throughout  the  1940’s and  1950’s.    There  is  no  mention  of  the  “three-­‐column  inventory”  in  the  book,  Twelve  Steps and   Twelve   Traditions,   written   thirteen   years   after   the   “Big   Book.”     The   eight   liabilities listed  in  the  “Twelve  and  Twelve”  are:  pride,  greed,  lust,  anger,  gluttony,  envy,  sloth  and fear.    These  are  very  close  to  the  eight  liabilities  listed  in  Chapter  5  of  the  “Big  Book.”    Dr. Bob  also  used  eight  liabilities  to  take  newcomers  through  the  Steps  (page  263:  selfishness, conceit,  jealousy,  carelessness,  intolerance,  ill-­‐temper,  sarcasm  and  resentment)  as  did  the authors  of  the  “Little  Red  Book,”  which  was  written  in  1946  (resentment,  dishonesty,  self-­‐ pity,  jealousy,  criticism,  intolerance,  fear  and  anger). We  will  now  go  through  the  “commercial  inventory”  as  described  in  the  “Big  Book.”    In  the

second   paragraph   on   page   64,   the   authors   ask   us   to   look   at   the   liabilities   side   of   our checklist  first:

“.  .  .  First,  we  searched  out  the  flaws  (liabilities)  in  our  make-­‐up  which  caused our  failure.    Being  convinced  that  self,  manifested  in  various  ways  was  what had  defeated  us,  we  considered  its  common  manifestations.” On  pages  64-­‐69,  the  “Big  Book”  authors  list  the  “common  manifestations”  that  prevent  us from  developing  an  intimate  and  personal  relationship  with  “the  One  who  has  all  power.” In  the  third  paragraph  on  page  64,  they  ask  us  to  look  at  our  resentments:

“Resentment  is  the  ‘number  one’  offender.    It  destroys  more  alcoholics than  anything  else.  .  .  .  In  dealing  with  resentments,  we  set  them  on  paper. We  listed  people,  institutions  or  principles  with  whom  we  were  angry.” The  “Big  Book”  authors  describe  the  fear  inventory  at  the  top  of  page  68:

“We   reviewed   our   fears   thoroughly.     We   put   them   on   paper,   even though  we  had  no  resentment  in  connection  with  them.” Then  on  page  69,  the  authors  present  us  with  a  list  of  harms  that  consist  of  selfishness, dishonesty,  inconsideration,  jealousy,  suspicion,  and  bitterness:

“We   reviewed   our   own   conduct   over   the   years   past.     Where   had   we been   selfish,   dishonest   or   inconsiderate?     Whom   had   we   hurt?     Did   we unjustifiably   arouse   jealousy,   suspicion   or   bitterness?     Where   were   we   at fault,  what  should  we  have  done  instead?    We  got  this  all  down  on  paper  and looked  at  it.” Please   note   the   word   WE   is   used   throughout   these   pages.     Nowhere   does   it   say   the newcomer  makes  a  “solitary  self-­‐appraisal.” The  “Big  Book”  authors  ask  us  to  look  at  our  assets  as  well  as  our  liabilities.    On  page  124, they  write:

“.   .   .   We   grow   by   our   willingness   to   face   and   rectify   errors   (liabilities)   and convert  them  into  assets.” The   “Big   Book”   authors   also   list   assets   throughout   Chapters   Five.     They   tell   us   that   we overcome  resentment  with  forgiveness.    On  page  66,  they  write:

“.  .  .  We  realized  that  the  people  who  wronged  us  were  perhaps  spiritually sick.  .  .  .  We  asked  God  to  help  us  show  them  the  same  tolerance,  pity,  and patience  that  we  would  cheerfully  grant  a  sick  friend.” According  to  the  authors,  we  overcome  fear  with  faith.    On  page  68,  they  explain:

“.  .  .  The  verdict  of  the  ages  is  that  faith  means  courage.  All  men  of  faith  have courage.  They  trust  their  God.  .  .  .    We  ask  Him  to  remove  our  fear  and  direct our   attention   to   what   He   would   have   us   be.     At   once,   we   commence   to outgrow  fear.” We  overcome  harms  with  amends.    On  page  69,  the  authors’  state:

“.  .  .  We  must  be  willing  to  make  amends  where  we  have  done harm,  provided  that  we  do  not  bring  about  still  more  harm  in  so doing.” In  the  next  article,  we  will  describe  some  of  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  “partners” as  they  share  a  Fourth  Step  inventory. Wally  P.  is  an  archivist,  historian  and  author  who,  for  more  than  twenty-­‐three  years,  has been  studying  the  origins  and  growth  of  the  Twelve-­‐step  movement.  He  is  the  caretaker  for the  personal  archives  of  Dr.  Bob  and  Anne  Smith. Wally  conducts  history  presentations  and  recovery  workshops,  including  “Back  to  the  Basics of  Recovery”  in  which  he  takes  attendees  through  all  Twelve  Steps  in  four,  one-­‐hour  sessions. More   than   500,000   have   taken   the   Steps   using   this   powerful,   time-­‐tested,   and   highly successful  “original”  program  of  action. -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐