Introduction to NA History Material

The tenderest words of spirit spoken by a teacher of great renown that I have come across in the past ten years are, "First, I want to thank the part of you that has been generating this phobia, day in and day out, to prevent the recourance of past pain..."

Who said this and where it is written is not so important as the fact that a few viewers will know but most will not. When a group conscience process is shut down, information ceases to be collected and passed on to be shared by all. Pools of unanswered questions back up and the vital functions begin to fail. Apathy sets in and fears begin the piece by piece destruction of the vision of hope and recovery as more and more become literally fear bound. Obsessed with pain avoidance rather than healthy living processes, individuals reconstruct prisons of their own making thinking to keep something bad out and find themselves keeping something good from getting out. Like the man said, phobias are meant to protect us from pain. Each phobia is a link in a chain of fear and superstition born in a time of our lives when we had little say in what we thought or did. Surely there should come a time for each of us when we can sit quietly with our God, sort through our lives, keep what we want and go on with our lives the best we can with the help of others like ourselves and a Loving God to strengthen and guide us.

Based on total abstinence, mutual concern and support and the sharing of recovery experience in a changing world, Narcotics Anonymous is getting ready to face the twenty first century. This is said here because there is no other quiet place to say it cleanly and in the open. The articles put up on this page will be truthful and helpful to those wanting to know more about who we are and where we have been so that we may strengthen our weak points, drop our foolish fears and raise ourselves to the highest point possible through individual and collective recovery.

In Loving Service,

Bo S. - November 1997 Back to Main Page

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