The Fourth Column and the Cure for Resentment – Chris C.

About This Speaker Tape

Huntsville AL. 2-5-98 - 1998

Chris C. traces a life of internal emptiness and anxiety that began long before his first drink at age nine. He maps out a trajectory of early addiction—from stealing amphetamines and sleeping in his own puke—to a pivotal crash in an orange Plymouth Duster that nearly killed a priest. Chris dismantles the myth of the 'perfect' recovery admitting to a history of failed relationships and a struggle for professional success in acting. He works through the spiritual evolution of his sobriety including a conversion to Judaism and the realization that the fellowship acts as a mirror. Through the lens of a Hasidic tale about a bishop's forgiveness he makes the case that hearing one's own wreckage echoed in the stories of others is the only way to truly be healed.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Chris C. opens with jokes about the committee and his 'Solutions in Sobriety' group.
• 12:45 Discussion of early drinking at age nine and the 'golden light' of Carling Black Label.
• 22:10 Chris admits to being a drug addict and discusses stealing amphetamines.
• 31:20 The story of the orange Plymouth Duster accident and the encounter with the priest.
• 42:15 Description of the '319 Club' and the early days of his sobriety in Pennsylvania.
• 54:30 Working the Fourth Step: the four-column inventory and the 'fourth column' cure.
• 1:02:10 Making amends to Lou B. and the discovery that Lou is in Gamblers Anonymous.
• 1:18:40 Chris discusses his conversion to Judaism and the 'second circumcision'.
• 1:25:15 The story of the Baal Shem Tov and the bishop's forgiveness.