Russell S. – The Fellowship of the Problem – 2023

About This Speaker Tape

AA Bermuda C. - 2023

Russell maps out the difference between the 'fellowship of the problem' and the 'fellowship of the Spirit.' A former major crimes prosecutor, he dismantles the illusion of the 'not-drinking club,' arguing that sobriety without a total surrender to a Higher Power is merely treading water. He traces his wreckage—from a marriage destroyed by mental cheating and arrogance to the humiliation of being a 'bum in a three-piece suit'—and makes his case for a 'drastic' recovery. He emphasizes that the real disease is the mind's obsession with others' opinions, a bondage he only broke by prioritizing his Higher Power over the approval of men. He shares the gritty reality of his early days, including the humbling experience of making coffee for 18 months while broke, and concludes with a humorous look at his current life, where he finally knows when to keep his mouth shut during a domestic dispute over industrial steamers.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Laughter: Russell jokes about his wife's Al-Anon '10-step' and the 'Ladies of Perpetual Revenge'.
• 3:15 Russell discusses the 'fellowship of the problem' and the low bar of entry for AA.
• 5:20 Story about Johnny Harris punching him in the gut as a form of 'repeated humiliation' to gain perspective.
• 10:15 Discussion on the 'bondage of self' and the obsession with what other people think.
• 15:30 Russell emphasizes the 6th and 7th Steps as the ones that 'separate the men from the boys'.
• 20:45 Analysis of Bill Wilson's later struggles with LSD and the importance of Bob Smith's simplicity.
• 26:10 Russell reads a passage from page 42 of the Big Book regarding the 'drastic' program of action.
• 32:00 The 'I'm not my shoes' story and the realization that he is not his possessions.
• 38:45 Wreckage: The collapse of his first marriage and the 'consequences' of his alcoholism.
• 45:10 The 'Sinner's Prayer' and his transition from a Jewish kid in NY to a believer.
• 50:20 Laughter: The story about the rectal thermometers and the humility of making coffee while broke.
• 58:15 Closing story about the industrial steamers and the 'voice of the Higher Power' telling him to stay quiet.