The Truth That Set Him Free from the Bondage of Hatred – Dave C.

About This Speaker Tape

Dix Hill, North Carolina. A padded cell and the smell of an inebriate ward. Dave C. spent his twenties cycling through insane asylums and chain gangs, a man who could no longer guarantee his own behavior after a single drink. He describes the "high cost of low living," a wreckage that included writing bad checks for outboard motors and nearly taking his mother's life. He was a man who had to be "beat down from my knees" before he could see the leper in the mirror.

The turning point came in a Roanoke back alley on September 11, 1957, where he was found immobile and broken. He recalls being carried up the steps of the Easy Does It Club, where a man named Old Man John told him he’d never have to be alone again. Through the firm hand of sponsors and a Higher Power, Dave traded the "ropey" coffee of the club for a sanity that stopped the running. He learned that the only way out of the bondage of hatred was to follow the directions.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Laughter: Dave C. jokes about his wife's skepticism of his speaking ability.
• 4:10 A story about a long-winded speaker and the one alcoholic who stayed until the end.
• 12:15 Descriptions of the padded cells and 'running fits' at the Dix Hill insane asylum.
• 18:40 The outboard motor scam and the bad checks that led to the local jail.
• 22:10 Dave C. discusses the shame of his time on a chain gang.
• 31:20 Meeting Old Man John T. and the promise that he would never have to be alone again.
• 38:50 The 'Inventory Room' experience and the confrontation regarding the 12 Steps.
• 45:15 Sponsorship with Tom B. and the insistence on reading the Big Book.
• 52:30 Laughter: The story of Vernon and Gertrude and the Eighth Step list.
• 58:10 Final reflections on the 'naked truth' and finding a Higher Power through people.