A "Man of the Cloth", Jimmy G.'s earliest aspirations were to be in service to the Episcopal Church. Though strict in many ways, when it came to drinking, Jimmy and his friends found plenty of opportunities to raid liquor cabinets across their neighborhood. By his teens, Jimmy was outdrinking his friends. His years in college and then seminary were rife with drinking as Jimmy wrestled with deep-seated feelings that left him at odds with Church teachings. By the time he was ordained as a priest, with the accompanying stress and strain of the job, Jimmy’s use of alcohol flew past ordinary use. Without stopping at misuse, he crashed head-on into abuse. Alcoholism that is.... Subsequent years saw Jimmy as a functional alcoholic, doing his very important job with more and more daily support from the bottle. Married with children, Jimmy and his wife somehow managed the outward perception that all was fine in their lives while the upheaval caused by his worsening disease was tearing the family apart. By 2018, Jimmy had had enough and surrendered to AA and the divine intervention of the higher power demonstrated to him through the people and Program of Alcoholics Anonymous. By working the 12 Steps in earnest, Jimmy has bolstered his spiritual condition to be of maximum service to both his AA family and his parishioners. But I’ll let him tell you about that in the next sixty minutes of AA Recovery Interviews with my friend and AA brother, Jimmy G. If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, i-Tunes, or Amazon. I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio. [Disclaimer: AA Recovery Interviews podcast strictly adheres to AA’s 12 Traditions and all General Service Office guidelines for safe-guarding anonymity on-line. I pay all podcast production costs. AA Recovery Interviews and my guests do not speak for or represent AA at-large. This podcast is simply my way of giving back to AA that which has been so freely given to me. – Howard L.]
