The Founder Speaks in Cleveland

From Central Bulletin November 1942

(Vol. 1 No. 2)

Observations of a Meeting held in Cleveland, November 8th, 1942

The Founder (Bill Wilson) called it “a Miracle of Transformation.”

So it was. There were doctors, lawyers and mechanics, business executives and clerks: men of many stations of life and of many creeds.

Not so long ago they were chained almost inescapably to an obsession that defied determination and willpower, that progressively destroyed their usefulness to themselves, their families and to society.

They and their wives numbering nearly 100 persons, filled the great Rainbow Room of Hotel Carter (Pictured Above). They were there to pay tribute to the Founder. Yet the Founder’s inspiring message was overshadowed by the audience itself. There were many hundred personal triumphs, and many hundred triumphs of missionary zeal.

The Founder himself saw this great audience as a miracle. He paid tribute to the work of the members of Greater Cleveland, who had shown how ordinary men, with Divine inspiration, could succeed in an effort that would be accounted too great for professionals.

The Founder led a meeting. He told us about his personal problem. He told us how, after he had received the inspiration that led to the development of the method, his problem still remained. It remained as long as resentment, intolerance and self pity remained. He put strong emphasis on the destroying effect of resentment.

He met his crisis as most of the rest of us have learned to meet our crises: by acceptance of the guiding hand of the Creator, and by working with others.

He spoke of humility and patience and love and honesty and unselfishness. But particularly he spoke of the destructive effects of resentment, intolerance, and self pity.

There were two other speakers. The guest of honor of last year’s dinner meeting spoke of the necessity of passing the work on to others, of correcting our thinking, of finding a new plan for living, and of making use of the opportunity to gain happiness.

The other speaker was a Clevelander, a member for five years. He spoke on the individual nature of the problem and the individual’s own responsibility for its solution.

Members from 20 other cities were present: Lorain, Akron, Uhrichsville, Ashtabula, Youngstown, Dayton, Columbus, Geneva, Mountainview, Kent, Canton, Cuyahoga Falls, Mount Vernon, Belleview, Mansfield, Berea and Toledo in Ohio; Erie and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Jackson, Michigan.