Tom Adams
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Editor’s Note: Summer is traditionally a time for vacation, fun and rest. I’m going to honor that tradition by posting for Critical Conversations every other week in July and taking August off. My July posts will be Tuesday July 15 and 29.
Most weeks I try to focus my post on one idea. Readers tell me that is more interesting and easier to digest. This week I am going to diverge from that path and comment on the ups and downs of my life recently. I suspect even those who enjoy chaos and are advocates of chaos theory have had enough? I sure have.
Last Tuesday, June 10th, was the 90th anniversary of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous and the topic of my post. My co-author Joy Jones, and I had the privilege of attending the Founders Day weekend in Akron last weekend. This week’s post offers all readers – in recovery or not – a taste of the amazing energy and magic we experienced.
Today is the 90th anniversary of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, marked by the day Dr. Bob Smith had his last drink and began sobriety. Bill Wilson introduced him to what became the Steps and principles of A.A. at a historic Mother’s Day meeting a few weeks earlier in Akron, Ohio. Alcoholic drinking for decades led Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith to despair; it was a physical, economic, and spiritual bottom that was destroying them and their families. From this meeting, Alcoholics Anonymous was born. Today’s post celebrates this miracle and all its good that has changed the world over the past 90 years.
Last week I began to think about writing a post about the pain the Appropriation bill passed by the U. S. House of Representatives on May 22, 2025 will cause, if it becomes law. I experienced an attack of deep sadness; I lost all energy to do anything for a day. This post is about the challenge of learning about and feeling the pain in the world. How do we hold on to faith, believing that all will be well?
Geraldine and I spent three days in Cedarburg, WI last week. It is an amazing historic town founded in 1885. Its early days were as a mill town along Cedar Creek. It maintains the character of a small mill town and is full of life, arts, music, and fun. Geraldine’s brother and wife settled there over thirty years ago and raised two outdoor loving and artistic daughters.
This is a lighten up post. I appreciate your willingness to read my ramblings about racial justice, addiction, recovery and spiritual growth. As the title of this blog indicates, Critical Conversations, I consider them important topics. I am grateful for your interest in those posts. It’s a big world and we are all but grains of sand: precious, important, and in the big scope of things small. What makes us big is our capacity for love and joy. And that comes from a lifetime willingness to grow, change and learn.
Easter Monday morning brought me and many the sad news that Pope Francis had died overnight. While expected and unavoidable, the fear of the leadership of another world institution becoming more conservative is real. And a nightmare in a time when the United States is led by a commitment to chaos, cruelty, and building wealth for the wealthy.
Chaos theory is being tested to its maximum in the United States these days. The pain, confusion and social and economic disruption caused by the Trump administration is hard to imagine in a free democratic country. Yet, it is happening and shows few signs of ending.
Editor’s Note: This week I am joined by Lorraine Hogan in expanding the story of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon. Lorraine is a longtime volunteer at The Wilson House in Vermont and is part of the team that presents the Female Founders Retreat held there annually.
Tom Adams writes and speaks on topics vital to the intersection of our personal lives with our community and global lives. He has for decades been engaged in and written about nonprofit leadership and transitions, spirituality and spiritual growth, how we each contribute to a more just and equitable world and recovery from addictions and the Twelve Step recovery movement.