Expressions of Unity - Overeaters Anonymous

July, 2014
Expressions of Unity
The newsletter of Unity Intergroup
www.overeaters.org
Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Having a problem
with food, weight or
purging? Call our
24/7 hotline at
612-377-1600
and one of our
volunteers will return
your call.
In this issue:
Step & Tradition Seven
Articles
Service Opportunities
Fall Abstinence
Workshop, Sept 13 at
the Arboretum
- Page 4
2014 MN OA
Convention Nov. 7-9
- Page 5
OA Quick Steps August 6, 13, 20 & 27
- Page 5
Language of Unity
- Page 6
OA Convention in
Texas, Oct. 3-5
- Page 7
Unity Intergroup News
- Page 8
Step Seven
Humbly asked him to remove our
shortcomings. Wow! What a Step this is. The
“humbly” part of this Step is what keeps me
green and teachable—a place from which I
never want to wander. It says in the 12 & 12
that without some form of humility, it is almost
impossible to stay sober/abstinent.
I have been recovering from compulsive eating
for 11 years now and feel I need Step Seven
more now than ever before. As someone once
share in a meeting, “the monkey is off my back,
but the circus is still in town.” I
have spent a lifetime running
from and stuffing my feelings. It
was a life of isolation and
loneliness—even amidst
relationships. Learning to live in
relationships without my drug of
choice (food) has been a real journey. I have
found that once I completely put down the
food, I began to learn what was underneath it
all. What had been feeding my compulsive
overeating. What I found was some not-sopretty character defects.
I’ve had a lot of growing up to do in recovery.
Learning to speak up for myself without
controlling or manipulating, without playing the
victim in attempts to get someone else to do it
for me, learning to let others in to help me,
and learning to let others live their own lives,
just to name a few. Well, I tell you, asking HP
to remove my shortcomings has not been easy.
Yet what I found to be true was that holding
onto my old ways was way more painful than
letting them go.
When I crawled into the
OA rooms, I was beaten
and defeated. I hated myself
and everyone around me.
So I was ready to do
whatever I had to do to
stay sober, and I knew the
first thing I had to be willing
to do was put down the
food completely! Then I
was ready to do whatever, and if that meant I
had to look at my character defects and then
ask for them to be removed, I was game. I
want to stress that this journey has never been
done alone. I grabbed onto my fellows and
they walk the walk with me. I am learning to be
independent and interdependent in this
program. Honestly, it is pretty cool! It also
makes it far less scary and often brings in some
humor when I realize I am not alone.
The journey of peeling that dang onion is
uncomfortable and sometimes painful, but
learning to embrace humility as a way of life
has been pure freedom—one I never dreamed
possible! I can honestly say I feel serenity and
peace of mind for the first time in my life. I was
once told that these Steps were not created to
make us feel bad about ourselves, but to help
us feel better and live better lives. This truly
has been my experience. For this, I am grateful.
~Grateful member of OA
Fall Workshop registration now open! See page 4.
Powerless Over My Character Defects
On page 61 of the OA 12 Steps and 12 Traditions, it
states, “Real humility about our character defects carries
with it acceptance.”
Humility has two facets of
acceptance: acceptance of my
faults and acceptance of my
powerlessness over them.
Reality shows me that I have
experienced trying to change my
character defects and failing.
Can I accept this powerlessness?
When I recognize who God is and that it’s not me, this
engenders humility and a right relationship between us.
Acceptance of our defects of character does not mean
being willing to keep them. I accept myself, warts and all,
knowing that I cannot change on my own. I acknowledge
that only my Higher Power can effect a change in me.
Only then I can have the attitude of humility to ask for
that alteration. It also behooves me to recognize that it
will happen on His timetable, not mine.
~Anonymous
M i n n e ap o l i s M e e t i n g L o o k i n g To G row
Please consider speaking at or visiting this small
traditional format meeting in Minneapolis to help it
grow its membership.
Also, please note that we are back in our original
location at Walker library on Lagoon and Hennepin,
but on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
Walker OA group
Wednesday at 6:45pm
Walker Library
2880 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis
For more information, please contact Toni at (612)
824-8481 or Gwen at gwengrafft@yahoo.com.
Tradition Seven
In studying the book 12 Steps and Twelve Traditions of
OA , I read on page 167, “Paradoxically, being fully selfsupporting means we are now free to ask for help when
we need help in doing OA service and in other matters
as well.”
I had to meditate on this one for a while. How do we get
freedom out of this? When we are self-supporting,
people sense that we are asking for help that is needed,
not a handout for our personal gain. I realize this truth
every time I am at a meeting and people ask if they can
help with my wheelchair. So we can all do service,
whether connected to OA activities or not. Giving
whatever help we can.
Our literature says, “Do whatever you can, when you
can.” This also means that we carry the message, not the
person. Being selfsupporting means being
independent of reliance
on other people for our
basic needs.
This program offers me
the thought that if I am
doing God’s will in my
life, He will provide the
means for whatever I
need to carry it out.
~Anonymous
E x p r e s s io n s Of U n i t y - U n i t y I n t e r g r o u p
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Leave The Driving To God
After the rigorous and intense action in the practice of
the Fourth and Fifth Steps, the disease of my mind drove
me in the direction of writing and executing a selfimprovement plan to purge myself of these now-exposed
character defects. But the next Steps gently challenged
me to shift gears. Instead of doing, the 6th Step guided
me simply to be (entirely ready to let God remove all my
defects of character). And the Seventh Step gently
reminded me that it is not up to me to remove my
shortcomings, but . . . ask for help! I always have
defaulted to taking care of myself. The most difficult
thing for me to do is to ask for help, and then to accept
help! And there I was, facing the Seventh Step: “Humbly
asked God to remove our shortcomings.” How could I
shift gears? How could I just let go (and let God)? The
answer that I came to discover was . . . stillness. Stillness
does not come easily to me. I turned that over to God,
too, writing a prayer for myself, which I often say with
my sponsor in the morning:
My Creator,
I humbly reach out for your gentle hand to disengage
my self will,
I pray that my mind and heart may be quiet and open
to your guidance.
I pray for the stillness and patience to hear your
guidance and the willingness to act upon it.
Amen.
Slowing down, stilling my mind and softening my heart
open my spirit to receiving God’s guidance. I become
able to witness my defects and how they affect me and
others, and to wait patiently to receive that intuitive
knowledge from my Higher Power.
In God’s time, when God knows we’re ready, we will be
given new insights into our true defects of character –
we will, that is, if we are honestly working our program.
Sometimes we’ll be caught off guard and fall back into the
defective patterns, but if we persist in visualizing and
practicing better ways of life, they will, with our Higher
Power’s help, eventually become second nature. (OA 12
& 12, p. 63)
they operate and affect my life. I am grateful to be open
and willing to seeing them and to receiving God’s
guidance in doing something different. This is the
“practicing better ways of life,” and I truly have hope and
faith that the new ways will become second nature. Like
paths in the woods: when we begin walking a new path,
leaving the old path, we may find ourselves straying back
onto the old path; but the more we walk the new path,
the clearer that will become and the easier to find and
follow – and eventually the old path will fade and
disappear in the overgrowth.
Repeated practice of Step Seven enables us to form a
working partnership with our Higher Power through
which we are relieved of the defects which have blocked
our effectiveness in the world. As we gain new humility
and ever greater freedom from our character defects,
God’s power flows more surely and freely through us,
bringing healing to others as well as ourselves, and
drawing to us all the things we once fought so hard to
attain: self-esteem, a feeling of usefulness, joy, strength to
surmount difficulties, fellowship, and love. Our simple
prayers, humbly spoken, are answered in wonderful ways
as we open our lives to God’s transforming power, and
we find that God does for us what we could never do
for ourselves. (OA 12 & 12, p. 65-66)
When I am able to be humble and still, I encounter
opportunity after opportunity to examine my defects as
they emerge, how they manifest, how they negatively
affect me and others, how they perpetuate my bondage
to self. “Strength to surmount difficulties” comes not
from my “self will” but from my “God will” – my faith in
my Higher Power and action in turning over my will to
God – which reinforces the powerful knowledge that
there is no problem without a solution, no defect
without a healing. A “working partnership with my
Higher Power” – that is such a miraculous template for
living.
~Kathryn E.
(reprinted from July, 2010 Society Pages)
In God’s time, I have been shown manifestations of my
character defects and have received insights into how
E x p r e s s io n s Of U n i t y - U n i t y I n t e r g r o u p
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Unity Intergroup’s 2014 Fall Workshop
Abstinence – Who Needs It?
Saturday, September 13
9:00am - 3:30pm
Registration begins at 8:30am
MN Landscape Arboretum
3675 Arboretum Drive, Chaska
Cost: $35 includes box lunch (sugar and wheat-free), or $25 without lunch.
Includes admission to the Arboretum ($12 value), and free parking.
Sponsor:
Bloomington, Tuesday 6:30 pm group
Come find out about this elusive thing called abstinence. What is it and who needs it? You will
hear from people in all formats of Overeaters Anonymous who have found recovery in this program.
You will also engage in some individual and small group activities to help you find your own definition
of abstinence and maintain it.
NEW THIS YEAR: Unity Intergroup (UIG) will be holding their monthly business meeting in conjunction
with this Workshop. The UIG meeting will be from 2:00 - 3:30 pm; Abstinence workshop sessions will
be held from 9:00 am to 1:45 pm. ALL workshop participants are invited to attend the UIG meeting,
although the meeting is optional of course. If you are planning to attend the UIG meeting only, please
register for the UIG meeting ONLY option so we can plan for space needs.
Whether you’re abstinent or struggling, come take your program to a new level!
Name:
Email:
Address:
City/State/Zip:
 Please contact me for service opportunities
Phone:
PLEASE NOTE: the Arboretum does not allow food to be brought into the building. If you bring your own food, please plan to eat it in your car or off-site.
Please register me for (choose only one):
$25 - Registration only (no lunch)
$35 - Salad with chicken
$35 - Salad with turkey
$35 - Salad with cheese
I will be attending the UIG meeting only
Checks should be made out to Unity Intergroup
Mail this form, along with your check to:
UIG 2014 Fall Workshop
5232 Heritage Hills Drive
Bloomington MN 55437
Contact Julie C at juliec-uig@hotmail.com or 612-558-3687 with questions or scholarship requests.
Online registrations available at: www.overeaters.org Registrations end September 7
but hurry! This event has a history of filling up fast!
HOW FREE DO
WANT TO BE?
Mark YOUR calendar for November 7, 8, and 9, 2014 for our
34th Annual MN STATE OA CONVENTION!
Minneapolis Boulevard Hotel
2200 Freeway Boulevard
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430
REGISTRATION OPENS ONLINE JULY 7. Registrations accepted online or by mail.
Brochures are being mailed now. Look for yours in the mail or download from the website.
Whether you have two hours or twenty years, this year’s convention has something for you!
 Hotel room drawing for the first 100 to register
 National keynote speaker
 How to get started & how to keep it going – maybe just the boost that you need or can
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share
New this year -- Special session for friends & family
Workshops, panels, and personal stories
OA meetings – different meeting formats under one unified OA community
Sponsorship workshop – a chance for sponsors to give and gain from experiences of others
Meditation room
Entertainment from your fellows
Fellowship and community through incredible hospitality and abstinent meals
Discount for early registration – register by October 4 and save $10.00 off the weekend.
As always, scholarships available.
OA Quick Steps Workshop
When:
Where:
Every Wednesday in August, 6:30-8pm
Pilgrim Lutheran Church
3901 1st Ave S, Minneapolis
Check www.overeaters.org/oaqs.html for future classes
To register, contact Julie C. at 612-558-3687 or oaquicksteps@gmail.com. Registration mandatory. Numbers are limited.
There are no fees for this workshop, but we will be collecting a Seventh Tradition donation. Time commitment is four,
90-minute sessions, plus homework. Expect to be very busy working on recovery for these weeks!
E x p r e s s io n s Of U n i t y - U n i t y I n t e r g r o u p
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Language of Unity
In January 2007, a motion was considered and
Therefore…
passed by Unity Intergroup supporting our belief
while meeting formats may differ, there is but one
in our language we do not want to directly or
Overeaters Anonymous. We have included the
inadvertently give the impression that any of us are
original published explanation and language that
modifying OA. It is with this intent that the
first appeared in the February 2007 Society Pages
following motion was considered and passed at the
with these Talking Points. Please take a moment to
January 2007 Unity Intergroup meeting:
review this commitment with members at your
meetings.
“There are not different kinds of
There are not different OA. There are, however,
kinds of OA. There
different meeting
The Language of Unity
are, however, different
formats such as HOW
(originally published in Society Pages,
meeting formats...
meetings, Step meetings, BB Study
February, 2007)
meetings, Traditions meetings and
Literature Discussion meetings. In Unity
Over the last few months, Unity Intergroup has
Intergroup publications and communications,
been discussing “The Language of Unity”. We
OA will always be referred to as OA. If distinctions
agreed that what we call ourselves and each other
are wanted or needed they should refer to
can serve to unite or divide us.
meeting descriptors or meeting formats. Meetings
descriptors would be the day, time, location or
One of OA’s strongest assets is that there is not
group name. For example, a meeting could be
just one way or one right way to work the
referred to as the Tuesday morning HOW format
program. What works for one person may not
meeting, or the Tuesday Minneapolis Meeting.”
work for another. As a result, there is a need for
(and room for) many different meeting formats
under the OA umbrella. We are all part of OA,
joined by the desires to stop eating compulsively
and to carry the message of recovery to the stillsuffering compulsive overeater. Meeting formats
and the ways people work their programs may
change. The steps, tool, traditions, and concepts of
OA, however, do not change.
Unity Intergroup wants to make sure that it sends
the message clearly – we are all part of
Overeaters Anonymous, and none of us is
modifying OA. Sending this message is especially
important in our publications and communications.
We may attend meetings with different formats,
agreed upon by the individual groups’ conscience.
We do not, however, belong to different types of
OA, nor do we wish to or need to. The
framework of OA is broad enough for us all.
E x p r e s s io n s Of U n i t y - U n i t y I n t e r g r o u p
This motion was passed in order to provide
guidelines for OA’s to differentiate groups within
our fellowship, should the need or want arise. The
template is very simple – day of week, time of day,
location, meeting format. (For example, the
Thursday 7:30pm Minnetonka Big Book Study
meeting or the Tuesday 9:30am Minneapolis HOW
meeting (using the word format is not essential).)
This motion’s goal is to provide a framework so
that we do not end up implying, by using terms
such as Traditional OA, OA-HOW, and the
Regular OA in Unity Intergroup publications and
communications, that we modify OA. After all,
“our…personal recovery depends upon OA
unity.” (Tradition One, OA 1 Steps and 12
Traditions.)
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2014 OA
Convention
Oct. 3-5, 2014
Fun
Fellowship
Entertainment
OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS HOUSTON-GALVESTON 2014 CONVENTION REGISTRATION
(Please print)
Full name: _____________________________________ For name badge: ________________________________
Address: ______________________________________ City: ____________________State:_____ Zip: _________
Phone: __________________________ E-mail:______________________________________________________
SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES: SERVICE TIME PREFERENCE(S): Friday __________ Saturday _____________Sunday ______________
( ) Clothing Boutique ( ) Hospitality
( ) Registration
( ) Literature ( ) Hugger/ greeter
( ) Donate Door Prize (s)
( ) Clean-up
( ) Interested in being a Speaker at this Convention: contact Rebecca by 7/31/14 at 832-287-4114 or melchor.beccaj@yahoo.com
( ) Entertainment: Do you have a song, poem, dance, joke, artwork, craft? Do you have a DREAM? This could be your BIG CHANCE! Talent
show Saturday night!!! What would you like to share?* ___________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________ *The entertainment chairperson will contact you to work out the details.
REGISTRATION FEES**
Registration (until 9/12/2014)
$55 x____= $_________
Registration (after 9/12/2014)
$65 x____ = $_________
Registration and Saturday Dinner
(until 9/12/2014)
$90 x____= $_________
Registration and Saturday Dinner
(after 9/12/2014)
$100 x____= $_________
Saturday ONLY Registration
$35 x____= $_________
Saturday ONLY with Dinner
$70 x____ = $_________
Scholarship Donation
$________
TOTAL ENCLOSED $_________________________
Scholarship Request***: (1) What amount can you pay? $________ ; (2) What amount is requested for scholarship? $________
*** Scholarships are awarded first come/first serve and are limited by amount donated for this purpose. A commitment to service during
the convention is requested in consideration of scholarship awards. A Registration volunteer will contact you with your scholarship
information.
Please mail this registration form with your check to:
Elaine Saenz-Pena | 4501 Cartwright Rd, Ste 407 | Missouri City, TX 77459
Make checks payable to OA. **Please note there are no registration refunds after September 26, 2014.
For more info email OAFallConvention@gmail.com; See form online at www.oahouston.org
Expressions of Unity
The July Expressions of Unity will focus on
Step Eight: “Made a list of all persons we
had harmed and became willing to make
amends to them all.” and will be sponsored
by the St. Louis Park, Wednesday Night
meeting. Although one meeting or group
generally sponsors each newsletter, we
welcome articles from anyone. Please
indicate if it is okay to print your name
with your article and email your
contributions to
ExpressionsofUnity@gmail.com by
Saturday, July 19.
July’s Twelfth Step Call To Action
Invite a struggling member or a
newcomer to meet you for coffee or tea.
All articles written are the opinion of the
writer and not of OA as a whole or of the
Expressions of Unity newsletter.
Intergroup Board
Steve R, Chair
603-540-0634
UIGchairSteveR@gmail.com
Sue L, Vice Chair
952-201-7326
suewlundeen@comcast.net
Bob S, Treasurer
763-229-6196
bonasachs@q.com
Karen B, Secretary
952-388-1236
kburke@nmdp.org
Conference Dial-in
Number: (712) 432-0360
UIG Meeting Participant
Access Code: 468702#
Details of the telephone
system and keypad options;
http://www.overeaters.org/
conferencing.html
Mark Your Calendar
August 6, 13, 20, 27
6:30 - 7pm
OA Quick Steps
Pilgrim Lutheran, Mpls, MN
Web submissions are due the
first Saturday of each month.
Saturday, September 13
Fall Workshop at the
Arboretum in Chaska, MN
Saturday, October 11
Booth at the Diabetes Expo
Volunteers needed!
Unity Intergroup meets the
second Saturday of each
month at Sumner Library.
November 7-9
MN State Convention
Minneapolis Boulevard Hotel
Volunteers needed!
November 15
12th Step Within Event
Sumner Library
E x p r e s s io n s Of U n i t y - U n i t y I n t e r g r o u p
Newcomer Meeting is the
third Saturday of each month
at Sumner Library. All are
welcome.
Newsletter articles are due the
third Saturday of each month.
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