by Eric S.
The Anything is Possible (AIP) meets 5 PM Monday through Friday, 11 AM Saturdays and 1 PM Sundays. This A.A. meeting at Congregation Sherith Israel (CSI) blossomed into a popular event seven days a week. Our roots grew from Nu Outlook, a clubhouse similar to the Dry Dock open from noon to 10 PM. It provided a home for many of us in recovery.
Our group began to wander like nomads in the desert
When Nu Outlook closed in December 2016, our group began to wander like nomads in the desert. We started meeting at noon at the Macedonian church near our old club, but we had no meeting to attend together after work hours. After a long stay in the hospital where I did a lot of thinking, it became apparent we needed a new home.
I approached CSI, my religious home, and asked them to provide space for our meeting. A glorious environment, the building opened in 1904 and is the oldest Reform Jewish synagogue West of the Mississippi. The beautiful stained glass windows and old-time architecture provide a very spiritual setting. We negotiated and CSI was willing to give it a try. Soon we all became intertwined and our meeting started to provide a new vibrancy to the temple each evening during the week and on weekend afternoons.
My friend Freddie S. suggested the name
We began with a well-attended Monday group of 20 people or so. My friend Freddie S. suggested the name Anything is Possible. Thereafter the meetings were attended sparsely, some with merely two members. Fortunately a popular old timer, a regular from Nu Outlook, was instrumental in establishing our new meetings at CSI. I will be forever grateful to Kurt for setting up and filling commitments, formatting notebooks, establishing a phone list, newsletter and literature — all the things that make meetings successful. At the time I didn’t realize how vital this was to the future of the meeting.
When we had been around for six months, we qualified for entry on the aasfmarin.org schedule. We appeared as the first 5 PM meeting (Anything is Possible begins with A, providing a primo website listing position). Many of the oldest old timers began to appear regularly. Newcomers started coming, too, and continued to come back. There are now 15-20 members at most meetings. From time to time there are as many as 30.
Anything is Possible has helped many A.A.s in the San Francisco recovery community (and now continues to do so online). I am extremely grateful for the continuing opportunity to participate in the growth of this wonderful meeting along with Kurt, Nancy of CSI and everyone who contributed to our meeting’s success by just showing up.
Request online meeting information from https://www.anythingispossiblesf.org/ — scroll down to Contact Us.
