Just Joe - Outcast No More: A Leper's Work Begins - Meeting 361 Artwork

RECO12

An Addiction Recovery Lunch-hour Speaker Meeting. A new guest speaker with at least 1 year sobriety from any addiction, and who is actively working in recovery, will speak for 25 minutes each week on a specific recovery topic. This will be followed by a moderated 25 minute Q & A session from the live audience. The live speaker meetings will be held on Zoom each Friday at 10:00 AM Pacific time. To attend the live recordings and have the opportunity of asking questions of the guest, please send an email to reco12pod@gmail.com and request to get on the invitation list. To become a Reco12 Spearhead and support this mission, please consider subscribing at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1117700/support . All aspects of recovery will be covered, including but not limited to: Steps, Blessings of Recovery, Relapse Prevention, Sponsoring, Specific aspects of recovery, What to do if I relapse, etc. We invite each guest speaker to seek guidance so they can reflect the light they have been given in order to inspire hope, meaning, growth and worth in each of us, the listening audience.

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RECO12

Just Joe - Outcast No More: A Leper's Work Begins - Meeting 361

August 01, 2025 • Justin B / Just Joe • Episode 361

Just Joe was born into pain he didn’t choose—abused as a child, shaped in silence, and twisted by what passed for love. In time, he became a mirror of the very harm he had endured, caught in a cycle of fantasy, compulsion, and deep confusion. Four marriages fell apart under the weight of secrets. Joe served nine months behind bars, spent three days locked in a psych ward, survived five years on felony probation, and wandered homeless in the deserts of California—his own self-made leper colony. For twenty years Joe sat in AA meetings, sober but spiritually bankrupt, never daring to touch the rot in his soul. It wasn’t until he entered intense therapy that the truth emerged: he was emotionally stunted, mentally unwell, and spiritually starving. Joe had no program, just pride and pain. When he finally hit his bottom and failed at ending his life, he cursed God. And in that broken moment, grace didn’t come like light—it came like a whisper: Help someone. Joe remembered what AA had always said. But who would want help from a man like him? A felon? A sex offender? Still, he searched—and found SA. And in that fellowship of the condemned, Joe found communion. He no longer wanted out. He wanted in. Back in the places he once dreaded, back with the men everyone else forgot.

Reco12 is an open-to-all addictions and afflictions organization, dedicated to exploring the common threads of the differing manifestations of alcoholism; sharing tools, and offering hope from those walking a similar path. We gather from diverse backgrounds, faiths, and locations to learn and support one another. Our speakers come from various fellowships and experiences, demonstrating the universal principles of recovery. Reco12 is not allied or affiliated with any specific 12 Step fellowship.

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