As sponsors in Alcoholics Anonymous we must live the principles of the program if we are to have integrity in presenting the principles of AA. We have come to understand that our very lives as ex problem drinkers is dependent upon the lives we are called to help. Our lives than take on a purpose and meaning that we had not experienced before.In the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous in the chapter How It Works it says "practical experience shows that nothing will so much ensure immunity from drinking as intense work with other alcoholics - you can help when no one else can. Remember they are very ill. Life will take on a new meaning. To watch people recover, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends - this is an experience you will not want to miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives."
There is nothing that we can do with ourselves that is more important then to help someone else recover from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. Nothing. In order for this recovery to occur for them in its purest form, those we are helping must develop a personal relationship with God and it is through this relationship that they will recover to know serenity, peace and joy possibly for the first time in their lives.
Obviously this can't possibly occur for others if it has not occurred for us as we can't give away that which we don't have. Live this life and you will be living A PURPOSEFUL LIFE.
Written By Armand
It's counter-intuitive that alcohol had a purpose in locating my ultimate life purpose. I feel it every day. Intensive work with other alcoholics is a callling that calls to us in a miraculous way. As you often point out, we cannot give that which we don't have. It's in the giving that I experience the having. This is the stuff of the fourth dimension - indescribable yet palpable, available and achievable. My greatest gratitude is in finding the way beyond "the program" to the program of recovery. It is in our ongoing recovery that our true purpose becomes ongoing, leading after all to a purposeful life.
ReplyDeleteMichael I have heard "that you find your calling in your problem" and so true for a recovered alcoholic...Thank you...Armand
ReplyDeleteArmand,
ReplyDeleteThe One who pursued me with a love beyond telling and a determination that never wavers came for one purpose, "To seek and to save those who are lost," and once found, that I must also do so that I may experience even more of the joy of His presence, not only in this life but fully and unencumbered in the life to come. For then I will see Him face to face and no longer through the "cloudy looking glass" of my all too mortal journey.
As our relationship grows, the cloak of darkness that had once disguised life's blessings as insurmountable mountains of gloom and doom is lifted to reveal another touchstone of progress on the path to experiencing the purest form of love that exists, that is, Himself. We are called to share the Source of that sacrificial love with all whom He places in our path, both inside and out of the "rooms"... The 12 Steps comprise the simple program that opens the door to the immeasurable depth, fullness and light that is, the mind and heart of God. There is, as you have pointed out, no greater calling.
A Gratefully Recovering Alcoholic.
A Grateful Recovering Alcoholic as I mentioned with Michael our purpose in life is found in our problem. No greater calling can one have than to be of service to the Lord and others...Thank you...Armand
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