I am insistent that a person is not yet doing the twelve steps of AA until they are actively carrying the message to another drunk. Anything less than sitting there face to face sharing the experience of the steps and helping the new guy through, is just not enough.
When we do this face to face work we travel the steps again ourselves. We make new discoveries we can really get no other way. There really is nothing like giving a sponsee advice and realizing that we need that advice more than the sponsee does.
It stops being my experience or your experience, it is now our experience. We grow together, apart we die.
As an Orthodox Christian this experience takes on an even deeper dimension. When St. Athanasius said, God became man so that men might become gods, he is pointing out that we are to work always to live our lives as the example Christ gave us with his life. This puts the recovered alcoholic in AA in an interesting position.
This is a parable that has traveled AA for years;
A drunk wakes up in the bottom of a deep hole. He can see people walking by above so he calls out to them for help. The first person to stop is a politician. "Help me, I'm down in this hole and can't get out!" The politician stays there for a bit and promises he'll outlaw holes and subsidize ladder sales, but soon enough the politician is needed elsewhere and moves on.
The drunk is still in the hole. He calls out again. The next person to stop is a psychiatrist. "Help me!" he cries out. The psychiatrist stops to see about him. "were you born here or did your parents put you in this hole", the psychiatrist asks. He stays and talks to the drunk, asking questions, taking notes. Then the bell rings and the drunks time is up and the psychiatrist moves on.
The drunk is still at the bottom of the hole. It is getting dark and a chill is in the air. The drunk is afraid.
A recovered alcoholic is walking by and the drunk calls out once again. The recovered alcoholic stops, looks down and promptly jumps down in the hole, right down there with the drunk! "What in the world are you doing" he cries. "Now we're both down here in this hole.
"That's alright," the recovered alcoholic replies, "I've been here before... and I know the way out".
Christ descended into hades to bring all men salvation. The recovered alcoholic goes back into the hell he once knew in order to show the pathway out, a lesser salvation, but salvation none the less. We get the opportunity to live our lives like Christ did in a small but very special way, and for that I am a very grateful alcoholic.
When we do this face to face work we travel the steps again ourselves. We make new discoveries we can really get no other way. There really is nothing like giving a sponsee advice and realizing that we need that advice more than the sponsee does.
It stops being my experience or your experience, it is now our experience. We grow together, apart we die.
As an Orthodox Christian this experience takes on an even deeper dimension. When St. Athanasius said, God became man so that men might become gods, he is pointing out that we are to work always to live our lives as the example Christ gave us with his life. This puts the recovered alcoholic in AA in an interesting position.
This is a parable that has traveled AA for years;
A drunk wakes up in the bottom of a deep hole. He can see people walking by above so he calls out to them for help. The first person to stop is a politician. "Help me, I'm down in this hole and can't get out!" The politician stays there for a bit and promises he'll outlaw holes and subsidize ladder sales, but soon enough the politician is needed elsewhere and moves on.
The drunk is still in the hole. He calls out again. The next person to stop is a psychiatrist. "Help me!" he cries out. The psychiatrist stops to see about him. "were you born here or did your parents put you in this hole", the psychiatrist asks. He stays and talks to the drunk, asking questions, taking notes. Then the bell rings and the drunks time is up and the psychiatrist moves on.
The drunk is still at the bottom of the hole. It is getting dark and a chill is in the air. The drunk is afraid.
A recovered alcoholic is walking by and the drunk calls out once again. The recovered alcoholic stops, looks down and promptly jumps down in the hole, right down there with the drunk! "What in the world are you doing" he cries. "Now we're both down here in this hole.
"That's alright," the recovered alcoholic replies, "I've been here before... and I know the way out".
Christ descended into hades to bring all men salvation. The recovered alcoholic goes back into the hell he once knew in order to show the pathway out, a lesser salvation, but salvation none the less. We get the opportunity to live our lives like Christ did in a small but very special way, and for that I am a very grateful alcoholic.
