Daily Reprieve

From Today’s Daily Reflections (for April 30th);

These legacies of suffering and of recovery are easily passed among alcoholics, one to the other. This is our gift from God, and its bestowal upon others like us is the one aim that today animates A.A.’s all around the globe.  (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 151)

The great paradox of A.A. is that I know I cannot keep the precious gift of sobriety unless I give it away.

My primary purpose is to stay sober. In A.A. I have no other goal, and the importance of this is a matter of life or death for me. If I veer from this purpose I lose. But A.A. is not only for me; it is for the alcoholic who still suffers. The legions of recovering alcoholics stay sober by sharing with fellow alcoholics. The way to my recovery is to show others in A.A. that when I share with them, we both grow in the grace of the Higher Power, and both of us are on the road to a happy destiny.

END OF QUOTE

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I have grown to trust this kind of helping over all others.  I trust others to help me when their lives depend on it.  I am so glad to be free of the religious high horse that offers patronizing pity as its primary solace.  My help is not given to sell a religious icon.  It is motivated by unapologetic self-preservation.  That is real and honors the individual.

This entry was posted on May 1, 2014 at 12:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized with tags Addiction, Alcoholism, Journal, Life, Personal, Recovery, Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.