"Each group has but one primary
purpose - to carry it's message to the alcoholic who still suffers."
"Shoemaker,
stick to thy last!" ... better do one thing supremely well than many
badly. That is the central theme of this Tradition. Around it our Society
gathers in unity. The very life of our Fellowship requires the preservation of
this principle.
Alcoholics
Anonymous can be likened to a group of physicians who might find a cure for
cancer, and upon whose concerted work would depend the answer for sufferers of
this disease. True, each physician in such a group might have his own
specialty. Every doctor concerned would at times wish he could devote himself
to his chosen field rather than work only with the group. But once these men
had hit upon c cure, once it became apparent that only by their united effort
could this be accomplished, then all of them would feel bound to devote
themselves solely to the relief of cancer. In the radiance of such a miraculous
discovery, any doctor would set his other ambitions aside, at whatever personal
cost.
Just
as firmly bound by obligation are the members of Alcoholics Anonymous, who have
demonstrated that they can help problem drinkers as others seldom can. The
unique ability of each A.A. to identify himself with, and bring recovery to, the
newcomer in no way depends upon his learning, eloquence, or on any special
individual skills. the only thing that matters is that he is an alcoholic who
has found a key to sobriety. 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.
There
is another reason for this singleness of purpose. It is the great paradox of A.A.
that we know we can seldom keep the precious gift of sobriety unless we give it
away. If a group of doctors possessed a cancer cure, they might be
conscience-stricken if they failed their mission through self-seeking. Yet such
a failure wouldn't jeopardize their personal survival. for us, if we neglect
those who are still sick, there is unremitting danger to our own lives and
sanity. Under these compulsions of self-preservation, duty, and love, it is not
strange that our Society has concluded that it has but one high mission - to
carry the A.A. message to those who don't know there is a way out.
Highlighting
the wisdom of A.A.'s single purpose, a member tells this story:
"Restless
one day, I felt I'd better do some Twelfth Step work. Maybe I should take out
some insurance against a slip. But first I'd have to find a drunk to work
on."
So
I hopped the subway to Towns Hospital, where I asked Dr. Silkworth if he had a
prospect. `Nothing too promising,' the little doc said. `There's just one chap
on the third floor who might be a possibility. But he's an awfully tough
Irishman. I never saw a man so obstinate. He shouts that if his partner would
treat him better, and his wife would leave him alone, he'd soon solve his
alcohol problem. He's had a bad case of D.T.'s, he's pretty foggy, and he's
very suspicious of everybody. Doesn't sound too good, does it? But working with
him may do something for you, so why don't you have a go at it?'
"I
was soon sitting beside a big hulk of a man. Decidedly unfriendly, he stared at
me out of eyes which were slits in his red and swollen face. I had to agree
with the doctor - he certainly didn't look god. But I told him my own story. I
explained what a wonderful Fellowship we had, how well we understood each
other. I bore down hard on the hopelessness of the drunk's dilemma. I insisted
that few drunks could ever get well on their own steam, but that in our groups
we could do together what we could not do separately. He interrupted to scoff
at this and asserted he'd fix his wife, his partner, and his alcoholism by
himself. Sarcastically he asked, `How much does your scheme cost?'
"I
was thankful I could tell him, `Nothing at all.'
"His
next question: `What are you getting out of it?' "Of course, my answer was
`My own sobriety and a mighty happy life.'
"Still
dubious, he demanded, `Do you really mean the only reason you are here is to
try and help me and to help yourself?'
"`Yes,'
I said. `That's absolutely all there is to it. There's no angle.'
"Then,
hesitantly, I ventured to talk about the spiritual side of our program. What a
freeze that drunk gave me! I'd no sooner got the word `spiritual' out of my
mouth than he pounced. `Oh!' he said. `Now I get it! You're proselytizing for
some damn religious sect or other. Where do you get that "no angle"
stuff? I belong to a great church that means everything to me. You've got a
nerve to come in here talking religion!"
"Thank
heaven I came up with the right answer for that one. It was based foursquare on
the single purpose of A.A. `You have faith,' I said. `Perhaps far deeper faith
than mine. No doubt you're better taught in religious matters than I. So I
can't tell you anything about religion. I don't even want to try. I'll bet,
too, that you could give me a letter-perfect definition of humility. But from
what you've told me about yourself and your problems and how you propose to
lock them, I think I know what's wrong.'
"`Okay,'
he said. `Give me the business.'
"`Well,'
I said, `I think you're just a conceited Irishman who thinks he can run the
whole show.'
"This
really rocked him. But as he calmed down, he began to listen while I tried to
show him that humility was the main key to sobriety. Finally, he saw that I
wasn't attempting to change his religious views, that I wanted him to find the
grace in his own religion that would aid his recovery. From there on we got
along fine.
"Now,"
concludes the old timer, "suppose I'd been obliged to talk to this man on religious
grounds? Suppose my answer had to be that A.A. needed a lot of money; that A.A.
went in for education, hospital, and rehabilitation? Suppose I'd suggested that
I'd take a hand in his domestic and business affairs? Where would we have wound
up? No place, of course."
Years later, this tough
Irish customer liked to say, "my sponsor sold me one idea, and that was
sobriety. At the time, I couldn't have bought anything else."