On the last Fri. of every month, the group I attend, for the most part, has a “chip day” for those members, who have achieved a certain milestone in their sobriety. Everything from 24hrs. to many years of abstinence from alcohol. Today was one of those days. After that meeting, I was riding home with a friend and he made a comment, which caught my attention. Singleness of purpose.
We talked about this for quite a time this afternoon, and after I got home, I took the time to think about the importance of this remark. Singleness of purpose.
In this time of political correctness, where we all hesitate to say anything, which might be construed as being offensive to a person or a segment of the population, this part of the traditions of AA has become an obstacle to some. Yet it’s a possible bone of contention to some.
I remember years ago how I used to think that everything I needed to know about sobriety, revolved around the steps of AA. Whenever we had a scheduled meeting on the Traditions, I, along with a number of others like myself, would groan aloud. Those meetings became known as the “Oh s— meetings”. We grumbled and decided we would put up with these tiresome and dry subjects, as best we could. We “tolerated” these discussions of what we thought were meaningless ramblings by the leaders and those old timers, who would talk about the importance of the subjects being discussed, never thinking that the time would come when we would need to know just how important the Traditions would be to the life and health of the program.
Why am I talking about this? Let’s take an example of my all time favorite deviation from the subject of alcohol. Someone in a meeting, talking about the First Step, wanders off subject and starts talking about how important it was that they stopped smoking. Pretty soon, they and others, are talking about the degree of difficulty they had with this and that it was harder than stopping drinking. In fact putting the drink down was nothing and that this was the most important thing they had ever done in their lives. Now we’re in a meeting of Nicotine Anonymous, as it picks up steam. They even start to talk about how long they’ve been abstinent from nicotine and spread praises to one another. I sit there waiting for them to talk about a chip day for this marvelous accomplishment.
This may seem ridiculous at first glance, but it’s absolutely amazing that other subjects of all kinds can become the purpose of why we are there at these meetings. Whatever happened to the drunk, who came to AA to get sober? People talk about how their biggest problem was their depression and their recovery, with the help of drugs. Or their drug of choice being cocaine and their unending obsession and craving for that substance. Alcohol takes a backseat in the program called Alcoholics Anonymous.
On each chip given out, after one year of continuous sobriety, are three words: Unity, Recovery, and Service. AA’s First Tradition speaks to all three. It’s the basis of our very survival. All the rest of the Traditions follow from that central theme. Or, as the Fifth Tradition tells us, ” ‘Shoemaker, stick to last’…better to do one thing supremely well than many badly” The rest is in the 12&12. It’s worthwhile reading.
I was thinking about my conversation with my friend this afternoon and the words “singleness of purpose”. It’s those words which at the heart of what gives AA its strength. Anyway, like I said, just thinking.