How careless we can be at meetings. I heard a woman today, whom I’ve “known” over a period of ten years or so, who spoke up, when someone had wandered off the subject. Her plea was for us to stay on the subject, because she needed the message, which would help her to stay sober.
It’s easy to forget that there are some of us, who really need the message we’re committed to carry each and every meeting. We were talking today about the traditions. One of those tells us that our primary purpose is to carry the message to those who suffer. The message that there is a solution. A message of hope to the newcomer and the old timer, who has gotten lost and has lost hope.
I need to remember, that even though we try to adhere to the BB statement that we’re not a glum lot and we’re here to have fun, that the meetings are really serious business. Someone’s life may be on the line and they may not be expressing it to others. Fortunately this woman did. Her desperation was obvious.
For me, why I go to meetings is obvious. It’s out of gratitude. It doesn’t mean I won’t crack a joke. I often do. But always, regardless of what’s going on, I will return to the reason I came here. It’s important to my own sobriety to remind myself of why I am in attendance and why others are there to help me to stay sober. Humor is one thing, missing the point is another.
Anyway, I was thinking about this woman and the look on her face and the sound of her voice as she asked for help from the group. How easy it is to talk for our own entertainment and forget to reach out the hand we speak about, when we tell ourselves that we always want the hand of AA to be there for another drunk.
That’s what came to mind this afternoon.