What’s an “SQ”? It’s something I’ve been thinking about since yesterday. It’s kind of something like an IQ, except that instead of Intelligence, I’ve replaced it with Spiritual Quotient.
Here’s what I was thinking. Two nights ago, after reading a recent Grapevine, I became aware of something I had missed, when reading the 5th Tradition. I had always read the 5th Tradition as “Each group has but one primary purpose–to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.” The other night I read it’s full form, which says in full “Each group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose–that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.”
A really profound difference. The group “ought to be a spiritual entity”. I asked myself, is the group(s) I attend a spiritual entity, or unit. Is it united in spiritually? I mean, how would I know? That’s where SQ came in. You give an individual an IQ score depending on how well they do on an Intelligence test. Why not an SQ score?
I guess the first question I would ask of my group is this: does it carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers? I would say if it isn’t doing that, then it would fail the test. And what does that say about those who make up the entity or unit? I mean, if everyone in the group is sitting around giving advice on relationships, or how they feel, or some other like subject, is that the group message? That’s psycho babble, not a spiritual message. Not for the alcoholic, who, whether and old timer or a newcomer, is still suffering the life and death issue of alcohol. Not for someone, who needs to hear the message that there is a solution.
I can remember when AA groups used to concentrate on the message that there was a solution. They used to talk about what works, not someone’s opinion or “advice”. They used to talk about “How It Works”. They talked about the Steps. They always work. At least they worked for me and the many who got sober. That’s how we got sober. They talked about the principles of Honesty, the Open Mind, and Willingness. The things it took to get sober. They talked about the need for a Higher Power other than ourselves. They talked about the God of their understanding and the power of prayer. They talked about cleaning house and maintaining a spiritual condition. They talked about the solution.
Anyway, I was thinking about what it means to be spiritual and that the Tradition tells us that the group ought to be a spiritual entity. After all, even Dr. Jung admitted that his psychology wouldn’t get that young man sober, but that a spiritual experience would. That’s the message. That’s the solution. That’s what I was thinking.