There’s nothing new under the Sun. Over time I have discovered that what I think and say has already been said and done over time, long before I even thought of it.
My sponsors knew that, because they were just passing down to me, what had been passed on to them by those old timers from the beginning. They knew what worked and what didn’t. They knew how to stay sober and they certainly knew what would get someone like me drunk.
One of the things, which they passed on to me, was that, if I was to keep what was helping me stay sober, I was going to have to let go of it and pass it on to others. If I didn’t, it would stagnate within me and eventually I would lose it.
But, first I would have to make it my own. If I passed it on before I had a grasp on it, it would slip away from me. In other words, there was a time of taking before the time of giving. But, when the time for giving came, I learned that I was not to hesitate in generosity. I was to give what had been so freely given to me.
I’m guessing this is what the BB meant by not resting on our laurels in the spiritual program of action. Or at least partially. Because this is what the spiritual life has been for me; action of some sort. And there’s nothing so obviously an action of a spiritual nature than to pass it on.
I was thinking about this today, as another member was sitting and sharing his tenth step with me. And what was the message? There is a solution and it is spiritual. And what was that? My experience, strength, and hope, just as my sponsors shared with me.
It all reminded me of my long time sponsor Tom. Though he often told me, he more often demonstrated it through his own actions. His example is still with me today. I have nothing but gratitude for having been graced by his presence in my life. He never talked about his higher power or spirituality, but it was ever present in him. He lived it.