Love. Is it a feeling? Or is it an action? Weird questions for me tonight. That’s because what happened at our meeting today.
It was chip day and people with a lot of years, even up to 41, not only received their tokens, but spoke afterward. And when they talked, what they were saying was an offer of, not just their experiences, but their hopes for the new man or woman. Encouragement and reinforcement. In a word, love.
The wife of one old timer was asked to speak. And, when she did, she spoke about what she had witnessed and her own experiences with people in the program over the years. And what did she say? She said it was about love. Love being given to one another.
I just had to sit down and think about love. I don’t always “feel” love, when I’m talking or trying to help another alcoholic, but I guess that’s what it is. Being willing to give what was so freely given to me…in love from another alcoholic.
That reminds me of what I learned early on. First comes perseverance, then comes hope, then comes faith, and finally love comes. In that order. And if one of these is dropped all of the others go.
So, in the order of what is gained by perseverance, hanging in and not giving up, I gained hope that I too could get sober. And that hope led to faith. Faith in a power greater than myself. Faith that this program would work for me. Finally I began to share my experience, strength, and hope with others. The beginning of love for other alcoholics. Wanting them to get sober. Encouraging them. Propping them up, if need be. Caring. Establishing friendships.
Sounds a little distant, when I think the words “my primary purpose”. But when I look inside those words and examine them, what I just thought about above, is what comes out.
That word “love”.