When I came in and Tom became my sponsor, one of the first instructions he gave me was that I was not to put him up on a pedestal. He said the fall would be too great. In other words, he was trying to tell me that he was just another drunk and nothing special. But he was special. At least to me and I know to hundreds of others, who came into contact with him.
What Tom was was a messenger. He carried the message to me and a whole lot more. It was hard not for me to be in awe of him at any time. He was an example of what the program is all about. It was difficult for me to keep him at right size. Yet, in the end, he proved he was right. He was just a mortal, another drunk. I knew that, as I saw him advance into old age and death. To the end he was still the same.
One time he came to me and told me that at some point he and other old timers we all looked up to would leave. Either by moving away or by passing away. He told me that the time would come, when I and others were going to have to step up to the plate and be ready to become the examples and the messengers. That the time would come, when we would have to have the courage of our convictions and express them, just as he and others had before him.
Of course, like Tom, I know it’s incumbent on all of us not to take ourselves so seriously. He never did.
I think for all of us, who are aware of the importance of this program, that as we grow and progress both in time and knowledge, the time will come, when each of us will be asked to step up to the plate. The question will always be a struggle between our egos and humility. How each of us handle this responsibility of carrying the message, whether in a meeting or with the people we sponsor and meet along the way will be highly individual. An idol or just another drunk?
Just something I was thinking about today. And it’s just today.
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