We are here to Pass It On

 

The other day during a debate over the Plain Language Big Book someone said that we shouldn’t criticize it as it’s not for us to decide how someone should get sober. I was astonished. The whole purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous is to show those who come after us how to get sober through Service, Unity Recovery. They are the three pillars of Alcoholics Anonymous.

                        Service – Help Others

                        Unity – The Fellowship

                        Recovery – Working the 12 Steps

If you want to tell people in the Fellowship not to criticize someone who got sober outside of Alcoholics Anonymous that is fair. However, to suggest we should tell people who come to AA for help “just to figure it out and whatever they feel will work is good” is just plain wrong and a possible death sentence.

I walked through the doors of AA a beaten man. I was, “restless, irritable, discontent”. If it wasn’t for the fellow alcoholics I met who told me about the 12 Steps, my sponsor who guided me through them, my home group that started me on service work and the Fellowship that made feel I was no longer alone I would not be sober today.

I’m not sure what the Plain Language Book will say but from what I hear it is taking away the arch that keeps Alcoholics Anonymous alive. I’ve heard that it will NOT talk about the allergy. It will NOT suggest that one needs a spiritual experience in order to lose the obsession over alcohol. Apparently, it’s being turned into a book of psychology.

The Big Book tells us that, “no human power could relieve us of our alcoholism”. That includes doctors, psychologist, psychiatrists, etc. That was true for me and for the dozens of fellow alcoholics I have heard share in my almost two decades of sobriety.

The Big Book is how I got sober and will remain the textbook I pass on to those who ask me for help.

Davka Dave (AKA: Dave the Dude)