THOUGHT of THE DAY

God I am grateful for this day! Please free me from self so that I may of maximum benefit to Your children. To free me from self, I need to understand what the intent of The 11th & 12th Traditions is as defined in Conference Approved Literature.

Late one Friday night, I received a phone call from a guy.

He said, "May I talk to Jere?"

"Speaking" I replied.

"I need some A.A. classes", he answered.

Under my breath I snickered and said, "do you have a drinking problem?"

"About a week ago, I got into some trouble over my drinking", he replied.

I ask, "Do you want to stop drinking?"

"Yes I do", came the answer in that familiar I am beat and lost voice.

"Well then we need to talk about how A.A. has worked in my life and how it can work in your life to help you stop drinking on the way to a better life. You got a few minutes to talk", I ask? " By the way what’s your name?"

"Victor XXXXX", he replied and went on to say "I got your name and phone number off the Website. The Website says that they serve some towns around where I live. I need to talk about how to stop drinking."

"I am happy that you found me and that we can talk about the thing that saved my life. In my mind, Alcoholics Anonymous saved my life. I was headed down a destructive road and could not find a way out. My drinking was killing me, but I couldn’t stop. My self will was not enough, I needed help!"

"Yes, I know that feeling. I have tried to stop drinking a zillion times and after a few days, I start all over again," Victor said. "It always ends up in some problem."

"To begin with, A.A. doesn’t have classes. We go to A.A. meetings and work some simple steps to stop drinking on a daily basis. At these meetings, people share their experience, strength and hope that they have found in The A.A. Program of recovery. The steps are simple but not easy".

"There are a couple of things that I have learned that are kind-a – like classes or lessons. First, just for today I can’t drink. I don’t have to stop drinking for the rest of my life. If I don’t drink today things will work out ok", I said. "I can’t wrap my mind around the idea of not drinking for the rest of my life. Secondly what ever your conception of God, keep an open mind to some new ideas about Him because if you are like me you will need His help to not drink today!"

Where do you live?" I ask.

"I live in B."

"There is an A.A. meeting in B tomorrow night at seven in the evening at the C Church. Why don’t I pick you up or we meet there and you can get an idea of how the A.A. program works", I suggested.

"I know where that church is and I’ll see you tomorrow night," Victor said.

"By the way do yourself and I a favor and don’t drink between now and then," I suggested.

"Ok, I’ll try," he said.

After hanging up with Victor, I closed my eyes and simply said, "Thanks God. I’ll leave this in your hands and pray that it works out, as it should with Victor finding what he needs Thanks for the idea of putting my name and phone number on the Website."

That decision took a lot of prayer and consultation with God, my sponsor and others in The Fellowship. In our area, there are some that claim that putting your name and phone number on The Internet is a violation of A.A. Traditions. I have studied the Eleventh and Twelfth Traditions, and can find nothing that confirms that position. So with God’s help, I made the decision and got to talk to Victor.

I arrived at the B meeting a little early and spotted Victor sitting in the back with a lost look on his face. I went up to him, shook his hand and said, "I’m Jere."

"When the meeting gets going they are going to ask if there is anyone here for their first A.A. meeting. You raise your hand and say, I’m Victor. If you still feel like you did last night, you can say that you have a desire to stop drinking." I suggested.

With a lost look on his face, Victor ask, "don’t I have to say that I’m an alcoholic?’

"No, the only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking. You may not know if you are an alcoholic or not until you read some in The Big Book and hear some of the other peoples stories." I replied.

When the chairperson asked if there was anyone there for their first A.A. meeting, Victor raised his hand and said, "My name is Victor."

The Saturday B meeting is a speaker meeting and I watched Victor as the speaker told of his journey down the insane path of drinking and his recovery in A.A. The speaker had a short drunk-a-log to qualify his alcoholism and a good description of recovery. My kind of speaker!

After the meeting, 3 or 4 guys gathered around Victor and told him how happy they were that he was there and that they would do anything they could to help him stay sober. They exchanged names and phone numbers and said call before you pickup a drink.

I ask, "Do you need a Big Book Victor?"

One of those grouped around Victor said, "We got that covered Jere."

Seeing that Victor was in good hands, I shook his hand and said, "Do you think you can connect with these guys?"

Victor said with a smile on his face, "I’ve known some of them for years but didn’t know that they were in A.A. I think that we will get along great and they’ll help me."

Over the next few months, I thought about Victor a number of times and wondered how he was doing. My health had prevented me from getting back to a B meeting and checking up on him.

I decided to go to The L meeting, which is close to my home one evening. Turned out that it was a speaker meeting and Blake from B was speaking. I’ve known Blake for some time and am impressed with his dedication to recovery. His recovery and that of others! Sitting behind Blake was another familiar face.

After Blake finished sharing his experience, strength and hope, I went over and thanked him and gave him a big hug. The person behind him stepped forward and said, "Remember me?"

I gave him a big hug and said, "Sure Victor I’ll never forget how we met and it’s good seeing you again at an A.A. meeting. How is life treating you?"

"My life has been much better than it was and gets better every day. Blake is my sponsor has helped me work the steps and get through some difficult problems. I don’t want to ever go back to life, as it was if you could call it that. I have found, with help of those in The Fellowship that all I have to do is not drink today."

As I drove home, my prayer was thank you God for The Internet as a tool for reaching out!

Jere P.