Si | もし | Si | If

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    They that begin by burning books, 
end by burning men. 

 --Heine

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      I am sending you out among wolves, therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as pure as doves.

--Matthew, 10:16

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     Personal criticism you must expect, lack of appreciation will be common, ridicule will be your lot, your motives will be misjudged. 

--Why We Were Chosen, Judge John T.

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     If you can hear the truth you've spoken,

Twisted by knaves, to set a trap for fools.

--If, Rudyard Kipling

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      9-Sep-2015

     Happy Wednesday everyone!

     So, my thoughts turn today for all the hits I've taken over the years for doing AA service work.  Some lumps were deserved, many not.  The lumps I have coming to me I have no quibble with;  in fact, those lumps are the proverbial spiritual rungs typically necessary to climb to the next level.

     No!  The shots that hurt the most are the ones taken by those who simply will not tolerate a message of hope.  There are such unfortunates out there.  You know the ones;  they typically thank you for your 'enthusiasm' after carrying this message, which is double-speak for 'I think you're extreme and over the top, but I've not the balls to actually say it'.  

     They are addicted to suffering and any possible glimmer relief is a threat to their smokey mirror.

     I also remember a time - not so long ago - when carrying the Book was a mark against you;  in fact, I have actually been asked to leave it outside certain AA meetings.  These were truly the dark days of AA.

     To be truthful, people rarely take shots at me lately for carrying this message today.  Accrued sobriety time, which is utterly meaningless in my view, carries a certain unfortunate currency in AA, and once I hit the twenty year mark these malcontents typically began directing their malevolence elsewhere...to my face, at least.  I do however hear them move on to easier targets, usually one of my sponsee's with less than five years.  When I do hear them do it, I make goddamn certain they never do it again, of that I assure you.

      But why do they do it at all?  Don Miguel Ruiz talks quite a lot about 'not taking anything personally'.  I try to remember that it is not me they have an issue with, though they may think it is.  No, their issue is with where they are with the solution.  They see I have found something they want, but rather than work to get it, they're willing to try to take a few shots and lower the bar, at least in their own minds, and it's an ugly thing to watch.

     What to do?  The Old Man used to say:  'you're working for the top man now!  Caesar's wife must be beyond reproach'.  What he meant was, that when we are trying to carry a message of hope, our actions better goddamn well square with our rhetoric.  So, at the podium, try to dress becomingly, show some manners, respect the group and the audience, offend no one, use no profanity, deviate not from our singleness our of purpose nor break our traditions.

     Let them throw stones!  If we are practicing what we preach, these occasional shots across our bow are meaningless...unless of course there is a grain of truth in what they say, then they are our most benevolent teachers.  

     As Mr. Kipling once said:  'If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, yet make allowance for their doubting, too'.

     What a wonderful life we have in AA!  I am so overpaid.  I love each and every one of you.

-Yours in love and service,

-COG., 1st. Class.

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