A member in Oak Harbor, District 46, writes, “We are called to unity, not uniformity.” No matter what my role is – coffee maker, greeter, District Treasurer (“because that’s a District committee that doesn’t have to attend an Area Quarterly!”), Group Service Representative or District Committee Member – I get to do my job to the best or worst of my ability.
Remember when you heard someone say, “Our Steps are a suggested path to recovery?” Service is that way, too. There will always be someone telling me I can do a better job, someone to say at least I showed up. When I stop listening to self-sabotaging thoughts, I might notice someone else is actually saying, “Hey I did that job, it was the most fun I had in service!” I can’t do the Grapevine Literature position like they did. That’s unrealistic: I’ll have an entirely different committee of District Grapevine Reps (GvR) and Representante La Vina (RLV). We will set our own goals for this rotation. We will likely find ourselves challenged, discover new avenues for personal growth. We’ll develop respect for and trust in others, and maybe even ourselves. The unity of A.A demands that we get our work done. In 1937, a group of forty people agreed to write a book. I would not be here today if it weren’t for them. I do service it because I want A.A to be around for the still suffering alcoholic.
I heard a member use the “unity, not conformity” quote as the topic for their PRASSA talk. I felt like they had reached out and fluffed my seat cushion. I was riveted to their every word, I wanted what they had. For me personally, being in general service beyond the home group is where I have found comfort and belonging. Not uniformity, not by a long shot. Just read one more story in this newsletter. My sobriety comes first, as my sponsor told me it must. And my imagination and interest comes right along wherever my sobriety takes me. The quote from our friend in District 46’s Oak Harbor? They wrote that back in 1984, when I was still very much, “in my cups.” Their story was in the Grapevine issue, “The Harmony of Service.” It was published in the A.A. Grapevine app as a Daily Quote, January 13, 2025. Already in this rotation I have heard it said that writing a story for the Grapevine is Twelfth Step work. Someone sharing their experience, strength and hope, for the still suffering. Sending a meeting space photo to the Grapevine, buying a subscription to the Grapevine for the Carry the Message project, subscribing to the app, each of these are Twelfth Step work. If I subscribe to the Grapevine app, the app will be around so someone else can say, “Wait, that quote is the bomb. I belong here.”
