THE THREE LEGACIES OF AA RECOVERY, UNTY AND SERVICE
AAAAHHHHHH, The Third Legacy of SERVICE.
Some of my earliest memories are going along with my mother while she was of service in our church and being on TV with my father as he made community service commercials at the TV station he managed. My mother was always volunteering for the Annual Fair at our church or helping serve at food banks, food for families at holidays and clothes for children in need. We were brought along and if there were ways that we could help we were put into service as well. So many of the careers I have invested in were in the service to others. Of course, this very important focus for my family did not stop from me from being an alcoholic and twisting service toward only serving myself.
Just like my athletic childhood and my focus on a healthy lifestyle, my previous focus on service and how it gave me purpose – AA’s focus on our Three Legacies brought me to familiar and loved commitment to service. When I started to truly work the steps of AA with a sponsor and part of, I stepped up to be greeter, coffee maker, post meeting clean-up. When I was such a wreck, broken, ashamed, and with no idea what would be next for me in this life it was service given to me and my service to others that gave me courage and bit by bit showed me a life beyond any I could have created on my own.
For many of us this is a very familiar story. Being given a life and learning who we are through service in AA. So many of us have a similar path in AA from greeter and coffee makers to group service and beyond. The beauty of service is that in AA its whole purpose is for us to keep our focus on keeping the doors open and the coffee brewing and saving our lives by welcoming others. For me no one person’s service is bigger, better or more important than another person’s. What matters is that I am of service and that this service brings me closer to the alcoholic who still suffers in and out of the rooms of AA. Service brings me in conscious contact with my Higher Power and that brings me in touch with myself. Service is a spiritual practice. This also keeps me in touch with my next indicated actions, the balance in my life, how I treat my home group members whether I like our group conscious decisions or not and to register as many other AA members being of services in Area 72. It enables me to encourage unity by being a good neighbor, a good partner, a good citizen.
Being a person who used to absolutely emersed myself in the idea of rebellion and the action of speaking out, making my opinions known and my belief in protest and civil action that many times caused chaos and harm and an angry existence. By embracing the structure of AA and its structure and principles I have become the rebel with a cause. That cause is love, generosity, inclusion, and always seeking common ground. Our Three Legacies create our recovery lives, our groups, our fellowship, our communities and our freedom to be our best sober selves.
Thank you all for the opportunity to serve…with love and respect,
Houston L.
