“Each new day we have a reprieve from our insanity, contingent upon the maintenance of our spiritual lifestyle.”I shared this idea with Rod as it had been shared with me long ago. This was the first time before he bottomed out. He seemed needful of it, for always something else was more important than continuing our work together. I took to calling him “Slacker” whenever I saw him. “Good morning Slacker”, I would say, “Are you ready to work on some things today?”

Often times we all know what it is we need to do, however knowing and getting it done are two different things. How many of us live up to that which we know is true for ourselves in every way? Seems the better off our life is the less we wish to do the hard work to make progress.

Always something our mind tells us we want to do, to divert us from doing that which we need. With Rod, I think it was some kind of sports game on TV that day he fell. I’ve seen desire to make money, fun with friends, all kinds of diversions pull people from the work.

With me it was a samurai movie that was the defining moment.

I had sobered up on Maui and went to meetings where in my first meeting they tried to make me a GSR. That’s a general service representative who travels to the other islands to communicate with other AA groups. We settled for me becoming the coffee maker.

So broke, beat up, and new, I was given a big box of coffee stuff: coffee pot, creamer, sugar, and the baskets of money collected in the meetings. I didn’t even have a place to live and was often seen walking down the street with a big cardboard box from one meeting to another.

My sponsor told me start with the ABC’s of service: Ashtrays, broom, and coffee. Coffee I could do. Soon I was the coffee maker at all three meetings. As I had to walk, I combined all three groups coffee stuff into one box.

One night an old classic samurai movie came on the TV. The hero -tafuro mifune- or whoever that guy is, slashed the handle off the other guys sword and he ran to get help. He was coming back with a bunch of guys and it was getting good. It was also time to go make coffee.

I didn’t want to but I turned it off and went and made coffee. It was a great night and I wound up helping Gloria, an old girl from Brooklyn who was in need of help and also new to the program. (Her sponsor told her if she wanted to stay sober she had to clean her house.)

I sponsored three people that first week in sobriety in ’89.

So I wasn’t too supportive of Rod when some Denver Broncos game or something was on and he didn’t have time to work on his stuff. I just kept calling him slacker. (That was the fateful day at NUCCC when someone gave Rod more pills.)

When he got back from jail I saw the difference. I had witnessed a spiritual awakening many times and had been through one myself. We got to work. In a few short days we accomplished more than we ever had before. It is a joy and a privilege to work with someone whose eyes are bright and lit up, receptive to a new frame of mind, and gets it.

Rod was launched.

The main job of a sponsor is to make himself unnecessary. We were thorough and diligent and were soon delving into the finer points of prayer and meditation. Right away Rod began helping others and walking the path. (Although he prefers to run.) He has never had to look back.

When all else fails, help others. That is an old axiom which is not mine but which I too embraced. It is vital. We help each other and through that our own spiritual development unfolds.

As we see with Rod it puts us on new footing. Our entire framework and attitude is different. And that which didn’t at first seem so important becomes the guiding purpose of our lives and adds depth and dimension to our spiritual progress.

As Yoda would say, “Honored am I to see this page and add a few lines to it.” -Richard