May 27
The Chair Belongs to Someone Else
We know how we would run this meeting. We would call on people differently, keep better track of time, and handle announcements with less fuss. As the evening goes on, we mentally correct the chairperson at every turn. By the closing prayer, we have conducted a whole second meeting inside our head and heard very little of the first.
Experience can help us recognize a real problem, and there are appropriate ways to raise one. But constant private supervision can rob us of the role we actually have tonight: being a member who listens and participates. We may be asked to chair another time. For now, another person has been entrusted with the work, including its ordinary imperfections. Letting them serve can free our attention for the newcomer beside us or the speaker whose story we nearly missed. We might even receive something from a meeting we would have organized differently.
What is my actual responsibility in the room I am in?
I can take the seat that is mine tonight.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Tradition Two.