July 3
The Meeting We Almost Skipped
After a decent day, tonight's meeting can seem unnecessary. There is no crisis to talk through, and we know what we are likely to hear. All of that may be true. It also leaves out another reason for being there: somebody else might need the company we bring.
Step Twelve includes the support our presence offers. We are not obliged to attend every meeting, and rest, family, and work have legitimate claims on us. Still, recovery gradually changes the question of attendance from what we will receive to what we might share as well. The person speaking into a quiet room needs listeners. The newcomer studying unfamiliar faces may find reassurance in a familiar one. We do not have to know who benefits or how. Taking our seat sometimes expresses a simple willingness to help sustain something that once sustained us.
How does my reason for attending change when I remember that my presence also gives something?
There is something to offer from a seat in the room.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Twelve, p. 110.