August 5
A Useful Piece
The needs of suffering alcoholics are larger than anything one member can answer. Thinking about that can leave us feeling either indispensable or useless. We take on more than we can manage, or wonder whether a small contribution matters at all. Both reactions can grow from imagining that meaningful service must somehow match the size of the whole need.
A.A. reaches people through many contributions joined together. One person shares experience, another keeps the meeting open, and another supports services neither of them could provide alone. Our part can be limited and still be necessary. Remembering the larger Fellowship allows us to offer something definite without claiming responsibility for everything. There is relief in doing a useful piece of the work and trusting that other people have pieces too, even when we never learn their names.
What becomes possible when I stop measuring my contribution against the entire need?
A useful part need not be the whole answer.
For the A.A. nerds: The A.A. Service Manual, “A.A.'s Legacy of Service,” p. 95.