August 7
The Spare Key
Someone dependable becomes ill, and suddenly nobody knows where the supplies are kept or who to call about the room. The group discovers how much one person has quietly carried. Appreciation arrives together with confusion. We may have praised their reliability for years without asking whether they had enough help, or whether anyone else understood how the work was done.
Faithful service includes making the work shareable. A spare key, a written contact, or a few minutes showing someone the routine can spare the group unnecessary difficulty. It can also give the dependable person permission to be human. Preparing another member does not reduce what we contribute. It makes our contribution less fragile. We belong to a Fellowship whose message is meant to remain available through changes in health, schedules, and the ordinary circumstances none of us can entirely control.
What part of our shared work depends too heavily on one person's uninterrupted availability?
Reliability can include making room for a substitute.
For the A.A. nerds: The A.A. Service Manual, “A.A.'s Legacy of Service,” pp. 95–96.