November 13
A Different Arrangement
The new secretary moves the literature table. It is a small change, but we can immediately supply six reasons why the old arrangement was better. We spent months getting things right. Watching someone alter them may feel like watching our contribution being erased. Before long, a practical question about where books belong has become a private question about whether our work mattered.
A successor's judgment does not have to serve as a review of our term. Conditions change, people notice different things, and some choices simply admit more than one good answer. If a real difficulty needs mentioning, our experience may be useful. But constant comparison makes learning harder for everyone, including us. The group trusted us to exercise judgment; now it has extended that trust to someone else. Their freedom to arrange a table can help us discover how much freedom we have to remain a member.
What change am I taking personally that may have very little to do with me?
Our contribution does not disappear when the furniture moves.
For the A.A. nerds: The A.A. Service Manual, Appendix E, “The Principle of Rotation.”