November 17
Nobody Ready Yet
Rotation is easier to praise when someone is waiting to take over. When a position remains empty, the conversation gets more difficult. An outgoing servant may feel trapped between abandoning the work and remaining indefinitely. Other members may praise that person's dedication while doing little to share the responsibility. A group can become very comfortable with one member's inability to let it down.
Continuity belongs to the group as well as to the individual who has carried the task. Honest limits can help bring that shared responsibility into view. Perhaps the work can be divided, an alternate supported, or unnecessary demands reconsidered. There may be no immediate, tidy solution. Still, the absence of a ready successor deserves an open conversation rather than a quiet extension of someone's exhaustion. Love for the group includes believing its members can face a practical difficulty together.
Where has one person's willingness allowed the rest of us to avoid our share?
The vacancy belongs in the conversation.
For the A.A. nerds: The A.A. Service Manual, Appendix E, “The Principle of Rotation.”