February 11
An Available Person
We may picture usefulness as something that begins when our life is better arranged. We will have more time, fewer worries, and a clearer sense of what we offer. Until then, we tend to think of ourselves as people receiving help. There seems to be an invisible line we must cross before we can contribute.
Yet an ordinary need may find us before we feel ready for an important role. Someone is new, a conversation has gone quiet, or a member needs to know they were missed. We can respond from the life we actually have. This need not become another demand to overlook our own difficulties. Sometimes sharing those difficulties honestly is itself useful, because it gives another person permission to be less alone with theirs. Asking God how we might serve can uncover possibilities that do not require either a settled life or a special position in the room.
What usefulness might be available within my present circumstances?
The person I am now has something to offer.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Eleven, p. 102; Step Twelve.