Are We Passing It On?

[Jane05]

Are We Passing It On?

When people met Bill W. for the first time and expressed their gratitude, his usual response was "Pass it on." This became the title of his biography and has also become a slogan in A.A.

Sadly, we can pass on bad ideas as well as good ones. A number of us feel real guilt over the bad things we've passed on while we were drinking. Some are sicker that others, of course, and some of us have done terrible things while others of us have mostly injured ourselves, for the most part, I guess. But the truth is that very little good is passed on while we were drinking.

In A.A., we have the opportunity to pass on principles and actions that can be of real use to others, including people we will never meet. If we create active groups that really carry the message, we will be passing on things that will endure long after we're no longer in the picture. If our A.A. experience enables us to take responsibility for our family's well-being, our family member will benefit and so will society as a whole. When we "pass it on" we are also paying any debt we might have to the people who carried the message to us.

How do we pass it on in A.A. terms? One of the best ways is to keep the group functioning as a place where newcomer can find hope and recovery. This means that future newcomerspeople who Bill W. called "the million who still don't know"--can find the same recovery that was presented to us.

What is your personal view of passing it on?

[angussdundee]

I believe that the simplest, yet most effective way to pass this message of recovery on is to share honestly and cheerfully at your own home group. A healthy AA group always has a good succession of newcomers passing through it's doors and with practice this simple message can be transmitted by opening up to the newcomer and keeping it SIMPLE.

K.I.S.S.

Anguss.

[samf]

Think that there are so may ways that a person can pass it on, in an AA sort of sense. It seems to become kind of a way of life.

I am active in my home group, active in a couple of online meetings, active with other A's, and do a variety of service type things.

I love to be able to be there for someone else, the same way they've been there, and still are, for me.

Sam

[1day2day]

I agree with what Sam and Dundee say. But I am likewise thinking about this question of passing it on.

The early days were characterized by sober individuals going out and finding sick people. Searching through psychiatrists, hospitals, ministers, etc. for potential candidates. Now, we do a little more sitting back and waiting for the person to come in the room. There is very little evangelism of the AA message. I'm not saying that is a good or bad thing, just commenting.

However, one negative result of this is that now anybody and their brother can come into an AA meeting. They usually can open their mouth and start talking about whatever they want, and the meeting as a structured communion of sober people sharing their method of recovery becomes a convoluted rehab/social moaning meeting. In a phrase, it ceases to be AA.