MEETINGS, MEETINGS, MEETINGS!
In my copy of our Big Book, page 162, I read, "Some day we hope every alcoholic who journeys will find a fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous at his destination."
I am not a 'world traveler', but my annual trips have taken me from Libby, MT to Boca Raton, FL. From Lake City and Montrose, CO to Charleston, WV, and from Cincinnati OH, to Gatlinburg TN, and from Staunton, IL to Maggie Valley, NC. True, I am forgetting places like Macon, GA, Akron. OH, St Augustine, and other towns and cities in Florida.
Why oh why did I leave out the "city of the birth of my recovery", Naples FL? Just passed it by, but it IS my "AA home", now and forever.
AA meetings I readily and easily found in each place--and ALWAYS they were beneficial occasions of giving, receiving, and sharing peace and serenity--and spirituality--for me and others. God has been so good to me, putting people in front of me daily, people who He wishes to use me to help. It does happen, IS happening, every day, more and more...
Here I must say that I have never noticed one single bit of substantive difference in the formats or topics of meetings, great diversity of membership 'Peeps' -grin!, or the serious enthusiasm of AA people everywhere. I have found that we are indeed...ONE! We DO have that 'singleness of purpose' found nowhere else in a "different-in-almost-every-way-imaginable" group of formerly (very) wayward people.
Even most 'religious' people are seldom if ever totally in agreement as to solutions, answers, and program of treatment for their 'issues'.
It is 10:45 PM and maybe tonight I'll get into bed before 11. That will be a 'first' for many weeks, for me.
We are planing to make the last leg of our trip, about 8-9 hour drive, home to Naples, in the morning (Monday). So, if ya get a moment, please say a prayer that God might want us to get there in one piece.
Oh, and thank God for GPS! I could write a Blong about that. What a saving device, saving in miles, and serenity.
TRIVIA
"Catholic priests do not smoke cigars during mass anymore. But they did. Long, long, long ago. Pope urban VIII put a stop to the the practice in first half of the Fifteenth Century."
"Daily Trivia" taken from L.M. Boyd's Curiosity Shop
(I wonder if it was the cigar smoke (instead of incense) on which prayers of the faithful rose heavenward? -grin!)
Peace, and my love is with you tonight, bloggers!
Steve E
17 comments:
Hi Steve,
You left a comment on my blog a couple of weeks ago and had no idea how you got there. I think I can explain: Cat refered you to my blog a couple of months back and since then, My Internet was down and I am just now getting back to it.
Anyway, I apprecciate your comments. Thanks for stopping by.
~Sierra
I think going to AA meeting in new places is one of the greatest things about the program. I still remember walking into one of the West Palm Beach meetings when I was only about 3 months sober, and the first person to greet me at the door said: "Welcome home!" to me. It felt wonderful for a scared little pipsqueak like me.
Steve! Just got back from your "neck of the woods". What a beautiful home town you live in! I was in HEAVEN! You are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful city. I hope the last leg of your trip is a safe one.
Hi,
You dropped by my blog this evening and I just wanted to thank you for the kind comments.
You have a nice spot here ... I'll be reading.
safe travels on this last leg of your journey
Steve-0-Homeward bound, I'll be thinking of you and Anna today. Take some rests along the way and God Bless.
Hi Steve E.,
Just another friend of Bill here. My name is Mark H. and I just started my 1st blog here about a week ago. I like what you said about the many, many groups not just in the USA but around the world. I like what it says on pg.159 in the Big Book, "He was there three months. He now returned home, leaving behind his first acquaintance, the lawyer and the devil-may-care chap.
It's amazing how someone with only 3 months can start such a movement like Alcoholics Anonymoous.
Take care my friend,
Mark H.
DITTO - Love all the meetings I've been to everywhere.
Prayers for safe driving all the way home.
LOVE YOU
ME
I love going to new meetings. I like some better than others though.
Some of the most fun we've had in the 25 years of the program have been meetings in other places. As you allude, I am always:
1) amazed at our diversity
2) amazed how much the same we are
3) grateful to get back to my home group
Blessings, bon voyage and aloha...
I enjoy going to meetings out of town. It's an invigorating experience.
I have thoroughly enjoyed all the meetings I've been in when traveling, from the odd pick up meeting here and there as I drive through, to being ambushed and taken to detox center meetings and carrying meetings into a good friend's dad who is terminally ill. All have been very very enlightening and have shown me God at work in HUGE ways.
Safe travels, I may end up with a GPS myself some day. Hopefully you are home by now with your feet up. Home Sweet Home
Hey my friend. Came by to say hello. Doing okay. Thanks for all your support. I am doing okay. hugs, mile
Whether I like the meeting or not not, I have to remember that it's not about me. It's about the being of maximum service to God so that I can bear witness of His Power, His Love and His way of life.
The travels sound fantastic!
Love that GPS now, while you can....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520636,00.html
:D
I love being able to find that familiar group in any city I might visit.
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