THE A.A. MIRACLE: TO HELL AND BACK IS A POSSIBLE JOURNEY by JP
'You can take a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink'. Doctors, especially, are loathe to use this phrase as they tell their cirrhosis patient that he has to stop drinking or else... But, there is a certain group of folks, ex-drunks so to say, who have an interesting twist to this truism. "Sure, you cannot force the horse to drink, but we make even a donkey thirsty enough to make him want to drink". These are the members of Alcoholics Anonymous, or just 'A.A.' Some have joined the group understanding the name literally, thinking it is one place where you can booze quietly without anyone knowing anything about it. But once at a meeting place they realize it is all a very different ball game from the ones they played at the bars and taverns. You were made most welcome and asked to take a seat. And while you waited, all you got were stories of one speaker after another sharing the story of his or her life -- to hell and back. Not one told you not to drink. Interestingly, you were not told to do anything, not even to put your mite into the collection box which passed around. This was for members only. They wanted nothing from you -- not even your money. At the end of it all everyone stood up recited some mumbo-jumbo ending with a loud 'Keep Coming Back -- It Works'. And, you were left wondering what the hell was that all about. But something told you that you wanted what these folks had, though at the time you could not place your finger on it, or spell out what exactly it was that they offered you on a platter free of cost with no strings attached. It all started exactly 77 years ago, when two ex-drunks sat together gaining strength by sharing their weakness for the bottle and thus helping one another to stay sober just for that day. This was 10th June, 1935, called Founder's Day of the group later to be named as 'Alcoholics Anonymous'. The two were Bill and Dr. Bob. The former a New York stockbroker, while the later a surgeon from Akron. At the time they did not know the 'why' of why they could not drink like other normal people; or, the 'how' of how they could keep sober tomorrow. All they knew was that for just one day if two drunks could honestly acknowledge their weakness for booze, it would give them the strength to stay sober one day at a time. Soon they began to search for others who felt they too were prisoners of the bottle and share their own weakness which was now soon to become their strength. Number 3 was a lawyer found in a hospital badly battered in his battle against the bottle. From there on it was a game of 'give and receive': giving hope to the still suffering alcoholic, and, in turn, receiving sobriety for one more day. The idea began to catch on. It was the first of its kind -- pyramid sales in its infancy, selling sobriety for nothing but your own sobriety. They got the name 'Alcoholics Anonymous' some years later from the title of their first major publication which was, and still is, fondly referred to as The Big Book. The chapters contain the entire philosophy of the movement with a number of stories appended at the end which makes any active alkie wonder what makes him different. Chapter 5 is the high water mark of the book. It starts with a fascinating observation: "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed out path...." It then goes on to explain the crux of the path they took to gain sobriety, and which by now has become the famous 12 step programme. This starts with an admission of powerlessness over alcohol and culminates in carrying the message to the still suffering alcoholic. Today there are thousands of this fellowship all over the world where these ex-drunks meet to share their experience, strength and hope with each other in order to stay sober, and to help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. No, there are no dues or fees for membership. As a matter of fact one hears innumerable number of stories of members sharing how they entered because of the free 'tea and snacks' they got at the meetings. Some of them could not even hold the cup due to the 'tremors' and was grateful to another sober member literally giving him a helping hand. A.A. is self-supporting through their own contributions received freely from grateful and sober members. It's a rather funny organization which deliberately declines outside contributions. No cash from even relatives of the grateful dead. No means no, as far as outside contributions are concerned. This is one organization which believes in being nearly broke at all times. They do not even own any office or property. Everything has to be on lease or rented. They are always afraid that matters of money and property if held would deflect them from their primary purpose of carrying the message to the still suffering alcoholic. And, as a result of all this, they say they have no opinion on outside matters. Ask them if alcohol is good or bad: No Opinion, is the pat answer. Should bars close early? No Opinion. Should there be prohibition: No Opinion. They do not even give the new comer an opinion on whether or not he is an alcoholic. That's for each one to decide for themselves. It's interesting to see how a one time 'boozard' who had an opinion on nearly everything once he has had his daily quota, now keep his mouth shut on nearly everything.... as a member of AA. But not otherwise. Old habits die hard. Coming back to the drunk who crawled into his first meeting, he can slink away without anyone knowing about him being present. There is one tradition which is most fiercely guarded by every group: ANONYMITY. This is the spiritual foundation on which all else rests. Strict anonymity is maintained at the level of press, radio, TV and the electronic media. Though there are top pop singers, no body ever is heard to sing their praises for being a member of AA. Here in 'Alcoholics Anonymous' everyone is equal, as someone put it: one ex-drunk, just one drink away from the next drunk. But, chances are that the bloke who came and heard, will want to come again, and again, and again, and... till he gets what those others say they have found and are offering him free with the tea and snacks. He begins to believe that he is not a mad man, or a bad man, that he is just a sick man, as they explained. He learns he suffers from a disease called 'alcoholism' which compels him to drink after he has taken that first drink. He learns it is a progressive disease, and perhaps he may be at the last stages, especially if he could not hold the cup of tea. But, most important he learns the greatest truth: Here there is hope for the hopeless, and, miracles do happen. Slowly but surely he begins to see the miracle take place in his own life -- he begins to thirst for sobriety. And... See more about Alcoholics Anonymous in Goa here: http://www.aagsoindia.org/goa.htm