First Meeting

Last week I went to Alcoholics Anonymous for the first time.

What do you say after a sentence like that?

I feel pressure to qualify it somehow. Like, listen. I’m not an alcoholic. I went with a friend, all right? He’s the alcoholic. I just drink. It’s not a problem. Seriously!

Here’s the thing: what I want to write to you about has nothing to do about drinking.

It’s this: that hour at Alcoholics Anonymous was one of the beautiful things I have ever witnessed. And I believe you would think so too.

Why? You’ll have to trust me on this. Part of the code is that I can’t tell you anything about anyone that was there. But, for the sake of your soul, I do think I can maybe get away with telling you this: At Alcoholics Anonymous, no one there feels pressure to qualify anything about anything.

It was beautiful I tell you.

No pretense. No bull.

In that room there was nothing but love, acceptance, and joy.

That was the thing. There was so much joy in the room. I hadn’t felt that much joy in a very long time.

I left going, “Man. Those alcoholics really have got something that I don’t got.”

They remind me of what Jesus says about losing your life to save it.

I always thought of Jesus’ words as either literal (which freaks me out – until you realize that Jesus literally did that for me!!!) Or I thought about those words metaphorically (like all this false-self/true-self mambo jambo that has been going around the last few years). Neither of these interpretations is bad, mind you. But listen: when you sit in a room of folks who literally have lost pretty much everything, and they’re sitting around with joy oozing out their pores – that’s something to pay attention to. That’s some kind of miracle.

That’s what they call a Higher Power.

I call it beautiful. And I want more of it.

I want no pretense. No bull. I want a life with nothing but love, acceptance and joy.

And if I have to go to A.A. to get it, then maybe I’ll go.

And if you need someone to take you, let me know.