In the Rooms of AA, we often hear, “I was at the top of my amends list,” or “first we have to make amends to ourselves” and “I have to forgive myself first.” These expressions bother me. With my obsession with self, preoccupation with my selfish needs and my self-centered…

Years ago, on a business trip in another city, I attended a downtown morning AA meeting. I walked by a homeless shelter to get to the meeting; a couple of fellows were attending with all their worldly possessions. One caught my eye. Everything about him announced his life on the…

The topic was spiritual growth; an AA brother shared, “years ago, I was driving across the prairies to the west coast. The prairies are monotonous; I was not paying attention and wandered off the highway into the ditch. Fortunately, on the prairies, ditches are pretty much level with the road…

Reversing course can take much time and much space, or no time and no space. Watching a big semi-trailer drive into a warehouse parking lot and turn around, carefully turning, many times, to and fro, to back into a loading dock, I saw how much time and space the driver…

Many factors affect my sanity. Maintaining a level of sanity is complicated and difficult. Or so I thought. When I reviewed my sanity, context seemed to matter. A change in context can be crazy-making. …

An AA brother shared a story about the best answer ever. It covers everything and everyone. It was Friday night and a speaker meeting, and the speaker asked if there were any newcomers. Several people raised their hands. …

We took a newcomer to our AA meeting out for coffee. Our new fellow had identified as ‘coming back’ in the meeting, and everyone welcomed him enthusiastically. All the men talked about the courage needed to come back and admit to a slip. Over coffee, we learned that our new…

To be sure, to be sane, or not to be sane is a question. Sanity comes and goes. Last week I was sane, and this week I am not. But there is more than sanity or not sanity; sanity is complicated and nuanced: it increases and decreases in quantity, and…

We were talking over coffee and disagreed; I did not know much about the subject of the conversation, but with my secret mental skills, I was certain I was right. I was being ignorant and intransigent; a habit of mine. My friend said, “you are so damn stubborn.” I replied…