Do You Have the Necessary Tools For Sponsorship?

 

Step 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. ~ Alcoholics Anonymous, p 60

Many of the early AAs sponsored after only a few weeks. Time is not the determining factor for when to sponsor, spiritual awakening is! A spiritual awakening is sometimes called a psychic change. When it happens, it’s easy to spot. Nearly everyone around you will see that your priorities and motivations are shifting. There is true joy in having a purposeful life where once death was a dominating obsession. It feels like a rebirth.

With a focus on ‘all our affairs’ we continue to grow and change, working the Steps and simultaneously beginning to reach out. We reach back to those still suffering and give them the same tools and hope we found.

How? We share the message of hope with anyone who comes into our path who is suffering from this killer of a disease. We begin to share the Steps and how we worked them. We can hand anyone these simple tools that will achieve a spiritual dimension that defies explanation. 

My friend in the photo is sharpening a hoe that was given to me for snake-killing. One friend, an oilfield rancher, gave me this basic tool to use while I guarded his gate. Another, a welder who worked in the oilfields, sharpened it for me! Thank you, Jerry and Darryl. You kept me safe from the rattlers while working in the cactus fields of South Texas. 

The tools for Sponsorship are basic, as well. As a sponsor, you will only need to have had a spiritual experience or a spiritual awakening as the result of working the 12 Steps.

The 12 Steps are a tool to keep us sober and keep us alive. Working with another suffering person keeps both of us sharp. 

Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. ~ Alcoholics Anonymous, p 89

NOTE: Spiritual awakening is not just for addicts and alcoholics, of course. Everyone is welcome if they want the benefits of the 12 Step program. You can attend OPEN meetings to learn more or contact me in the form below. I sponsor non-addictive types!