A Free Man

    Tonight a friend and I will go to the Tuesday night Witney meeting to meet a guy we twelve stepped last week. It was a controversial 12 step call as he was referred to AA by his probation officer. I got the call from our probation liason – a new intergroup service position – and as I’ve been told to do said yes when asked to go and talk to him. One of my closest AA friends, a fellow I’ve 12 stepped with before said he couldn’t go along because he felt that this type of service ran contrary to the traditions. He made the analogy that if a wife phoned asking for a 12 step call for her husband, we wouldn’t go – that is true. But it seemed to me that being referred by your parole officer, is similar to being ordered by a court to attend AA. Neither of these are great ways of going about it. But my argument was that the ends justify the means.

How many people really got to AA for the “right” reason? I went to my first meeting to save my relationship. So did my sponsor. So did the friend I was arguing with. For me, the magic happened at that first meeting and I don’t care any more about how I got there. I figure if we can get people through the doors, they have a chance for that magic to happen for them.

We met with this guy at the probation office in Oxford. He was surly, probably a little bit drunk and not particularly responsive. We shared our experience, strength and hope. I told him about “a new freedom and a new happiness”. And by the end of it, he wasn’t completely against going to a meeting. He said he’d think about it and give us a call.

I got the call yesterday afternoon and we’re going to pick him up for a meeting tonight. So this fellow’s got his chance. Tell me, do the ends justify the means?