Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would I be sitting in a recovery business meeting, outside under the stars, voting to close our home group meetings because of a worldwide pandemic! The atmosphere in the meeting was surreal. And we all acted like adults with stellar programs, making rational decisions for the safety of our group! Both meetings were outside on the patio area of the church where I have come several times a week for many years.
The meeting before the business meeting was great. We passed a cell phone to retrieve our designated readings. There was heartfelt sharing, honesty and a lot of experience strength and hope given. Sadly, that may be the last one of those kinds of meetings for a while.
I felt sad for a new woman with only 4 days of sobriety, we all gave her our numbers afterward, wiping the pen with sanitizer as each wrote down their number. But I know this program works even in difficult times, and I have heard a lot of sharing over the years from one extreme to the other of people staying sober. I have also heard a lot of people who are not willing to do what it takes. “Do the Deal” is the code from my sponsor: go to meetings, work the steps, be of service, get a higher power, and call your sponsor.
I was proud to watch a young woman take her 1 year “air hug” and receive a hefty applause from the group, we decided not to give out chips or get our literature out (too much to clean). We do know how to improvise, a result of our training during the using years. One man shared about the loss of someone dear to him, to this disease. That’s two people I’ve heard of this month where the disease won. Our disease does not care that the coronavirus has disrupted the lives of millions, it marches on anyway.
I am grateful that I have the years I have in recovery, and that I have an opportunity to step up my program to make more phone calls and reach out to newer people. We need to stay sober and clean no matter what, and carry the message of recovery, even if that means using technology (much to my dismay!).
I’m attending a meeting on Zoom tonight. Another thing my sponsor used to say was “Good News/Bad News, who knows”!
