Anybody who has been around a while knows this to be true. Some people read this as "We are not all saints". I read it as "There is not a saint among us".

The truth be told, there is not a saint among the saints. Not the kind we are told about, those totally selfless, perfect people who have never hurt anyone, in any way.

It's a good thing you don't have to be a saint to get sober, or I'd be drunk and/or dead.

AA is the blind leading the blind. Because another blind person with experience knows far better than a sighted person what blind people have to watch out for. A sighted person might be able to do things for a blind person, or give him directions in any given instance, but can't really teach a person how to live without sight.

I believe the human grasp of the universe is very limited - not unlike the story of the blind men and the elephant. One who touched the elephant's trunk thought it was a snake. One who touched it's tail though it was like a rope. The one who touched the side thought it was a wall. The one who touched its leg thought it was a tree. Those blind men sitting down and talking among themselves and sharing their experience might give them a better understanding of an elephant.

On the other hand, a scientist in a laboratory looking at elephant DNA profiles will understand things about the elephant that most people can't - sighted or otherwise. Yet, if that scientist has never seen an elephant, and only looked at the DNA, will have even less idea of what the animal is like than any one of the blind men.

I once went to a doctor for treatment for poison ivy. He was from India. He asked me, "what does it look like?" and I started to unbutton my shirt. He said "No, I've seen the rash hundreds of times. What does the plant look like?" Here is an example of a very educated and experienced man, who could explain in great detail how the urushiol toxin causes a histamine reaction, and how steroids reduce the inflammation - yet he didn't know what almost any American 10-year old could tell you by rote - "Leaves three, leave it be!"

When it comes to alcoholism, you can google away and hear every scientific, religious, and moral theory about the disease, is it or is it not, brain chemistry, genetic predisposition. All interesting, but - for me to live sober I only need to know one thing - "Leave it be!"

I am something of a geek, so I do like to read about the science. As long as I'm not looking for an excuse to drink... LOL. I know one person who read that alcoholics have a vitamin B deficiency. So she started taking strong B suppliments... and resumed her drinking.

There are people who would claim the lack of saints within the walls of AA are proof that it doesn't work. On the contrary... it's proof that it does work, that sainthood is not a prerequisite for (or a result of) sobriety.

My uncle once told me that AA wouldn't save my soul. I told him I don't go there to save my soul. I go there to save my ass.

Thanks for reading this roundabout ramble.

Barisax

-- Edited by barisax at 14:43, 2007-01-03