By: D. W. R. | Detroit, Michigan
February 1973
New insight on the old parable, and how it applies to us – Around the Tables
AROUND THE TABLES, I wondered how I was going to make it. What they had seemed so impossible to achieve. Yet I have obtained a lot of what they had, and I can truly see that, by following their path, there is much, much more to be gained.
How tough was it to get this far from that dismal, painful, trembling start? To be honest, not so tough as it looked then, facing “the rest of eternity” without booze. But has time smoothed out those rough days? Is my memory deliberately making it easier, so that I’ll forget those first 24 hours and thus make a slip more likely?
Bothersome thoughts on the path to serenity, but. . .how tough was it? Not so bad, not so bad at all–because something happened on the road. Until tonight, I didn’t realize what it was. For years, I have listened to the story of the Prodigal Son, read it, and had it tossed up at me for a variety of reasons. In general terms, the bad guy screws up for a number of years, returns home, and is taken back in as a good guy. This parable certainly tracks my story–years of hell-raising and finally pure hell which led me to AA. Thank God, this prodigal has stayed around, one day at a time.
But tonight I reread the parable and got an insight into why the road back is made so much easier once the surrender and acceptance have been made: The father of the Prodigal Son “ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.”
This is what happens in AA. Once you “have come to your senses” (Luke 15:17) and your Higher Power is aware of your decision (Step Three), He rushes to help you. Listen carefully around the tables, and AA after AA will say, “Something happened,” “The desire to drink was gone,” “My thirst abated,” “I became aware.” However it’s expressed, there was always a turning point when the process of recovery sped up.
I think that when I finally gave up, during the end of my first year in AA, the Father rushed out, threw His arms around my neck, and kissed me. All who have heard my story and those who have been with me through thick and thin agree that it was at the start of my second year that real improvements came about.
From my experience, I urge all who haven’t reached this point yet: Give up–and watch the wonders as the Father rushes to help you.
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