“A.A. Sponsorship . . . Its Opportunities and Its Responsibilities.”
August 2, 2007 by Mark
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
“A.A. Sponsorship . . . Its Opportunities and Its Responsibilities.”
This is from the first pamphlet ever written concerning sponsorship. Written in 1944 by Clarence Snyder. Here are an excerpt or two then please, click through and read it all…
“Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is a potential sponsor of a new member and should clearly recognize the obligations and duties of such responsibility.
The acceptance of an opportunity to take the A.A. plan to a sufferer of alcoholism entails very real and critically important responsibilities. Each member, undertaking the sponsorship of a fellow alcoholic, must remember that he is offering what is frequently the last chance of rehabilitation, sanity or maybe life itself.
Happiness, Health, Security, Sanity and Life of human beings are the things we hold in balance when we sponsor an alcoholic.
No member among us is wise enough to develop a sponsorship program that can be successfully applied in every case. In the following pages, however, we have outlined a suggested procedure, which supplemented by the member’s own experience, has proven successful.”
PERSONAL GAINS OF BEING A SPONSOR
“Until an individual has assumed the responsibility of setting a shaking, helpless human being back on the path toward becoming a healthy useful, happy member of society, he has not enjoyed the complete thrill of being an A.A.”
Clarence is always an interesting read. This spells out a 12th Step call pretty well and I like how he suggests that we do not focus on folks who are still enjoying their drinking but only on the alcoholic who derives more pain than pleasure. However I think some info on how to demonstrate the steps would be useful.