Re: The Parable Of The Sponsor

[Guest guest]

" The Parable Of The Sponsor

" A member of the program of recovery, who previously had been

attending meetings regularly, stopped going.'

why? didnt she have a reason?

" After a few weeks, her sponsor decided to visit her.  It was a

chilly evening and the sponsor found the sponsee at home

alone, sitting before a blazing fire " .

this reinforces, literally, the " if you leave aa, you are all alone in

the cold harsh world " fear they teach.

" Guessing the reason for her sponsor's visit, the sponsee

welcomed her, led her to a big chair near the fireplace and

waited. Her sponsor made herself comfortable but said nothing. 

In the grave silence, she contemplated the play of the flames

around the burning logs.  After some minutes, the sponsor took

the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and

placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. "

why would she guess absed on information rovided as to waht

sponsors vist may be? unless its job of sponsor to keep epopel

from straying away from group. in the " grave silence " ? what did

someone die here? aren't they friendly with each other? what

does this say about nature of their relationship? isn't she

interested in how her sponsee is doing? is she well, happy?

dont they have anything to share which is foundation of

relationship?

" Then she sat back in her chair, still silent.  The sponsee

watched all this in quiet fascination.  As the one lone ember's

flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then it's fire

was no more.  Soon it was cold and " dead as a doornail. "

" dead a a doornail " ? why use that terminology? is she really

dead, cold and alone? what is she saying to her sponsee, who

by the way, she hasn't bothered to ask, nor shown any interest,

how she was doing? what does that tell us about their

relationship? what does that teach other sponsors? what is so

fascinating about this? if you saw anyone do this, is " fascination "

what you would experience? how about boredom?

" Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting "

why? the power of sponsors wisdom is beyond words right?

" Just before the sponsor was ready to leave, she picked up the

cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. 

Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and

warmth of the burning coals around it. "

she still hasn't said a word. oooooh , what a mysterious quiet

aura of wisdom. is being in a meeting really like life from death?

" As the sponsor reached the door to leave, the sponsee said,

" Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery

sermon.  I'll see you at the meeting in the morning. " '

what about her reason for not being at a meeting to begin with?

didnt she have a personal reason that was as legitimate and

healthy as a burned out piece of wood? why is " sermon " used

to describe this meeting? what does that say about the balance

of this relationship?

why doesnt t the sponsor wish the former sponsee well on her

journey away from AA or show any interest in how she actually is

doing or what she has experienced, and only undermines her

decision and belief she had made right choice. quite alot of

conveyed with no words at all.

[Guest guest]

finnally, of all the things a " parable " of a sponsor could have

been about, the author seems to think the role of telling you not

leave aa is one worth writing about

[Guest guest]

finnally, of all the things a " parable " of a sponsor could have

been about, the author seems to think the role of telling you not

leave aa is one worth writing about

[Guest guest]

(Snip)

>

> " Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting "

>

> why? the power of sponsors wisdom is beyond words right?

>

>

> " Just before the sponsor was ready to leave, she picked up the

> cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. 

> Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and

> warmth of the burning coals around it. "

>

> she still hasn't said a word. oooooh , what a mysterious quiet

> aura of wisdom. ...

>

------------------------

LOL, great repartee Dave, I especially liked the snips above.

Seriously, if someone came to my house, sat the

whole time without speaking and played with burning

embers in my fireplace, I wouldn't be " fascinated " ,

I'd be scared -- I'd think they were nuts. Maybe dangerous.

~Rita

[Guest guest]

An intriguing feature of this is that its a female sponsor and female

sponsee, although most AA members are still men and most of the

literature still reflects this. Methinks this is actually an Al-Anon

parable. This would also explain why the parable is about

metaphorical spiritual death, rather than the actual usually invoked

by AA mythology.

HP.

[Guest guest]

good point, i also thought the female role was interetsing chocie

for those same reasons, althought i wasnt think of alanon.

this got me looking for similar stuff on web. i found some sites

which seem to have more of this 12-step mythology making

crap. i'll dive into it this weekend and sift thur the slime.

> An intriguing feature of this is that its a female sponsor and

female

> sponsee, although most AA members are still men and most

of the

> literature still reflects this. Methinks this is actually an Al-Anon

> parable. This would also explain why the parable is about

> metaphorical spiritual death, rather than the actual usually

invoked

> by AA mythology.

>

> HP.

[Guest guest]

good point, i also thought the female role was interetsing chocie

for those same reasons, althought i wasnt think of alanon.

this got me looking for similar stuff on web. i found some sites

which seem to have more of this 12-step mythology making

crap. i'll dive into it this weekend and sift thur the slime.

> An intriguing feature of this is that its a female sponsor and

female

> sponsee, although most AA members are still men and most

of the

> literature still reflects this. Methinks this is actually an Al-Anon

> parable. This would also explain why the parable is about

> metaphorical spiritual death, rather than the actual usually

invoked

> by AA mythology.

>

> HP.

[Guest guest]

good point, i also thought the female role was interetsing chocie

for those same reasons, althought i wasnt think of alanon.

this got me looking for similar stuff on web. i found some sites

which seem to have more of this 12-step mythology making

crap. i'll dive into it this weekend and sift thur the slime.

> An intriguing feature of this is that its a female sponsor and

female

> sponsee, although most AA members are still men and most

of the

> literature still reflects this. Methinks this is actually an Al-Anon

> parable. This would also explain why the parable is about

> metaphorical spiritual death, rather than the actual usually

invoked

> by AA mythology.

>

> HP.

[Guest guest]

At 09:47 PM 1/12/01 +0000, you wrote:

>An intriguing feature of this is that its a female sponsor and female

>sponsee, although most AA members are still men and most of the

>literature still reflects this. Methinks this is actually an Al-Anon

>parable. This would also explain why the parable is about

>metaphorical spiritual death, rather than the actual usually invoked

>by AA mythology.

Methinks this parable is actually about some stepper feeling

profound and full of themselves. What a load of self-righteous

tripe!

It's actually quite informative in that it demonstrates just how

seriously steppers take steppism. Can anyone read that and

still not acknowledge that steppism is religious?

[Guest guest]

At 09:47 PM 1/12/01 +0000, you wrote:

>An intriguing feature of this is that its a female sponsor and female

>sponsee, although most AA members are still men and most of the

>literature still reflects this. Methinks this is actually an Al-Anon

>parable. This would also explain why the parable is about

>metaphorical spiritual death, rather than the actual usually invoked

>by AA mythology.

Methinks this parable is actually about some stepper feeling

profound and full of themselves. What a load of self-righteous

tripe!

It's actually quite informative in that it demonstrates just how

seriously steppers take steppism. Can anyone read that and

still not acknowledge that steppism is religious?

[Guest guest]

At 09:47 PM 1/12/01 +0000, you wrote:

>An intriguing feature of this is that its a female sponsor and female

>sponsee, although most AA members are still men and most of the

>literature still reflects this. Methinks this is actually an Al-Anon

>parable. This would also explain why the parable is about

>metaphorical spiritual death, rather than the actual usually invoked

>by AA mythology.

Methinks this parable is actually about some stepper feeling

profound and full of themselves. What a load of self-righteous

tripe!

It's actually quite informative in that it demonstrates just how

seriously steppers take steppism. Can anyone read that and

still not acknowledge that steppism is religious?