The Daily Lectionary gospel reading for January 21 included these verses from Mark: ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’ We can also compare our Recovery to a mustard seed and this parable.
When we start attending meetings, we are small in many ways. We are feeling fearful, less than, shameful, hopeless and helpless. We have feelings of anger and guilt. When we stay where we’ve been planted -- right in the middle of a 12-step fellowship -- we soon start to flourish and grow. Our circle gets larger. As we enlarge our base, our point of freedom rises.
We not only have connections with folks in our home group, but also with our sponsorship sisters and brothers. (There is a little joke in my ‘sponsorship family’ that we are a shrub and not a tall tree because my sponsor and her sponsor, sponsor each other. So, we’re a big bushy shrub with lots or branches… another connection to this gospel reading!) We start out being of service in our group -- welcoming folks, making coffee, setting up the meeting, cleaning up afterwards. Then we branch out and start attending the Area meeting, we hear committee meetings announced, and decide to check those out as well.
Someone answered the helpline when we called. We want to give back and do the same. Someone maintained the website where we found the phone number to call. We volunteer to help out with the website. Someone came to the treatment center we were in and shared a message of recovery and told us about AA, NA, CA, etc. --when we had enough clean time, we wanted to do the same for others. And our branches eventually grow even more. Maybe we ventured to other parts of the state, the region, the zone, or even on a worldwide level.
Many of us, especially reading here, expanded our branches outside of a 12-step program, to our churches, particularly in Recovery Ministries and like me, volunteered right away to join and be a part of this wonderful ministry that blends our recovery and our Episcopal faith.
We carry the message so that those who come after us will have a safe place, a nest if you will, a shelter from the storm that is addiction.
January 21, 1987, was my first day free from alcohol and drugs, which makes 34 years of recovery. 34 years of growing from a tiny mustard seed, to a person with long term recovery. Someone who thrives on carrying the message of recovery far and wide. It all started by getting to meetings early and helping to set up. If I can make it a little easier for another hopeless, scared addict to find this life-saving program and have a safe place to grow, then I will continue to give away to others what I have learned in this program. After all, we can’t keep what we have unless we give it away.
- Lucy O
