As No One Else Can

The message works because it comes from a drunk, and a program that replaces the drunk with staff keeps the words and loses the message. Bill W. wrote of A.A.'s one purpose (A.A. Comes of Age): "It is our experience as alcoholics that makes us of unique value on our sector of the total alcoholic front. We can approach sufferers as no one else can." Unique value means worth that nobody else has. Today that approach gets handed off. A counsellor, a case worker or a paid recovery coach does the talking, makes the plan and runs the meeting as one part of the program. Some of those workers have their own sobriety. They are still paid to be there, and the drinker can tell. One alcoholic who wants nothing back can say something no paid worker can: I was where you are, and nobody is paying me to sit here. The Long Form (Big Book, p. 563) gives the job to the group, not to a facility: "carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers." When a group lets a program carry the message for it, the group may still meet every week, but its one purpose has moved out of the room and onto somebody's payroll. Test it tonight: ask who in your town reaches the drinker first, a program or your group's members.