When I think about my place in General Service today, I think about the role it takes in my life. We often speak about a balanced triangle, keeping a balance between Unity, Service and Recovery. While keeping this balance we also juggle, family, health, work, our homes and a multitude of responsibilities. In Our Great Responsibility: A Selection of Bill W.’s General Service Conference Talks 1951-1970 one of my favorite writings is by Bernard Smith past non-Alcoholic chair of the board of trustees and valued advisor to Bill W he speaks on our obligation. “The Legacy that Bill and Bob left to us is not truly a legacy but an obligation….an obligation that stems from our Twelfth Step, that the spiritual message of AA can be brought for all time to all those who need and are capable of receiving it”. When speaking these words Bernard Smith was speaking to the General Service Conference in 1953. To the members of AA taking on the obligation and personal responsibility. Sharing that our purpose is to ensure “our faith and our traditions are preserved for all time, that no person in need of our help shall ever be denied it”. As the title of this valuable piece of literature states this is a great responsibility. Important and substantial. So how can I personally fulfill this legacy I also personally believe in? By finding a way to keep this obligation in balance with my Unity, Service and Recovery.
— Lesley R.
“General Service” — Lesley R.
