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February 1984

I picked out a sponsor who had reasonable sobriety, seven years, and was walking the walk. He told me, “Come follow me. I’ll show you how to …” I learned that sponsors are people with open minds, who suggest things to their “sponsees” or “pigeons.” They show us by example. They are not a means to an end, but a means to a beginning. They teach us how to participate in our own recovery by participating in life. They are a bridge to other members. Sponsors show us a picture of the whole of AA, beyond the meetings. They teach us about the Three Legacies. Sure, the first is Recovery—the Twelve Steps; but we must also keep this thing together—Unity, the Twelve Traditions; and we must carry the message—the Third Legacy, Service, guided by the Twelve Concepts.

The AA pamphlet “Questions and Answers on Sponsorship” states, “Experience shows clearly that the members getting the most out of the AA program, and the groups doing the best job of carrying the AA message to still-suffering alcoholics, are those for whom sponsorship is too important to be left to chance.”

Sponsorship is a bridge to trusting the human race, the very race we once resigned from. In learning to trust, we are strengthening our sobriety. And the benefit goes two ways. The Big Book best explains this: “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.” Or, to quote a friend and longtime AA member: “A man is no fool to give away something he cannot keep in order to get something he cannot lose.”

M. S.

Grand Island, Nebraska