MONUMENTS

Sponsors of Life Awards. Most of you have never heard of this very special award and for good reason. It does not exist. There are many great organizations that provide humanitarian awards to people who display special efforts in working with the human condition. But I have not heard of one that is called Sponsors of Life.

We in AA, know all about sponsors and sponsorship but Sponsors of Life is a little different. These are the role models we see in our lives on a regular basis who influence our behavior. It may be the way I work my program and I would like to do it more like someone I admire but I don’t have the skills or where-with-all to change yet. It may be someone outside of AA who lives a part of his/her life in a way I would like to emulate.

I have many such teachers in my life. People who love everyone easily and unconditionally. People who I have never heard say a derogatory thing about another person. People who do not say bad things behind another person’s back. People who always know just the right thing to say to make things feel better even in a good situation. People who strive to live better lives in service to others.

I once told my friend Nick, now passed on, how much he had influenced my life by his exemplary behavior. I told him I thought he was the most perfect man I had ever known. He became very embarrassed and asked me not to say such things because he was so very far from being perfect. He told me that if I just took baby steps every day in my conviction to be a better person, before I knew it, I would be more like the person I wanted to be. That was over 20 years ago and I now understand his embarrassment. I can’t tell if I have improved, but I know that I continue to try.

As I celebrated my recent AA birthday, I was surrounded by my friends in AA, some who had driven great distances to be with me that night (Thanks Janice and Dorothy). I also had a call from my friend Bill Martin in New Mexico and we chatted for nearly an hour.
Jack De Coup Crank, Bill Kusch, Marty Weirich, Bill Martin, Deena R., Bob D., John Heckman and so many others who believed in the POF. What a privilege to know these people and to emulate their behavior. I realized how much so many of you have taught me about living and loving. You have taught me to love, honor and respect everyone and everything.

For those of you who do not believe in a Heaven, you may stop reading now.

My friend Nick told me about people who spent their lives building monuments on earth that would transcend centuries, thereby leaving a memorial to who they were. The Taj Mahal, Mount Rushmore, Statue of Liberty and many more. He then went on to say that when we leave this earth and enter Heaven’s gate, people would appear and come forward to thank us for things we did for them on earth. Actions we were not even aware of. A kind word, helping a stranger in need, being a good friend, and on and on. We will meet people we did not even know here on earth but something we did had an effect on them through someone else who had learned from our behavior. These types of monuments cannot be seen but they are every bit as real and they last for eternity.

I think most of us do what we do because we feel good about doing what we do and who we are. I am thankful for the Sponsors of Life who have been placed in my path, but I doubt they behave the way they do because they think they might one day receive the Sponsors of Life award. I hope they do.

Thanks for letting me share!