Pages

The AA Symbol

The circle around the triangle symbolizes God for me. Unity, recovery, and service are activities of spirit. They happen inside the circle, in God's world. I spent most of my life outside the circle of Life. I learned self-sufficiency from well-meaning, but ignorant, parents, teachers, and a society that placed the highest value on materialism. In the process of making my own way in the world, I separated myself from the Source of all good. I often felt lonely, empty but I didn't think I needed God because, according to society's scorecard, I was winning the game of life.

Then I started dancing with the gorilla. it went okay for a while, but toward the end when I wanted to sit one out, the gorilla wanted to keep on dancing. Finally, exhausted from the dance, I became willing to listen. I crawled through the doors of Alcoholics Anonymous and God pulled me inside the circle.

The sides of the triangle are equal in length and perfectly interconnected. As I continue to recover my spiritual sanity through the Program and the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, I experience a deeper connection with life. I begin to see more and more of our similarities and less and less of our differences. As the feeling of Oneness expands, I am better able to share my experience, strength and hope with other alcoholics -- the only service I am uniquely qualified to provide to the world. Apparently, it is what I have been called to do.