Just Taking My Turn

I learned about service when I first came into OA long ago, working the Steps and using the Tools.

I learned it was good for my recovery to get out of my head and do things for others—that one recovering compulsive eater reaching out to another is the foundation of OA. I learned that no CEO presides over us. Rather, OA’s service structure is upside-down: groups are at the top and the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee are at the bottom. But I wasn’t sure where I fit in. The lower part of that structure was made of members who had something I didn’t. And I wasn’t sure what this had to do with abstinence.

Now that I am studying the Twelve Concepts of OA Service, I see the service structure in a new light. I see it as a three-dimensional pyramid made of many individual bricks. Every brick is a member, and not one of them is more important than any other. Over time, we member bricks change positions in the pyramid. Sometimes, we are near the top, doing service in our groups or as sponsors; other times, we are near the bottom, giving service as representatives, delegates, or trustees. Still, each brick is the same size as any other.

This makes sense! Any member can be elected as a representative, delegate, or trustee, as long as certain requirements are met, and all these trusted servants are still regular members at OA meetings.

Can this image, the 3-D pyramid, help me stay abstinent? I suffer from the character defect of “I’m-not-as-good-as-ism,” and when my disease picks up on my insecurity, it knows how to tempt me with food. The image of identical bricks simply switching places in the pyramid reinforces, for me, the Principle of humility. I’m reminded that I’m neither better nor worse; I’m just taking my turn.

So what holds the pyramid up? I believe it’s the Principle of responsibility. When I take on a job and do it, and all the other bricks do their jobs, then the pyramid stays together as a unit. I can’t make someone become responsible, but maybe once we all see how important each one of us is, we’ll all want to become more involved.

Why doesn’t the upside-down pyramid topple over? Concept One reminds us that “God is the ultimate authority . . .” (Twelve Concepts, p. 3). My HP is greater than gravity! When I bring God into everything I do, he does miraculous things.

— Anonymous