Greetings From the Chair of SA’s Board of Trustees

I’m Bob H., a Class A (non-SA) Trustee, elected by the GDA in July 2010. I currently serve as Trustee Chair. I would like to share some of my journey as well as how I came to serve the SA fellowship.

I was raised in a wonderful and loving family with great moral principles. I went to church, served as an altar boy, and attended Catholic School for several years. In spite of my many opportunities to learn how to live a spiritual life and become a decent human being, somehow I never fit in. For years, I did many horrible things and was out of control. I did not know that I was living in delusion. Not until 35 years later, when my way of living drove me to my bottom, was I forced to seek help.

On my 35th birthday, on March 28, 1982, I had my last drink of alcohol. I was introduced to the spiritual program of Alcoholics Anonymous in a treatment center. You could never have convinced me that I was starting the most fantastic part of my life. I was not excited to be there, but I knew I was crazy and needed to be somewhere. I had been in trouble all of my life and I had no idea that I was an alcoholic. It was with help from other alcoholics that two days later I came to believe that I was “powerless” over alcohol. I already knew that my life was unmanageable, as did many other people.

It was at this time that my journey into spirituality and a wonderful way of living began. When I was released from the center, a fellow fireman met me at the door and took me to my first AA meeting. In that room I fit in for the first time in my life. I joined in with this fellowship of damaged human beings and started forming friendships unlike any I had ever known.

With a sponsor’s help I got involved in service and started a new way of living. I’ve been blessed to serve AA at many levels and to meet people from all over the United States and the world. I’ve met people from different cultures, races, and religions. We all had the same illness. I belonged.

In 2009, I began sponsoring a young man who was exhibiting some alarming signs of destructive sexual behavior. I also had a friend who was having problems in this area. At the same time I was a service sponsor for a man who “just happened” to be a member of SA. After I spoke with him for awhile, he sent me the White Book and some other literature. When I read the White Book, I was afforded another spiritual experience. What I read fit my sponsee and my friend, but something else happened: I truly believe that I was given another piece of a Spiritual Awakening. I was amazed. As I discussed all this with my sponsee who is a member of SA, my amazement grew even more.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that just when I think that I know where my journey is taking me, I need to be ready for God to reveal another road. In one of our conversations, my friend asked me if I would consider putting my name in for Class A Trustee for SA. I was astonished. I asked him if he knew what he was talking about and he assured me he did. I told him I had to pray about it and talk to my wife and my sponsor. I did all these things twice. I got the same answer from God both times: “Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us” (AA 77)—not just alcoholics. My wife and my sponsor were both supportive, and so started my spiritual journey with SA.

I knew that I was in the right place when I attended the SA International Convention in Chicago in 2010, when I was elected as an SA Trustee. I met a lot of wonderful people and heard many amazing things while I was there, but it was during dinner on Saturday night that I saw very clearly this is a spiritual journey. As I looked around the room I saw several hundred smiling faces and people with “the lights on” in their eyes. They were laughing and having great fellowship with friends new and old. I sat down with a table full of people whom I had never met before but I knew them spiritually. It reminded me of the first AA meeting I attended.

Then I had another revelation: I truly believe that God chose alcoholics to introduce this spiritual program to the world. Alcoholics are in plain sight and they are everywhere. Of all the spiritually bankrupt people on earth, alcoholics were the most obvious. When other people started seeing this hopeless bunch getting better, they began to think that maybe what alcoholics were using could help them too.

I believe that this same thing is happening through SA. People are witnessing healing through a spiritual program that is not religious; a program that is forgiving, tolerant, and non-judgmental. The people who have been spiritually healed give freely of themselves to help fellow sufferers. SA is vital and must remain spiritually sound for those yet to come.

Today I know this spiritual program of recovery does not belong to any one fellowship. It is a gift from God to His suffering children. It is the duty of each fellowship to keep their own message clear for those yet to come. Thank you for allowing me to be of service.