Pride in NA...

Over the past weekend, I had the chance to participate in a magnificent project for Narcotics Anonymous here in St Paul MN. I am the Chair of the Hospitals & Institutions Subcommittee (affectionately just known as H&I) of the local area NA group that brings meetings into facilities where recovering addicts cannot get out and go to regular NA meetings. We held a Learning Day last weekend and it blew my socks off!

More than 100 recovering addicts from the Twin Cities area took part in the process of learning ways and means to bring a message of recovery to addicts in hospitals and other institutions, like detox facilities or jails. Now this may not seem like a huge number to some folks outside the NA community, but it was the largest turnout for a Learning Day I have seen in more than 22 years of participating in H&I events like this. We in NA are notorious for not showing up for meetings despite the fact that virtually every NA member is involved with some form of service work to help fellow addicts. Morevoer, it wasn't as if these people who attended sat on their hands during the session. They were all deeply involved in the panel presentations, sharing that some addicts provided about experience, strength and hope found through H&I work, and small group discussions. At one point I got all misty eyed when watching recovering people work together to teach one another how to carry an effective message of recovery to the still-suffering addict.

Before 1953 addicts interested in recovery literally could not publicly gather together in halls and rooms because many of them had done things while using that attracted the authorities' attention. If they all came together for a public and well-known meeting, they exposed themselves to possible arrest. Then, in 1953 things started to change. Jimmy K started public meetings in Southern California that challenged the notion addicts could not be public about their recovery and their past. It was a miraculous and wonderful day when that first meeting took place among a handful of addicts in recovery.

I remembered that as I looked out on the sea of smiling faces at the Learning Day. Here we were, 100 addicts meeting in a well-publicized, public gathering to work on recovery. We were not under surveillance and threat. We were enjoying recovery and planning for the future. We, were NA.

All the best, Roger