On The Wagon

 "All alcoholics have personality problems.  Alcoholics cannot stop drinking unless they find a way to solve their personality problems.  That's why going on the wagon doesn't solve anything.  That's why taking The Pledge usually doesn't work."

There used to be a thing called the water wagon which was a horse-drawn conveyance that was used to spray water on dirt roads to keep the dust down.  So if you were "on the wagon" you apparently were riding on this cart where no alcohol was served.  It seems to me that if you wanted to stop drinking there would be easier methods.  Why wouldn't you be "in the church" or "on the small rowboat?"  There are lots of places that don't have alcohol.  I personally would rather not sit on a dusty, rattling, jarring wagon riding around right behind a horse that was undoubtedly taking the occasional shit while it was working.  "Take the pledge" is also good but I don't have anything funny or weird to say about it.  Sort of a dry aphorism.

This idea of personality problems is one of the linchpins of Alcoholics Anonymous.  This idea that we have to address the root causes of our drinking to solve the problem.  If all you had to do is to stop then treatment centers and rehabs would be turning out winners 100% of the time.

"Loosen your hold on earth, its cares and its worries.  Unclasp your hold on material things, relax your grip, and the tide of peace and serenity will flow in."

This idea that loosening your grip on what is material and inherently transitory is another linchpin of A.A.  I've found that a deep satisfaction is more easily found in what is spiritual and inherently enduring than focusing too much on the material.  This is all very nice to write about, of course, and much harder to put into practice.  The cares and attractions of our material world - right there in front of me and difficult to ignore - tend to crowd in and obscure the much less distinct spiritual part of my life.