Preacher Horseface Strikes Again

Preach: To give moral or religious advice, especially in a tiresome manner; urge strongly or persistently.

As an organization AA takes pride in being totally self-sufficient. There is good reason for this. If we impose upon a church or a civic institution for a meeting space and don't pay any rent, we risk being susceptible to the pressures of outside influences. Let's say a church provides a large, comfortable room with a coffee maker and refuses to accept any rent money. It's usually the case that no ulterior motive exists, but there's no guarantee that this is so. Maybe the church hopes that the free room will convince the poor, deranged alcoholics to convert to their particular brand of faith. Maybe the community hall manager starts dropping hints about which candidate needs support during the next election. Possibilities like these may serve to keep people away. Most of us were looking for any excuse not to attend meetings.

So we take a collection and absolutely insist on paying our own freight. When I came into Alcoholics Anonymous in the mid eighties, it was customary to put a buck in the basket. Several years ago -- congratulating myself mightily -- I made the upgrade to two dollars, and hoped everyone noticed my largess. I smoked cigarettes when I was getting sober and paid 75 cents for a premium brand, which now cost about two thousand dollars at some convenience stores. Let's talk about the cost of a cup of coffee. I don't think we should be encouraging those of us who can afford it to put in the occasional two dollar bill. I think we should be putting in five dollars from time to time.

Last month the local intergroup in my area of the country ran a large deficit, which is pretty hard to believe.