Save Yourself

In the Story, “A Christmas Carol,” Jacob Marley tells Ebenezer Scrooge to “save yourself.”  This is a popular notion in our culture.  Take care of number one: you.  Don’t wait around for someone else to do it.  Having “more” is safer than giving away.  Who knows what tomorrow may bring.  The emphasis is on the self, me.  Now Christianity is supposed to be about giving yourself away as with its symbol of the cross.  But now that it is an institution it is less what it says it is.  It is more about preserving the past, holding onto power and control.  But in essence, its founding, it is still about the cross, someone who gave himself away even though he could have avoided it.  That man on the cross was made fun of by the crowd to “save yourself” but he did not.  This is why I like recovery programs such as AA.  A person comes in desperate to save themself.  They want to get something, sobriety, freedom from addiction.  In time they learn that the only way to save themselves is to “give it away,” that is be of service to another struggling addict.  Share the solution of the steps and fellowship.  Listen. Be with. Give up your time and energy and sometimes money for the sake of another suffering person.  Unless you are all in, you will most likely be all out and back into addiction.  And AA is willing to change to meet the modern world and modern drunk while holding onto its core, the 12 steps.  Women, gays, lesbians are most welcome.  AA could teach institutional religion a lot.  But lets give thanks that a lot of AA meetings are taking place in church rooms.  So close to one another and yet so far away.