We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor do we carry the world’s troubles on our shoulders. ... But those of us who have tried to shoulder the entire burden and trouble of others find we are soon overcome by them. (Page 132)
God's will might be for me to engage in the world, in the broader sense of community or society. But that's not most people's path; that's not where most people's work is. Sometimes, people's path and work require more or less knowledge, actively sought out and acquired, of the world and its affairs. Most people's do not: sufficient is absorbed by being in it, without actively seeking it out through engagement in the media and (anti-)social media. There are, of course, situations where engagement is required, e.g. elections, but these are rare, and most people's minds are made up automatically by habitual or carefully considered affiliation.
Of course, anyone is entitled to engage in the world recreationally, but few indeed are those in recovery who are able to do so without being swiftly and perniciously infected with cynicism, and its handmaidens: fear, attack, victimhood, and the belief in separation.
Engagement in the world, to be effective, must be neutral, detached, constructive, charitable, forgiving, and benevolent.
Why are we talking about this, though?
Because the world is a perfect target for the unrecovered, as a repository of the wrongness, shame, guilt, and fear located within, repressed, denied, and projected out.
It is easy to settle into a lazy cynicism about the world. As with any resentment, there are many reasons for avoiding this:
- It does not help
- It causes unhappiness
- It wastes time
- It cuts me off from others
- It cuts me off from God
- It opens me up to reactivation of addiction
- It places my emotions in the hands of others
- If driven by emotion, my actions are driven by others
What do we do instead?
Pray, see everything as an expression of love or a call for love, follow the instructions on page 67, consciously block unconstructive thinking and substitute excellent thinking, practise Step Ten, practise Step Eleven, practise Step Twelve, in fact anything but dwell on that which, today, does not concern me.
Do I have to do this?
Of course not.
No one is compelled to do anything. The programme is suggestive only.
But is this part of the programme?
It's part of the book, and the book up to page 164 is the AA message (see the flyleaf to the Third Edition); the Steps on page 59, recall, are a summary of the programme; they are not, themselves, the programme.
I am at liberty to practise only part of the programme.
But practising only part of the programme gives ... nil results.
Just one crack in the door and the bees get in.