With Mandy and the girls in Arkansas, I have, in the words of my dad, "gotten my days and nights mixed up!" Without the usual roar in the house of the girls playing and the usual routine of putting them to sleep, I'm finding hard to go to bed.

It's been good for the reading catch-up, but awful for the blogging (and no, don't even ask what time I woke up yesterday!).

----------------

"Hello, my name is Jim and I am an alcoholic."

And so it was, for a brief moment yesterday, as I participated in my first-ever Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

About six months, a group leader for A.A. in our community visited me requesting to use our church facility for two groups she leads. Since that time, another group has been added. Three nights each week, people struggling through the disease of alcoholism are meeting in our church building, finding support in a community of fellow strugglers.

About 20 sat around the circle sharing last night. As I took in their words, several things hit me in the face about A.A. that we, in the community of people struggling to overcome the disease of sin, could use.

First, there seemed to be a safe atmosphere for complete transparency. I heard more honest sharing of lives yesterday in one hour than I have in the last year in church meetings. With the admission of alcoholism already established, each person seemed free to be open, sincere and completely honest with their fellow strugglers.

Second, the atmosphere for acceptance was clear. As I watched intently the dynamics of the meeting, I was overcome by the fact that never a time did I see a judgmental glance. Never once did I hear a judmental word. It was clear from the body language to the verbal language that this small group was resolute on accepting each other as he/she is for the purpose of overcoming.

One man's comment struck me deeply. As he shared from the recent events in his life and the struggle to overcome, he said this: "I think A.A. is the most powerful force in the world. It is my higher power. There is nothing more powerful in my life to helping me overcome than A.A."

My mind paused to reflect: Why wasn't that man sitting in our worship assembly on Sunday making the same claim about the community of faith? What is A.A. doing in empowering people to overcome the disease of alcohol that the church is failing to do in empowering people to overcome the disease of sin?