Singleness of Purpose and the Collapse of Every Other Remedy – Johnnie H.
About This Speaker Tape
Johnnie H. speaks at the Promises and Service convention in Stockholm, Sweden in May 2004, with roughly 45 years of sobriety. He opens with humor about shock treatments and Swedish hospitality before diving into his bottom: a judge in Los Angeles called him a blood-sucking parasite, told the mother of his unborn child to keep the baby away from him, and the public exposure of that truth caused Johnnie's mind to snap. He spent eight or nine months crawling around a solitary confinement cell in a maximum-security penitentiary, drifting in and out of insanity. He describes how every professional — psychiatrists, penologists, coaches, teachers — had written him off as someone who would die behind bars.
He tells the story of the Washingtonian Movement of the 1840s, which grew to 300,000 members through one alcoholic helping another, then destroyed itself in just a few years when members decided they could save the whole world — getting into politics, public speaking, and newspaper fame — losing their singleness of purpose entirely. He draws a direct line between their collapse and the temptation AA faces today, arguing that the singleness of purpose — one alcoholic talking to another — is the only thing that separates AA from everything else in recorded history. He recounts how a man walked into San Quentin and simply said, "You don't have to live like this anymore," and that single sentence carried more weight than every diagnosis and institution combined.
Johnnie hammers the practical side of service: his sponsor Norm told him to get to meetings early, stay late, sit down, and shut up. When Johnnie called excited about his first speaking invitation, Norm said, "Tell them your name and your sobriety date — you don't know anything else." When a newcomer told Johnnie he wanted to share, Johnnie handed him a mop. He has made coffee for 800 people every Wednesday night for decades and sat in the same chair at his Monday home group for 33 years. He insists the three most important things are a sobriety date, a home group, and a sponsor — in that order — and draws a sharp distinction between saying you have a sponsor and actually being sponsored.
The tape culminates with a story about his Papa Chuck in Laguna Beach. Troubled by some crisis, Johnnie went to Chuck for answers. Chuck pointed at the ocean and asked how far he could see. Seven miles to the horizon, Johnnie guessed. Later, from a hilltop window showing 120 miles of coastline, Chuck delivered the lesson: "The higher you go, the further you see, and the further you see, the more there is to see. If you could see Alcoholics Anonymous in its entirety, it would blind you — it would be like looking into the sun." Johnnie closes by returning to Folsom Prison 46 years later, sitting with 300 convicts, and telling them the same thing that was told to him. He says he would like to thank a Higher Power for AA, but even more, he would like to thank Alcoholics Anonymous for his Higher Power.
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