Sponsorship and the Sponsor Who Told Him to Shut Up – John H.

About This Speaker Tape

1960, Huntington Beach. A gangly, 6'3" kid with size 13 shoes and no coordination crawls into a barn to steal a quart of 100-proof rock and rye whiskey. Within fifteen seconds of the liquid gold hitting his guts, John H. feels like the captain of the football team. He spends decades chasing that feeling, eventually drinking his way onto the bench as a judge in Oregon.

The wreckage is concrete: $651,000 in debt, a career in tatters, and a judicial temperament that involves grabbing defendants by the throat. After a series of collapses and a desperate prayer with a gun in his mouth, John H. finds a Higher Power not through a mountaintop experience, but by starting over at page one, word one. He recounts the grit of a sponsor who told him to shut up and listen, and the rigorous honesty required to admit that image and money are less important than peace. He moves from the "fighting maniacs" of state institutions to a quiet, sparkling certainty.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Laughter: John H. opens with a story about being called an 'A**hole judge' in the restroom.
• 3:15 Discussion of anonymity and the specific guidance of Dr. Bob.
• 7:20 Laughter: The 'bananas up my ass' joke and the concept of singleness of purpose.
• 12:10 John H. discusses the danger of 'making up shit' on the podium and the need for rigorous honesty.
• 16:40 Recounting his youth in Huntington Beach and stealing 'rock and rye' whiskey from his grandfather's barn.
• 22:15 The transition from prosecuting drunk drivers to becoming a drunk judge on the bench.
• 28:30 Description of his sponsor, Don M., and the 'yes sir' approach to sponsorship.
• 35:10 The 'prayer of desperation' and the moment he put a gun in his mouth.
• 41:00 Step 2: The process of 'coming to believe' and the set-aside prayer.
• 48:20 A spiritual experience involving a crystal clear voice and the image of sparkling sand.
• 55:10 The story of the man who falls into the river while trying to welcome a lady into bed.
• 62:00 Closing metaphor of the battered violin and the touch of the Master.