What is the meaning of the word sober? Today it means, not intoxicated. But, let's look back and see what it really means. The English language is the most difficult language to learn because each word has a lot of meanings. How about the word gay. I grew up believing if you are gay, you are a happy person. If you use the word gay today, it means you are homosexual. Words change. A phrase from the 1800's was "SOBER AS A JUDGE". Did that mean he wasn't drunk? I don't think so. If you look in the dictionary, each word has several meanings with a number correspondence. Number one is the most recent use, number two an older use, and so on. If you look up sober and go to an older use, you will see what I mean. A very old meaning of the word sober is; capable of making life decisions. Thus, why the saying sober as a judge made sense back then. A judge was always making "life decisions from the bench". The town drunk, when drunk was called useless and a problem that should be locked up, and so on. But put him in jail for a few days and gather his wits about him, he becomes (as society would say) capable of making life decisions. So with that in mind, do you see how the word sober came to mean "not drunk"? Over the years I have been saying, "if a drunk stops drinking he is dry!" It takes a lot of work, working a 12 step recovery program, living life on life's terms, taking an inventory, admitting wrongs, making amends, before the word SOBER can safely describe the once drunk person. So, you can now see why I use the word SOBER only with some safe probing and understanding of the person I am using it to describe. That's my take on it. what's yours?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
sober or dry? is that the question? yes there are plenty of people in AA who are only dry after many years of "sobriety" and it shows. just putting down the drink will not solve your problems because the problem lies mostly in our minds. it is our "stinking thinking" that makes us incapable of making competent life decisions, even sober or dry. and that raises another question how sober do you have to be? by what measure are you finally acceptable as a sober member of AA? when do you earn the respect of your peers? is that what those "old timers" are looking to give by determining who has it and who does not? don't look down on a drunk unless your picking him up out of the gutter, and that should go for a sober or dry one as well. lets be part of the solution today. i hope the day will not come when AA becomes more concerned with affixing the proper label instead of extending its hand to be of maximum service.
ReplyDelete