A very famous teacher from the east characterized his teachings as being like a raft. A raft is useful for getting across a river, but once you're crossed it's not a whole lot of use any more. "When you are across," says the teacher, "will you continue to carry the raft on your head?"

Another, more modern teacher, says, "This is what we have done. Not only have we carried the raft on our head, we have also put it into a glass case in a museum .... We have even brought it into the living-room and tried to find a place for it among the furniture."

Some of us have enshrined the first nine Steps of Program in a similar way. We have found them so satisfactory for dealing with our base addiction that we now carry them around on (or in) our head, in the belief that they will be useful to us as an ongoing way of life.

The AA Big Book doesn't seem to agree. "We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime," it says. The practice of Steps 10, 11 and 12 is what we do once we're through with the raft. In an odd sense, these Steps are the very goal of the previous nine. We are so results-focused in the west that we suspect the last three Steps must also have a goal. It's hard for us to accept that they are to be practiced simply for their own sake.

Dr. Bob worked the first nine Steps on his first day of recovery. While that might be an ambitious target, it's along the right lines. We need to cross the river as quickly as we can, using the raft of Steps 1 through 9. After that we can move on to our real purpose in life -- the ongoing practice of the last three Steps.