Strength through Weakness

Father Ralph Pfau – (Father John Doe to those of us familier with the “Golden Books” & Tapes) – told the story below at an AA retreat some 50 years ago.  At the therapeutic boarding school where I work, FJD’s writings and talks have been part of the core living skills and program curriculum for over 30 years.

Rather then paraphrasing and adding my own commentary – I thought it best to just put the story out there and allow readers to help develop the commentary by posting their thoughts – reactions etc as comments on the post. Enjoy:

“Once upon a time there was a gardener who had a very beautiful garden – particularly had two beautiful rose plants. He cared for them and nurtured them until finally they both bore beautiful roses. One day as he was going around the garden he happened to notice that the branch or stem of one of these rose plants was broken. Well, as a good gardener usually does, he made a splint and he put a wire around that splint and then he wrapped that wire with cloth. Then he put some more wire around that so the rose could continue to grow healthfully. Finally a storm arose. The rain came down, the sleet pelted the roses. When the gardener went out into the garden after the storm had cleared, he saw one of the rose plants completely broken, lying on its side. But it was the one that did not have the splint. The one that had the splint was unharmed and it continued to grow and continued to bear roses.

Now why was this? The one that had strength in itself was broken in two but the one that the gardener had cared for and had added that extra strength, that extra power, withstood the ravages of the storm.

We also read in the scriptures about the house that was built on the sand and about the house that was built on the rock. Remember, the storm came up and the one that was built on the rock – it withstood the storm and the one that was built on the sand – it was demolished in the storm. But you know there’s something the scripture doesn’t tell us and that is which one had the strongest superstructure. You know something? I’ll bet you the one that was built on the sand had the strongest superstructure. But the one that was built on the rock – it was because of the rock that it was saved. Not because of its strength in itself.

Therefore, from this we have the conclusion: in weakness there is strength. The whole AA program is built on this fact, a paradox but yet a very important truth. In weakness is strength. In AA we admit we are powerless. Our lives have become unmanageable. That means we’re kind of weak. In fact, we’re very weak. We’re absolutely powerless. But immediately, when we say we came to believe in a power greater than ourselves and that it could restore us to sanity, then we find out as we go along the twelve steps that we are accomplishing, with the aid of this power of God, what we could have never accomplished on our own.” (Father Ralph Pfau)