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Monday, May 17, 2021
Made A Decision
Traditions One through Five
Our A.A. Traditions are the key to the unity, functioning, and even the survival of Alcoholics Anonymous.
“The Steps protect me from myself; the Traditions protect AA from me.”
Most newcomers to AA find the AA Traditions boring.
I was no exception.
But over time I have come to marvel at the miracle contained within them - ie: their ability against all odds to herd cats (alcoholics) into a cohesive, functioning and lasting unit.
The Traditions are our Magna Carta and our Constitution, because they are the outline and blueprint for our governance. They guide us smoothly through all the thorny problems that can arise in any organization.
A glance at the evening news will confirm AA's Traditions appear to work better than the rules and regulations used by the leadership in any of the world nations today.
And yes, I recognize that AA has only one stated mission while governments have many - but still!
Without our traditions we, too, could be at each other's throats. Our program could crumble (as others did, like the Oxford Group that inspired AA's founders), sentencing us all - old timers, long timers, newcomers, and those yet to find their way to AA - to the deadly threat inherent in our disease.
Learning what the Traditions of AA are, what they stand for, what they do, is as important to the health of our fellowship as our learning and applying the 12 Steps is to our personal recovery.
Like I said - miracle. But we must know our Traditions, and use them, to keep AA safe for us all. Here's what AA's founders had to say about them, in part:
Bill W.,
1967 AAWS, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, p. 96
Tradition One: Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.
When we gossip about fellow members, when we are unkind to them to their face, when we form little AA cliques that exclude others, or indulge in other such behaviors, we run the risk of causing a member to give up on AA and leave the fellowship.
In effect, sentencing them to isolation, suffering and death.
If we are unhappy in our group, if we're caught up in infighting and power struggles there, we can simply walk away and find another group - or start one.
There's an old AA saying: "The only thing we need to start a new group is a resentment and a coffee pot." I've started eight of them.
(Clearly I know a lot about "resentments.")
Groups with ongoing power struggles don't survive.
They may have a "Bleeding Deacon" at the helm, an old timer who won't let go of the reins and wants to control every meeting and the behavior of its members.
Or they may have members who put forth their own ideas of how the group should be run and won't compromise or consider the input of other group members.
A group may struggle with any number of control issues - including members who turn the meetings into social gripe sessions and avoid learning the solutions to their problems.
Groups - even very large groups - may stagger along for quite awhile with these kinds of problems, but in the end their membership will fall away, they will not attract new members, and they will die.
Such groups have forgotten - or never even learned - "Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon AA unity."
Some bullet points about Tradition One:
We are very social in AA, but AA is not a social club. We meet there together to keep one another alive. It is important to remember that.
We are in AA to stay alive by staying sober. Any behavior that threatens that goal is a danger to others and to the fellowship of AA itself.
Gossip, rudeness, judgments, lies, fault-finding, pettiness, unkindness, thoughtfulness, and etc. can destroy an AA group and/or cause a member to give up on AA and go back to drinking.
There is NO CURE for alcoholism/addiction. There is only remission of our disease through abstinence. Drinking for us, or the use of other mind-altering substances to replace drinking, is a death sentence for us.
Our own bad behavior (see #3) can be a death sentence for another member.
Tradition Two: For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants. They do not govern.
Whenever a “trusted servant” consistently tells the group what it needs to do, should do, must do - and ignores input conflicting with their wishes - they can no longer be trusted.
The health of an AA group depends upon its reliance on its Higher Power and not on any one or two members.
Bullet Points for Tradition Two:
A group conscience meeting should always begin with a brief prayer asking for guidance.
The views of any person at a group conscience meeting (or any meeting) should be heard with respect and courtesy.
Decisions made in a group conscience meeting need to be a consensus of those in attendance.
A thank you to our Higher Power (while not always done) is appropriate at meeting's end for all decisions that have been made.
Tradition Three: The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
That's pretty clear cut, isn't it? You wouldn't think an AA group could get confused over Tradition Three, but historically they have, and may yet again over issues we haven't even thought of yet.
AA groups have become confused in the distant - and not-so-distant past - about letting women join the fellowship, or gay people, those suffering various mental issues, members of various religious affiliations - and even addicts!
That last one I find hilarious, given that Doctor Bob could write his own prescription for drugs, and did - and that Bill W. once thought everyone should drop acid for the spiritual experience it offered.
Our founders were not saints, they were recovering drunks.
We're the same.
Some bullet points for Tradition Three:
1. This tradition is our guarantee to newcomers that we are - and will be - here for them.
2. This tradition guarantees we will meet, learn from, and come to love people that without our membership in AA we would never have even known. It ensures we will get what we need in AA from the rich exposure to the many and varied people there.
3. From the atheist we learn to ponder our own spirituality; from boring, long-winded or opinionated speakers we learn patience and tolerance; from those with serious life problems we learn gratitude for our own more serene lives ... and the list goes on.
Tradition Four: Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
This means that my home group needs to keep its nose out of the business of other groups, unless the actions of another group are affecting the health of my own group, or when that group’s behavior has become damaging to all of AA.
All groups run into problems from time to time. Staying focused on correcting our own issues will help keep us from fault-finding other AA groups.
Bullet Points for Tradition Four:
AA’s General Service Office has proven solutions (suggestions) for dealing with every kind of group problem that may arise.
Any group or group member can contact the General Service Office for information or advice when help is needed.
It's a very good idea to get that help before things get too far out of hand.
Tradition Five: Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
Despite their very social aspects, AA meetings are our "medicine;" our insurance against the need for ever picking up a drink again.
Every single AA group throughout the world exists to help suffering alcoholics find their way out of their alcoholic Hell - and to help them remain sober by working the AA program of recovery.
Healthy AA groups meet that primary purpose by offering varied outreach programs to people inside AA and/or in their communities.
These include:
Educational workshops for AA members;
Sponsoring Fourth Step workshops;
Taking meetings into alcoholism treatment facilities;
Inviting doctors, nurses, police, judges and paramedics to attend open AA meetings;
Hosting community information workshops about AA for the public,
and etc.
Bullet Points on Tradition Five:
1. Is your home group involved in any of the outreach programs given in the paragraph above?
2. If not, why not?
3. Healthy AA groups boost healthy personal recovery. They also support outreach programs to help those still suffering from our fatal disease.
4. HP didn't get us sober to sit on our arse and do nothing.
5. Our JOB is to help the still-suffering alcoholic - as others have helped us.
More good stuff ahead. In the next blog we'll have a look at Traditions Six through Nine.
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