A.A. Tradition 2; Trust, Service, Leadership, Wisdom...

Our A.A. experience has taught us that: (Long Form)


2.—For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.






























...and now, the short form which is actually longer... than the long form...


2.—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.


























So... the short form makes mention of the "twisted serpents"... er-"trusted servants".


And so I found something about this tradition in that service manual;


"Hence the principle of amply delegated authority and responsibility to "trusted servants" must be implicit from the top to the bottom of our active structure of service.This is the clear implication of A.A.'s Tradition Two".

From the 12 and 12:

"Where does A.A. get its direction? Sole Authority in A.A. is a loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience. Formation of a group. Growing pains. Rotating committees are servants of the group. Leaders do not govern, they serve. Does A.A. have a real leadership? "Elder statesmen" and "Bleeding Deacons". The group conscience speaks".


Check it out yo check it check it out...




So who's the boss around here? Is it Bill? Bob? Well... no. They're dead, for one thing. But I'd bet some would like to pin leadership on them. But they can't. Are they like the teflon Dons'? There again; perhaps our detractors would like to think that. God. A loving God is the "Ultimate Authority". And why? Because... A.A. as it has spread across the land came about as necessity and you would literally have a founder trying to rule every town... when it is obviously best to use delegation and rotation for leadership and to keep the politics out of it... from what I can understand.

Any thoughts/comments on this? Is this not what Bill W. was getting at in the 12 & 12? "Servants, not Senators". I like that.

This whole thing was tested when Charlie Towns from Towns Hospital told Bill W. that he could use an office in his building to work as a therapist and earn some bucks because... it was common knowledge at the time, Bill and Lois were "hard up" for money. He brought the idea to the group and they told him... if they sell out to anything like that... they for one thing would be tied to a hospital... and although that may be good, it's not good enough. Another thing is that the group would be divided. The book quotes the line, "the good can be the enemy of the best". They said Bill could never become a professional.

So... the group conscience spoke. And Bill heard it... and followed it. Thank God.




































In my home town, there's this cool annual event called Ocsoberfest. It takes place in the Convention Center in about the second week of Ocsober...er October and it's funny how it started. Some dude was the treasurer of the CSO and the seed money or whatever you call it got stolen by him. He disappeared from the scene or something. Somebody ponied up the difference or a collection was taken up for the difference. People weren't so upset by the guy doing that. They weren't happy about it, but they were worried about him and didn't want to see him go get drunk over the thing. He came back and had the money to return... for restitution. By then, it was water over the bridge. They didn't know what to do with the money. So thus the start of Ocsoberfest. It is now a yearly event. They don't run Ocsoberfest when the State Convention is in Pueblo.

Not necessarily a Tradition 2 example directly, but I'm sure they had many a call for Ultimate Authority in dealing with this situation.

A.A. Tradition 1: Unity...Our experience has taught us that...

A.A. Tradition 1: Unity... Our experience has taught us that...


I've been wanting to start a list of threads that cover the traditions, not so much to state my experience in them, but rather to just put them out there and get feedback about them so as to learn your experiences in them.



Our A.A. experience has taught us that: (Long Form)One-Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. A.A. must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward.



From the 12 and 12;



"Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unit."



Without unity, A.A. dies. Individual liberty, yet great unity. Key to paradox: each A.A.'s life depends on obedience to spiritual principles. The group must survive or the individual will not. Common welfare comes first. How best to live and work together as groups.



Within that 12 & 12, it goes on to say, "No A.A. can compel another to do anything; nobody can be punished or expelled. Our Twelve Steps to recovery are suggestions; the Twelve Traditions which guarantee A.A.'s unity contain not a single 'Don't'."



Why is A.A. NOT anarchy? Because of Tradition 2, more on that later, but also because... "If he deviates too far, the penalty is sure and swift; he sickens and dies."


So although we're not forced to follow these principles, we really need this way of life in order to stay sober and have a chance at life. Or as Paul Martin said, "Once I get what I need, I find that it's what I wanted all along".



It goes on to say that some individuals cannot recover unless there is a group. Tradition 3 defines the A.A. group as "two or more...", so... "By faith and by works we have been able to build upon the lessons of an incredible experience."



I'm seeing how this tradition and all the other 11 work in harmony to give the individuals a place to meet, as a group, and do this program and offer service to those who are yet to come.



In Paul Martin's lead, I heard him speak of an experience while listening to Bill W. give a pitch himself; Bill said, "Imagine if all of you here didn't come to A.A. for another 10 years from when you did..." Then there was silence for a while ... as people in that room contemplated the hell their lives would be if they were to drink for another 10 years. Well... that's the reality for those who have not found A.A. as of yet and we may be the ones who have that opportunity to bring some of them in.



I think that's sort of what unity is about.



...





Some more info on Tradtion 1 to follow:



FIRST TRADITION



“Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. A.A. must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward.”



Some ideas about the Traditions based on observation and experience:



I can tell you all I know about them in about two minutes.

-They are ideals for a society in which love is the only law. Great suffering and great love binds us together.

-They are living principles. I experienced them before I knew about them. I was welcomed and accepted as I was where I was.



Some myths and misconceptions about the Traditions:



-Most often, our experience with both Steps and Traditions are based on the short forms that we read before our meetings and put on the walls of our meeting rooms. This has lead to widespread misconception and fallacies in today’s A.A. There is much more to the Traditions than what we find in the short form. The short form of both the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions will be found in our book. The long form of both the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions will be found in our book.



-It is helpful to know the history of Alcoholics Anonymous when looking at the Traditions. Most were arrived at after trial and error, by making mistakes. Some were born out of fear in our early fellowship. All were born of the necessity to preserve our society for future generations and to protect it from forces, both within and without which could destroy it.



-The Traditions are not rules, but living principles that I live by in a society in which there are no rules.



-Another myth: that the Traditions are only for people who are in service or who are sober a long time. The statement “The Traditions are to the group as the Steps are to the individual”, is not true. This leaves a whole set of principles that can be practiced in the home, business, society, etc. They are merely extensions of what is found in the Steps.



The Traditions are about unity and preserving our fellowship for future generations. Without unity, we can’t survive as a fellowship. The Twelve Steps are a unifying experience. My recovery depends upon my unity with you and your unity with me. The Steps get rid of what’s in the way of me being in unity with you. The Traditions help keep that experience alive. A true fellowship is a gathering of like- minded people. If there is sponsorship and recovery going on within a group, there will be unity, and there will be service. Unity means a lot more than being in a room full of people with the same problem.



-one principle not spoken of often in A.A. is stewardship. It means to take care of what we’ve been given. The fellowship is about having a place where recovered alcoholics can carry a message to sick alcoholics. If the old-timers have no place to carry their message, they wither and die. If the sick alcoholic has no place to come to see and hear a message, he will wither and die.



The First Tradition, wherein each of us is but a small part of a great whole, is the foundation upon which all else rests. We must hang together or die alone. Like the First Step, it addresses the problem. Like the First Step, all else comes back to it.



The First Tradition addresses the problem-comply or die. Comply not to human rules, but with spiritual principles. Compliance means conditions-the condition is life or death, change or die.



Most alcoholics feel as if they are separate and alone when they get to us. Stay separate, stay alone, die alone. Or recover together. Unity means being a part of the whole, rather than apart from. A spiritual experience is a unifying experience that joins me to myself, to other people, and to God. A process of becoming whole and complete.



-the First Tradition can work backwards: If my personal recovery depends upon the unity in the group, is it possible that unity in the group can hinge on the recovery of the individual within the group? If the group members are practicing these principals, there will be recovery, and hence there will be unity.



-does my recovery bring about unity around me? Or am I a producer of confusion rather than harmony?



-although my recovery depends not so much on your unity with as on my

unity with you, it does depend on unity within the group….



-watch the company you keep. You can stay sick in A.A. and have plenty of company. Or you can get well in A.A. and have plenty of company. You just have to pick the company you want to hang with.



-it takes all of us to make up the body of the Christ. If one of us is missing, we are not whole.

-the best way to belong to a group is to participate in what that group does.

-a true group is a gathering of like-minded people.

-the whole group participates. If there is not an informed group conscience, the group will die or become something that is not A.A.

-the principle of anonymity applies. I am one of many, a member of A.A.

-a guiding principle for the individual in a group: is it selfish or not?

-a principle common to all truly spiritual communities is that the group comes first. I set aside my need for recognition, prestige, and power and put the needs of the group first. My needs are automatically met if I help to see that needs of the whole are met.

-a principle of good living is sacrifice, the giving of my very best to God and to the group. The word sacrifice comes from sacred-that which is holy, the very best. If it’s not worth giving up, it’s not a sacrifice.

-Trust as a principle: can I trust my group? Can I trust myself to behave as amember of the group?

-our message should be one of continuity, of common experience, of profound change (BB, p. 17). Brotherly and harmonious action. I set aside my opinions and differences to join in a common effort.

-principle of unity before personalities. One myth-that the “newcomer is the most important person in the room”, isn’t true. Nobody is more importantthan anyone else.

Concepts of God

I was at a meeting today... as my sponsee (Sponsee?  Is that what they're called?  Pigeon?  Protege?  Anywho...) wanted to go in the midst of me helping him move from here to there, get stuff from storage 5 towns away... blah blah blah... stuff anti/XAers say that Sponsers do to their pigeons...

... anyway, I was at a meeting today, and it was my 9th BDay... yay me!  anyway, and the topic was... 2nd step.  Insanity got brought up and sanity and stuff... then someone talked about how you could make a doorknob your god... or a G.roup O.f  D.runks.

Then I got to thinking... sure.  For 59 minutes maybe.  Here's your 59 minute God.  Check it back in as you leave the effing meeting.

Wow, I got a coin today and it has an X in it.  How kewl is that?

Why We Were Chosen

God in HIS wisdom has selected this group of men and women to be the purveyors of His Goodness.  In selecting them through whom to bring about this phenomenon, He went not to the proud, the mighty, the famous or the brilliant.  He went to the humble, to the sick, to the unfortunate - He went to the drunkard, the so-called weakling of the world. 

Well might He have said to us - into your weak and feeble hands I have entrusted a power beyond estimate.  To you has been given that which had been denied the most learned of your fellows.  Not to scientists or statesmen, not to wives or mothers, not even to my priests or ministers have I given this gift of healing other alcoholics which I entrust to you.

It must be used unselfishly.  It carries with it grave responsibility.  No day can be too long, no demands upon your time can be too urgent, no case too pitiable, no task too hard, no effort too great.  It must be used with tolerance for I have restricted its application to no race, no creed and no denomination.  Personal criticism you must expect, lack of appreciation will be common, ridicule will be your lot - your motives will be misjudged.  Success will not always attend your efforts in your work with other alcoholics.  You must be prepared for adversity, for what men call adversity is the ladder you must use to ascend the rungs toward spiritual perfection.  And remember, in the exercise of this power I shall not exact of you beyond your capabilities.

You are not selected because of exceptional talents, and be careful always if success attends your efforts, not to ascribe to personal superiority, that to which you can lay claim only by virtue of MY gift.

If I had wanted learned men to accomplish this mission, the power would have been entrusted to the physician and the scientist.  If I had wanted the eloquent men, there would have been many anxious for the assignment, for talk is the easiest used of all talents with which I have endowed mankind.  If I had wanted scholarly men, the world is filled with better qualified men than you who would have been available.

You were selected because you have been the outcasts of the world, and your long experience as drunkards has made, or should make you humbly alert to the cries of distress that come from the lonely hearts of alcoholics everywhere.  Keep ever in mind the admission you have made on the day of your entrance into AA, namely, that you were powerless and that it was only with your willingness to turn your life and will into My keeping, that relief came to you...

Judge John T. on the 4th anniversary of the Chicago Group in 1943.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day and the little brown mouse;

It was Thanksgiving Day and a little brown mouse sit busily working alone in her house…

The little mouse children had gone out to play with the brown mouse’s children just over the way…

She put on her apron and went to the shelf, and said to herself, “I’ll just help myself.”

She cooked and she sliced and she brought out the cheese, and then she exclaimed, “a tart if you please.”

The little mouse children came in from their play… they nibbled and ate, not a crumb did they leave on the table or plate.

And I heard them exclaim, as they ran out to play, “It’s the loveliest kind of a Thanksgiving Day.”


- RIP Aunt Lela and Cousin Linda



Happy Thanksgiving!

Motive

I've been thinking about this with relation to the steps... namely living the spiritual life from the perspective of the steps.

"... absence of profit motive..."

"... And then, with a better motive, had we not worshipfully beheld the sunset, the sea, or a flower? Who of us had not loved something or somebody?"

"... But this is only a half-truth. It depends on us and on our motives. If we are not sorry, and our conduct cotinues to harm others, we are quite sure to drink."

"... You should not hesitate to visit the most sordid spot on earth on such an errand. Keep on the firing line of life with these motives and God will keep you unharmed."

"On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self-seeking motives..."

So, setting the consideration of our motives aside, what does the spiritual life look like? Well, I think it looks like action.

Corny as it may seem, JOY... Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last is effective. It works. It's moral... yada yada. If you can get to that spot, great. Some folks do it without thought. That's just what they do.

These are the type of folks who perhaps don't need yearly inventory. But... what about the rest of us?

For me, doing the next right thing or helping someone else out is often something I don't want to do...something I may perhaps dread. But it often times leads to that feeling of peace and contentedness.

Sometimes doing the next right thing may feel like shit and not seem to lead anywhere. Have we ever placed ourselves in a position to become harmed or threatened? I sure have.

Could I say I may have done this due to a bad motive... a selfish one or one designed to get my way... to control and/or dominate another? This sort of thing has a way of happening to some folks. But we remember what the books says; "But our problems we think are of our own making."

I'm tired now. I hope this post makes sense to somebody somewhere.

Anger... How do we deal with this via the 12 Steps?

I'm not talking about resentment here, but anger. How do we deal with it when it crops up? Are we to ask God to remove it? Should we be automatically free of anger due to our "proper" taking of the steps? Does taking the steps make you sinless? Anger is yippie skippy until the person you disagree with is using it, right? Oh I get it now. Just another debating technique.