Description Contents Foreword 1 5 THE TWELVE STEPS Step One 21 “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.” Who cares to admit complete defeat? Admission of powerlessness is the first step in liberation. Relation of humility to sobriety. Mental obsession plus physical allergy. Why must every A.A. hit bottom? Step Two 25 “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” What can we believe in? A.A. does not demand belief; Twelve Steps are only suggestions. Importance of an open mind. Variety of ways to faith. Substitution of A.A. as Higher Power. Plight of the disillusioned. Roadblocks of indifference and prejudice. Lost faith found in A.A. Problems of intellectuality and self-sufficiency. Negative and positive thinking. Self-righteousness. Defiance is an out- standing characteristic of alcoholics. Step Two is a rallying point to sanity. Right relation to God. Step Three 34 “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” Step Three is like opening of a locked door. How shall we let God into our lives? Willingness is the key. Dependence as a means to independence. Dangers of self-sufficiency. Turning our will over to Higher Power. Misuse of will- loading… loading… loading… loading… CONTENTS 10 our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted ser- vants; they do not govern.” Where does A.A. get its direction? Sole authority in A.A. is loving God as He may express Himself in the group conscience. Formation of a group. Growing pains. Ro- tating 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 con- science speaks. Tradition Three 139 “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.” Early intolerance based on fear. To take away any alco- holic’s chance at A.A. was sometimes to pronounce his death sentence. Membership regulations abandoned. Two examples of experience. Any alcoholic is a member of A.A. when he says so. Tradition Four 146 “Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.” Every group manages its affairs as it pleases, except when A.A. as a whole is threatened. Is such liberty dangerous? The group, like the individual, must eventually conform to principles that guarantee survival. Two storm signals—a group ought not do anything which would injure A.A. as a whole, nor affi liate itself with outside interests. An ex- ample: the “A.A. Center” that didn’t work. Tradition Five 150 “Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.” Better do one thing well than many badly. The life of our Fellowship depends on this principle. The ability of each A.A. to identify himself with and bring recovery to CONTENTS 11 the newcomer is a gift from God… passing on this gift to others is our one aim. Sobriety can’t be kept unless it is given away. Tradition Six 155 “An A.A. group ought never endorse, fi nance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.” Experience proved that we could not endorse any related enterprise, no matter how good. We could not be all things to all men. We saw that we could not lend the A.A. name to any outside activity. Tradition Seven 160 “Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, de- clining outside contributions.” No A.A. Tradition had the labor pains this one did. Collective poverty initially a matter of necessity. Fear of exploitation. Necessity of separating the spiritual from the material. Decision to subsist on A.A. voluntary contributions only. Placing the responsibility of sup- porting A.A. headquarters directly upon A.A. members. Bare running expenses plus a prudent reserve is head- quarters policy. Tradition Eight 166 “Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non- professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.” You can’t mix the Twelfth Step and money. Line of cleav- age between voluntary Twelfth Step work and paid-for services. A.A. could not function without full-time service workers. Professional workers are not professional A.A.’s. Relation of A.A. to industry, education, etc. Twelfth Step work is never paid for, but those who labor in service for us are worthy of their hire. CONTENTS 12 Tradition Nine 172 “A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.” Special service boards and committees. The General Service Conference, the board of trustees, and group committees cannot issue directives to A.A. members or groups. A.A.’s can’t be dictated to—individually or collectively. Absence of coercion works because unless each A.A. follows suggested Steps to recovery, he signs his own death warrant. Same condition applies to the group. Suffering and love are A.A.’s disciplinarians. Dif- ference between spirit of authority and spirit of service. Aim of our services is to bring sobriety within reach of all who want it. Tradition Ten 176 “Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside is- sues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.” A.A. does not take sides in any public controversy. Reluc- tance to fi ght is not a special virtue. Survival and spread of A.A. are our primary aims. Lessons learned from Washing- tonian movement. Tradition Eleven 180 “Our public relations policy is based on attraction rath- er than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and fi lms.” Public relations are important to A.A. Good public rela- tions save lives. We seek publicity for A.A. principles, not A.A. members. The press has cooperated. Personal anonymity at the public level is the cornerstone of our public relations policy. Eleventh Tradition is a con- stant reminder that personal ambition has no place in A.A. Each member becomes an active guardian of our Fellowship. CONTENTS 13 Tradition Twelve 184 “Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our tradi- tions, ever reminding us to place principles before per- sonalities.” Spiritual substance of anonymity is sacrifi ce. Subordinat- ing personal aims to the common good is the essence of all Twelve Traditions. Why A.A. could not remain a secret society. Principles come before personalities. One hundred percent anonymity at the public level. Anonymity is real humility. The Twelve Traditions—the Long Form 189 Hardcover, 192 pages
