Step by Step
Sunday, April 7, 2013
"Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers." - The Fifth Tradition
Today, I ask if I am a positive contributor to my home group's mission as commanded in the Fifth Tradition, or if I fail that Tradition or even bring dissention and division to my group. There is little to interpret in the Third Tradition's edict that the only requirement of an individual member is "a desire to stop drinking." Carrying that into the Fifth Tradition, I need to work on any of my admitted and hidden prejudices against individuals to the point that I impose my own "requirements" on anyone. Have I ever been guilty of talking critically or gossiping about a member because of their gender, religion, socio-economic class, sexual orientation or gone so far as to doubt or challenge his or her claim to length of sobriety or moral inventory? If I have, I have breached the Fifth Tradition and, in so doing, I have perverted the Steps and Traditions of the Program into something they are not intended to be. Today, I will work with my group and not against it to do what we are required - "to carry (the) message to the alcoholic who still suffers." And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
"Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers." - The Fifth Tradition
Today, I ask if I am a positive contributor to my home group's mission as commanded in the Fifth Tradition, or if I fail that Tradition or even bring dissention and division to my group. There is little to interpret in the Third Tradition's edict that the only requirement of an individual member is "a desire to stop drinking." Carrying that into the Fifth Tradition, I need to work on any of my admitted and hidden prejudices against individuals to the point that I impose my own "requirements" on anyone. Have I ever been guilty of talking critically or gossiping about a member because of their gender, religion, socio-economic class, sexual orientation or gone so far as to doubt or challenge his or her claim to length of sobriety or moral inventory? If I have, I have breached the Fifth Tradition and, in so doing, I have perverted the Steps and Traditions of the Program into something they are not intended to be. Today, I will work with my group and not against it to do what we are required - "to carry (the) message to the alcoholic who still suffers." And our common journey continues. Step by step. - Chris M., 2013
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