I was reminded of “value” today. Something a friend of mine said about what he had read in a letter in a booklet published by AA on groups. It concerned the oral history of AA possessed by old timers in this program. That many have this line of events passed on to them from their predecessors. It’s valuable to the groups they attend.
My friend has thirty plus years. Myself? Hmmm. I came in in the early ’70s. Nearly a third generation from the start of AA. Bill died the year before I arrived. This history or oral “tradition” was emphasized by my old sponsor. He told me that I had an obligation to remember and to pass it on to others, who would come along.
It’s not so much a history, in the sense of events, which took place before I was here; although there’s some of that. But my memory of what was practiced by the old timers.
It was things my sponsor and other old timers told me about AA and what I witnessed for myself in those years past. The successes of some groups and some of the failures and why. Some of the conflicts and the reason behind them. The practice of group conscience meetings and their outcomes. But it is mostly about what has held AA together and what will continue to hold it true to its mission in the field of alcoholism; the knowledge and practice, the adherence to AA’s 12 Traditions.
I know that most of us are available to new people to show them how we got sober. But it seems over time that the knowledge and study of our Traditions has been almost forgotten. At least that’s what I’ve seen over time. Whenever they have occasionally been brought up in meetings, I have heard mostly opinions about them and not much substance. For instance, I can remember how the 5th Tradition was tested back in the ’70s and ’80s, when AA was almost forced underground. I wonder sometimes if some know exactly what that Tradition is talking about. Here’s a hint. It’s exactly what is AA’s only concern: Alcohol and nothing else.
How valuable is that? The reason AA has remained so strong is that it has only one subject it is interested in. Alcohol. That’s its message. If a person is an alcoholic, AA can and will provide sobriety for them. Doesn’t matter what other problems they may have. In fact it’s not interested in their other problems. It’s up to the individual to find a way to deal with those other problems. AA meetings are not a platform for them. It offers no solution for them. It only does what it promises. If the alcoholic will follow the 12 Steps of this program, they can and will get sober.
And all this is premised on the unity of this fellowship. Beginning with the 1st Tradition. Worth reading and studying. But it’s not just reading and studying. It took discussions with those old timers, concerning humility and self sacrifice for the good of the whole. In fact I remember there used to be meetings dedicated to the Traditions and what they mean to AA and how they work to our benefit.
Anyway, I was thinking about this. Why old timers are valuable to the groups they attend. They not only know how it works, but pretty much why it works.