Someone brought up the thought today about what happened to alcoholics a hundred years ago. He said he has thought about what it would be like for us, if AA didn’t exist.
At the same time, the group today got into talking about drugs as well as alcohol. And I had to ask myself, before I interrupted the meeting, where was AA going, if we continue down this line of thinking and dealing? But I did intervene, because I believe in AA and its Traditions, which have enabled its members to continue this program.
What I talked about was the First Tradition and the Fifth. AA Unity and the willingness of the individuals in the group being willing to sacrifice their own thoughts and desires for the good of the group. To focus on the primary purpose of the group for the good of the whole. And then being willing in the Fifth to carry the message of AA to the alcoholic who still suffers. In that Tradition it tells us what that message is. It says it’s about alcohol and that, if members have any other problems, that is not our concern, because we really don’t know anything about them.
That message was almost immediately reinforced by a member, who brought up the nature of this disease, as described in The Doctor’s Opinion. If anyone had a question about this disease, all they had to do was go and read what the doctor had to say. And it was stressed there is a difference between a disease and addiction.
I was not alone. Other members spoke up and reinforced the issue of keeping AA on its primary purpose. I think most of us were convinced of what that man said initially. What would the alcoholic do, if there was no AA? And that is exactly why the Traditions are in place. To keep all of us on track and on the subject of alcohol. Alcohol was our weakness and it’s also our strength