AVOIDING CONTROVERSY All history affords us the spectacle of striving nations and groups finally torn asunder because they were designed for, or tempted into, controversy. Others fell apart because of sheer self-righteousness while trying to enforce upon the rest of mankind some millennium of their own specification. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 176 As an A.A. member and sponsor, I know I can cause real damage if I yield to temptation...
LIVE AND LET LIVE Never since it began has Alcoholics Anonymous been divided by a major controversial issue. Nor has our Fellowship ever publicly taken sides on any question in an embattled world. This, however, has been no earned virtue. It could almost be said that we were born with it. . . . "So long as we don't argue these matters privately, it's a cinch we never shall publicly." TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 176 Do I remember that...
OUR SURVIVAL Since recovery from alcoholism is life itself to us, it is imperative that we preserve in full strength our means of survival. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 177 The honesty expressed by the members of A.A. in meetings has the power to open my mind. Nothing can block the flow of energy that honesty carries with it. The only obstacle to this flow of energy is inebriation, but even then, no one will find a closed door if...
AN UNBROKEN TRADITION We conceive the survival and spread of Alcoholics Anonymous to be something of far greater importance than the weight we could collectively throw back of any other cause. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 177 How much it means to me that an unbroken tradition of more than half a century is a thread that connects me to Bill W. and Dr. Bob. How much more grounded I feel to be in a Fellowship whose aims are constant and...
GLOBAL SHARING The only thing that matters is that he is an alcoholic who has found a key to sobriety. These legacies of suffering and of recovery are easily passed among alcoholics, one to the other. This is our gift from God, and its bestowal upon others like us is the one aim that today animates A.A.'s all around the globe. TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 151 The strength of Alcoholics Anonymous lies in the desire of each member and of...
