Welcoming not disputing
WHENEVER considering our Traditions, my thoughts turn to gratitude for those who have gone before us. The history of AA tells us of the incredible journey our Fellowship has gone through so far to get us to where we are today. The lessons learned in those early years which led to the inspired introduction of our Twelve Traditions just can’t be underestimated for this alcoholic. For the Traditions to have kept us in good stead over all these years is quite some achievement. I frequently find it worth reminding myself of the very real threats to our existence which have gone before, to get into some sort of perspective whatever is going on at any given time now.
Tradition Three is an essential point of reference for us all too often. I have seen (and been part of) heated disputes about how people choose to introduce themselves at meetings. Being a bit of a traditionalist in AA and life in general, I simply introduce myself as an alcoholic. The variations of this are, I suppose, endless. I am a…recovering alcoholic, recovered alcoholic, real alcoholic, chronic alcoholic, alcoholic/addict, and so on.
My early recovery days were spent in a town with a heavy population of treatment centres, so AA meetings consisted of mostly people in early recovery, and with some different ideas of how to recover. At the time, I felt somehow better than those poor souls, because I had a pure Big Book recovery from one alcoholic to another. Oh that old ego of mine! Over time, I learned that as long as someone had a desire to stop drinking, they were very much welcome and absolutely as much a part of our Fellowship as anyone else. This is, and must be, regardless of other problems which we surely all have, to one degree or another. I still have great respect for newcomers who choose not to introduce themselves as an alcoholic before finding out what that means. I lacked that kind of insight from day one. I also learned that if people show up at meetings and do not have a problem with drink, we can and should lovingly direct them to a Fellowship which may better suit their needs.
SIMON D, Penarth, South Wales
