2018 SWRAASA Traditions 2 and 6 Bill Lewis Panel 68, Alternate - PDF document

2018 SWRAASA Traditions 2 and 6 Bill Lewis Panel 68, Alternate Delegate Area 46, New Mexico Tradition 2 When we look at all of our Traditions, we see that the first one and the last one tell us that we need to stick together. The ten in the middle address our personal ambitions wrapped around money, property and authority. The last one gives us a clue how we are going to accomplish this adventure of sticking together. It states that Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all of our Traditions and goes on to tell us that Sacrifice is the spiritual substance of anonymity. So, it makes sense that the traditions are asking us to rearrange some of our old ideas. I was once asked to determine how anonymity is the spiritual foundation of each of the Traditions, of Tradition 1, and of Tradition 2, and so on for each Tradition. What I found from that was interesting. For me, the Traditions are a natural extension of the 12 Steps. All of AA’s 12 steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires; they deflate our egos. Bill says that the 12 Traditions are a distillate of our experience of living and working together. They apply the spirit of the Twelve Steps to our group life and security. He also said that we must place principles before personalities. Later in Language of the heart, he further defined his use of “Personalities” as being our own personal ambitions for money property and authority. This leads me to the conclusion that Sacrifice is the spiritual foundation of all of our traditions, ever reminding me to place the spiritual principles of this program before my personal ambitions for money, property, and authority. If I have done some inventory work in steps 4 & 5 around money, property and authority, I find myself asking God to remove them in steps 6 & 7. I don’t know about you, but when I ask God to remove a defect….it is still there until I take some kind of action. (Perhaps Faith Rev 2 9/22/2018

without works, or something like that?) Action seems to play a part in the correction of these defects. I have found all of our Traditions to be a venue where I can put practical actions into place. Bill said, “The Twelve Traditions point straight at many of our individual defects. ” If I become willing to try to adhere to the Traditions, I will begin to put practical actions into place that help me with defects of character wrapped around money, property, prestige, and authority. Tradition 2 is: For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern. Clearly this Tradition is going to help me shape a new attitude around Authority. So what defects of character might I have to sacrifice in order to adhere to this Tradition? Let’s look at “One ultimate authority”, Do I have an attitude that “I am the ultimate authority ”? Do I have an attitude that “I am right”? Do I have an attitude that “I know better than you”? Do I have an attitude that “What you have to say is not important? There are many other attitudes that I can have around who is the boss? Remember, in AA there are no bosses. Let’s look at “Are but trusted servants” What defects do I have around trusting others? What behaviors do I display to other people that would make them trust or distrust me? “ They do not Govern. ” Do I have enough humility to be a “Servant” and not a boss? What defects of character stand in my way of that? Rev 2 9/22/2018

Now, let’s look at “ A loving God as he may express himself in our Group Conscience” So how is God going to get into our Group Conscience anyway? The best that I can tell, is that AA creates a platform where that is possible. A spiritual platform based on Spiritual principles and guided by 36 spiritual Concepts. AA creates a platform where everyone is encouraged to participate. We try hard to include everyone, we try not to discourage anyone, and we encourage a minority opinion. We do all of these things to preserve unity. We endeavor to not establish anyone as a boss over anyone else nor create any government. We genuinely ask everyone to put in their 2 cents worth, knowing full well that in the life or death risk of sobriety, every penny counts. All of these spiritual ideas help create this platform, free of fear, where God can provide an intuitive thought to anyone participating. Bill recalls many times in our history where the Group clearly knew better than the individual, and he was absolutely convinced in the power and accuracy of the Group Conscience. He had seen firsthand on many occasions the infallibility of the Group. I believe that AA goes to great lengths to create this spiritual environment. Yes, there are many defects of character that I must sacrifice in order to adhere to this Tradition. But, if I am asking God to remove these defects, I have a place where I can put these practical activities into action. Just like the with the Steps, I have found that bringing the spiritual principles behind each Tradition into my life, there have been revolutionary changes in my spiritual condition. Tradition 2, helps me to shape a completely new ideal around my personal ambitions about Authority. I am so grateful that we have these spiritual tools available to learn from and use to grow toward our Higher Power. I invite each of you to take on the exercise of determining for yourself, “How is Anonymity the Spiritual Foundation” of each one of our Traditions. It is a journey worth the effort. - Thank you Rev 2 9/22/2018

Tradition 6 We looked at some of the character defects that we might need to sacrifice associated with Authority in Tradition 2. Tradition 6 will have us take a look at some issues around Property and Money. TRADITION SIX – Long Form Problems of money, property, and authority may easily divert us from our primary spiritual aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable property of genuine use to A.A. should be separately incorporated and managed, thus dividing the material from the spiritual. This part of the Tradition makes it perfectly clear that considerable property should be separately incorporated and managed. For the most part, this section of Tradition 6 does not represent a lot of challenges within AA. It is generally adhered to when we talk about considerable property. An A.A. group, as such, should never go into business. On the face of it, this part of the Tradition is also very clear and straight forward. Our history showed us that it was tried in various ways and always failed. However, in today’s world, if you try to open a checking account for your home group, the bank may very well ask you to fill out a bunch of forms and try to set your group up as a non-profit, and possibly even a tax exempt 501c3 non-profit. Before you know it and completely unintentionally, your group becomes a business in the eyes of the bank and potentially the IRS. So, it is always wise to review all of that banking paperwork before you sign it. Rev 2 9/22/2018