Dividitur Particulam Desint | 私たちは滅び分割 | Divided we Fall

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     His craving for alcohol was the equivalent, on a low level, of the spiritual thirst of our being for wholeness, expressed in medieval language: the union with God.

--Dr. Carl Jung, Letter to Bill W. (1959)

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     The unity of Alcoholics Anonymous is the most cherished quality our Society has. Our lives, the lives of all to come, depend squarely upon it. We stay whole, or A.A. dies. Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; our world arteries would no longer carry the life-giving grace of God; His gift to us would be spent aimlessly. Back again in their caves, alcoholics would reproach us and say, "What a great thing A.A. might have been!"

--Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions (129:1)

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    No society of men and women ever had a more urgent NEED for continuous effectiveness and permanent unity. We alcoholics see that we must work together and hang together; else most of us will finally die alone

--Alcoholics Anonymous (561:2)

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     20-Aug-15:  Happy Wednesday everyone!  We have been neck-deep in a group inventory of late, and perhaps more entertaining than watching others change before my eyes is watching me change before my eyes.

     AA Tradition!  If the twelve steps are the skeleton, skin & arteries of AA, then surely our traditions are its life blood.  ‘Together we stand – divided we fall’.  They were such a mystery for me – for years.  The only people who really mentioned them were the old timers, and they got so overly pious and serious when they did.  So, I thought I’d pick up a bit here and there about them so I could impress these old timers with my vast knowledge.

     However, whenever I told my sponsor the Old Man that I’d like to learn more about our traditions, he would simply say:  don’t even try.  He would go on to say that trying toe explain the traditions to a man who has not finished his 9^th step makes about as much sense as trying to teach calculus to a caveman.  Until the 9^th step singularity arising out of amends completion, one is forever and wholly invested in being the center of their universe.  Whether or not the unrecovered among us agrees with this is of no consequence; it simply is.

     The day I completed my 9^th steps amends I walked into my home group and the traditions lit up like an airport runway at night – they suddenly made sense – all of them, in every detail, at every level.  So, it is with the spirit of inclusion that I attend our irritating so-overly-long-and-goddman-painful review of our group inventory.  It is the lifeblood of a contented and effective spiritual entity.

     Karen C. thank I you for turning our house into a home.

     What a wonderful life we have in AA

     I love you all.  Thank you for my life.

     Yours in love and service,

--COG, 1^st Class.

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