It is wise that AA traditions limit the effects of money, property, and prestige. Yet they do not prevent them altogether. Egos seep in when there is attention and adoration at stake like there is in public meetings in my area.

I want the sober life. I want God’s will. I want to help others. Not much else.

You had your reasons for leaving your old group and looking for something new. I may just now be finding mine.

Ciao.

Chaz

I have made similar changes. I see no reason not to other than the regret of others for losing a friend and contributor … as well as perhaps our own resistance to change which we all have on one level or another.

For me, when I make a big change, I usually check with myself and others to make sure I am not being flighty or chasing greener grass. This is a wise caution I build into my decision making.

From there, I think embracing the value of change, such as new voices, settings, and experiences on levels we are only barely aware of, can refresh our perspective. As long as we aren’t fleeing for shallow or vain purposes.

And of course people are going to prefer you stay. I don’t detect for a moment that you simply don’t care. But like taking a band-aid off, separation always hurts at least a little.

I look forward to hearing what unfolds next for you bro.

Chaz

Someone once encouraged me, and in fact, he is a person in recovery who is not worthy of much trust, but still gave me a pearl of wisdom that pays rewards, he said, “You can get clean in a crack shack if you want it bad enough”.

While this lacks in practicality, and I would not recommend it to anyone literally, the emphasis is taken with value.

So all the more a good meeting is an amazing thing.

Ciao.

Chaz

Um… thats interesting. I have read Dr. Bob and the good Old Timers and that never really jumped out at me. But it is rich in content so not everything will jump out first time around.

If this were indeed the case, I can imagine that, once again, the sensitivity of the money issue not only as a topic in public, but also internally between members and founders. Money is a hot button issue and one of much contention. Feelings and disputes over it can fracture families and organizations. Nations go to war over it. Yet it is natural that some would want to bring it up. For all the same reasons others don’t wish to bring it up.

With all that said…. for me… I would agree that a simple statement about what the 7th is and isn’t on a regular basis is as much as is necessary in a public meeting. The rest can be dealt with by a sponsor if someone has questions.

AA became wise enough, probably through experience and mis-haps, to keep the role of money simple and well defined. For as we can all see…. as evidenced from my original post and the rattling I went through over it, that it can be an explosive and divisive topic.

One that we as humans, like with so many things, naturally endeavor to create a series of “laws” (aka, “musts”) around in order to control the behaviours of others and bring them into conformity of what our weaknesses want. This is not grace, this is not faith, this is not the hand of kindness reached out to the alcoholic who still suffers…. well, unless of course we are reaching for his wallet … which is what it comes across as if it is pounded from the podium.

Law versus Grace in AA…. I feel another post topic coming on.

Thanks bro!

Chaz