Love and Tolerance is Our Code

Wednesday, October 2, 2013:

For Today:

“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.”

12 Steps & 12 Traditions, pg. 176

Tradition Ten

(courtesy of Tim W.’s Daily Rx email)

&

I can understand the purpose of this principle where it concerns the cohesiveness of the Fellowship. However, this one is the most difficult to apply in my personal life. My observation has been that most of the principles of our Twelve Traditions have a personal application too.  They don’t necessarily dictate that I have no personal commitment or take no action of my own accord but that I hang my hat at the door when I enter the rooms of AA so to speak. One of the things that attracted me to AA in the first place was that it didn’t preach for or against anything… not even alcohol. The history of AA is unique in that AA's principles stood for tolerance long before the cultural upheavals of the thirties to the present day. Racial inclusion; religious tolerance; the welcoming gays and lesbians into the Fellowship, and so on: all these were practiced nearly universally in our groups in the years since AA’s publication of the Big Book in 1939.

            What is so beneficial to me about this tradition... if I take it seriously... is that, when I walk out the doors and put my hat back on, I am more balanced and clear. I can be more prone to make an honest attempt to see where I might be able to adjust my opinion and to respect to the opinions of others before I jump into any controversy. I have some trouble with wild conspiracy theories and far left or far right ideologues but I am grateful for them because the example they display helps me check the holes in what I believe. Essentially, it boils down to mutual respect as recommended in the Saint Francis Prayer: Make me an instrument, or channel, of your peace… that where there is hatred, I bring compassion; where there is wrong, I bring forgiveness; that where there is discord, I bring harmony; that where there is error, I may bring truth; that where there is despair, I may bring hope; that where there are shadows, I bring light; that where there is sadness, I bring joy. It is a tall order but it isn’t so difficult if I begin my day offering myself to the will of the Heart of Compassion: love and tolerance is our code.

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