TRADITION ONE 
"Our common welfare should come first; personal
recovery depends upon A.A. Unity."
The
unity of Alcoholics Anonymous it the most cherished quality our Society has.
Our live, the lives of all to come, depends 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!"
"Does
this mean," some will anxiously ask, "that in A.A. the individual
doesn't count for much? Is he to be dominated by his group and swallowed up in
it?"
We
may certainly answer this question with a loud "No!" We believe there
isn't a fellowship on earth which lavishes more devoted care upon its
individual members; surely there is none which more jealously guards the
individual's right to think, talk, and act as he wishes. No A.A. can compel
another to do anything; nobody can be punished or expelled. Our Twelve Steps to
recovery are suggestions; the Twelve Traditions which guarantee A.A.'s unity
contain not a single "Don't." They repeatedly say "We
ought..." but never "You must!"
To
many minds all this liberty for the individual spells sheer anarchy. Every
newcomer, every friend who looks at A.A. for the first time is greatly puzzled.
They see liberty verging on license, yet they recognize at once that A.A. has
an irresistible strength of purpose and action. "How," they ask,
"can such a crowd of anarchists function at all? How can they possible
place their common welfare first? What in Heaven's name holds them together?"
Those
who look closely soon have the key to this strange paradox. The A.A. member has
to conform to the principles of recovery. His life actually depends upon
obedience to spiritual principles. If he deviates too far, the penalty is sure
and swift; he sickens and dies. At first he goes along because he must, but
later he discovers a way of life he really wants to live. Moreover, he finds he
cannot keep this priceless gift unless he gives it away. Neither he nor anybody
else can survive unless he carries the A.A. message. The moment this Twelfth
Step work forms a group, another discovery is made - that most individuals
cannot recover unless there is a group. Realization dawns that he is but a
small part of a great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation
of the Fellowship. He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions within
him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group. It becomes plain
that the group must survive or the individual will not.
So
at the outset, how best to live and work together as groups became the prime
question. In the world about us we saw personalities destroying whole peoples.
The struggle for wealth, power, and prestige was tearing humanity apart as
never before. If strong people were stalemated in the search for peace and
harmony, what was to become of our erratic band of alcoholics? As we had once
struggled and prayed for individual recovery, just so earnestly did we commence
to quest for the principles through which A.A. itself might survive. on anvils of
experience, the structure of our Society was hammered out.
Countless
times, in as many cities and hamlets, we reenacted the story of Eddie
Rickenbacker and his courageous company when their plane crashed in the
Pacific. Like us, they had suddenly found themselves saved from death, but
still floating upon a perilous sea. How well they saw that their common welfare
came first. None might become selfish of water or bread. Each needed to
consider the others, and in abiding faith they knew they must find their real
strength. And as they did find, in measure to transcend all the defects of
their frail craft, every test of uncertainty, pain, fear, and despair, and even
the death of one.
Thus has it been with
A.A. By faith and by works we have been able to build upon the lessons of an
incredible experience. They live today in the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics
Anonymous, which - God willing - shall sustain us in unity for so long as He
may need us.
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