Daily Reprieve

From Today’s Daily Reflections;

The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.  (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 139)

I first heard the short form of the Third Tradition in the Preamble. When I came to A.A. I could not accept myself, my alcoholism, or a Higher Power. If there had been any physical, mental, moral, or religious requirements for membership, I would be dead today. Bill W. said in his tape on the Traditions that the Third Tradition is a charter for individual freedom. The most impressive thing to me was the feeling of acceptance from members who were practicing the Third Tradition by tolerating and accepting me. I feel acceptance is love and love is God’s will for us.

END OF QUOTE

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“I would be dead today.”  I needed a bridge out of the nightmare realm of not being able to accept myself, my Higher Power, or my alcoholism.  I had nothing I would or could give and so the bridge I needed must not demand I pay a toll to cross.  I am now in training to become a bridge builder myself, by working the steps to move from physical abstinence to spiritual sobriety.  The idea that this third tradition tolerance is a charter for individual freedom resonates strongly.

This entry was posted on May 29, 2014 at 10:25 am and is filed under Uncategorized with tags Addiction, Alcoholism, Journal, Life, Personal, Recovery, Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.