Endigar 431 ~ True Tolerance
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.
Daily Reprieve 
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