Endigar 679 ~ What We Need – Each Other
From the Daily Reflections of January 25;
. . . A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker, “You are an A.A. member if you say so . . . nobody can keep you out.” (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page 139).
For years, whenever I reflected on Tradition Three (“The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking”), I thought it valuable only to newcomers. It was their guarantee that no one could bar them from A.A. Today I feel enduring gratitude for the spiritual development the Tradition has brought me. I don’t seek out people obviously different from myself. Tradition Three, concentrating on the one way I am similar to others, brought me to know and help every kind of alcoholic, just as they have helped me. Charlotte, the atheist, showed me higher standards of ethics and honor; Clay, of another race, taught me patience; Winslow, who is gay, led me by example into true compassion; Young Megan says that seeing me at meetings, sober thirty years, keeps her coming back. Tradition Three insured that we would get what we need — each other.
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I love this contribution to the Daily Reflections. Tradition three gives me an ideal of spiritual freedom that moves away from the “us and them” dogma of my churchian days. I too have gained much from individuals who would be damned and discarded by religious fear. This is heresy to what I used to believe, but it is a saving heresy which has allowed me to connect with others.
Daily Reprieve 
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