Tradition Nine

[bluidkiti]

AA Tradition Nine

"A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve."


WHEN Tradition Nine was first written, it said that "Alcoholics Anonymous needs that least possible organization." In years since then, we have changed our minds about that. Today, we are able to say with assurance that Alcoholics Anonymous--A.A. as a whole--should never be organized at all. Then, in seeming contradiction, we proceed to create special service boards and committees which in themselves are organized. How, then, can we have an unorganized movement which can and does create a service organization for itself? Scanning this puzzler, people say, "What do they mean, no organization?"

Well, let's see. Did anyone ever hear of a nation, a church, a political party, even a benevolent association that had no membership rules? Did anyone ever hear of a society which couldn't somehow discipline its members and enforce obedience to necessary rules and regulations? Doesn't nearly every society on earth give authority to some of its members to impose obedience upon the rest and to punish or expel offenders? Therefore, every nation, in fact every form of society, has to be a government administered by human beings. Power to direct or govern is the essence of organization everywhere.

Yet Alcoholics Anonymous is an exception. It does not conform to this pattern. Neither is General Service Conference, its Foundation Board,* nor the humblest group committee can issue a single directive to an A.A. member and make it stick, let alone mete out any punishment. We've tried it lots of times, but utter failure is always the result. Groups have tried to expel members, but the banished have come back to sit in the meeting place, saying "This is life for us; you can't keep us out." Committees have instructed many an A.A. to stop working on a chronic backslider, only to be told: "How I do my Twelfth Step work is my business. Who are you to judge?" This doesn't mean an A.A. won't take advice or suggestions from more experienced members, but he surely won't take orders. Who is more unpopular than the old-time A.A., full of wisdom, who moves to another area and tries to tell the group there how to run its business? He and all like him who "view with alarm for the good of A.A." meet the most stubborn resistance or, worse still, laughter.

You might think A.A.'s headquarters in New York would be an exception. Surely, the people there would have to have some authority. But long ago, trustees and staff members alike found they could do no more than make suggestions, and very mild ones at that. They even had to coin a couple of sentences which still go into half the letters they write: "Of course, you are at perfect liberty to handle this matter any way you please. But the majority experience in A.A. does seem to suggest . . . " Now, that attitude is far removed from central government, isn't it? We recognize that alcoholics can't be dictated to--individually or collectively.

At this juncture, we can hear a churchman exclaim, "They are making disobedience a virtue!" He is joined by a psychiatrist who says, "Defiant brats! They won't grow up and conform to social usage!" The man in the street say, "I don't understand it. They must be nuts!" But all these observers have overlooked something unique in Alcoholics Anonymous. Unless each A.A. member follows to the best of his ability our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery, he almost certainly signs his own death warrant. His drunkenness and dissolution are not penalties inflicted by people in authority; they result from his personal disobedience to spiritual principles.

The same stern threat applies to the group itself. Unless there is approximate conformity to A.A.'s Twelve Traditions, the group, too, can deteriorate and die. So we of A.A. do obey spiritual principles, first because we must, and ultimately because we love the kind of life such obedience brings. Great suffering and great love are A.A.'s disciplinarians; we need no others.

It is clear now that we ought never to name boards to govern us, but it is equally clear that we shall always need to authorize workers to serve us. It is the difference between the spirit of vested authority and the spirit of service, two concepts which are sometimes poles apart. It is in this spirit of service that we elect the A.A. group's informal rotating committee, the intergroup association for the area, and the General Service Conferences of Alcoholics Anonymous for A.A. as a whole. Even our Foundation, once an independent board, is today directly accountable to our Fellowship. Its trustees are the caretakers and expediters of our world services.

Just as the aim of each A.A. member is personal sobriety, the aim of our services is to bring sobriety within reach of all who want it. If nobody does the group's chores, if the area's telephone rings unanswered, if we do not reply to our mail, then A.A. as we know it would stop. Our communications lines with those who need our help would be broken.

A.A. has to function, but at the same time it must avoid those dangers of great wealth, prestige, and entrenched power which necessarily tempt other societies. Though Tradition Nine at first sight seems to deal with a purely practical matter, in its actual operation it discloses a society without organization, animated only by the spirit of service--a true fellowship. *In 1954, the name of the Alcoholic Foundation, Inc., was changed to the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc., and the Foundation office is now the General Service Office.

[bluidkiti]

TRADITION NINE

"NA, as such, ought never to be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve."

No committee should be allowed to govern the Fellowship. In selfless service, members may choose to become involved with committees our service boards. But since they are not NA, opinion and manipulation has no place, just group conscience as explained in our second tradition. Members may trust specific members to carry their collective conscience but this does not make this member a leader, governor or an organizer. It simply makes that person a trusted servant. No one has the power of authority to make decisions for NA. NA as a whole makes decisions for NA as a whole.

Narcotics Anonymous is a spiritual program and we put our spiritual purposes first. It is important that we don't get so caught up in the business side of our group directed functions. Those boards and committees we create are admonished to maintain directly responsibility to the general membership: those we serve. Our sanctioned events and service efforts are done by trusted servants. All are addicts seeking recovery at times and all are members who act as resources to those who suffer at other times. Surely, we will all fall short at times. But if enough of us are mindful of Tradition Nine, we can offset any harm done. The basic problem seems to be when we use the business aspect of an event or effort to put down our members. Abridging our policy of openness and service is not condusive to good feelings about service and trust of our trusted servants. If our servants can't trust us, who are we to trust them?

Special words require our attention. It can be a mistake to assume we know why these terms are special. This can prevent our going that one extra step that could lead to much more useful knowledge. Organizations are functional systems and they work to preserve these functions. An organization has some beliefs in common, and the means to enforce adherence to its rules and goals. Businesses are organized from the inside out. NA is organized from the outside in. Our group conscience processes blend ideas and suggestions from many sources so that we include a maximum number of viewpoints and people. We don't submit well to authority figures. We can surrender as part of our programs and our service yet it is entirely voluntary. If we are not given trust and respect, we know something has gone wrong.

In NA, we deal exclusively with the disease of addiction. NA "as such" referred to in this Tradition applies to our meetings where recovery is shared. This may include two members sharing on the phone in the middle of the night, a regular meeting or a convention meeting. All else is "not" NA. NA is not a business where business practices can take precedence over spiritual values. Many times, business has been used as an excuse to be secretive, manipulative and deceptive. Through the years, this has been a matter of some debate. It will always be a matter of debate because we will always have people moving from a rational, worldly viewpoint to a spiritual. It takes some time to realize that the worldly takes care of day-to-day functions but the spiritual takes care of every moment. All our luck and good feeling depends on the spirit. Ideally, there should be no conflict but it takes time and experience to learn to live the NA way without conflict. New people or people in new situations will always need our love and understanding if they fall into some trap or area where they can't see what to do clearly. We all need patience and tolerance.

The fellowship creates its service boards and committees. This is important to understand because in the course of things it may seem to us that our service efforts `create' the Fellowship. It is one way and not the other. This keeps our committees and boards service oriented. It helps them to not get so caught up in what they are doing that they forget their allegiance to the Fellowship and begin to govern. We create them and they are our creations. They didn't create us, our desire for recovery did. We are not their creatures.

Direct responsibility does not have to concern us with what other service boards and committees think. If we serve well those who benefit from our efforts and generally support others working to do the same, all will be well. Addicts make poor legislators, however we may hate to admit this fact. We are frequently tied into our own viewpoint so totally, that others exist only in our peripheral vision. Keeping our service simple and just doing our job takes a lot of surrender and sincerity on our part.

Structurally, this Tradition is a warning to keep faith with the members of NA at large. It is the nature of bureaucracies that much can be made of little. Interactive service boards can pat each other on the back and drift away from being directly responsible without ever noticing it. Like a bullfrog in a pan of water on the stove, they can boil to death without noticing the water getting hotter. They surely think all the feels warm is good for them. All service positions require knowledge of the Steps and Traditions. This is because we need to have surrender, faith, morals, and the ability to say we're sorry if we're going to function well with other addicts in service.

What is trusted service? Trusted service may be commitments that we may take on unconditionally on a group, area or regional level. These commitments may vary, but one thing does not change: The unselfish desire to give back what was so freely given to you. For many of us, this act of unconditional love may take the form of something simple on a group level. That something that allows us to show our gratitude and feel a part of the greater whole. As our understanding of the principle of NA becomes more apparent and our spirituality increases, we may get involved in the committees that are directly responsible to its members. Not all addicts in recovery choose to get involved in trusted service. Many are content with what they seem to have. Others complain of principles being violated or personalities in conflict. For us, trusted service implies action.

It can be so easy to sit back and complain about how poorly another member may be fulfilling their commitment. It can take the focus off ourselves. Why not get involved and either take on a commitment or help with others. No one commitment is more important than another. If service were a management system or a corporate effort, this might not be as true as it is with us. Service is part of our general giving or a part of our twelfth step. In either case, it is important for us to give and to keep faith within the Fellowship's trust. Performing our task well or poorly is almost another matter. If we're clumsy or awkward, someone will notice and find a way to help us, if we are sincere.

One purpose of our Ninth Tradition is to separate and distinguish NA as such from our service boards and committees. ‘NA as such’ is groups of addicts holding meetings for the purpose of recovery from the disease of addiction. Their primary purpose is to carry the message to the addict who still suffers. Service boards and committees are created by these groups and are not NA as such. They have many other purposes and may become besieged with rivalry or competitiveness. This is an important distinction as many members confuse our service structure with NA. Our structure does not speak for NA but should allow NA to speak through it. Our boards and committees should not lead NA as such, but should be led as outlined in our second tradition.

Separating our service structure and NA is vital to our spiritual growth. When we blur the distinction, service disputes and controversies enter into our recovery meetings and affect our personal recovery. No member should be isolated or feel isolated from the fellowship because of service issues. This tradition talks about direct responsibility. It is up to NA groups to insist on this. Although our structure is separate from NA as such, we expect it to work within the principles established by our Steps and Traditions.

Somehow, over they years, our service boards and committees changed direction. They changed from being "not a part of Narcotics Anonymous" to being "solely to serve the fellowship." This cheats the newcomer members from the concept of the Ninth Tradition. This may not be a direct change but indirectly an implication of service boards or committees being NA can confuse people and bring conflict upon ourselves. Service boards or committees serve the Fellowship not direct the Fellowship.

We can trust NA service boards and committees where they are guided by a loving God in their choices. Individuals may become obsessed and view dissenting members as the enemy, but surely, our combined love and determined effort for the common good will prevail. It is not the job of our service boards and committees to provide things we don't need. We don't need people to tell us what to think or approve what information becomes available to us. Responsiveness is the hallmark of genuine service. When members ask questions, they really want to know. Responding to their needs allows them to get past problems others have successfully faced. They go on to break new recovery ground for NA.

[MajestyJo]

Like the fact that there are no leaders in AA. It is the same principle of the Gospel Hall that I grew up in. There was no minister, just a group of elders and a committee for different events like the yearly picnic and other community events. I remember the watermelon fights in a community hall with wooden benches and tables, very simple, no pomp and ceremoney.

The only difference was that AA has suggestions and the church had a lot of "thou shall nots." Well there are a few thou shall nots in AA too, don't pick up a drink or a drug (it will take you back to your drug of choice, I know, it is what happened to me). Don't stop going to meetings, don't stop calling your sponsor, if you don't have one, get one. This is a we program, me alone with me is bad company. My best thinking got me to the doors of recovery. That is why it is good to not have one person running the show. We often need to do a reality check.