MY
THOUGHTS ON TRADITION FOUR
Each
group thru its group conscience has the freedom to decide for
itself the content of its meetings and the topics that will be
discussed
The group can decide if the meeting will
be opened or closed and when and where the meeting will be held
each group can decide to change its meeting format and has
complete authority to spend its funds as needed.
The group can also decide how it wishes to open and close
its meetings some groups close with a prayer while others have a
moment of silence each group has total freedom it is entirely up
to the membership the group
The second part of this tradition matters affecting other
groups or A.A. as a whole reminds each group that it has a
responsibility also to the worldwide fellowship
By adhering to the traditions and principals of its program
each group can assure that it will not stray too far away from
the program's basic tenets of share their experience strength and
hope with each other that they may solve their common problem
The "autonomy" provided in
Tradition 4 does not mean an individual group has the authority
to re-word the steps or traditions or to create its own
literature
Many a meeting has gotten away from the look and feel of
its primary purpose by using non-conference approved literature
for my group we do have non-conference literature and we do keep
it separated from conference approved by using a separate table
There is no right or wrong way to hold a meeting but we can
cease carrying the message if we stray too far from its
traditions and concepts
When I first came into this program I
learned how it was in my little group as I went to the other
groups in neighboring towns I would think They don't do their
meetings right They have too much laughter and don't start on
time and so on
Today these little things that use to
bother me now make me realize that they are what makes all these
groups unique and different.
I look forward to the different meetings now because we are
unique in our own rights. As long as the guidelines of the
program are followed and the basic message is there for us this
is one more example of why AA works
