Made direct amends to such people
wherever possible, except when to do
so would injure them or others
ACCORDING to the Big Book, cofounder Doctor Bob was the first AA
member to have a slip. Coming off a
roaring bender, he saw that he would
have to face his problems squarely: "One
morning he took the bull by the horns
and set out to tell those he feared what
his trouble had been. Stepping into his
car, he made the rounds of people he had
hurt. He trembled as he went about, for
this might mean ruin, particularly to a
person in his line of business."
Far from bringing ruin. Doctor Bob's
bold action marked a new beginning,
bringing great personal happiness and
opportunities for service in the fifteen
years remaining to him. He was, as the
Grapevine noted after his death, a person
who had truly become reconciled with
his fellowman.
Doctor Bob also showed how the Ninth
Step should be handled. He was a physician and often had to face hard decisions
in his own work with patients, sometimes
advising them of their need for risky,
painful surgery. He knew that it was useless to put such matters off or try to
avoid them altogether, so he faced the
self-surgery of amends-making with acceptance and determination to do the job
thoroughly.
The result? As the account in the Big
Book continues: "At midnight he came
home exhausted, but very happy. He has
not had a drink since. He now means a
great deal to his community, and the ma-
jor liabilities of thirty years of hard
drinking have been repaired in four."
Additional payoffs for this AA cofounder in taking the Ninth Step were
sobriety and happiness, and the experience of other AA members generally
has been along the same line: If we
want to enjoy sobriety with happiness,
we ought to clear up the past. While it
is undoubtedly true that some people
manage to avoid drinking without
making amends, it is unlikely that
many attain real happiness until they
do so. And without happiness, who
lives well in the present or faces the
future with hope?
In Doctor Bob's ease, most of his initial amends-making seemed to involve
contacting people in person and extending apologies or offers to remedy
certain problems. We do not know the
nature of his wrongs, or whether his
efforts were received graciously by
everyone he visited. It is also possible
that in some cases a mere verbal apology could not have repaired all the
damage. The important thing is that he
made amends directly and pushed
aside fear and pride to get the job done.
When it was finished, he had a feeling
of great relief, as if a great burden had
been removed.
Inside this issue:
Step 9
1-2
"Direct" is the key word in this Step.
There are times, I'm afraid, when many
of us are hopeful that indirect amends
will suffice, sparing us the pain and
supposed humiliation of approaching
people in person and telling them of
our wrongs. This is evasion and will
Tradition Nine
3-4
District Financials
5
Concept IX
6-7
Birthdays
8
never give us a true sense of breaking with the wrongdoings of the
Upcoming Events
8
9th Step (continued)
One Day at a Time(s)
past. It indicates that we are still trying to defend something
that isn't worth defending, hanging on to conduct that we ought
to abandon. And the usual reasons for sidestepping direct
amends arc pride and fear.
sake of an obscure principle, always tell the whole truth at all
costs. And the Ninth Step seems to make that plain.
Page 2
The questions arise: "What harmful actions should I have in
mind when I take the Ninth Step? Which persons should I approach?" We should include here--if we have completed the
Eighth Step--any action where we were wrong even in part and
any persons who were harmed by this action.
Does this include bartenders whom we may have insulted?
Many AA members point out that bartenders and tavern owners
are well paid to accept insults, and therefore no amendsmaking is required. Actually, a brief apology should be extended in most of these cases, as a matter of courtesy. But barroom insults, as a rule, do not cause lasting harm. "Harmed," as
it is used in the Eighth Step and implied in the Ninth, means:
caused other persons to suffer physical injury, emotional pain,
financial loss, or other damage through actions or neglect on
our part.
Because money is so important to many of us, financial harm
should head the list. Making amends ought to include paying
debts or visiting creditors whom we have been avoiding. But it
is not enough to visit a creditor with only an apology and a
promise to pay; these must be followed up with actual cash
payments as soon as possible. Only in this way are we showing
sincerity of purpose and true financial responsibility.
A more difficult problem faces the person who has been guilty
of undetected crime, such as embezzlement or pilfering. Direct
amends in a case like this could bring injury, such as disgrace
and impoverishment to his family. The problem should be handled through prayer and meditation, along with personal discussion with a trusted friend. Perhaps a way of making amends
in an indirect manner--suitable, for once, in this situation--will
appear. Fortunately, the member has an excellent way of determining whether the method is the correct one for his needs. It is
this: If the action removes his own sense of shame and guilt,
giving him a feeling of peace and relief, it has probably been
the correct one.
I would hardly know how to begin advising the person whose
actions resulted in more serious crimes--for example, an individual who caused a death through a still-unsolved hit-and-run
accident. I think it is doubtful, however, that any lasting peace
or self-forgiveness could ever come about without some kind
of open admission.
I have heard much discussion about the clause "except when to
do so would injure them or others." It seems plain to me that an
obvious case would he the husband who cheated on his wife,
but would hurt her a second time by telling her of his escapades. There are probably other occasions when a frank disclosure would turn out to be more harmful than helpful. The AA
principle to follow would always be in the direction of being
hard and uncompromising in dealing with ourselves, but considerate and discreet where others are involved. There is a great
deal of common sense in the AA program, despite the fact that
we often seem to be swimming against the title of general behavior in our principles and actions. We do not, merely for the
Perhaps we can make up for the limitation through a more subtle method of making amends, one that seems to be accepted by
a large number of AA members. This is the method of making
amends by living in the right way and meeting one's own obligations and responsibilities. Quite often, this can be more important to certain people than any amount of personal apologies
or expressions of regret. Such amends are actually direct, because they have a direct effect on the lives of others.
A friend of mine, for example, neglected his family for the first
few years of his marriage. It was too late to save his marriage
by the time he arrived in AA, but it was not too late to give his
children as much assistance as possible at critical stages in their
lives. What could he more direct than this?
Another friend was in trouble with the law repeatedly, spending almost sixteen years in prison. But his parents had the joy
of seeing him recover before they passed on, and their joy
erased much of the pain and disgrace he had once brought
them. And if his defiant course once placed a burden on society, he has more than made direct amends to society as well,
through his work in helping others who have been similarly
defiant.
Finally, there is always the thought of what might have been if
only we had not neglected a responsibility or failed to take advantage of an opportunity. In more than a few cases, alcoholics
ought to make amends to themselves, for they were the chief
victims of their own harmful thoughts and actions. Even here,
direct amends are often possible. I feel strongly that my own
night-school education over the past few years, leading to a
high-school diploma and then to graduation from our local
community college, is in this category. If any alcoholic feels
that sins of omission or commission denied him some supposed
good in life, he should ask himself whether it really is too late
to make it up to himself. The only barrier, in many cases, is not
age at all; often, it is only a mixture of fear and laziness.
By taking the Ninth Step in all its various forms, we pay off
any debt we may have to the past. Alcoholics Anonymous is a
program of renewal and rebirth, and we have no business hanging on to things that are going to mar today's happiness, If fear
is keeping us from making amends, we should destroy fear
long enough to do the job. If pride is the deterrent, we should
rise above it for the occasion. If laziness is involved, we should
gather all the energy we can find and deliberately order laziness to stand aside while we do what needs to he done.
When we have paid the great price--taken "the bull by the
horns." as Doctor Bob did--we will find that the action has
opened up a whole new world for us, one that we could never
find on the old basis. And while we make amends directly to
others, the real, lasting benefits come to us. This should certainly he reason enough for facing up to the Ninth Step.
April 1971Vol. 27 No. 11
M. D. B. Jackson, Michigan
Page 3
“AA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create
service boards or committees directly responsible to those they
serve.”
Published by District 14
Intergroup Committee Inc
9th Tradition
Checklist
On the 9th Tradition
Each A.A. Group needs the least possible organization. Rotating leadership
is the best. The small group may elect its secretary, the large group its rotating committee, and the groups of a large Metropolitan area their central or
intergroup committee, which often employs a full-time secretary. The Trustees of The Alcoholic Foundation are, in effect, our A.A. General Service
Committee. They are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers
of voluntary A.A. contributions by which we maintain our A.A. General
Service Office in New York. They are authorized by the groups to handle
our over-all public relations and they guarantee the integrity of our principal newspaper, "The A.A. Grapevine." All such representatives are to be
guided in the spirit of service, for true leaders in A.A. are but trusted and
experienced servants of the whole. They derive no real authority from their
titles; they do not govern. Universal respect is the key to their usefulness.
The least possible organization, that's our universal ideal. No fees, no dues, no
rules imposed on anybody, one alcoholic bringing recovery to the next; that's
the substance of what we most desire, isn't it?
But how shall this simple ideal best be realized? Often a question, that.
We have, for example, the kind of A.A. who is for simplicity. Terrified of
anything organized, he tells us that A.A. is getting too complicated. He thinks
money only makes trouble, committees only make dissension, elections only
make politics, paid workers only make professionals and that clubs only coddle slipees. Says he, let's get back to coffee and cakes by cozy firesides. If any
alcoholics stray our way, let's look after them. But that's enough. Simplicity is
our answer.
Quite opposed to such halcyon simplicity is the A.A. promotor. Left to himself he would "bang the cannon and twang the lyre" at every crossroad of the
world. Millions for drunks, great A.A. hospitals, batteries of paid organizers
and publicity experts wielding all the latest paraphernalia of sound and script;
such would be our promoters dream. "Yes sir," he would bark "My two year
plan calls for one million A.A. members by 1950!"
For one, I'm glad we have both conservatives and enthusiasts. They teach us
much. The conservative will surely see to it that the A.A. movement never
gets over organized. But the promoter will continue to remind us of our terrific obligation to the newcomer and to those hundreds of thousands of alcoholics still waiting all over the world to hear of A.A.
Do I still try to boss things
in AA?
Do I resist formal aspects
of AA because I fear
them as authoritative?
Am I mature enough to
understand and use all
elements of the AA
program-even if no one
makes me do so-with a
sense of personal
responsibility?
Do I exercise patience and
humility in any AA job I
take?
Am I aware of all those to
whom I am responsible
in any AA job?
Why doesn't every AA
group
need
a
constitution and bylaws?
Have I learned to step out
of an AA job gracefullyand profit thereby-when
the time comes?
What has rotation to do
with anonymity? With
humility?
Page 4
9th Step (continued)
We shall, naturally, take the firm and safe middle
course. A.A. has always violently resisted the idea of
any general organization. Yet, paradoxically, we have
ever stoutly insisted upon organizing certain special
services; mostly those absolutely necessary to effective and plentiful 12th Step work.
If, for instance, an A.A. group elects a secretary or rotating committee, if an area forms an intergroup committee, if we set up a Foundation, a General Office or
a Grapevine, then we are organized for service. The
A.A. book and pamphlets, our meeting places and
clubs, our dinners and regional assemblies--these are
services too. Nor can we secure good hospital connections, properly sponsor new prospects and obtain good
public relations just by chance. People have to be appointed to look after these things, sometimes paid people. Special services are performed.
But by none of these special services, has our spiritual
or social activity, the great current of A.A. ever been
really organized or professionalized. Yet our recovery
program has been enormously aided. While important,
these service activities, are very small by contrast with
our main effort.
As such facts and distinctions become clear, we shall
easily lay aside our fears of blighting organization or
hazardous wealth. As a movement, we shall remain
comfortably poor; for our service expenses are trifling.
With such assurances, we shall without doubt, continue to improve and extend our vital lifelines of special service; to better carry out our A.A. message to
others; to make for ourselves a finer greater society,
and, God willing, to assure Alcoholics Anonymous a
long life and perfect unity.
Bill W.
Copyright © The A.A.
Grapevine, Inc.,
June 1948
One Day at a Time(s)
Page 5
Financials from Intergroup District 14
Published by District 14
Intergroup Committee Inc
Page 6
One Day at a Time(s)
Concept Nine
Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world service leadership, once exercised by the founders, must necessarily be assumed
by the trustees.
The Ninth Concept
Copyright©The AA Grapevine, Inc. July 1972
W
o matter how carefully we design our serve
structure of principles and relationships, no
matter how well we apportion authority and responsibility, the operating results of our structure can be
no better than the personal performance of those
who must man it and make it work. Good leadership
cannot function well in a poorly designed structure.
Weak leadership can hardly function at all, even in
the best of structures. But once we have created a
basically sound structure, that job is finished, except
for occasional refinements.
hen making their choices of GSRs, the AA
groups should therefore have such facts well in
mind. It ought to be remembered that it is only the
GSRs who, in Area Assembly meetings (or in caucus),
can name Committee Members and finally name the
Delegates. Hence, great care needs to be taken by the
groups as they choose these Representatives. Hit-ormiss methods should be avoided. Groups who name
no GSRs should be encouraged to do so. In this area,
a degree of weakness tends to persist. The needed improvement seems to be a matter of increased care, responsibility, and education.
W
A
N
ith leadership we shall have a continuous
problem. Good leadership can be here today
and gone tomorrow. Furnishing our service structure with able and willing workers has to be a continuous activity. It is therefore a problem that in its
very nature cannot be permanently solved. We must
continuously find the right people for our many service tasks. Since our future effectiveness must thus
depend upon ever-new generations of leaders, it
seems desirable that we now proceed to define what
a good service leader should be; that we carefully
indicate in each level of service, especially in our
Board of Trustees, what special skills will always be
required; and that we review our present methods of
finding and choosing that leadership.
F
irst, let’s remember that the base for our service
structure rests on the dedication and ability of
several thousand General Service Representatives
(GSRs), several hundred area Committee Members,
and nearly a hundred Delegates. These are the direct
agents of the AA groups; these are the indispensable
linkage between our Fellowship and its world service; these are the primary representatives of AA’s
group conscience. Without their support and activity, we could not operate permanently at all.
s the GSRs meet in their Assemblies to name
Delegates, an even greater degree of care and
dedication will be required. Personal ambitions will
have to be cast aside, feuds and controversy forgotten.
“Who are the best qualified people that we can name?”
This should be the thought of all.
T
hus far, our Third Legacy method of naming
Delegates by a two-thirds vote or by lot has
proved highly satisfactory. This system of choosing
has greatly reduced political friction; it has made each
Delegate feel that he or she is truly a world servant
rather than just the winner of a contest. In Committee
Members and Delegates alike, our Third Legacy methods have generally produced people of a high level of
dedication and competence. In this area of service, we
are in good shape. Our Area Assemblies need only to
continue to act with care and in selfless good spirit.
I
t should be reported that some members still doubt
whether choice by lot is ever a good idea. They say
that the best man does not always win. In answer, it
must be pointed out that each time we have abandoned
the “two-thirds vote or lot” in naming Delegates, there
has been a sense of defeat and disturbance in the mi-
Page 7
Concept Nine (continued)
nority camp which is nowhere nearly offset by the
advantage of naming the supposedly best man. Indeed, the second-best man can often be as good a
Delegate as the Assembly’s first choice; he may
even be a better Delegate.
W
e now come to the principal theme of this
particular Concept:
How can we best
strengthen the composition and the leadership of the
future Board of Trustees, the Board which in years
to come will have to exercise AA’s primary leadership in world service administration, the trusteeship
which will in fact have to assume most of my former
duties and responsibilities in connection with AA’s
world services?
A
s previously noted, the actual transference of
authority and responsibility from me to the
Trustees has been going on for a long time. I am
still around and still serving as an adviser, and I have
also been finishing a few remaining chores (for example, the development of these Concepts) which
were left over from the l955 St. Louis Convention.
But the time approaches when I shall have to withdraw from nearly all world service activity. This is
why I feel a great interest now in doing everything
possible to strengthen the administrative composition and AA leadership of our General Service
Board, so that future Trustees may be better able to
cope with the problems and dangers which time will
no doubt bring.
M
y admiration for what AA’s alcoholic and
nonalcoholic Trustees have done for us all is
boundless. During the time of our infancy and adolescence, nothing could have been structurally better
than the setup we have had. Looking at this record,
many AAs naturally feel that what was good for the
past will surely be good for the future; that any
change in the induction methods, in the Trustee ratio
of alcoholics to nonalcoholics, or in the present composition of our Board will prove dangerous rather
than beneficial.
Published by District 14
Intergroup Committee Inc
B
ut change has been pressing upon us right along,
and it is still doing so. For example, our Board
operated in all the years between 1938 and 1951 without the support of a Conference. But is was finally
and reluctantly realized that this relatively unseen and
unknown Board could not continue without a permanent linkage to AA, something that Doctor Bob and I
could not give it forever. We did not like to face this
change, but we had to. The trusteeship had to be securely anchored to AA or it eventually would have
collapsed. The Conference simply had to come into
being.
T
his change profoundly altered the position of the
Trustees. Their former authority was modified;
they were firmly linked to AA and were thus made
directly accountable to our Fellowship. Nobody today
questions the wisdom of that momentous change, because everybody can now see that it has provided an
essential protection for the service effectiveness and
security of AA;s future. Experience has refuted the
idea that changes which are needed to meet altered
conditions are necessarily unwise.
W
e now stand on the edge of still another great
change. Though we have already solved the
problem of the Trustees’ authority, their responsibility,
and their linkage to AA, we have by no means solved,
in my belief, the question of the Board’s future role in
service leadership.
H
ence, it is my deep conviction that the administrative and AA-leadership strength of the Board
should be considerably increased; that these and other
improvements can place it in a much better position,
practically and psychologically; that such changes are
truly necessary to meet the conditions which will be
certain to follow when my own world service leadership has been terminated.
S
tudents of history recognize that the transference
of the original leadership of a society to its successors in leadership is always a critical turning point.
This difficult question of leadership, this problem of
transference, must now be faced.
Sobriety Anniversaries
Page 8
Events for
September 2010
Corrections Mtg
9:30 am Sat
September 4th
Intergroup Mtg Breakfast Amvets
9:30 am Sun
September 5th
District 14 GSR
Meeting Amvets
6:30 pm Mon
September 6th
Intergroup Business
Meeting
6:30 pm Mon
September 20th
PI/CPC Meeting
11:30 am Sat
September 25th
ALKATHON
Care Group—Ft Walton
5:00 pm Sat till 8:00
September 25th
®
®
®
District 14 Intergroup
Committee, Inc.
24 Hollywood Blvd. SW, Ste 7
Fort Walton Beach, FL 325480