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The First of Twelve Traditions
I was random link clicking around the blogosphere, and landed on the website of the Young Anabaptist Radicals and a post discussing the twelve traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous.
I have never really looked into alcoholics anonymous, but after a night of research, I am completely enthralled with the organization.
The most enthralling thing, that I discovered, are the 12 traditions. These traditions are the loose guildlines that “govern” the headless organization known as Alcoholics Anonymous. I began to wonder what it would look like if church began to take these traditions for themselves (similarly to how we have adopted many “pagan” rituals into the way the church works).
The first tradition is quite striking “Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.”
Think that one over for a moment.
Personal Recovery depends on A.A. unity.
Equate that over.
Church effectiveness depends on catholic unity. (Please note, little c catholic)
Does this mean that every A.A. member agrees on every issue? No, certainly not. Would unity require us to agree on all issues? Again, No, a resounding No. The most beautiful form of unity is when it crosses the divides we normally find ourselves in.
Saying “I will stand with you, no matter your doctrinal viewpoints, in order to better act as a priest to the world.”
Beautiful.
Unity.
This post brought to you by something other than politics
I’ll admit, there have been several times today when I was quite tempted to renege on the statement that I would not comment on politics until post election (Blake- I will be on the liveblog- no worries there), however, I will keep my word and talk about something else that’s been on my mind of late.
As I mentioned before, I read “Fidelity of Betrayal” and “How (Not) to Speak of God,” both of which I could not recommend more to everyone willing to take a deep approach to their religion. However, the books have put me in a deconstructionist mood, which brought to the surface a few things that had been brewing for some time.
I think an appropriate subtitle to this post would be “Throwing a match on everything that I’ve been taught to see what can survive.”
The Parable of the Fish and the Fishermen
Disclaimer: I am neither a writer, nor Jesus, thus the following parable is of shoddy craftsmanship, and barely sufficient to convey my point.
There was a rich man who had three sons. He decided that it was time his sons left his household to make their way into the world. Growing up rich, these sons never learned to provide for themselves, but still, their father told them it was time to make it on their own.
The three sons decided to move to a town known for its fisheries, under the impression that this was the best course of action to provide for both their stomachs and wallets. When they arrived at the town, the three sons went their own ways.
The first son was met by a local fisherman, who taught the son how to fish, thinking that he would then be able to provide for himself. But this son would run into days where he couldn’t catch sufficient fish to both feed himself and sell to make a living, so days went when the son starved.
The second son met a fisherman who agreed to provide enough fish for him to both eat and sell at market. On some days, however, this fisherman could not provide enough fish to support both the son and himself, so days went when the son starved.
The third son met a fisherman who taught him how to fish, and also offered to provide him fish on the days when the son was not able to bring in enough to get by. This son worked hard and was never forced to starve.
In these months when the donkey fights the elephant on the workings of the economy, it’s important for us to remember that neither teaching a man to fish nor giving a man a fish is enough to help that man out. We need to be able to do both.
I can haz tiketz?
Link.
Yeah, this is being held in Atlanta Sept. 11 and 12, for Becky and I to go will be $130 dollars, but I think I’m going to pull together the scrath to pay for it.
BTW- If anyone is attending and needs a couch to crash on (and isn’t allergic to out dogs and our cat) then shoot me an email.