"...to carry its message..."

[FightingIrish]

I was at a Tradition meeting tonight (we read Five), and I noticed for the first time that it says,"Each group has but one primary purpose – to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers."

I don't know why "its" jumped out at me this evening. Does this imply that there is more than one message?

I'm just curious what others think or if this has been a topic of discussion before. I know words are important, and most of the words in the literature seem pretty well chosen.

OK, off to make popcorn...

FI

[CarolD]

I've always considered this to be a check and balance Tradition.

It is to remind groups to check motives
before leaping into projects
and to stay in balance/focus.

[Puddy]

That is interesting. I would think it would say "carry AA's message" or "carry this message" like it says in the twelfth step. Never realized it before. Thanks.

[TTOSBT]

What a great question FightingIrish!
Mind if I ask around at my home group?

[lizw]

I think it means, most groups carry the same message (soberity via AA and the 12 steps) BUT sometimes it wears different outfits/flavors.
I.e. breakfast meetings, spiritual meetings, gay meetings etc..

[bballdad]

F.I.
I guess my home group,or myself, could ask ourselves a few questions about the topic you mentioned.
1.Do we carry a strong,weak,or diluted message to the sufferers of alcoholism?
2.Do we sit and wait for someone suffering to come to us or do we go looking for them using the AA outreaches (CF,CPC,PI,TF,etc) and AA services (Inter Groups) ?

it might boil down to what the groups idea of 12 step work is as to what "it`s" message is.

[24hrsAday]

i think as carol said it is intended to keep us "on track" with A.A. and the still suffering.. if we don't do enough someone may die..

[MsChief]

'Give it away to keep it', I heard a lot in my early meetings. I wondered what on earth they were talking about and couldn't figure it out.

Now I really know what they meant. Whenever I feel blue, giving freely of my time, with another recovering alcoholic works magic for me. We are in it together. The newcomer, or troubled member, is helping me too.

'You have to surrender to win' was another enigma to me. I'm so glad I took the time to go back and find out and experience what it all means. .

I am grateful for AA - it gave me my life back. Why would I not want to give something back? Gratitude in Action!

[sugErspun]

My home group regularly takes group inventory to address such questions:

What message are we carrying?
How are we helping the person who still suffers?

So and and so forth. It helps keep focus and make sure we are a 'group' rather than a bunch of gathered individuals.

There is a difference.

Great topic..

[keithj]

Originally Posted by sugErspun

My home group regularly takes group inventory to address such questions:

What message are we carrying?
How are we helping the person who still suffers

Exactly what my home group does. I have been aware of the "it's message" phrasing and have wondered about it. In the context of the long form, that each group ought to be a spiritual entity, I would assume that the message of that spiritual entity is one of spiritual principles.

[navysteve]

I think it is splitting hairs, like the people who discuss the difference between a defect or a shortcoming ( They are the same thing)