The seventh tradition

Since it's July, we focused on the seventh tradition at my home group this morning. AA will be self-supporting, it says.

I work in fundraising. In the beginning, I thought, "Hooray! My skills can be contributed to something that's giving so much back to me. I can actually do something for service!" And then I realized that self-supporting meant like the church - everybody gives what they can to the collection, and so we pay rent and coffee costs. We support the organization itself. AA will not be allied with any sect, denomination, or run by a sponsoring corporation.

Some this morning talked about while they were alcoholics they couldn't be self-supporting, always asking for contributions from others. I realized today that I have to ask AA to be supporting of my spiritual self until I can be self-supporting. AA gives you that boost: they like you till you can like yourself.

So the seventh tradition, to me, has more to do with the group supporting others in their growth and step work. We are self-supporting through our own contributions to the group conscious. I like that.