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From: Bo S
Category: Category 1
Date: 20 May 2002
Time: 00:39:25
Remote Name: 216.0.47.235
I try not to respond to just everything that comes up on the Forum here. But, really, the actual thing is that we have little in the way of written history and accurate standards for our members to study, agree on and go by in the course of doing service, or many other things in NA.
I am hopeful that some more of you will come forward and contribute material to help complete this work. It is a great springboard to bring up all the things I hear members question, challenge adn respond to in the Quest Forum here. But going back a step, we are in a weal position to say what is what when anyone can challenge us and we have no written support.
I absolutely believe real service is real giving. I have worked the program to the best of my ability almost half my lifetime and I am 57. Still, there are times when I realize how terribly we have failed as a Fellowship to agree to as much as we can in wriitng and let our newer members learn the real stuff from the start.
OK, time for examples. I member contacts me concerned because their Region has decided to stop reading the 12 Traditions before their Regional meetings. To me this is a disgrace. The Traditions are the Foundation of NA and without them we turn quickly into a disorganized bunch of opionions.
Another member calls me, almost in tears. At a recent anniversary, a lade had a Catholic Priest, who is not a recovering addict, as speaker at her birthday. That is wacko. It is not enogh to say, well, the addicts there won't stay clean if they are not working THE program. They are not taught anything in that area that would help them conduct an anniversay for the newcomer to see and hear. I make a joke: you get the medallion on your anniversary, we get the cake. I mean the whole thing about celebrating recovery is not to jack up the person getting the recognition though shurly we have a healthy need for positive recognition. It is parto of the way we do things in NA and it is part of our 5th Tradition.
Anyway, I know there is a world of members out there who have issues and concerns. We need to regain the initiative and extend our written program of recovery into new areas. Otherwise, the written program trails off and members start making up stuff and calling it NA. It is not their fault. We are the ones with the service experience and clean time and it is up to us to take care of this.
In Loving Service,
Bo S.