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From: [email protected]
Category: Category 1
Date: 12 Aug 1999
Time: 13:05:25
Remote Name: ip166.atlanta14.ga.pub-ip.psi.net
Dear Debbie,
You may not realize it but just about all NA meetings used to use the Lord's Prayer to close meetings, at least on the East Coast. Then it came out that Jewish members were offended by the prayer and that it made certain other members uncomfortable. I recall the debates but didn't directly participate in them. I was more than busy with other service. It sort of pleased me when we went over to the serenity prayer because it's so generic. As a thoughtful thing, I would agree about the Third Step Prayer. But here is what I wanted to respond to and empasize: we don't tell members what to do. We can suggest, recommend, cajole and hope. We can even coerce, manipulate (don't tell me members don't do this!) but in the final analysis, they don't have to do it.
To me, one of the most beautiful things in NA is to watch the careful interplay of choice and how wonderfully is refines itself to better carry our message. That this is done through the power of individual choice makes it what I think of as spiritual also. It is not me or you, it is us.
An example of the other way is when the chip system changed from a sensible flowing from the hot 'outside' colors of white, red, orange, yellow, to the 'inside' colors of green, blue. A committee thought we should have another order of colors. As an artist, I am aware, that as you mix yellow into red, you get first orange and then more and more yellow. From yellow, you mix blue to make green. More blue and the whole sample gets blue. So, there was a symetry to our chip system in the East, before it was changed. It followed the prism and the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green and blue. As far as I know, there was never even an explanation about the change or a request from members as to what they felt should be the best colors. The chip system was mainly an East Coast thing at that time. When the Office starting selling chips, it came under their control and we never knew what happened after that.
I am sure that other members were concerned about this at the time. Not that anyone would make a big fuss, but it was just different from the way we handled things in NA. It always seemed to me that there would come a time of reconning when it would be brought out what happened, how it could have been better and what we ought to do about it now. I guess that is like asking for the moon, huh.
In Loving and Laughing Service,
Bo S.