“The Twelve Concepts for World Service provide a group of related principles to help ensure that various elements of A.A.’s service structure remain responsive and resonsible to those they serve.”
From the discussion on the Concepts Checklist;
Concept VIII: The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities.

Do we understand the relationship between the two corporate service entities (A.A. World Services, Inc., the A.A. Grapevine) and the General Service Board?
How can the business …read more

From page 81 in AA’s 12&12;
“Such gross misbehavior is not by any means a full catalogue of the harms we do. Let us think of some of the subtler ones which can sometimes be quite as damaging. Suppose that in our family lives we happen to be miserly, irresponsible, callous, or cold. Suppose that we are irritable, critical, impatient, and humorless. Suppose we lavish attention upon one member of the family and neglect the others.”
Through the years I’ve watched my share of alcoholics who’ve, unfortunately, allowed themselves to return to selfishness and self-centeredness. In quite a few instances these folks …read more

“The Twelve Concepts for World Service provide a group of related principles to help ensure that various elements of A.A.’s service structure remain responsive and resonsible to those they serve.”
From the discussion on the Concepts Checklist;
Concept Vll: The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness.

Do we act responsibly regarding the “power of the purse?”
Do we realize that the practical and spiritual power of the Conference will nearly …read more

Going back to last month and then following up…
From the Service Material at the Alcoholics Anonymous web site.
Concepts Checklist – III, IV and V
Concept III: To insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A. —the Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and executives—with a traditional “Right of Decision.”

Do we understand what is meant by the “Right of Decision”? Do we grant it at all levels of service or do we “instruct”?
Do we trust our trusted servants — G.S.R., D.C.M., area delegate, the Conference itself?

Autonomy, autonomous… what does it mean?
From the wikipedia;
“Autonomy (Greek: Auto-Nomos – nomos meaning “law”: one who gives oneself his/her own law) is the right to self-government. Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political, and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it refers to the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, uncoerced decision. In moral and political philosophy, autonomy is often used as the basis for determining moral responsibility for one’s actions. One of the best known philosophical theories of autonomy was developed by Kant. In medicine, respect for the autonomy of patients is an important goal for …read more

I was just perusing through the archives here and came across last years entry on Concept IV which led me to this once again…
Concepts Checklist – Service Material From GSO
Most worthy of being passed along;
Concept I: Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.

Does our group have a general service representative (G.S.R.)? Do we feel that our home group is part of A.A. as a whole and do our group’s decisions and actions reflect that?
Do we hold regular group conscience meetings encouraging everyone to participate? Do we pass …read more

But the Daily Reflection for October 9th holds true today as it does each day…
A Spiritual Axiom
“It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us.”
In the body of the person’s response in the Daily Reflection they say this;
“Feelings come from inside, not from outward circumstances. When my spiritual condition is positive, I react positively.”
On page 90 in the 12&12, speaking about the spiritual axiom and anger, it says;
“Few people have been more victimized by resentments than have we alcoholics. It mattered little whether our resentments were justified …read more

I’d have never been able to put any credence in today’s Daily Reflection.
Guidance
“… this means a belief in a Creator who is all power, justice, and love; a God who intends for me a purpose, a meaning, and a destiny to grow, however … haltingly, toward His own likeness and image.”
As Bill Sees It, p.51
“As I began to understand my own powerlessness and my dependence on God, as I understand Him, I began to see that there was a life which, if I could have it, I would have chosen for myself from the beginning.”
This is in direct contradiction …read more

For the meeting you’ll be sitting in for the next hour?
This is from “The AA Group: Where It All Begins” pages 11 and 12;
Background for many topic meetings derives from A.A. literature, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book), Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, As Bill Sees It, Daily Reflections, and from the A.A. Grapevine.
A few specific topic suggestions may include:
• attitude
• defects of character
• fear
• freedom through sobriety
• gratitude
• higher power
• honesty
• humility
• making amends
• resentments
• sponsorship
• surrender
• the tools of recovery
• tolerance
• willingness

That he read the Second Step and then let me know how “we” had so often prayed – wrongly.
Well – at least he read the Step
“In no deep or meaningful sense had we ever taken stock of ourselves, made amends to those we had harmed, or freely given to any other human being without any demand for reward.”
Eventually I took stock to discover that I had worked on a “reward system” my whole life. With a foundation of expectations, hidden expectations, I was always ready to help – for a reason. And that reason was a reward. Material …read more