TRADITION SIX
June 29, from “Strengthening My Recovery” daily reader
“Tradition Six keeps ACA free of outside influences and reminds us not to lend the ACA name to any related facility or outside enterprise. By following this Tradition we also avoid money and prestige issues that would hinder our primary purpose.” BRB p.521
“Our program cannot be bought or sold. We deal with spiritual matters that are freely given and freely received. We are each entrusted with keeping the program clear of any financial motives.
There are temptations to affiliate ACA with a multitude of programs that deal with family issues. Some of them may even prove financially profitable. We find that such arrangements may prove so distracting that we forget the focus of our program.
The problems of money, property, and prestige can be very hard to resolve, and the ACA program practices a form of corporate poverty that frees us from the financial strings that would pull us away from our primary purpose. We cannot serve two masters while doing the work that only an ACA can do.
This Tradition also gives us guidance for organizing our own lives so that we can keep our focus on what’s important, while avoiding distractions about money, property, and prestige.
On this day I will observe the Sixth Tradition and help my group focus on our primary purpose, turning away from any distractions from outside sources.”
My Experience:
Tradition Six is refreshing. Had this program been tied to something else, where there was an obvious profit side, I would have been way more skeptical and not gone too far with the program. I have seen and heard of programs that seem to have aspects of traditional 12- Step recovery programs, but there are huge fees involved, costly weekend workshops, costly literature, etc. People are looking for answers, and those other programs seem to offer some get well quick scheme while utilizing some 12-Step recovery concepts that I imagine are temporary answers at best. The ACA program offers a long term solution with long term access and a new way of living that offers relief and is not beholden to money, property, or prestige.
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