Magazine

April 2012: Safe in the Storm

How the Fourth Tradition helps us find our way

TRADITION FOUR: Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.

At the heart of Tradition Four is the risky business of autonomy—“Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.” But this freedom—without guidance from the spiritual trinity of anonymity, responsibility and humility—can easily become a fool’s liberty, as I’ve found out over the course of my 64 years. Like an ancient alchemist, I can turn autonomy into self-demise. AA has learned to turn it into... Login to read more
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