Wrecked in the Same Vessel

Before any Tradition was written, the first groups held together because the next man in the door mattered more than anyone's rank. The Big Book, written in 1939, describes the early fellowship (Big Book, p. 161): "No one is too discredited or has sunk too low to be welcomed cordially—if he means business. Social distinctions, petty rivalries and jealousies—these are laughed out of countenance." Countenance here means approval: rivalries got laughed out of the room. Then the reason, in two pieces: "Being wrecked in the same vessel" and "with hearts and minds attuned to the welfare of others". Attuned means tuned in, like a radio. The welfare of others came first because the newcomer was the whole point of meeting. Seven years later the Long Form wrote down the same order (Big Book, p. 563): "Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward." Nobody had to vote on it then. They were busy putting new men in the hospital and visiting them afterward. Today the rivalries that early A.A. laughed off come back as rank: sober time, service titles, which program you came out of. Test it tonight: look at who sits where in your room, and ask whether any rivalry there is being taken seriously instead of laughed out.