His Work and Ours

Before there was a Tradition Six, the Big Book already showed a hospital and A.A. working side by side without belonging to each other. Writing in 1939 about one eastern city, the book describes (Big Book, p. 162) "a well-known hospital for the treatment of alcoholic and drug addiction." Then: "We are greatly indebted to the doctor in attendance there, for he, although it might prejudice his own work, has told us of his belief in ours." His own work, and ours: two jobs with two owners. The doctor ran his ward: "Every few days this doctor suggests our approach to one of his patients." And A.A.'s part? "Many of us, former patients, go there to help." Members walked in as visitors and went home again. The hospital never became A.A.'s, and A.A. never became the hospital's. Seven years later the Long Form wrote that habit down: hospitals stay well outside A.A. and under doctors. Today the two jobs get folded into one. A facility runs the bed, the counselling and an "A.A. meeting" on its own timetable, so the visitor has become staff and the meeting has become part of the stay. Test it tonight: when your group carries the message into a hospital or detox, is it a guest there, or part of the program?