Tradition 5 · May 22

So Freely Given

Daily Traditions · May 22

Before the Tradition

Before there was any group, A.A. began as one sober drunk looking past himself to the thousands still drinking. Bill W. wrote of his last days in the hospital (Big Book, p. 14): "While I lay in the hospital the thought came that there were thousands of hopeless alcoholics who might be glad to have what had been so freely given me. Perhaps I could help some of them. They in turn might work with others." That is the whole chain in three sentences: freely given, freely passed on, passed on again. He soon found it kept him sober too (p. 15): "I soon found that when all other measures failed, work with another alcoholic would save the day." Mark the order, though. The thought in the hospital bed came first, and it was about them, the hopeless ones still out there. Tradition Five takes that one man's thought and gives it to every group (p. 563): "carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers." Today the order can get turned around: the drunk still out there becomes an exercise for the members' sobriety, and when the members feel fine, the visits stop. Test it tonight: ask whether your group's work starts with the drinkers still out there, or with what it does for the people already inside.

Sit with

A.A. started with a man in a hospital bed thinking about thousands of drunks he hadn't met. Who does my group think about first?

Grounded in: Long form, Tradition 5 (Big Book, p. 563); Big Book pp. 14–15 (Bill's Story).

Tradition 5

"Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers."

Read the Long Form (pp. 563–566). The short form on pp. 561–562 is the one everybody quotes — but the Long Form is where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's "no other affiliation" clause, for instance, exists only in the Long Form. That single clause is why no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. Most of what circulates online skips it.

And a distinction worth keeping straight: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals, and not outside businesses. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned or co-opted. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

What the Traditions actually say → The Long Form, p. 563 → Search the Big Book → Every day this month →

Ask Recovery Einstein about Tradition 5 → Get the app →

← May 21Schemes to Do Good Tradition 5All of May May 23 →Anything Whatever

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).