The Distant Alcoholic

Tradition Five gives the message to every group because in 1937 it was in the hands of a few men in two cities, and that was a danger. That November, Bill W. and Dr. Bob sat counting recoveries: upwards of forty alcoholics were staying sober. Bill wrote (A.A. Comes of Age): "Then came a mighty sobering thought. This knowledge, this precious know-how, was still in the hands of too few of us. Must every alcoholic come to New York or Akron in order to get well? No, that would never do; that would be impossible." And then the question: "Could we carry the message to the distant alcoholic?" Distant meant every drunk who didn't live near those two men. The answer that grew was the group: wherever a few sober alcoholics met, the message lived, and could go out again from there. So the Long Form hands the purpose to each group, not to a headquarters or a few gifted members (Big Book, p. 563): "Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose—that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers." Today a group can act as though someone else carries it: the central office, the old-timer who takes the calls. Test it tonight: ask whether the drinker nearest your meeting would ever hear the message from your group.