Clancy I. (Venice, CA) — Tradition 12 – Clancy I.

I agree on that. It's been a very... This is the signal for clapping, Liz. This is the standing ovation. But it has been a remarkable weekend, and I think that we've all been exposed to excellent insights into the steps and traditions. One by one, they've been taken up by John, and Willie, on the steps, and it's usually 12 and 12, and Richard has done an excellent job on the traditions. And we have re-glanced at or re-studied, or for some of us, the first time we ever thought about these things in depth. And we've come to the end of it now. As I started off by, the other night, talking about a little bit of the history of the Oxford, or the Washingtonian movement, and what had caused them to be destroyed, and then Richard began talking on the traditions with unity, which was the great talk by, or the great tradition, to try to get yourself on the right foot, and we've discussed some of these traditions, unity, one part of the anonymity, primary purpose, some of the things that have, emanated from the Washingtonian disaster, and the other, some of the other traditions, which have emanated from Bill Wilson's study of, the conflicts within Alcoholics Anonymous in its first, 10 years, 11 years, before he began to write these things. And we get down to the 12th tradition, which is the end, which is not very, you know, we, it really is not very complex. There are some people who like to take these things, and make them, make them complex, and look at them. I, I always have a great deal of empathy for, Dr. Bob, in that last talk in Cleveland, where he said, keep it simple. This morning, really was talking, just a passing thought. Let me tell you, it's kind of an interesting thing. We, we sometimes have a tendency to fall into a thing, where we think, the other people are really kind of magnificent, and we're the only ones who are weak and fallible, and they've, I, we are made up of fallible human beings, and we were founded by fallible human beings. Let me tell you an interesting little thought. In 1970, I was at the International Convention in Miami Beach. I was pleased to give a short little talk there, at noon on July 4th, and very touching. But what I remember most about it was, that was the last convention that Bill Wilson ever was at. And, and, and, and, we all gathered at the Miami Beach Auditorium, Friday night, for him to give his traditional Friday night talk. And they came out and said, well, we're very sorry. Bill's illness is such that he was dying from emphysema. He's, he, he's dying from emphysema, and he will not be able to talk. And we all, we were just, oh, this big room, oh, too bad. And, on the way back to our hotel, I was walking with an old guy, from Pittsburgh, named John McHugh. And he's been sober forever. And I said, gee, it's too bad. We'll, we'll never hear. You heard, you heard Dr. Bob's last talk, when he was dying of cancer. But I'll be missed, I'll miss Bill Wilson. I thought, and he said to me, he said, listen kid, Bill Wilson is going to talk at this convention. I said, I don't think so. All the information I get, says he's too sick. He said, just take my word for it. He'll talk. I said, you're goofy. I didn't say it, I just thought it at him. But I, Saturday night, we went over it, and we thought, maybe he'd talk tonight, when they, no Bill Wilson, too sick. Sunday morning, this has got to be it. Closing meeting. So they announced, our speaker today is, George, somebody from somewhere, not Bill Wilson. And, oh. So this guy started talking, all of a sudden, somebody got on the stage, and whispered in, the ear. And he stopped his talk, and he said, I've got a wonderful message for you. Bill Wilson is here, and is going to say a few words. So they wheeled Bill Wilson out, oh, there was an electric moment, and he had tubes in his nose, oxygen, and all, very sick man. Now some of you have heard the tape of that talk, it didn't go very long, but he, he pulled himself up, and he started off by talking with quite some dynamic, his old dynamic self, and all of a sudden, he ran out of oxygen, and, slumped back in his wheelchair, and they took him, out, and not very long after that, he was dead. And on the way back to the, hotel, I said, John, you must be some kind of a mystic, how did you know, that Bill Wilson, would talk at this convention? And he said, kid, you got to remember, we're all human beings. He said, do you think Bill Wilson would want it said, that Dr. Bob talked while he was dying, and Bill wouldn't? I don't care. It's just, and most of our, children, traditions are to protect ourselves against our own human emotions. There's nothing wrong with human emotions, but we have a tendency. Now, the 11th tradition talks about anonymity and the public relations policy of AA. And I would say that step is pretty well designed to, was designed to protect our fellowship from getting into these terrible excesses of blurbing that the Washingtonian movement had of trying to, and to get, into a pressing of things we shouldn't get into. And the 12th tradition then says that we come to realize that anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. And it originally that step I think was designed. I mean, that tradition was designed as Bill Wilson, wrote later to help protect some of the people from their fear that they would be exposed as members of a because in the early days that was really was a tremendous fear. But over the years that has evolved into not a protection of the fellowship from the individual, but a protection protection of the individual from the individual because there's no individual who's going to hurt Alcoholics Anonymous. For breaking your anonymity. But many times they destroyed themselves. I don't know how many times over the years I've watched people break their anonymity and and then something their lives changed. I remember years ago. Some of you remember old Lillian Roth wrote, I'll cry tomorrow. She wrote this book about how she's and they asked her friends, asked her in Los Angeles to don't mention your name. That is very nice. And she said, I want to help you. And so she, part of the book, I'm an alcoholic. So I don't know. And six months later she was face down drunk on the streets of Palm Springs and people said, once this hurt Alcoholics Anonymous. Now nobody even cares, but it killed her. There's all example like this after example like this of people who and I used to wonder why would that bring that about? And my opinion, there's no, there's no gospel on this. But in my observation, I think what happens is this. When I, say I'm a member of AA in an effort to help Alcoholics Anonymous, I have transferred the roles. I am now helping them. They are not helping me. I have lost whatever mystic thing there is here of being helped. I am now helping you when I'm in trouble. I'm not going to come to you. I've already helped you. I'm going to have to go somewhere else. You reverse the roles as it were. And somehow or other, when you, become the helper to Alcoholics Anonymous, you have lost the most. I think the nicest thing I have been Alcoholics Anonymous is that in all these years, I've not ever really lost the mystic feeling that there's something mystic here. I haven't quite got a hold of it. It's there's a little bit of magic here. Once it gets down to just nuts and bolts, it would be very sad what came about for me. I was about a year and a half sober. And I had to go to the international, my sponsor made me go to the international convention. I mean it didn't take you long, it was in Long Beach, just a few. He said, get a ride and get down there. And I didn't want to go down there. All those successful people, no clue. But I went down there on a Friday night, and Friday night we held a football stadium outside, because it was too big for the, and, and people were milling around us. It wasn't very well organized in those days. And they, I had a bunch of goofs out there. And somebody came out of this, said, we need some ushers. We need some ushers. Every one of you ought to be an usher. And I thought, well, at least he'll get me in before I have to wait in line. So they brought a bunch of us in, and we all wore blue, they gave us a little blue armband that said, usher. They said, now, take someone, see someone handicapped or old, help me with a seat. All right. So I snatched the first old lady I saw coming by, and I walked her down to the front row, put her in the front seat, took off my badge and sat next to her. So I, I really had a wonderful view of the International Convention. But yeah, it really was, it really was just, but little by little, little by little, I tell you, that meeting was one of the most sensational, had to be one of the most sensational meetings in the world, because Bill Wilson spoke, and he introduced Ebby, who gave his only talk at an international convention. And Lois talked. And Sam Shoemaker talked. And on, it's like being at the Battle of Gettysburg and watching the Union and Confederate armies, you know. It was really something. And it started to really turn me around. And then after all of this had gone on, then Bill Wilson talked. He gave his story. And it was getting kind of late by this time. The other night, somebody mentioned it got kind of cold there. It did get kind of cold, because it gets kind of cold down there in the summertime, in the desert. And I noticed a lot of these wealthy women from New York, and these fancy people were getting cold. And I thought, Jesus, you know, what's wrong with you people? And little by little, they're kind of slinking off into the darkness. And I thought, you know, what's wrong with you people? And little by little, they're kind of slinking off into the darkness. And I thought, Jesus, you know, what's wrong with you people? And little by little, they're kind of slinking off into the darkness, and getting, leaving. And I just, I wanted to just shout at them. You would even be sober if it weren't for that man. I'd become a convert pretty quick. You know, how dare you? And, how dare you do that? And I felt, I didn't say it, but I wanted to shout, talk all night, Bill. I'll be there. And it really was a golden moment. And it really made me, for me, the first, from then on, I always had a feeling of mysticism. But I'll tell you something, something else. Why we have steps and traditions. Why we have steps and traditions, once we know it all. Five years later, I was working in TV in Hollywood, and quite successful. My family came back. I was doing quite well. I went to the Toronto Convention, International Convention, I'll call it anonymous. Friday night meeting, big meeting. Bill Wilson giving his traditional talk. He introduced, he told us, Ebby was no longer alive. He introduced some of the others. And he told his story. And he talked for a while. And I found myself, looking at my watch, thinking, Jesus, Bill, how long am I going to go on? You know. I'm supposed to meet some people for coffee, you know. I thought, nothing in AA changes, but we change here. Little by little, we change. And so the ongoing steps and traditions are required. And, you know, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I would say, without doubt, everyone in this room at this moment knows enough intellectually, you've heard enough in the last two days, three days, to live comfortably for the rest of your life. You should never have to go to another AA meeting, you should never have to read another book. That's true based on information, the如果 information is not what does it. It's emotions. And our emotions are supposed to be exposed for the rest of your life to朋友 Families are supposed to have the sense that other change and our perceptions of reality change there isn't a person in this room who can tell me how you're going to feel tomorrow morning when you get up whether you're going to feel up or down or cross or jolly or semi-tired or bubbling and we have to live the new world with ongoing uncertainties really talked about who knows when someone's going to cut you off the freeway and change your spiritual condition when someone's gonna look at you funny when you're tired you know all sorts of things and so as a result of that we are we deal with spiritual matters and spirituality means just that I believe of the spirit now whatever stage of relationship you have with a power greater than yourself you can accept the idea of spiritual at least as being non-material of spiritual of the abstract where there's no nothing you can see or touch really and that's what much of Alcoholics Anonymous nearly all of it is I guess when they say it's a spiritual program it's something where we must follow procedures and techniques and methodology that are not that are based within our own non-material self this is the first major therapy in the history of the world that does what it does every other therapy is always said you come to us we will change your thinking and eventually your actions will change Alcoholics Anonymous says you come to us we will change your actions and eventually your thinking will change all the talk about changing your thinking is very nice but it's just I'll tell you what it's like it's like these therapies today say I will change your thinking now we're going to work inside your head that is very similar to something that happened to me near the end of my drinking it is very similar to peeing your pants on the street corner it serves no lasting purpose but makes you feel warm while you do it that's all and then the next cold wind blows and there you are oh man just when I had it all together too that's why with alcoholics anonymous I believe in the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the spirit of the It's quite simple. One, we say to the new person, or to the person here, as we said Friday night. First, shut up. We wouldn't say it quite that way. It would be nicer to them, but they weren't sensitive. Shut up. We don't want to hear how it looks to you because your way doesn't work. That's all. Shut up. Be quiet. Don't debate. Second, two, listen. You say, how can he help but listen? His voices go on day after day interminably. You and I both know. I've done it a little bit this week. I'm not intending to. I'm sure you have too. You can sit there and look right at the speaker. And if somebody said, what did you just say? He'd say, hell out of me. I don't know. No human can stay focused that long. But at least try to listen to a few things that you can identify with or get a handle on. Third, try to leave meetings with at least something. Third, remember. You say, of course I'd remember. No, you wouldn't. I bet you, like me, have walked out of countless meetings. So that was a good meeting. And then go about your business and not remember a single thing. Well, I think it's something. Is anybody else seeing things out of the corner of their eye? Try to remember something. Try to remember something. And the fourth step, when you have listened to something and remembered it and got a focus on it, practice it. Do it. Don't just know it, because that means nothing. Try to remember what he's looking at if you want, but make some action on it. Do it. So you got to, don't debate. Listen. Remember. And try to do it. And then comes the fifth and most important. The most important of the five steps. Teach it to somebody else. Because that's when you really learn a subject matter is when you teach it to someone else. You must take abstract information and pour it through your own experience. And that's what, in a sense, we must continue doing Alcoholics Anonymous. This anonymity, which is to protect ourselves against the narcissism, which all of us have. All alcoholics have. The intense sense of self. The big me. On and on. The sacrifice of spirituality. Sacrifice is the correct word, but it isn't really the correct word, because it isn't a sacrifice. We're not giving anything up. We're just, we're trying to maintain some degree of humility. But, of course, brings on another question. What the hell is humility? And to me, the best definition I've ever been able to think of humility is the art that comes maybe once a day or once every month. Or for a brief period of time, just being yourself. Not having to have a front. Not having to convince somebody or something. Not having to tell people about your Harley. Not discussing. But just to be yourself. And when you are yourself, you don't even know it. It's later that you think, geez, I really, I was myself there for a minute, but there's no time for that now. So I think it means what it says. With some degree of humility. Just being ourselves. To not have to impress. Not have to convince. What a hard thing. And that's exactly what this step means. To enable ourselves to be ourselves. And to not use Alcoholics Anonymous as a springboard for self-aggrandizement. That really is what it all means. To just do and work in this vineyard to keep that little shred of magic, mystic connection going for us. And we know this, but we'll have to do it again and remind ourselves again, and a year from now, some new guy will say, why do you have to do all this stuff? Why shouldn't we tell people we're in AA? It'll help AA. And you have to go through the same teaching procedure. Why do I have to take an inventory? Why do I have to do all these dumb things? Because they work. When all else fails, there's always that to fall back on. I know that. I know five better ways than AA. The problem is none of them work. You know. I was going to get into the inner child. Unfortunately, I'm going to disengage there. I'm still waiting for my inner adult to come out. Of course. I've not had a happy childhood, but it's been a long one. But you, as I say. All I'm saying is this. We've all been informed a great deal this weekend. We all know, hopefully, a lot more than when we came in. We all know, hopefully, a lot more than when we came in. But it is meaningless. Unless we put some of it to work somewhere. And we make use of it little by little next Thursday morning when nobody's looking. And a week from Wednesday. And on and on. Because that's where life is. This is just a pit stop. Life is outside the Marymount campus. We just come in here for a little gas and oil. Out there is where they're boom, boom, Jesus. And we continue to do these things. One of the nicest phrases I know in all of Alcoholics Anonymous. And I want to close with it today. I want to thank the committee. Incidentally, I want to thank David for doing a bang-up job and having us here. Because he had to go through a lot and he worked with this committee and they had faced a lot of problems. And David persevered. He wrote me about ten letters over a period of two months. I tried to answer each one of them. And the committee has been very friendly. It's all been very nice. Everything's been good. I'm glad to see some guys here from Rhode Island. They're kidnapping me to take me to Rhode Island to hold me for ransom. Good luck. But the nicest, I think one of the nicest phrases I've ever heard in Alcoholics Anonymous is at the end of the long form of the Twelve Traditions. And it explains why we do these things. Why do we keep doing these things after things seem to be alright? When we're when we know better. Why do we need to do these things after we already know it? Why do we have to maintain spiritual concepts of our lives? For a very simple reason. This to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us. That we shall live forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all. And you want to know why you're here and why I'm here and why we want to keep being here so that we shall not do anything that will upset the wonderful gifts we've been given and we will continue to remember to live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all. Thank you. God bless you.