September 9
Before We Need a Rule
One unusual problem occurs, and we begin drafting a permanent rule. It feels reassuring to imagine that the same difficulty could never happen again. Soon we have instructions for situations that may never recur, and every willing person inherits the restrictions created by somebody else's mistake. We have tried to remove uncertainty by leaving less space for judgment.
Some safeguards are sensible and necessary. The question is whether a proposed rule actually protects people or mainly settles our anxiety. Concept Three recognizes that no set of detailed instructions can anticipate every circumstance in service. People need a clear responsibility and enough trust to meet the situation in front of them. A conversation, better information, or a correction may answer the present trouble. We can examine those possibilities without pretending that freedom eliminates risk or that another rule would eliminate it either.
What would this proposed restriction protect, and what useful judgment might it prevent?
We have time to understand the problem before adding a rule.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept III, pp. C-9–C-10; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Tradition Four.