Hi I'm Frank, and I'm powerless over alcohol.

The Long Form of the First Tradition says, "Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. AA must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward." This tells me that I am part of Something much greater than I am; Something that is God-given too; Something that must be held sacred and protected for those to follow us. I come from a long line of drunken Irishmen who drank themselves to death for generations. I am the first generation that has been given the solution. I don't have to die drunk. God has entrusted us with this gift to serve mankind by passing it on to other drunks. The Traditions of AA will protect it from its greatest threat. Our singleness of purpose must be maintained, or else we will disappear like the Oxford and Washingtonian movements. They both got many people sober by following spiritual principles, but lost focus of what their purpose was. They were sidetracked by political issues and other outside interests and were no longer able to help those who needed them. It's up to us to make sure this doesn't happen to AA. We must maintain our unity. Thank you all for being here, and God's peace to all.

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