God, the "Great Iconoclast."
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the Circle and Triangle

The Upside Down Structure of AA

6/18/2019

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​“Each member of AA 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.”                                                                 - Long form of Tradition One
Picture
“For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority – a loving God as God may express Itself (Him/Herself)  in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.”                                                                                                  - Tradition Two
 
“Final responsibility and ultimate authority for AA world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.”                          - Concept of Service One
 
​“AA has been called an upside-down organization because the ultimate responsibility and final authority for … world services” resides with the groups – rather than with the trustees of the General Service Board or the General Service Office in New York.”
                                                                     - The Twelve Concepts for World Service Illustrated


As individual members are to the groups, the groups are to the whole of AA.
AA trustees do not govern the organization; rather, the individual groups form "God's voice" which guides the trustees. 

At the group level, leaders are "trusted servants of the individual members."
At the broader levels, leaders are the "trusted servants" of the groups.  

All AA groups are one part of a great whole. 
​
A circle is defined as the infinite set of points equidistant from one point. Each individual, each group, is a point on the circumference of a circle.
What is represented by the "central point?"
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A Circle and Triangle Wedding Ceremony

12/4/2018

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PART A: Opening
Friends and family, thank you all for coming! We have been invited to share in and witness the exchange of marriage vows between Gabrielle and Andrew. 

We know that we are here on Earth to love God with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our strength and to love one another as ourselves. We also know that love is just as recognizable as a full moon in a cloudless night sky.

Through terrible trials and great joys, Gabrielle and Andrew’s love for one another has matured and grown, leading to the decision to unify their lives in marriage today, the 15th of April, 2018.  

Do you, (parents' names)  bless and support your children in this marriage?
Parents: Yes.
 
PART B: Thoughts for the Couple
Gabrielle and Andrew, two sentences of the vows you have written distinguish your words from others I have heard. You are on the brink of pledging:

I promise above all else to live in truth with you
And to communicate fully and fearlessly,

I give you my hand and my heart
As a sanctuary of warmth and peace.


“From my experience of you, I believe you have the inner strength and generosity to love and live in truth with one another, to know when to speak up and when to stay quiet. 

Today, in front of so many witnesses, you are committing to a lifetime together. Gabby's uncle Freddy guided me with these words and would surely say them to you, “Just have an experience together. Take it one day at a time, one moment at a time.” 
​
Picture
To do that, I invite you to envision a triangle, the strongest of all shapes, with God at the top, each of you at the other two corners. Each of you maintains a heart connection to the other and to God. With an understanding of this sacred triangle, many marriages endure through the most challenging trials, be they sickness, differences of opinion, inevitable self-centeredness, or drives home after tiring events.

Your love has already endured through the severest of trials, having lost your beautiful son, Greyson, who was unable to live a full life but his spirit surely watches over the priceless gift of love you have, and will remind  you always to remember it is a true sanctuary or warmth, peace, and unity.”

We will now have a sand ceremony to symbolize that unity.

Part C: Exchange of Rings
We are now here at the exchange of rings.

The circular shape of the ring can represent many concepts and ideas.

The circle might represent the world. It is said that marriage, the family, is the cornerstone of society, a liberating sanctuary that frees each member to go out and, as Ghandi said,  “be the change we want to see in the world.”

The circle can represent zero, nothing. Where there is nothing, there is potentiality: an empty womb receives new life, an empty tomb heralded ever-lasting life, a lost job means the opportunity for a new one, an empty mind invites the next creative thought.

A circle also represents infinity, what never ends. We heard it said,  “Love never ends.”  The ring reminds us to clear away what is blocking us from the truth of God’s infinite love, be it anger, fear, jealousy, pride. Get back to communication in truth and love.

Part D: Vows and Closing
Gabrielle and Andrew, are you ready to pledge to the unity of this marriage?
Gabrielle and Andrew: Yes. (Daniel and Josh give rings and the couple puts them on each other.)
​
Repeat after me.
  1. "I take you to be my partner for life,
  2. I promise above all else to live in truth with you
  3. And to communicate fully and fearlessly,
  4. I give you my hand and my heart
  5. As a sanctuary of warmth and peace
  6. And pledge my love, devotion, faith and honor
  7. As I join my life to yours."
 
May God bless your marriage and protect it powerfully from all evil. In the name of Almighty God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss one another!
​​

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The Circle and Triangle: A Meditation

1/10/2018

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Meditating on the symbol helps me to keep in alignment with the loving God the 12 steps brought me into a relationship with.  To clarify again, this is not the God I was raised with but rather Yahweh, Elohim, the Father, Mother, "I Am," God of  the Bible - and the Higher Power, Realm of Spirit, Creative Intelligence, Power, Employer, God of the Big Book.  ​The symbol of Alcoholics Anonymous is a circle with an equilateral triangle inscribed within so that each vertex of the triangle touches the circle's circumference. The symbol itself can be interpreted in many ways. I offer one interpretation below. 

Picture
the circle
is defined as the infinite set of points equal distance from a central point.


The circle represents ONE.
​

"...there is One who has all power - that One is God. May you find Him now."  (BB page 59)

"Hear O Israel: Th LORD our God, the LORD is one."  ​(Deuteronomy 6:4)
​

As one, the circle is one whole, one earth, one community, one spirit, one family, one energy,, integrity/wholeness, one God, the perfect shape without edges, perfect Love.  One is the infinite number. There is always room for one more within the whole.


The circle represents ZERO.
​
"By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. (John 5:30) 

"Lack of Power, that was our dilemma." (BB page 45)


"The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep."
(Genesis 1:1)

​"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."  (Romans 7:15)

"We are like men who have lost their legs: they never grow new ones."  (BB pg 30)

​
As zero, the circle is the humility of anonymity, the void, the empty womb, the empty tomb, divine nothingness, 'ayin', the emptiness before creation, mental space before a creative idea.

The circle represents INFINITY:   
As infinity, the circle is an unending cycle, an infinite number of points sharing the same distance from a central point, it is all people equidistant from God; the invisible central point is God; the line of the circle itself as an infinite number of points is God.
 

Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me...?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep." (John 21: 15-17)




Picture
the equilateral triangle 
is defined as a triangle in which all three line segments have the same length and all interior angles are 60 degrees.  

As a whole, the equilateral triangle represents balance between body, mind, and spirit or unity, recovery and service. 

The first leg of the equilateral triangle represents the BODY and UNITY.
It represents the care needed for my personal body and the larger body/community I am part of. My own body needs sunlight, fresh air, water, good food, to walk, communicate, speak, listen and perhaps dance, play, be touched, and embrace rather than reject its sexuality, hunger, and needs. I can not truly take care of my body without being part of a community, a larger body both one on one with beloved friends and in larger groups coming together perhaps to ride a bus, work, share interests, play music, attend school.

The first leg of the triangle also represents the larger body, the unity, the comm-unity I need to survive; the 12 traditions maintain the unity of the larger community. God intends me to meet frequently with others. People say that alcoholism is a disease of isolation be it in a penthouse, a family party, motel room, or on a park bench.  
The physical aspect of alcoholism, the phenomenon of craving once I start to drink, requires a physical solution. It requires 100% abstinence  from alcohol. It requires physical rooms with chairs, coffee, talk, to go to congregate; it requires friendships and conviviality to replace that of the bar, the cocktail hour, the party. 


The second leg of the equilateral triangle represents MIND and RECOVERY.
It represents the care needed for my mind, soul food. I need to read and learn, to understand others experience on this road of life. Books take me where no conversation generally goes, deep into  inquiry, emotions, science, truth, and history. Reading allows my thoughts to expand ever-outward, removes the deep loneliness that creeps in when ignorance rather than humility take over. I can read scripture and meditate on a sentence for many lifetimes. read fiction that puts words to emotions I didn't know I had, or read history that blows my mind and shows me how little I know, blasts my paradigm apart. 
The second leg of the triangle also represents the recovery process 12 steps to freedom through a spiritual experience. I honestly examine and share the evidence of my life as I work the steps to be brought to and maintain freedom from mental/emotional torture.  
The first step is an admission of complete powerlessness over obsession. The allergy to alcohol is vital information, but the collective experience of alcoholics is that "self-knowledge avails us nothing." I need more than information about an allergy to alcohol! I need a relationship with the God of my understanding to free me from the mental obsession that denies that undeniable fact at times, forgets about it at others, and obsesses about it and anything else at others. With full knowledge of my physical allergy to alcohol, I will inevitably drink again because I forget/deny the truth or justify the first drink I fall for lies!  

The third leg of the equilateral triangle represents SPIRIT or SERVICE. 
​
It represents the spirit, what animates my body and mind. We know our spirit is what is holy and connected to the whole and also needs care. Prayer, meditation, and service allow the spirit to dance free. "How can I be useful to you today, God?" My Spirit might be led to create a play, to draw a picture, cook a good meal for friends, garden, make love, smile at the cashier, listen to a friend's troubles. The spirit needs time alone with God, to connect so that it can take right action in the world from a place of centeredness, gratitude, and peace. 
The third leg of the triangle also represents the  service that takes me beyond my self-centeredness, allows me to pass forward the gift I have been freely given, "a design for living that really works." 
The spiritual sickness that pre-existed the drinking, and showed up once I stopped drinking requires a spiritual solution - either alcohol or God. Sobriety is not enough. This is where the infinite legacy of AA and each anonymous member manifests itself as we share​ our experience, strength, and hope. 

"Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one else can. Yu can secure their confidence when others fail. Remember they are very ill
Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends -  this is an experience you must not miss." (BB pg. 89)
Picture

The symbol centers me.

First Leg on the Left:
Am in fellowship with others on the path?
enjoying honest friendships?

Second Leg on the Bottom:
Am I l engaged in shared and truthful self-examination?
in prayer and meditation, of service?

Third Leg on the Right:
Am I passing forward the message?
Am I practicing the principles in all my affairs? 


This symbol can also represent

"the maintenance steps of 10-12." 

Unity:
Steps 10 and 12 require fellowship.

Recovery
Steps 10 and 11 require self examination, prayer, amends, and meditation. 

Service
Step 12 requires service and practicing the principles.
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    ​"Each day, my friend's simple talk in our kitchen multiplies itself in a widening circle of peace on earth and good will to men." (BB page 16)





    "It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in..." (Isaiah 40:22)
    Circle Dance
    Step One
    Surrender
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