Remember Groups/Meetings Have Six Months to Submit their Ballot Responses, so Discussion and Voting Should Not Be Rushed and Can Occur Over Multiple Business Meetings if Needed
Unlike many issues we are faced with voting on, our founders had the wisdom to provide MA groups/meetings with six months to consider and come to a group conscience on these types of changes. Which means that groups and meetings do not need to make any decisions overnight, and do not need to be hasty. Meetings/groups can discuss these issues in a business meeting, and if a consensus is not reached, or not all voices are heard, table further discussion for a future business meeting. This can be discussed over multiple business meetings to allow everyone to have a voice, especially minority opinions. This time also allows everyone ample opportunity to read the material and think about the proposed changes as well.
Remember the Concepts of Open-Mindedness and Willingness to Listen to All Voices, Especially the Minority View, in Your Group/Meetings’ Discussions
Much as the concepts of open-mindedness and willingness are key to working our own programs and getting and staying sober from marijuana, so too are these same concepts key to holding an effective group conscience business meeting. To reach an informed group conscience involves being open minded and having a willingness to be mindful of hearing all opinions, especially minority opinions, and not just the loudest voices in the room.
Remember to “pause, when agitated or doubtful…” and Take Breaks in the Discussion or Voting If Your Meeting/Group Needs It
As the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous cautions on page 87 to, “pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action”. us marijuana addicts too can benefit from this advice, particularly in these potentially heated discussions over whether or not to make these proposed changes.
We can remember to pause if the business meeting is causing members to become agitated, whether it be for a minute to all raise our hands to recite “The Serenity Prayer” together to remember why we’re debating this issue in the first place (to help us determine how to best fulfill our primary purpose and carry the message to the addict who still suffers), or a 5-10 minute break to pray, meditate, get up to stretch our legs or grab a drink of water, or a week long break to table the business meeting until the following week so members can calm down, sleep, and think on the points raised during the discussion. If anyone’s minds are going to change, they’ll be more likely to do so if given the time to step away, reflect on the discussion, and let any emotions cool, and not while still swept up in the heat of the moment.
Decisions made when members of the group/meeting are feeling “agitated or doubtful” are not as likely to be grounded in spirituality, nor are they as likely to be a product of members’ best thinking, or that next “right thought or action” so many of us in recovery are working towards. If members are feeling “agitated or doubtful” as a group during these discussions, then it is wise for all to “pause” and “seek the next indicated right thought or action” as the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous suggests. p. 87. Better decision making can usually then occur after allowing everyone in the meeting some time to pause and do whatever each member needs to do in order to reset.
Remember, if Discussions Become Heated it is Usually due to a Shared Passion for Helping Carry the Message to the Fellow Marijuana Addict with Differences in Opinion Over How to Best Fulfill MA’s Primary Purpose, and Whether or Not the Motion Would Do That if it Passed
Usually if we are in a heated debate amongst fellow MA members about issues such as whether or not to make these proposed changes, it’s because we disagree about how to best carry the message to the marijuana addict who still suffers. But the common ground that is shared between MA members is that common desire to help the marijuana addict who still suffers, by determining how to best fulfill the MA primary purpose and carry the message to our fellow marijuana addicts. We just do not always agree on specifically what is the best way to fulfill the MA primary purpose and help our fellow addicts, and accomplish what are typically shared goals of helping newcomers find MA, keep coming back to MA, and work the Twelve Steps of MA, so that they can get and stay sober from marijuana. So, when in a heated discussion with our fellows over issues such as the proposed changes in this Motion, it can help to remember that the passion we share for helping our fellow marijuana addicts is far greater than the differences in opinion we may have over how to best accomplish this, and whether or not these proposed changes to the Steps and Traditions are in furtherance of our primary purpose and the MA Fifth Tradition.
When the group/meeting takes a break, whether for 5-10 minutes or for one or more weeks, the actual process of voting to obtain the group conscience can then occur after everyone has had a chance to think, pray, meditate, sleep, or do whatever else it is that the group/meeting’s members find supportive for their serenity, both as individuals and as a meeting/group. If in doubt, turn to and be guided by our Twelve Traditions, and remember to place principles before personalities. And not to forget to work together – this is a “we” program!
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