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   5
December
Holding hands and hugging
Sincerity

The custom of holding hands while saying the Lord’s Prayer has been adopted by many AA groups. We have also seen more hugging than in the past, even between the most unlikely members.

Are these new practices good or bad? In accordance with AA tradition, we have to leave such questions to the group conscience.

One thought, however, is that such physical actions do not necessarily mean that any true spiritual bonding has taken place. The old-timers who never held hands or hugged still had a great closeness in spirit and in feeling.

We must also consider that we may be violating the privacy of the person who doesn’t wish to hold hands or hug. If such a person chooses to stand outside the hand-holding circle, he or she maybe cast in the role of dissenter. Would that be fair?

Hand-holding and hugging may be here to stay, but let’s not make them out to be more than mere physical expressions. The program of the heart is still first.

I’ll remember today that true bonding is spiritual, not physical.