Bill's Story (Continued)
C: This is why he was able to
say in How It Works, that these are the steps we took, which are suggested as a
program of recovery. On page fourteen. He said: (p. 14, par. 2) 'Simple,
but not easy... ' ( end Side B of Tape 2 )
(Begin Side A of Tape 3)
C: (p. 14, par. 2) 'Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid. It meant
destruction of self-centeredness. I must turn in all things to the Father
of Light who presides over us all. ' The poor old alcoholic, in order for
us to recover, we've got to give up the two things we hold nearest and
dearest to our hearts: one is alcohol, and the other is self-centeredness,
very, very simple things, but extremely difficult to do.
Bill said: (p. 14, par. 3) 'These were revolutionary and drastic
proposals, but the moment I fully accepted them, the effect was electric.
There was a sense of victory, followed by such a peace and serenity as I
had never known. There was utter confidence. I felt lifted up, as though
the great clean wind of a mountain top blew through and through. God comes
to most men gradually, but His impact on me was sudden and
profound.'
And Bill thought he was going crazy. He said: (p. 14, par. 4-5) 'For a
moment I was alarmed, and called my friend, the doctor, to ask if I were
still sane. He listened in wonder as I talked. 'Finally he shook his head
saying, "Something has happened to you I don't understand. But you
had better hang on to it. Anything is better than the way you
were."'
I don't think any of us really know what took place in Bill's life that
day, because we were not there, and we were not Bill Wilson. But we do
know this: that this happened to Bill about December tenth or eleventh of
1934. We do know that Bill didn't die until January of 1971. We do know
that Bill never had to take another drink of whiskey or alcohol in any
form whatsoever as long as he lived. Something profound took place in
Bill's life that day as the result of this practical program of action
which had been brought to him by Ebby from the Oxford Groups itself.
You see, Bill was the first human being to know all three things. He knew
what the problem was. He knew what the solution was. He knew the practical
program of action. When he applied it in his life then he recovered from
his disease of alcoholism. People today, they think, well, Bill, just had
this great white flash, you know, with nothing to prepare him to have
that. We can see in Bill's Story where he actually did take the Steps.
Long, long, before they were ever written, Bill took them and applied them
in his own life. Joe.
J: Okay, if we've completed Bill's Story, we have laid the foundation. We
know exactly what the problem is. This is the completion of the problem
section of the book. Now that we know the problem--and we say in problem
solving methods--we can take that information and go into the second part of the phase of the Big Book: what is the
solution?
Just like going to the doctor, first thing you do when you go to the
doctor, the first thing the doctor does is find out: what is the problem?
He makes a diagnosis. Once... he makes a diagnosis, then he can write a
prescription. He can't write a prescription until he finds out: what's the
problem? Right here, now' he's going to begin to write the prescription
for our alcoholism. We said that we are powerless, and obviously it's
going to be power (that) would be the solution.
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