Big Book Study

[bluidkiti]

Big Book Study - Post #7

Good Morning everyone!

We're at the top of page 8, paragraph 1:

"No words can tell of the loneliness and despair I found in that
bitter morass of self-pity. Quicksand stretches around me in all
directions. I had met my match. I had been overwhelmed. Alcohol was
my master."

That sounds like someone who has been defeated (Step 1). Bill leaves
the hospital in September and stays dry until the beginning of
November of 1934.

Armistice Day rolls around -- November 11, 1934. Bill took a bus to
go golfing on Staten Island (see "AA Comes of Age," page 56). The bus
he was riding on was involved in a fender-bender. Being the kind of
guy Bill was, he and a new acquaintance left the bus to wait for the
next one. Bill had already told his drinking experiences to this
fellow: the allergy, his newly-found knowledge, etc.

They got on the next bus, and then disembarked at a country tavern
near the golf course. His friend suggested a sandwich, so in they
went.

Since it was Armistice Day, the bartender bought a round for the
house. Bill threw back a drink without hesitation -- no effective
mental defense whatsoever.

His new friend was mortified! "Are you crazy?!" he asked Bill in
astonishment.

Bill answered, "Yes, I am."

Bill stayed drunk for another month after that escapade.

A couple of weeks later, Ebby Thacher, a boyhood friend, came to
visit. Ebby's father was the mayor of Albany.

Ebby was a true drunk and was always in some scrape or another. He
had been in trouble in Vermont.

Turns out Ebby had been painting a barn. (Honestly?how much trouble
can someone get in painting a barn?) He was drunk and had just
finished one side when a group of pigeons flew in and perched on top
of the barn. The pigeons began to crap on the side of the barn, which
infuriated Ebby. He got a shotgun and started firing away at the
pigeons. The incident ended when Ebby got arrested.

Two men appeared at Ebby's hearing -- Roland Hazzard and Cebra
Graves, who were members of the Oxford Group, a Christian religious
group that sought to practice 1st Century Christianity. They appeared
in court to prevent Ebby's commitment to a mental hospital (which is
what they did to drunks in those days). They brought Ebby to the
Oxford Group's NY headquarters at the Calvary Mission in Manhattan,
where he got sober. (We're at the bottom of page 9.)

Ebby had been sober since September when he came to visit his friend
Bill. In the last full paragraph of page 9:

"They told him of a simple religious idea [Step 2] and a practical
program of action [in essence: Steps 3 thru 12]." Bill was
already "...hopeless" (top of page 10).

Page 11, paragraph 3: "But my friend sat before me, and he made the
point-blank declaration that God had done for him what he could not
do for himself. ...He had admitted complete defeat." [Ebby had Step
1.]

Bill also has Step 1, and was beginning on Step 2 but there was a
sticking point. Turn to page 12, paragraph 2:

"My friend suggested what seemed a novel idea. He said, "Why don't
you choose your own conception of God?" This is the spiritual (rather
than religious) message. This is the root of Step 3's "...as we
understood Him." This is the great turning point. It is important to
note that this was NOT the Oxford Group message. They had a very
definite idea of a Christian God that they preached about.

In the next 2 paragraphs, Bill is able to take what would become Step
2. In paragraph 5, he begins to describe a spiritual structure that
will be built throughout the remainder of the book:

"Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might build what I saw
in my friend." In several places in the book, he will refer to this
spiritual structure, painting a mental picture of recovery.

With our next post we will begin at the top of Page 13 - the last
drink for Bill.

Have a great day!

Jim