Bill's Story (Continued)
 
C: Bill said: (p. 9, par. 1-5) 'Rumor had it that he had been committed for alcoholic insanity. I wondered how he had escaped. Of course he would have dinner, and then I could drink openly with him. Unmindful of his welfare, I thought only of recapturing the spirit of other days. There was that time we had chartered an airplane to complete a Jag' His coming was an oasis in this dreary desert of futility. The very thing--an oasis' Drinkers are like that.'
The door opened and he stood there, fresh-skinned and glowing. There was something about his eyes. He was inexplicably different. What had happened?' I pushed a drink across the table. He refused it. Disappointed but curious, I wondered what had got into the fellow. He wasn't himself.' "Come, what's all this about?" I queried. 'He looked straight at me. Simply, but smilingly, he said, "I've got religion."'
I'm damn glad that didn't happen in my kitchen. (laughter) I have no idea what I would have done. But here's what Bill did. Bill said: (p. 9, par. 6-7) 'I was aghast. So that was it--last summer an alcoholic crackpot now, I suspected, a little cracked about religion. He had that starry-eyed look. Yea, the old boy was on fire all right. But bless
his heart, let him rant! Besides, my gin would last longer than his preaching. 'But he did no ranting. In a matter of fact way he told how two men had appeared in court,
p ersuading the judge to suspend his commitment. They had told of a simple religious idea and a practical program of action. That was two months ago and the result was
self-evident. It worked!' ( Note that here is the phrase that Joe and Charlie use: practical program of action.)
J: Now we can see this is a very integral part, where we can see the ideas coming together that produced the Big Book, the three things we're talking about. (problem, solution, practical program of action) Remember that Bill has already been to see Dr. Silkworth in 1933, and he has gotten the problem. In the summer of 1933, Dr. Silkworth explained to him the exact nature of the problem. In 1934, that summer at the Towns (Hospital), he really accepted Step One. But he didn't have any other program. He didn't have any other thing but Step One.
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