Bill's Story (Continued)
 
J: Now, Listen, this is a very important page of the Big Book. Let's go very carefully. (p. 13, par. 3) 'There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost.'
C: Now surly, this is when Bill took Step Three. It had never been written in those day. But surly, this is Step Three.
J: (p. 13, par. 3) 'I ruthlessly faced my sins'
C: Surely, this is when he took Step Four, a searching and fearless moral inventory of himself.
J: p. 13, par. 3) 'and became willing to have my new-found Friend take them away p root and branch.'
C: He must have taken Steps Six and Seven. He became entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character, and humbly asked him to do so. Surly this is Step Six and Seven.
J: (p. 13, par. 4) 'My schoolmate visited me, and I fully acquainted him with my problems and deficiencies. '
C: This has got to be Step Five. Admitted to God, ourselves, and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
J: (p. 13, par. 4) 'We made a list of people I had hurt or toward whom I felt resentment .'
C: This has got to be Step Eight. Made a list of those we had harmed
and became willing to make amends to them all.
J: (p. 13, par. 4) 'I expressed my entire willingness to approach these individuals, admitting my wrong. Never was I to be critical of them. I was to right all such matters to the utmost of my ability. '
C: This has got to be Step Nine.
J: (p. 13, par. 5) 'I was to test my thinking by the new Godconsciousness
within. Common sense would thus become uncommon sense. '
C: This must be Step Ten.
J: (p. 13, par. 5) 'I we. to sit quietly when in doubt, asking only for direction and strength to meet my problems as He would have me. Never was I to pray for myself, except as my requests bore on my usefulness to others. Then only might I expect to receive. But that would be in great measure.'
C: Golly, this has got to be Step Eleven got to be Step Eleven.
J: p. 13, par. 6) 'My friend promised when these things were done I would enter upon a new relationship with my Creator: that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems. '
C: This has got to be Step Twelve. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps.
J: So we can see even before the Steps were written, Bill recovered as the results of taking the Step-. You have to remember now, when this chapter was written. Bill's Story was written exactly twelve months before the Twelve Steps were written. But actually we can see that Bill recovered as a result of the Steps. Latter on when he wrote that night he was able to recall what he had done and put these Steps down for us. But he recovered. He did not have this thing, bang, and then write the Steps for us. He recovered as the result of the Steps, in the Towns Hospital, with Ebby and with, Dr.
Silkworth.
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