Corey opens a new side project this week: a page-by-page walk through the Big Book, running alongside the daily show as its own study series. He starts where the book itself starts — before the Doctor’s Opinion, before Bill’s Story — with the set-aside prayer and the forewords most people flip right past. From there he digs into the details that reward slowing down: the first promise hiding in the title page’s claim that thousands of men and women have recovered, why “recovered” is such a deliberate word, how the Doctor’s Opinion once opened on page one before the forewords pushed it into Roman numerals, and the history of the Oxford Group’s absolutes and six steps that eventually became the Twelve. Underneath the history runs the thread he keeps returning to — that his feelings are subjective and always changing, while a book that has worked for millions is something objective he can lean on, and that the real work of recovery is learning what’s in these pages and then actually doing it.
A study offered in the spirit of one alcoholic sharing experience, strength, and hope with another.
Read along at home — and if this series speaks to you, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out any time at wave@dailyripples.com.
Big Book study | the forewords | history of Alcoholics Anonymous | Oxford Group roots | recovered vs. recovering | Dr. Silkworth | recovery literature | experience strength and hope | sobriety study | addiction recovery
Disclaimer: This Wave Book Study is an independent recovery study offered free of charge as a teaching aid. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (A.A.W.S.). Passages read and discussed are drawn from the book Alcoholics Anonymous (“The Big Book”), © A.A.W.S., Inc., and are used here for educational and discussion purposes with attribution. This study is not a substitute for the Big Book itself — we’d encourage you to get your own copy and read it. A.A.W.S. has not reviewed or approved this content, and the views expressed are those of the host alone.