Corey picks up exactly where he left off — Bill alone in his kitchen near the end of a bleak November, gin hidden around the house, calculating whether it will last the night. Then the phone rings, and an old school friend asks to come over. He was sober. From there the study follows the turn: Ebby Thatcher arriving fresh-skinned and glowing with something different about his eyes, the two men who kept him out of a commitment, and the simple religious idea and practical program of action that came before there were any steps at all. Corey works the text line by line, marking what he’s underlined and highlighted and why, and reading his own story alongside it — the friend he’d have been unmindful of, the drink he cared about being the one that would last all night, the prejudice that pushed back every time he heard a name attached to God. The heart of it lands on a question asked across a kitchen table: why don’t you choose your own conception of God? That statement melted an icy intellectual mountain, and a man stood in the sunlight at last on a foundation of complete willingness. It closes on page 16 and a claim worth sitting with — that we need look no further for utopia, because we have it with us right here and now.
A study offered in the spirit of one alcoholic sharing experience, strength, and hope with another. Next week: “There Is a Solution,” pages 17 through 23.
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 | Bill’s Story | Ebby Thatcher | choose your own conception of God | complete willingness | spiritual experience and spiritual awakening | faith without works is dead | recovery literature | experience strength and hope | 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.