Big Book Workshop at the 24 hour group in Fort Worth, TX

Basically today we're going to go ahead and, and, and Scotts going to start us off with with a little overview of what's in the preface and the forwards. And then I'm going to give a little bit of history on, on the doctor's opinion and its importance and how it how it came to be part of the basic text of the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous. So Scott, why don't you come on up here? Sure,

you guys will have to bear with me. I'm multitasking, recording, and Speaking

of, my name is Scott Man, very definitely an alcoholic. I was separated from alcohol on November 28th, 1997. It's a real honor to be here with you guys. Before I get started, I want you to know that each and every one of you people has influenced my sobriety.

I am absolutely convinced that every single person that walks in these doors has influenced my life in one way or another. And

little bit about what we're going to do here, Matthew and I have, you know, we talk inside the program and outside of the program and we realized that a lot of people,

they talk about the big book, but do people absolutely understand the big book and the doctor's opinion? OK, one of the biggest myths, and I want to start out with this, one of the biggest myths you hear in these rooms is that there's 164 pages. A matter of fact, let's get a show of hands. How many people sponsor has said read the 1st 164 pages

and guess what? You probably skipped over the doctor's opinion, right? Right.

Have you drank again?

Yeah. Well, I like audience participation, and I think that's what's going to open this up for everybody to feel like we're a part of. I do not represent Alcoholics Anonymous. I represent a sober person who has stayed sober in spite of myself. OK. But I think that the doctor's opinion is the essence of the first step. If I don't understand the doctor's opinion, real good chance I'm going to drink booze again,

real good chance because the doctor's opinion lays out the allergy,

the obsession of the mind, and

obviously the spiritual malady. The three parts, the body, the mind, and the spirit of the illness. I used to understand the spirit of the illness, but I guarantee I didn't understand the body or the mind. I just thought it was only a moral issue.

OK, I I went down the Pentecostal church every Sunday morning, every Wednesday night, and I rededicated my life,

but for whatever reason, I couldn't stop drinking when I did that. And I had no idea this is not just a moral issue, OK? They didn't tell me that at the Pentecostal church. They didn't say, well, buddy, you're suffering from an allergy of the body and you're condemned by an obsession of the mind to drink yourself to death. They said, brother, just keep coming back to the altar, 'cause God's going to change your life. And I'm not here to talk about what the Pentecostal church did or didn't do, But that was my experience before a prior to coming to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Long story made short, I want to start out at the very beginning.

The Doctor's opinion is what we're hoping we'll get through today, but I want to start you guys out on the preface.

Yeah, You forgot the prayer, didn't you?

Thank you, John. I'm an alcoholic. That's OK. Yeah. Let's go ahead and have a prayer, guys. Let's have a moment of silence, followed by the Serenity Prayer.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. OK,

so we're going to start on page XI, Roman numeral 11. Did everybody got a book?

You don't have a book, Dale, Do you mind bringing out the books from the back for the folks who don't have the books?

So I want everybody to follow along with me if at all possible.

Hopefully you brought your highlighter. I'm going to make some notes,

and what we're going to do is I'm just going to go through one paragraph at a time. Some stuff is pertinent to your sobriety, some stuff isn't, but we're going to go ahead and go through it the way my sponsor did it with me, one paragraph at a time.

It says at the top of the preface. This is the 4th edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. The 1st edition appeared in April 1939 and the following 16 years, more than 300,000 copies went into circulation. The 2nd edition, published in 1955, reached a total of more than 1,150,500 copies. The 3rd edition, which came off the press in 1976, achieved the circulation of approximately 19,550,000 copies in all formats.

OK, there's some good information there for me.

Basically, one thing I want to say about the big book, it's not as much what it says as what it means. That's what my sponsor wanted me to understand when I went through this book with him. He said don't read this thing just literally for what it says. Try to find the underlying meaning. And what that first paragraph means to me is in 1939, when this book was written,

they put out 300,000 copies. Sounds like a lot of copies, right?

But in 1976, there were 20 million copies in circulation.

So what that says to me is this is an important book.

We went from 300,000 copies and then 41 years later, I think it's 41, Forgive me of my mask wrong, but 1976, we've got 20 million copies out there. If this book was not important and this book did not work, I promise you it wouldn't have increased like that. OK, so let's go to the second paragraph. It says because this book he's become the basic text

for our society and has helped such large numbers of alcoholic men and women to recovery,

there exists strong sentiment against any radical changes being made in it. Therefore, the first portion of this volume describing the a a recovery program has been left untouched. In the course of revisions made for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th editions, the section called The Doctor's Opinion has been kept intact, just as it was originally written in 1939 to the late Doctor William D Silkworth, our society's great medical benefactor.

OK, there's a very, very important sentence there for me in the very first line,

OK says because this book has become the basic text text. So it's saying this book is a textbook.

What were textbooks when you guys were in, in school,

You went home and studied textbooks, right? OK, see that this was not my experience the first six years of sobriety, physical sobriety. I like to say that physical sobriety because I don't know if I was really sober there because I hadn't been introduced to this book to this level until I went to an 81 year old man on the east side of town. And ever since I got with him, I've been a freeman.

The textbook philosophy. I used to think this was just a nonfiction novel. OK, you go pick it up in the self help section at Barnes and Noble, right?

Anybody else ever thought that? Well, that's not what this is saying. This is a textbook, OK? I have to study this book if I want to recover from alcoholism. Not read it, study it, reading it and study it. Two different ball games. So it's already telling us this is a textbook and we're only on the second paragraph of this book,

OK.

And it talks a little bit about

the section called the Doctor's opinion has been kept intact. So the Doctor's opinion has stayed the same since 1939, IE, once again, there's some important information in that chapter, otherwise they would have changed it by now. So let's go to the third paragraph. It says the 2nd edition added the appendices, the 12 traditions in the directions for getting in touch with A A. But for the chief change was in the section of personal stories, which was expanded to reflect the Fellowship's growth.

Bill's story, Doctor Bob's Nightmare, and one other personal history from the 1st edition

were retained intact. Three were edited and one of these was retitled. New versions of two stories were written with new titles. 30 completely new stories were added in. The story section was divided into three parts under the same headings that are used now. Only thing that says to me is basically,

you know, we've got 4 editions of this book that have been written and I guess each edition we've had different types of members coming in, we've had new experience, new members. Therefore they've changed the personal stories up a little bit to reflect the change in AA membership. OK. And, and I'm assuming that when we ride it, when the 5th edition of this book is wrote, they'll also be some changes then 'cause I think that a, A is, is constantly changing, but we need to hope that it's changing for the better and not the worse. And we'll get into that

later on. So the third edition, part one, Pioneers of A A was left untouched. Nine of the stories in Part 2, they stopped in time, were carried over. From the 2nd edition, 8 News stories were added. In part three, they lost nearly all eight stories were retained and five new ones were added. The only thing that jumped out at me on that

is I came to Alcoholics Anonymous. I've been sober since the age of 23. I was in the minority. The group that I got sober in the Harbor group, I do not think there was another person my age at that time when I came in. So I got a mind from the very beginning that was telling me you may not be an alcoholic. OK. From the very get go, you know, when you're 23 years old and all your, your peers are, you know, late 40s, fifties,

my mind's trying to Get Me Out the door.

OK. And some of you guys can probably still relate to this. You may think you're too young to be an alcoholic now, right?

But anyway, I went to a guy in the meeting one time in Harbor, and he said there's a section in the back of the book. It's called They Stopped in Time, and it was written from young people's perspectives. That man may have saved my life that day. OK, I didn't know about this. And so I went to the back of the book and lo and behold, there were about eight stories that were reflective of people that got sober and Alcoholics Anonymous at a young age.

See, every time I've been willing to see God has always provided an answer for me.

But I got to say, first couple years I had a lot of doubts if I was an alcoholic. I really did not to think about all the the misery, the panic attacks, anxiety attacks, guilt, shame and remorse. See, my mind doesn't even think about that stuff

it talks about that we're unable to bring into consciousness the suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago.

So I'm sitting in Alcoholics Anonymous wondering if I'm an alcoholic.

I didn't remember the time I wanted to blow my brains out at the age of 20 years old.

So we're dealing with some serious business here, a serious mental illness.

So I think it talks a little bit about and everybody's going to find something in this book that relates to them on a personal level. I'm sharing my experience hoping that maybe it will spawn something and you guys that you will see

next part says the 4th edition includes the 12 concepts for World Service and revises the three sections of personal stories as follows.

One new story has been added to part one and two that originally appeared in part three had been repositioned there. Six stories have been deleted. Six of the stories in Part 2 have been carried over, 11 new ones have been added and 11 taken out because it's pretty monotonous now. Okay. Part of three now includes 12 news stories. Eight were removed in addition to the two that were transferred to part one. OK, we got a lot of information there. It's basically reiterating how much the book has changed. It's kind of funny too, how much has changed. I mean, you got to realize we still got

Alcoholics right in this book. You know, we're opinionated people, and I'm sure they're very opinionated up in New York too, even though they're at the GSO. So there's a lot of, lot of changes going on here. The 12 concepts of World Service is basically service at a world level, OK? So we've got the service at personal recovery first, then we got service at a group level, and then you have service at the world level, OK. And that's what the 12 concepts for World Service are.

Last paragraph on the preface says all changes made over the years in the Big Book.

A A member A A members fond nickname for this volume have had the same purpose, to represent the current membership of Alcoholics Anonymous more accurately and thereby to reach more Alcoholics. OK, so that sums up everything we just talked about, that the Big Book has changed only to represent and help more Alcoholics. OK,

if you have a drinking problem, we hope that you may pause in reading one of the 42 personal stories and things,

Yes, that happened to me, or more important, yes, I felt like that or most important, yes, I believe this program can work for me too. OK,

and so if you if you skip the 1st 100, if you just read the 1st 164 pages, you just skip some real good information, didn't you? Right. And again, I'm speaking from personal experience because I've done it before. I really have. And I was a dead man walking. I was a dead man walking. So let's go into the forward of the 1st edition. I told Matthew I wasn't going to be long winded. But it's also almost a contradiction of my nature.

OK, so we're on page Roman numeral 13-4 to the 1st edition.

And remember, you guys can take notes. Highlighters great, but I usually have a pen beside me too.

AA is 4 years old when this. AA was four years old when this book was written. Can you imagine these guys going from 1935 to 1939 absolutely blind? I mean, they didn't have anything down in writing of their concepts and their beliefs. They were studying everybody else's concepts and beliefs at that point. And I think that's the reason Bill wrote this book ultimately, is he realized I've got to get this down on paper.

It's going to have a lot greater effect on Alcoholics

fits down on paper somewhere that people can look at it. So in 1939, when this book was written, A A was four years old. It says we have Alcoholics Anonymous are more than 100 men and women who have recovered past tense from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other Alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book.

There's some real important information there for me.

OK, recovered.

There's some more controversy. How many recovering Alcoholics? Do you hear that a lot in here? You hear recovering? OK, well let me let me clarify this recover does not mean cured, OK?

I promise you, if I have not been through the big book and worked the 12 steps with a sponsor, I am recovering OK.

These guys were recovered because they had done that.

So, you know, look at it how you want to, but if you've gone through the 12 steps, you are recovered alcoholic. But recovered and cured are two different things. OK,

to show other Alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book.

So if this book is the basic text we already established in the preface, right? This book is the basic text for our society, Isn't that what it said? And then it says that the main purpose of this book is to show other Alcoholics how we have recovered. So would it be important to say

that the main purpose of this program is this book?

Would it be safe to say that since it said what it said in the preface about that,

this book is very, very important, OK? It's the only thing that I can carry on to another alcoholic. That's foolproof. It really is. It's foolproof because all the information's right here. That ain't opinion. It's all right here. I mean, anything that I may say today that doesn't, that contradicts this book, you can disregard it, OK? Because I'm sharing my experience on this.

So the book is an absolute necessity to overcome alcoholism

for them. We hope these pages will prove so convincing that no further authentication will be necessary.

You know, that says maybe I don't need any other books to recover from alcoholism. Now, once I've recovered, then I can get into some other literature. OK? Then I can start reading my daily reflections and I can start becoming a guru on a daily basis. I can start praying and meditating in the morning. But first of all, I better recover first. See what we got going on is we're reading all kinds of other literature

that is real good information. Don't get me wrong,

it's all a a literature, but we've already established this book is the basic text for recovery then period. Then, OK, not living sober. This book, OK,

it says no further authentication will be necessary. That means there's no reason I don't have to change this. I don't have to go right in my own version of it, You know, although my ego says it like to. I got to tell you, I was thinking about, man, I wonder if we could come up with our own version. I'm like, dude, that's absolutely insane.

You know? See, my mind can still go out there and I have to tell you guys this. I have to say it out loud so I can hear myself. But that's the kind of mind we're working with here. I'm talking about how important this book is. And then I got a mind that says maybe I could come up with my own version. You know what I mean?

We think this account of our experiences will help everyone to better understand the alcoholic. Many do not comprehend that the alcoholic is a very sick person. And besides, we are sure that our way of living has its advantages for all.

Guess what they've got over what, 212 step programs now?

AA was the very first 12 step program. Now they've got, you name it, Narcotics Anonymous, Sex Addicts Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous. It goes on and on and on.

And what that says to me is anybody can benefit from this way of life, OK? IE I think that's why there's been people go out and start 12 step programs that were based upon our 12 steps because AA was the 1st 12 step program. And now you've got over 200's second paragraph. It says it is important that we remain anonymous because we are too few at present to handle the overwhelming number of personal appeals

which may result from this publication.

Being mostly business or professional folk, we could not well carry on our occupation in such an event. We would like it understood that our alcoholic work is an avocation.

Real important word guys highlight, underline, parentheses, application.

The definition of advocation is. I've got my little big book dictionary here

and I'm going to give you some opinions on this. You can agree with them or not.

Activity which is less important than ones regular job? OK, that's the actual definition. Activity which is less important than ones regular job.

An application to me means I do this for free and for fun. OK,

whenever I get done talking today, I'm not going to ask you guys to write me a check for my services,

OK? Because this is an advocation. If I start charging money for this, you might as well go buy me a funeral plot, OK? Really, you might as well. And this is my opinion and my opinion only.

I think that's part of the reason treatment centers don't have the success that Alcoholics Anonymous does.

OK, they're charging money for what we do for free,

and I guarantee you the message that one alcoholic carries to another one alcoholic that has recovered,

it's going to have a lot more power than me having to pay some guy 5 grand to go stay in his treatment center. Don't get me wrong, treatment centers have a place. They're about discovery. They're about drying out. They're about getting the booze and the drugs out of my body.

But one alcoholic helping another for free and for fun is the oldest principle known to man. You cannot charge money for this, OK? And that's what advocation means to me. We do this for free and for fun And, and thank God for that. Thank God for that,

then, it says. When writing or speaking publicly about alcoholism, we urge each member of our fellowship to omit his personal name,

designating himself instead as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. OK, that's an anonymity statement

and what it means to me in the way my sponsor described it, he says you can give your full name within the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The anonymity statement is more to protect your fellow AA member, your friends in a A rather than yourself. OK, It'd be like if I went outside and I said I saw Matthew and I gave his last name to somebody that's not in a A. I just shattered Matthews anonymity. OK, that's if I'm outside of this room and I give Matthew's full name and the person I'm talking to is not an A A member. I shattered his anonymity and I got to tell you, I've done this stuff

once or twice in my sobriety without even realizing I was doing it like running into somebody I know and we have a mutual friend like hey, did you hear so and so is going to a a whoop. I didn't realize it. I just broke that guys anonymity. You know what I mean? So the important thing for me to understand, it says when writing or speaking publicly,

this is not publicly. Publicly is at the Kiwanis Club. It's at your local high school, your local middle school, wherever that's publicly.

So if I'm out speaking in public, you know, as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, I can only give my first name. I

can't say my name is Scott, man. I'm an alcoholic. I say my name is Scott. I'm a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. And that's what Bill Wilson was talking about. And you know why? Because back then they only had a hundred members. Guess what? They didn't have every group in town for people like us to go speak at. They had to go to churches. They had to go to Kiwanis Club because they didn't have anywhere to go speak.

That's why Bill Wilson wrote this anonymity statement.

This does not apply as greatly to us today as it did to them back then because there was only 100 to those people,

you know, they were very limited on where they could go share their stories. And we're going to read about that in the forward of the 2nd edition where they go and they spoke it a couple of special dinners for people that were non A A members. So the important thing for me to know is,

is within the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, I can give my full name. But once I leave these rooms

and I go speak in public as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, I better just give my first name only, OK? To protect a A and protect anonymity.

Next paragraph says very earnestly. We ask the press also to observe this request for other. Otherwise we should be greatly handicapped. We are not an organization in the traditional sense, conventional sense of the word. There are no dues or fees whatsoever. The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking. We are not allied with any particular faith, sect or denomination, nor do we oppose anyone.

We simply wish to be helpful to those who are afflicted

less than it sounds kind of like that application again, just I really want to be helpful to to those who are afflicted. I don't, you know, have any other,

I don't have any other real needs that I need to have met here. Then help somebody that's a a fellow alcoholic.

Funny about this. The forward of the 1st edition Bill, our third tradition, stated the only requirement for membership was an honest desire to stop drinking. Well, if we look at it now, it doesn't say anything about honest. And now this is folklore. But I heard Bill took honest out because there ain't an alcoholic on the planet who knows how to be honest when he comes in here. And I heard that's why I took it out. But anyway,

matter of fact, I don't know if I could have handled that either when I came because honestly was definitely not my best policy, I got to tell you.

So I think it's kind of ironic he originally had honest in there and now it's just a desire

to stop drinking, which is important.

We shall be interested to hear from those who are getting results from this book, particularly from those who have commenced work with other Alcoholics. OK. We should like to be helpful to such cases. It says inquiry by scientific, medical and religious societies will be welcome.

That's pretty open minded. When you say pretty open minded, he's saying we'd be glad to hear from scientists, doctors, religions. And that once again reconfirms that that a A does not have all the answers to every problem known to man. OK. Otherwise, he wouldn't be saying, you know, you're welcome to ask us any questions you might have,

OK? We don't have all the answers. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a lawyer. I'm not a romance counselor, OK? I'm just a sober member of a, a who has stayed sober. And that's what I really have to pass on fundamentally. OK,

forward to the second edition, which is on page 15, Roman numeral 15.

I want to say this real quick while we're doing it guys.

Matthew, did you, I don't know if you mentioned that we're going to have a,

we want to have kind of an ask it basket question and answer time. So for anybody that has any questions on what we're going over today that you want to ask, go ahead and write it down on a piece of paper, put it in a basket. And when we have a little break after the first hour, we'll come back and try to answer all those questions. And if we can't get to all of them for some reason, I'll be glad. We'd be glad to answer any questions at the end of the deal today. So

guys, feel free to write down any questions you might have, OK? Because that's what we're here for.

Forward to the second edition. So this was written in 1955. AA is 20 years old at this point. OK,

so it's been 16 years since the last writing. It says since the original forward of this book was written in 1939, a wholesale miracle has taken place. Our earliest printing voiced the hope that every alcoholic who journeys will find the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous at his destination. Already continues the early text. Twos and threes and fives of us have sprung up in other communities. What that's saying to me is a as continuing to grow. OK. It's continuing to grow,

and even after 16 years is continuing to grow

to 16 years have elapsed between our first printing of this book and the presentation in 1955 of our second edition. In that brief space, Alcoholics Anonymous has mushroomed into nearly 6000 groups whose membership is far above 150,000 recovered Alcoholics.

So we've got 150,000 recovered Alcoholics in 16 years prior we had 100.

So do you think this program works? Do we have any doubt yet? We still got any doubting Thomases out there like me.

We went from 100 recovered Alcoholics. 16 years later we got 150,000.

That speaks for itself, I'd say.

Groups would be found in each of the United States and all of the provinces of Canada. A A is flourishing communities in the British Isles, the Scandinavian countries, South Africa, South America, Mexico, Alaska, Australia and Hawaii. All told, promising beginnings had been made in some 50 foreign countries in US possessions. Some are just now taking shape in Asia. Many of our friends encourage us by saying that this is a but a beginning only the auguri of a much larger future ahead.

And let's look up Augury, because I forgot what that meant.

OK,

Audrey

Auguri is a sign, an indication something indicates future happenings. OK, the bill uses a lot of language in here. I got this little big book dictionary when I was in Akron at Founders Day this year. And I tell you, this thing is a lifesaver, man. And you can buy them online too, by the way. They've got, I don't know if you've seen them before.

The spark that was to flare into the first A A group was struck at Akron, OH, in June 1935 during a talk between a New York stockbroker, Bill Wilson, and an Akron physician, Doctor Bob Smith.

Six months earlier, the broker had been relieved of his drink obsession by a sudden spiritual experience following a meeting with an alcoholic friend who had been in contact with the Oxford groups of that day. He had also been greatly helped by the late Doctor William D Silkwork, a New York specialist in alcoholism, who is now accounted no less than a medical St. By a A members

in His story of the early days of our society appears in the next pages.

From this doctor the broker had learned of the grave nature of alcoholism. Though he could not accept all the tenants of the Oxford groups, he was convinced of the need for a moral inventory, confession of personality defects, restitution of those harmed, helpfulness to others and the necessity of belief, independence upon God. There's a lot of information there, guys. OK,

so basically this started June 1935. Bill Wilson, Doctor Bob got together.

I like to get a little bit, let's see here. OK, I think it goes in the next paragraph. I'll actually get further into the stories, But Bill and Doctor Bob were both members of the Oxford Groups and Brief History on the Oxford Group, it was a it was a program that was very similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. We believe they believed in one alcoholic helping another. But the Oxford Groups was a religious organization,

OK. And they they, they were very clear about that.

I believe they even had membership dues, OK. And I think that a lot of their, their strict doctrine of religion is what ended up being part of their, their downfall. Why they did not succeed as well as a A is because they had a lot of religious ideas. OK,

so Bill and Doctor Bob were both members of the Oxford Group, and Bill could not accept all the tenants of the Oxford Group. And the tenants of the Oxford Group is my sponsor. Shared with me

are what they call the four absolutes. OK. And you don't read about this in the big book, but it's very, very, very important because the four absolutes is what ended up being the 12 steps that you guys know today, OK. And that was absolute honesty

with basically is the first step, getting honest that I've empowered us over alcohol. My life is unmanageable. Absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness and absolute love. Those were the tenets of the Oxford Group. And Bill, I think was more,

I just don't think the guy was ready yet, you know what I mean? I mean, we can say it was religion and he couldn't accept it, but really, the dude just ain't hit bottom yet is what it gets down to it. But he realized there was some tenants from the Oxford Group that were absolute necessities. And he already saw he had the awareness of that, but he just didn't know how to put it into his life yet. So

next paragraph down says prior to his journey to Akron, the broker had worked hard with many Alcoholics on the theory

that only an alcoholic can help an alcoholic. OK. But he has succeeded only in keeping sober himself. You guys probably heard about that story. He'd been helping drunks for like 6 months and none of them had stayed sober for any, any amount of time whatsoever. And so he went to his wife, Lois. And he said, Lois, you know, I just don't know if I'm doing the right thing. I don't know what's going on here.

And none of them are staying sober. And she looked at Bill and she said something very poignant. She said Bill. But you are.

That's, that's it, baby. That's the ticket to freedom right there. You see, whether you guys accept what we're talking about up here and whether you stay sober or not,

ultimately I want you to stay sober that I wouldn't rather have anything else in the world, but I guarantee I'm going to OK. And this is this is important to understand by getting out of myself and helping others, that's how we find sobriety. You know, I. So Bill was staying sober. They weren't staying sober, but Bill was. So anyway, the broker went to Akron on a business venture which had collapsed, leaving him greatly in fear that he might start drinking again. He suddenly realized that in order to

himself, he must carry his message to another alcoholic.

That alcoholic turned out to be the Akron physician. OK, I'm going to give you a little history on this because I learned about it a lot this year when I went to the Founders Day in Akron, OH. Which by the way, if you guys have never been, I would highly recommend it. It was a once in a lifetime a a experience for me.

We went to the Mayflower Hotel. We saw where actually Bill was when he made the phone calls and and saw the bar that he almost went in and drank.

And we went to Henrietta Cyberlinks Gatehouse where Doctor Bob and Bill met that day and where they started the whole program. But basically what happened, this Bill was in a a real bad place. He had gone to Akron on business. Apparently the guy had lost his

ASS and he really wanted to take a drink. OK, and he already had realized that the guy, he can't stay sober on his own.

And so he started pacing the lobby at the Mayflower Hotel. OK, he heard the camaraderie. There was a bar room upstairs that literally the and I've been there. So the the bar room is maybe 20 feet from the lobby where Bill was. So I can see that the guy was probably pretty tempted. It's only about a 20 foot walk to order him a drink. And I think he said

he thought about going in and ordering the drink right there and so he went in instead.

Are actually what happened is he had a thought crossed his mind he was going to order the drink

so we could have some camaraderie, so he could make a friend for the weekend, so he wouldn't be alone. There's that loneliness that we all deal with. And instead a thought came to his mind. What about the other Alcoholics?

OK, pretty powerful right there. You know why that guy was about? He was at the lowest point of his life about to take a drink of booze. And the thought that came to that man's mind is, what about the other Alcoholics?

That's powerful. You know what I mean? So Bill went into the bar story, story goes. And instead of ordering a drink, he got change. And so he could go out to the pay phone in the lobby. Now, this is the story I got this year when I went up there, OK,

Bill got on the phone. He started going down the church directory. It was Mother's Day, by the way. You know, Mother's Day. People are spending it with their families. It's it's pretty busy time of year, you know, And so this guy starts calling people on this phone list and he called, He got to 10 phone calls.

He got to his 10th phone call

before anybody truly responded to what he was saying. You know, of course, Can you imagine a guy calling on Mother's Day and saying, hey, my name is Bill Wilson. I'm an alcoholic staying at the Mayflower Hotel. I need to find another alcoholic to talk to. You know what I mean? I mean, if I got a phone call before I came here like that, I might be like this dude's neurotic, you know what I mean? So, and I think he some of the phone calls he made within those 10 calls, a couple of the people said, well, why won't you come join us

tomorrow? You know, so some of them were compassionate, but they still couldn't provide another alcoholic. And so I believe about the 10th phone call, he he called the person named Walter Tunks, a reverend. OK Walter Tunks was very receptive, although he was busy too. He said, I do think I know somebody and he knew Henrietta Cyberlin. OK, So Walter Tunks

put Bill with Henrietta Cyberman.

Henrietta Cyberlink came from the the Goodyear Tire and rubber family in Akron, OH. You guys have heard a Goodyear tires. Her husband was one of the founders of Goodyear Tire, Henrietta and Henrietta. Walter Tunks knew Henrietta because Henrietta was a member of the Oxford Groups. See, there's the Oxford Group connection again. And so Bill called Henrietta, and Henrietta was the first person really who took the time of day to talk to Bill Wilson that day.

He was the first one who stopped what she was doing. We owe a lot to that person, that girl, that woman, She stopped what she was doing to help Bill Wilson that day. And she says, you know, Bill, I'm not an alcoholic, but I sure understand you guys. I've, you know, I've, I, I can only imagine that you're in a tough place and I can see why you'd want to talk to somebody else. And so she said, I do know somebody. She said, I have a dear friend. Her and her husband are member of the Oxford Group, too. Her name is Ann Smith.

And so Henrietta made a phone call to Anne and Doctor Bob

was pretty much 3 sheets in the wind that day. So and, and said, hey, Henrietta's on the phone, Bob. And, and there's some man from Akron staying at the Mayflower Hotel who'd like to talk to you. And Bob was wasted at this point. It's like late in the afternoon, you know, on Mother's Day. He said, I don't want to talk to that guy. Tell him to call tomorrow, you know what I mean? And

anyway, long story made short,

Henrietta said, we'll build Doctor Bob. You know, he's not a good place today, but can you can you make it till tomorrow? And just by Bill being willing to make all those phone calls he made, he was able to get through the day sober that night. And so the following day is when they actually met Bill and Doctor Bob the day after Mother's Day, OK. And they met at Henrietta's gatehouse. And if you guys see this property that she owned, her and her husband,

it's unbelievable. It's a mansion

and this gatehouse is the size of the average person's house. And they've got it all set up with all these historical a, a stuff. I mean, it's, it's really pretty amazing. But anyway, Bill and Doctor Bob, Henrietta and Ann, Doctor Bob's wife and Henrietta put those two guys together, OK. And Doctor Bob said, I'm only going to give the guy 15 minutes.

OK. Well, six hours later, they left there.

And Bill Wilson obviously didn't take a drink. Doctor Bob didn't end up getting drunk. After Bill went back to New York, Bob got he had to go back out for one more experiment. He wasn't quite convinced, you know, and,

but shortly thereafter and Matthews going to touch on this the next part of our session, he's going to touch on what Bill finally said to Doctor Bob to sway his opinion, to change his mind. But that's basically what happened is is

as a result of a series of phone calls

like four or five people, Bill Wilson and Doctor Bob finally got together. Now I got to tell you that is willing to go to any link to stay sober.

Would you agree? OK, this guy made 10 phone calls, had to go through five more phone calls after that

and we're all standing here now

and I want to think about myself today. Poor me, poor pitiful me. You see what I'm saying? This is we are selfish and self-centered, man, if we don't even see the light of what our forefathers and AA did for us, man. I mean, that guy was willing to go to any length. That's best description I think I've ever heard.