There Is a Solution – Part 2 – Sandy B. – 2004

About This Speaker Tape

Sandy B. explores the gritty history of the Big Book's creation—the Rockefeller loans, the 'I' vs 'we' pronouns, and the struggle to fund the first 5,000 copies. He pivots to a stark warning about the 'cult of self' in modern society, where immediate gratification and pills replace spiritual stability.

Through a dark parable of a man who refuses a 'spirit' (a bottle of scotch) as a solution to his lifelong anxiety, Sandy illustrates the danger of the ego's resistance to a Higher Power. He argues that recovery isn't about fixing circumstantial wreckage—like overdrawn checkbooks or divorce—but about a fundamental transformation of the heart. He concludes with the irony of his own career as a speaker, noting he was only invited to the Palm S.

Roundup because Chuck C.'s wife insisted, despite Chuck's initial indifference.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Discussion of Bill W. and the early drafting of the Big Book.
• 2:15 Laughter: Joke about Bill W.'s early sobriety and cutting the yard.
• 4:30 Analysis of the 'cult of self' and modern societal instability.
• 7:45 The parable of Joe and Ralph: The 'solution' found in a bottle of scotch.
• 11:20 Mention of the 'Chapter to the Agnostic' and finding a Higher Power.
• timecode Discussion on the difference between information and the spiritual solution.
• 15:40 The metaphor of thoughts as trains passing through Grand Central Station.
• 18:10 Sandy's regret over never meeting Bill W.
• 19:30 The story of Elsa and Chuck Chamberlain and the invitation to Palm Springs.