The Night Bill W. Wrote the Twelve Steps in Thirty Minutes and the Arguments That Nearly Killed Them – Homer D.

My name is Drew Simola and I'm an alcoholic and I'll be introducing Maude who's going to explain what is going to be happening up here. Roughly we go back to March of 1938 when they're in the process of writing their 12 steps in the book Alcoholics Anonymous and how our program of recovery came about. So without further ado I'm going to turn it over to Maude and we'll get on with the play. Good evening, I mean good afternoon. My name is Maude and I'm an alcoholic. This afternoon we present a play, The 12 Steps, by Homer Dee. Our purpose in presenting this play is to reenact the occasion of the writing of the 12 steps of the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. AA was founded in June 1935 as the result of a call for help from Bill W. from the Mayflower Hotel in Akron, Ohio, culminating in his meeting with Dr. Baum. Three years later, in the year 1938, definite action was taken for the writing and publication of what was to become known as the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous. By the month of March 1938, Bill W. had begun to write the first two chapters of a book to formulate the principles and philosophy of the infant organization. At this time, the New York group was meeting in the home of Bill W. at 182 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, New York. This group was now used to the six steps that they had taken from the absolutes of the Oxford Group, from which the New York Group of A.A. had originated, and from whom Bill W. had begun his thinking about what is now the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. By the spring of 1938, a definite program of action took shape. It was agreed that we needed a tax-free charitable trust or foundation. The Board was set up of five trustees, comprising three non-alcoholics and two alcoholics, one of whom was Dr. Bob. This was the formation of the Alcoholics Foundation, later to be renamed the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Board attempted to solicit donations for the publishing of the proposed manifesto, but even the fact that such donations were tax-free made no difference, and progress was slow. Promises were made but not kept, and the group was discouraged. Now, in the fall of 1938, Bill took the first two chapters he had written to the religious editor of Harper Magazine. He offered Bill $1,500 in advanced royalties for the proposed publication. However, though this offer spurred the group on to greater effort, Bill was in doubt. He feared accepting this offer because there was a strong possibility that the book might become the manifesto. The case was that Bill would鬆a pay for help to a nonprofit organization, the New Automotive Company, to write a new manual and texts for the new organization, and were that to happen, the guiding of the organization would be in the hands of outside interests. The New Automotive Company's new introduction to the new organization would be important to international interests. Then a new element was added. Henry T., strategist, promoter, and idea man, came up with a suggestion that they incorporate and sell stock in a publishing company in order to get the money to publish. Objections were raised, but Henry just argued them all down, and one day he went to a stationery store, bought books, and sold them there. The company was then shut down. He was given a week's leave. The body was раза lost and it was agreed to add the book. bought blank certificates, filled them in, and signed them Henry P. President, and he began selling them for $25 per share, and they were in business as Works Publishing Incorporated. Chapters 3 and 4 were written in Henry's office where Bill could work in quiet and concentrate on the text. Henry had a plush office and a secretary, Ruth Hoff, a large imposing desk but no business. Finally, Bill was ready to draft Chapter 5, how it works. He looked closely at the six steps that they were then using. The Oxford Group had operated from the concepts of the absolute, absolute love, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness, and absolute honesty. The New York Group had pulled out of the Oxford Group and were now operating from the following steps. One, we admitted we were powerless over alcohol. Two, we were powerless over alcohol. Two, we were powerless over alcohol. Two, we made a moral inventory of our defects and sins. Three, we confessed or shared our shortcomings with another person in confidence. We made restitution to all those we had harmed by our drinking. Five, we tried to help other alcoholics with no thought or reward in money or prestige. Six, we prayed to whatever God we thought there was for power to practice these precepts. Bill felt that there was a need for more. He was convinced that there was no loophole for the alcoholic, that the steps needed to be as clear, definite, and concise as possible. For some time also, Dr. Bob had been emphasizing the fact that the alcoholic had both a physical allergy and a mental compulsion. So Bill set about drafting 12 steps of the program as he saw it. He relaxed and asked for guidance. He started to write, and in about one half hour, he came up with 12 steps without any special rhyme or reason. Bill connected these with the Twelve Apostles. The play deals with this direct formulation of the 12 steps by those men who, by virtue of having become stockholders in the publication of the book, were instrumental in the final drafting of the book. The 12 steps actually took three months to complete, but the play telescopes the various meetings into two, set in the latter part of 1938. Of the men involved, the liberal element was represented. By Bill W., Howard A., boon companion of Bill, with two years of sobriety, and Joe S., friend of Howard's, with only three months of sobriety. The conservatives were represented by Paul Cagg, early New York minister, and Fitz M., a fiscal minister's son, and second man in the New York group to recover. These two were religious and demanded that the 12 steps be presented along strictly theological lines. Directly in the book, the 12 steps were represented by Bill W., Howard A., boon companion of Bill, with two years of sobriety, and Joe S., friend of Howard's, with only three months of sobriety. As the play llegó, Bill W. was violently opposed by the two radicals, Henry Pease, promoter, former salesman, and agnostic, and Jim Bee, salesman and professed atheist. Henry's secretary, Ruth Haack, though not an alcoholic, provided many ideas for the book and acted as leveler and arbiter of the rampant emotionalism of group members. Another peacemaker and staunch supporter was Bill's wife, Lois. As the play opened, Bill W. had just arrived home. Tired and disappointed, Bill W. said, Me! 出來! Me! scurried. He has just about finished drafting the twelve steps as he saw them, but he is disheartened. He and his wife talk about his responsibility, and later on, callers arrive. Well, hello, dear. I thought I heard you coming in. Oh, hi, Lois. Oh, wife. How are you? I'm doing okay, but you look so tired. Oh, boy, I am. I'll tell you, I just came from Henry's office, and I've been working all day on this draft of Chapter 5 of our new book. And I'm telling you, I'm just bushed. I'm beginning to think, what's the use? Now, what do you mean, what's the use? Oh, no one will care, and it's just too difficult to put this thing into words. It's been too long. writing. I feel I'm not getting anywhere, and even if I do finish, who cares? I think we should just forget the whole thing. Oh, Bill, I care, and you care, and you just can't quit. You're tired. Now is the moment you need your courage the most. Yeah, but now is the moment my courage is at its lowest. You know, if it hadn't have been for you, Lord, and Ruth, and Henry, I wouldn't have got anywhere near this done. But I'm afraid old Henry, he's just primarily interested in the sales of the book. Yeah. And I don't care anything about the sales. I just can't see much use in continuing this anguish. You know, I'm no writer anyway. Well, Bill, you may not be a writer, but you have the experience and knowledge of the alcoholic and the answer to his problem, and that is what is important. You're not writing for us, or for the money, or to be a bestseller. You're writing for those poor people coming later, stumbling through their jungle of heartache, self-deception, and misery. You know that that is their condition. Many times they don't even know what is the matter, much less what to do about it. Oh, I know all that, Lois, but gee, I'm just too tired. This thing's too endless. Well, what you really need is some rest. And you know, the President was talking about the book. He was talking about the book. He was talking on the radio today, and he said for us to remember that old slogan, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. I think that's what you need to remember right now, full speed ahead. Oh, yeah. I guess you're right, dear, but I don't know. By the way, you brought up something, boy. The President is facing some pretty rough decisions himself right now on behalf of the whole country. If Hitler keeps going the way he does, he's going to have to pay for it. He's going to have to pay for it. He's going to have to pay for it. He's going to have to pay for it. He's going to have to pay for it. He's going to have to pay for it. He's going to have to pay for it. And he is over there in Europe. Boy, we're going to be forced into this war. And then we'll have plenty of heartaches and misery, I'll tell you. I hope old Roosevelt can come up with some of our answers. And I guess, I guess you're right about our answers, too. You know, this is so true. We do have this duty, this responsibility to others. They just need our help and guidance. That's much better, Bill. It sounds more like you. You can't give up now for their sake and for yours. You have the answer, and they will need it. And you will never know peace and serenity if you don't pass on the message to others. Now, you rest for a while, and I'm going to go in the kitchen and make you a nice pot of coffee. Oh, now, I can use that. That's great. I'll stay here and work on this. Okay. Oh, listen. Oh, noose. A lot of rest to do here. Oh, yes. Yes, this is rest and quiet around here all the time. Wow. Hi, there. Wow. This is Joe. How are you? How are you, Joe? What brings you people out tonight? Nice to see you. Oh, we just thought we'd stop by. You mentioned you wanted to talk with us, so I thought I'd bring Joe along. You know, he just stopped over, and I said, well, he follows me wherever I go. Very good. Very good. Sit down. Come on. Sit down, Bill. Oh, friend of mine. Look, I'm glad you guys came along. I just finished drafting. 12 steps for our new program. That's a good idea. Why don't you read those? There they are, right over there. There's a copy of them right there. Over here, huh? You read them. See what you think of them. One, we admitted we were licked, that we were powerless over alcohol. Two, came to believe in God and that he could restore us to sanity. Three, made a decision to turn our will and our lives over their care of God. Four, made a moral inventory of our defects and sins. Five, admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being. The exact nature of our wrongs. Six, we asked God to remove our defects of character. Seven, got on our knees and asked God to remove our shortcomings. We made restitution of those we had harmed while drinking. Let's see. Nine, made direct amends to the list of people that we had harmed. Ten, continued to take a personal inventory and ask God's guidance daily. Right. Eleven. Twelve, sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for the knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out. And twelve, having had a spiritual experience and a vision from God as a result of these steps. You got heavy here, huh? We must carry this message to other alcoholics and to practice these principles in everything that we do. That's good, isn't it? Kind of heavy. For someone like me. You know, that sounds pretty good, Bill. But, you know, you sure put a lot of time and thought on this. Why twelve steps? Why not six like we had? Well, look, Howard. We've all agreed that these steps ought to be more explicit. You see? We can't leave any holes. An alcoholic is the world's best for finding a way not to stay away from that first drink. I kind of got these steps associated with the twelve apostles. We have, but I see some trouble ahead. There's one thing that's good. You know, I've said a lot of people. You have too much God in some steps. Alcoholics won't go for that. Oh, no, I have. I prayed a long time before I started these. There are days of meditation and prayer. I didn't know how to put this thing down into words. It's so difficult. And then all of a sudden, it came to me. I sat down, and in less than half an hour, I had them written down just as they are there. I know they were given to us by God. They stayed just as they are written, because God gave them to us. You've got to get on your knees in step seven. Do you mean to get drunks on their knees to have their shortcomings removed? In the first place, they won't get on their knees. In the second place, they really don't want to have their shortcomings removed. They think they're having too much fun. Oh, come on. Joe, we have to have more spirituality in this program. You know, one of the troubles with the alcoholics... We just refuse to get on our knees to anyone or anything except alcohol. Well, Bill, you know, most of this stuff sounds real good. But, you know, it could just soften it a bit. Tone it down some. Oh, you guys. It's pretty stiff for a bunch of guys who haven't been thinking of anything but a bottle for a long time. Henry won't like it, and I can just hear Jim scream like somebody stepped on his toe when he hears it. See, I've only been around here only three months, but I've heard some of you say you wish Jim would get drunk so you wouldn't have to listen to his troublemaking. All kidding aside, Bill, you know, there'll be a lot of alcoholics who aren't atheists who will balk at all this God talk. It's possible they won't even try the program. No, sir. No, sir. I'm not going to give in on this. You guys make me sick anyway. Here I work and work and work and go, you know. Nobody helps. It's all it is. Bill, you do it. Bill, you do it. I work and work. And then I get a message from God that this is the way it's supposed to be. And then all of a sudden, you want to soften them down a bit. God's words aren't soft. No, they're twelve steps straight just as they're written. Bill, you're being bullheaded. You can't force people to accept God. Oh, come on. Bill, you ought to at least talk it over with someone. You're not allowing for any personal choice. Everyone ought to be allowed to express his opinion. Well, maybe I'm wrong, Bill, but maybe you are, too. Why don't you get some other ideas about it? When have I been wrong? Is that what you brought me here for? Yeah. Well, everything that's done around here, Howard, you try to moderate it. You try to make it more soft. You try to make it, I don't know. Here you're supposed to be my best friend, and here with everything I try to do, you pick holes in it. Well, I've been telling Bill, you know, you're such an easy-going guy. I said, you really like this guy. Now here you sit down here being bullheaded about this thing. I thought we got along in the past. Everything I do, you try to change it. Why can't you accept anything? We'll never get this book written. Maybe Joe has a good idea, though. I'll do that at least. Stockholders in our little publishing venture. And I'll read it to them. Can we have a meeting here tomorrow night, Lois? Do we have anything going? Well, if we do, they cancel it for that. All right, let's do it. And you know it's getting pretty late tonight. And I think you ought to have your coffee and just sort of simmer down here a little bit. All right. We'll have the meeting tomorrow night, but I don't think anyone can change my mind. I'm certain these steps were given to us by God, and I don't think they should be changed. Not one word. All right, this is scene two. Presidents are Bill W., Henry King, Paul K., Fitz M., Howard A., Joe S., Ruth, and Lois W. Here they come. Here they come. I'm glad we got here early. They'll take all of the seats. Get some of the coffee. Hey, we have two doors. Yeah, I know. Hello, Bill. How are you doing? Hello, Howard. Excuse me. How are you? Hello, Joe. Sit down here next to me. All right. Enjoy the meeting. And we'll all get shit over there on the end. Good night. Good night. Good night to them here, huh? We did our 12 steps and an introduction to Chapter 5, and I put a copy of each. A copy at each place now, so you can follow along with me. And that's what the meeting is for tonight, to go over this work that I've done for Chapter 5. I'll tell you, before we get into that, I have some very good news for you. Henry, you were with me. Why don't you tell them about it? I sure will, Bill. Gentlemen, Bill and I were up to see the editor of Reader's Digest this afternoon, and the Digest is going to give us a send-off on our book when we get it printed. It just so happens I have some works publishing incorporated stock with me, and 5 will get you 10. At least, that this stock will go to 100 bucks. But I have some work to do. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what. At least, that this stock will go to 100 bucks when the Digest word gets out. You say, Reader's Digest, with their circulation, boy, that's a 10-strike on our side. See, God DOES do many, many things for us. Well, Henry, I sure wish I could buy some more stock, but I sure do have a bad case of fine-ass-itis right now. Hey, that's all around good news, but I have some of that same that Joe has. Well, Henry, haven't you set up some way to finance this, Doc? Yeah. To us here in this group, five bucks down, five bucks a week. But it's cash on the barrel head for the outsiders. Okay. Okay. Well, let's see if we can get this book finished on the way. And, Ruth, will you take some notes for us? I'll prepare. That's what I'm here for. Okay. Here's what I have. Chapter 5, How It Works. Never have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who don't recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program. It's usually the guy that is constitutionally incapable of being honored. There are such people, but they are not to blame. They seem to have been born that way. They are just naturally incapable of being honored. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional disorders. But many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honored. Our stories disclose in a general way what we were like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it, then you are welcome to do so. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. If you get it, then you must take these steps. At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way, but we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless from the very start. Remember that we deal with alcohol, cunning, baffling, and powerful. Without help, it is too much for us. But there is one who has all power. That one is God. May you find him. May you find him. May you find him. May you find him. May you find him. May you find him. May you find him. May you find him. May you find him. May you find him. May you find him. Now, half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked God's protection and care with absolute abandonment. The steps we took as a program of recovery. Now, now, what do you think of it? What do you think of this preamble before we go into this step? You positively just got too much God in this preamble. I told you to say that. Boy, okay. it. Henry, I think we have got to have a spiritual program. And how are you going to have any spirituality without mentioning God? The alcoholic has got to have a program to live by, a new way of life. Something to live by is what he needs. And inasmuch as this chapter is the very backbone of our book and our program, we must put ourselves into some other hand. Hands that are much, much more strong than any human hand, invisible hands, God's hand. Well, bless you, Bill. Those are words direct from our blessed Jesus Christ. I think it is all just great and given to you from God his very self. You take God out of your life and you take him out of your life. You take God out of your life. You take God out of your life. You take God out of this program and you are going to have nothing. You will have nothing. Bill, you are so right. Really, you should mention more of God. Jesus said, glorify me before men and I will glorify you to my Father who is in heaven. I think there should be more quotations from the Bible in the book. Amen. Well, I can't see this God stuff. Alcoholics ain't going to buy that stuff, but I want this book to sell. Let's sell a million copies, a million bucks. I think if you're going to buy this book, if you delete God in this book completely, you're going to have a book that any drunk will buy. Bill, may I say something? Go ahead, Howard. Henry, Bill has a lot of good stuff in this preamble. I'll admit it should be toned down some, but I do agree with Paul Fitz and Bill that this is the backbone of the program, and I don't see how there can be any kind of a new way of life without God. I agree with him, too. Oh. Yeah. Amen. Amen. Amen. See, Henry, we aren't all wrong. Maybe you should give a word. You know, that Irish in you and those mixed emotions you have, you come up with some pretty snap decisions sometimes. Well, maybe so, Bill. Just my opinion, you know. At least I believe that right in that very first sentence you said, never have we seen a person fail. Sounds like we're bragging. In other words, anybody who joins us will stay sober if he follows our path. And a good many have already gone out and got drunk, you know. If you would say rarely, it would start Chapter 5 out much better. Well, Hank, look, that's what we're here for tonight. I'll admit it's going to take a little bit of editing. Well, that's what we're here for tonight. Well, you know, we have to be careful. We have to put the commas in the right place, maybe change one word here or there. Ruth, you've been taking notes, haven't you? Yes, I have, Bill. Do you have any ideas? Well, yes. Instead of never, start out with rarely. All right. Have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path? Those who do not are people who cannot or will not give themselves to this simple program. You would believe the guy. Bill, I think this should read men and women, as I surely believe there are going to be women as well as men in this program. Oh, now, Ruth, wait just a minute. You mean women? Women? Drunk? Sitting in on some of our meetings? My goodness. Some of the language that's used around some of these tables isn't so good, you know. They're great enough. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't In some ways, I think some of your ideas are as wild as Henry's. I worked for him. Is it possible? Is it possible that we would have women in this program? I better not be too dogmatic about that, Bill. I've seen plenty of drunken babes in my day. Could be. Could be. You know, Bill, Ruth might have something there. We better leave the door open, then close it and be sorry later. Yeah, Bill. I... I... It can't do no harm to take Ruth's suggestion, maybe. Bill, I have a hunch that it's the female intuition that we're dealing with here. Maybe we'd better go along with it. Oh, Lord, female intuition. I've been dealing with that long enough. Well, look, I'm not dead set against the idea, but if you think that, you know, that it's okay for women to be part of this thing, I don't know, it sure sounds a little outlandish to me when I first heard it, but, God, if the group thinks it's okay, this is a group conscience, I'll go along. Men and women? Here's three men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest. Okay. With themselves? This is a selfish program, you know. With themselves. Okay. Let's go there. Let's do it. Okay. Bill, back there a bit where you referred to people who are incapable of being honest, you say there are such people, but they are not to blame. You know, I'd say there are such unfortunate. They are not at fault. They seem to have been born that way. They're naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. And I'd say their chances are less than average right in there. Oh, that's great, Paul. Ruth, did you get that? Yes, I have that. Very good. Really good. Bill, that grave emotional disorder should be grave emotional and mental disorders. We're all here because we're not all there in the first place. Amen. Amen. Amen. Oh, Henry. Boy, for you, we will put that in. Amen. You know, I suggest changing to what we were like to what we used to be like. That sounds a lot better to me. Oh, yes, Ruth. That makes it more impactful. What do you think? Well, if you have decided you want what we have, you must take certain steps. I was just wondering. I don't think we should have any musts in AA. Right. You can't drive an Alpe. Okay, gang. That's easy. Let's just say, then you are ready to take certain steps. And then, that one is God. That rocks me, man. I don't think we'll ever sell this book to anybody, much less the alcoholic. Then we ask God's protection. You know, Bill, we could say, ask his protection. Ask his protection. All right. We will change God's protection to his protection. Okay? But that. That one is God. May you find him now, stays as is. Hallelujah, gang. Bless you, then. Bill, I'd like to suggest that here are some steps we took which are suggested as a program of recovery. It moves a certain, it removes a certain amount of force or must. Okay, Fitz. I believe you're right. Ruth, can you add that? Yeah, that's no problem, Bill. Okay. We have gone through the preamble, and I don't know exactly how it's going to read when we get through, but I think what we've accomplished here is very good. Now we come to the steps of drafting. I'll read them one at a time, and we can discuss them. And maybe add a comma or word here and there. It's all along. You're going to find me very much set in my ways on this draft, so please bear with me. I think you will have to agree that these will be the very backbone of our newly found program. My first step, we admitted we were licking, that we were powerless over alcohol. One drink, then just one more, then another, then on and on. I just can't stop. I am powerless to stop, and it's that very first one that starts the whole bit. I'm powerless over alcohol. I have the same reaction as Henry. In every bout, I've had it. It all boils down to that very first drink, and I never even looked at it that way before. But what kind of managers are we while drinking? I would say that alcohol had a big part in managing our lives. Well, with alcohol, I am powerless, plus unmanageable. But with God on my side... not drinking, I can manage life, that is, my life. Praise the Lord, I don't ever have to drink anymore. And through the blessed Jesus Christ, I don't ever have to take that very first drink. I know he will help me not to do so, too. It seems to me here on this first step that you are powerless, plus unmanageable, of your life. So I say... I suggest that the step reads like this. We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol, and that our life had become unmanageable. What's your reaction to that? Well, we certainly do admit that we're powerless over alcohol. This is the first step in our manual now, isn't it? Maybe we should leave it like that. We're powerless over alcohol. That's the name of the game. And it sure logically follows that this lacks power. The lack of power over booze will make our lives a real mess. And if our lives are all messed up, it certainly can't manage them. Ruth, I just believe you've put it in better words than I originally had it. Yeah, Bill, you just can't improve on it the way Ruth has it. I think this can be the very first step. You know, we could nitpick this for an hour and not come up with a better way to express it. You know, Bill, I'm satisfied with it all, Bill. Yeah, I'm real new to the program, but that powerless and unmanageable fits me like a glove. I can go along with that language. There's no mention of God in it, so it can't hurt the sale of a book. Well, gentlemen, this is real good. This is real good. This is our first step. Hey, we're on our way now. You know, I believe that one day many sick alcoholics will take this first step in its entirety. And if they only do, this opens up to them a new way of life that starts a new horizon, new friends, and a full life of total sobriety. I think this group is just wonderful. I have a new conscience to make this our first step. All right, this is what I have for step number two. I knew you'd give me a call. Yeah. It was too quiet. You gotta start without even notifying me, huh? Mm. For Christ's sake. Aw, come on, Jim. Come on up here. Come on. We had a lot to do tonight. So we started on time. We didn't know whether you were coming or not. That's figure. I think a bunch of these Bible-thumpers were praying that I wouldn't show. And these two holy rollers. Ever since they sobered up, all they know is praise the Lord. Jim, come on up and sit down. Why do you take the Lord's name in vain, though? Why do you gotta tell? Jim, I hope that one day you too will learn those three words, praise the Lord, and say them from your very heart. Remember when Jesus said, Saul, Saul, why persecute thou me? And Saul fell on his face and became Paul, one of the apostles and great follower of Jesus. Amen. Come on, Jim. We've already started. We've gone over the preamble. And we've changed our first steps to read. We were powerless over alcohol. Our lives have become unmanageable. Now we're at step two. You sit down and help us work this thing out. Well, Bill, for you I will. But these two holy rollers, they can still go to hell as far as I'm concerned. Ha, ha, ha. Come on. Come on. Well, I started to read step two just as Jim came in. So let's go on with it. Here's what I have. We came to believe in God and that he could restore us to sanity. What does that mean, to believe in God? Why, hell, these holy rollers have even got Bill in a trance. Jim, I've been sitting here hearing all this God stuff. And if I had my way, I'd delete it entirely. But this gang has told me it's the only way to reach the alcoholic. And I sure want this book to go. I'd sure like to look for those green bag ones. Oh, Hank, you ain't going to see no green bag with that kind of crud in it. Because there won't be over a hundred copies sold. Shame to believe in God. Hey, come on now, you guys. This isn't a two-way discussion. Let's carry on with this. God will restore us to sanity if we believe in him is about what you have said, Bill. Right. I don't believe that we should be so persuasive. My theory is that we let the alcoholic choose for himself some power to help him. There are Jim and Henry that do not believe in God a bit. But I think they will someday. I think they will choose some power that is greater than themselves. You know, what I've gathered here, men, is that maybe we could modify this step. Bill, I think Bill and Howard have a good idea there. It should stay just as it's written, but what do you suggest? Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. That sounds a lot better to me. Yes, me too. I believe Ruth has the answer to step two. They came to believe in this power, and later they will choose to call him God. Well, I would not change what Bill has set down. Because God gave him them steps, and they should stay as is. Well, I feel the same way as Paul. Somehow our root conscience has entered into this thing again. For what Ruth has written, you said, Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Right. It doesn't change the step for me. I'll compromise. Okay? Is that all right with the group? Okay. That'll be step two. Now for the third step. I've made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. What God? You know, this I don't understand. How the hell are you going to turn your life over to something you know absolutely nothing about? I'll back Jim up on that a little bit. Well, I don't think here that we could make, you know, some kind of a decision and put our problem in God's hands. This step is good to me. It sort of opens the gate for us to a spiritual way of life. Yeah, make a decision to the blessed Jesus Christ. He will carry you through. Amen on that. Amen. Now, I'm going to turn to the Lord, Paul. On bended knee, pray to the blessed Jesus and receive his blessing. Right. Wait a minute. What is this? A meeting for drunk or is this a prayer meeting for the God-fearing Holy Rovers? You know, you show me the average drunk on his knees and I'll show you the sun rising in California and setting in New York. I bet he's seen that. Yeah, he probably has. Probably seen that. Yeah. Well, look. There has to be some change in this. God thing, this definite statement of God. Maybe we should just say, as we understand him. What do you think of that? We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand him. All right. This becomes step three. It will be God as we understand him. Now for step four. We made a moral inventory of our defects or sins. Gentlemen, maybe this step is not complete. What I've heard around the tables on the other three steps, maybe it will require a change. All right. Let's go around the table and discuss it. What do you think? Howard? Well, Bill, you know, an inventory is sure very necessary. But will it scare us? Will it scare us back to the opening of the bottle? What I think of some of the things I did, it scares me. Search out thyself, and ye shall find thyself. Let not your hearts be troubled. Come unto me, and I will give you peace. These are God's words to us. We should not be afraid. Henry? As I see this step, I too think it's very important. I also think that we should collect the good of us with the bad. It will relieve a lot of the fears. After all, we're not all bad, you know. Jim? Ah, this step leads me out in a cold. The defects or sins bit has a lot of God crap all over it. Paul? Well, if you just count your many blessings and see what God has done for you, that's all I ask in this step every day. Well? Have you any ideas, just from what you've heard on this step? Yes, Bill. I've detected fear which the alcoholic shouldn't have, and I've also noted that we should search out our good with our bad. And so perhaps the step might better read, made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. No defects or sins. This, this, I don't know. It's going to have to be changed, and what you've said pleases me. Good night. Good night. But how do the rest of you feel about it? What do you think, Howard? Well, Bill, maybe I'm too scared about me and taking that inventory. I guess the only way to get over this fear is to bring it all out in the open. I repeat, we should not be afraid. A moral inventory is absolutely essential, and Ruth has a fine idea there. Okay. Henry? We know we all have faults, I sure have. Only by contrasting our faults with our good points will we ever know where we stand. How about you, Jim?