Good Morning everyone! (No post Monday - Happy New Year!)

Beginning on Page 59, paragraph 1, we'll continue to examine the
text as originally written to see the changes made before the first
edition of the book was published. The original, pre-publication
version is known as the "Multilith."

"Half measures availed us (will avail you) nothing. We stood at the
turning point. We asked for (Throw yourself to) His protection and
care with complete abandon. (Now we think you can take it)."

"Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a (your) program
of recovery:"

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had
become unmanageable. [Unchanged - this step came from Dr. Silkworth.]

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore
us to sanity. [From Dr. Carl Jung.]

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care
of God as we understood Him. [Essentially our "will" is our
thoughts, our thinking. For example, when making out a will we are
putting our thoughts down to be expressed after we pass on.
Our "lives" are comprised of our actions. We are making a
decision to turn our thoughts and our actions over to the care of
God. This step came from the Oxford Group's "Surrender".]

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and another human being the exact
nature of our wrongs. [Steps 4 and 5 are unchanged and came from the
Oxford Group's "Confess your sins."]

6. Were entirely ready to have (willing that) God remove these
defects of character.

7. Humbly (, on our knees,) asked Him to remove our shortcomings
(holding nothing back). [Steps 6 and 7 were inserted as a means of
closing any loopholes.]

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to
make (complete) amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when
to do so would injure them or others. [Unchanged - Steps 8 and 9
came from the Oxford Group's "Restitution."]

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong
promptly admitted it. [Unchanged.]

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious
contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of
His will for us and the power to carry that out. [The
words "conscious" and "as we understood Him" were omitted in the
original draft.]

12. Having had a spiritual awakening (experience) as the result of
these steps (this course of action), we tried to carry this message
to (others, especially) alcoholics and to practice these principles
in all our affairs.

In our next post we'll continue with the first paragraph on page 60
and begin to delve into Step 3.

Something to think about: the word "suggested" has been twisted
around to make it sound like the steps are optional. Why do you
think that word was inserted into the text?

Jim

Weekend Big Book Studies with Jim & Dave - visit:
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