As noted in my recent book, ¡°Bill¡¯s Story¡± ¨C which was written 6 months before the Steps were first put down on paper ¨C mentions most of the 12 Steps in the description of his own recovery.
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On Monday, the reading for our Zoom meeting was from ¡°A Vision for You¡± ¨C and one of our more perceptive members commented that he could see most of the 12 Steps in this reading also.
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I found this fascinating because ¨C as far as I can tell from the archival evidence ¨C this chapter was also written prior to the day Bill Wilson first wrote out the 12 Steps in early December of 1938.
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While some of my ¡°assignment¡± of individual Steps to the final paragraphs of ¡°A Vision For You¡± below may seem like a bit of a stretch, I think my friend was right¡ most of them are right there in reading:
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A VISION FOR YOU:
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Our book is meant to be suggestive only.
We realize we know only a little. [7]
God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. [3 & 6]
Ask Him in your morning meditation [11]
what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. [12b]
The answers will come, [11] if your own house is in order. [10]
But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven't got. ?[1?]
See to it that your relationship with Him is right, [2, 3 & 12a]
and great events will come to pass for you [12a] and countless others. [12b]
This is the Great Fact for us.
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Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. [2 & 3]
Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. [4 & 5]
Clear away the wreckage of your past. [6, 7, 8, 9]
Give freely of what you find [12b] and join us.
We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the spirit, [12a]
and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny. [12c]
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May God bless you and keep you--until then. [3]
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Who knew?
Bill Schaberg
