Father Bill W.

Like everyone, alcoholics and addicts have a deep desire to form meaningful and intimate relationships - and yet many of us in recovery face real difficulties in this area of our lives. Bill Wilson wrote about our having formed “twisted and broken relationships” and noted sadly, “We are people who normally would not mix.”  This series explores why human relationships are so important, why they pro...

Like everyone, alcoholics and addicts have a deep desire toform meaningful and intimate relationships - and yet many of us in recovery face real difficulties in this area of our lives. Bill Wilson wrote about our having formed “twisted and broken relationships” and noted sadly, “We are people who normally would not mix.” This series explores why human relationships are so important, why they prove...

Like everyone, alcoholics and addicts have a deep desire to form meaningful and intimate relationships - and yet many of us in recovery face real difficulties in this area of our lives. Bill Wilson wrote about our having formed “twisted and broken relationships” and noted sadly, “We are people who normally would not mix.”  This four-part series explores why human relationships are so important, wh...

Like everyone else, alcoholics and addicts have a deepdesire to form meaningful and intimate relationships - and yet many of us in recovery face real difficulties in this area of our lives. Bill Wilson wrote about our having formed “twisted and broken relationships” and noted sadly, “We are people who normally would not mix.” This four-part series explores why human relationships areimportant, som...

Bill Wilson credits his1934 “white light experience” in Towns Hospital as the start of his psychic change and spiritual transformation. Bill experienced nothing short of a taste of the divine. It also began Bill’ssearch for ways other alcoholics might experience similar altered states of consciousness – states powerful enough to jump-start their recovery journey. In the mid 1950s Wilson experiment...

Bill Wilson credits his1934 “white light experience” in Towns Hospital as the start of his psychic change and spiritual transformation. Bill experienced nothing short of a taste of the divine. It also began Bill’s search for ways other alcoholics might experience similar altered states of consciousness – states powerful enough to jump-start their recovery journey. In the mid 1950s Wilson experimen...

Years before AA existed, Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, sent his patient Rowland H. in search of a spiritual solution for his alcoholism . Since then, millions have followed in his footsteps. Bill Wilson corresponded with Jung thanking him for his contribution to AA and many in the fellowship, including Wilson himself, benefitted from the “depth” or “analytical” psychology practiced by...

Years before AA existed, Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, sent his patient Rowland H. in search of a spiritual solution for his alcoholism . Since then, millions of us have followed in his footsteps. Bill Wilson corresponded with Jung thanking him for his contribution to AA and many in the fellowship, including Wilson himself, benefitted from the “depth” or “analytical” psychology practic...

Years before AA existed, Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, sent his patient Rowland H. in search of a spiritual solution for his alcoholism . Since then, millions of us have followed in his footsteps. Bill Wilson corresponded with Jung thanking him for his contribution to AA and many in the fellowship, including Wilson himself, benefitted from the “depth” or “analytical” psychology practic...

Years before AA existed, Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, sent his patient Rowland H. in search of a spiritual solution for his alcoholism . Since then, millions of us have followed in his footsteps. Bill Wilson corresponded with Jung thanking him for his contribution to AA and many in the fellowship, including Wilson himself, benefitted from the “depth” or “analytical” psychology practic...

Many cultures develop rites of passage specifically designed to help a boy transition into manhood. It’s a difficult and dangerous journey, many get lost along the way, and a detour into alcohol and drugs only compound and delay it. Sadly, some never make it. This series explores the book “HE” written by Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson. It centers on the medieval myth “the Search for the Holy Gr...

Many cultures develop rites of passage specifically designed to help a boy transition into manhood. It’s a difficult and dangerous journey, many get lost along the way, and a detour into alcohol and drugs only compound and delay it. Sadly, some never make it. This series explores the book “HE” written by Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson. It centers on the medieval myth “the Search for the Holy Gr...

Many cultures develop rites of passage specifically designed to help a boy transition into manhood. It’s a difficult and dangerous journey, many get lost along the way, and a detour into alcohol and drugs only compound and delay it. Sadly, some never make it. This series explores the book “HE” written by Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson. It centers on the medieval myth “the Search for the Holy Gr...

Many cultures develop rites of passage specifically designed to help a boy transition into manhood. It’s a difficult and dangerous journey, many get lost along the way, and a detour into alcohol and drugs only compound and delay it. Sadly, some never make it. This series explores the book “HE” written by Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson. It centers on the medieval myth “the Search for the Holy Gr...

Steps 3 and 11 frame the vision for a wholly new way of life. It’s one lived, not under the direction of the ego but under the guidance and direction of a Power greater than ourselves. But the ego still has a role to play and that’s through the right use of the will. The purpose of the will is: TO BE WILLING! In this series, Fr. Bill explores a talk delivered by Quaker mystic Thomas R. Kelly. It’s...

Steps 3 and 11 frame the vision for a wholly new way of life. It’s one lived, not under the direction of the ego but under the guidance and direction of a Power greater than ourselves. But the ego has a role to play and that’s through the right use of the will. The purpose of the will is: TO BE WILLING! In this series, Fr. Bill explores an essay by Quaker mystic Thomas R. Kelly titled HOLY OBEDIEN...

In the episode Fr. Bill shares some experience and advice for keeping the 12-Step program simple and alive. If you’re a long-term listener, you probably won’t find much new here, but hopefully hearing the simple recovery message in simple language can start the recovery juices flowing again. Show notes:  The Will of God and a Man’s Life Work by Henry B. Wright  The Power of Two Way Prayer

We all know the saying, “You have to give it away to keep it.” That idea may be especially true of the practice of Two Way Prayer. Listening for God’s guidance was at the center of the transformative practices of the Oxford Group, and those of us who have been fortunate enough to rediscover it have a responsibility to share it with others. One way of passing it on may be starting a Two Way Prayer...

Most in recovery know that Henrietta was the woman who answered a phone call from Bill Wilson and put him in touch with Dr. Bob; but there’s a whole lot more to her story than that. In this episode Fr. Bill interviews Julie Frye who served for ten years as curator of the Seiberling mansion and gatehouse and knows more about Henrietta than most anyone alive.  As Founder’s Day approaches, come learn...

In this short episode, Fr. Bill reflects on a brief recording of Bill Wilson’s unsuccessful attempts to return to the original 12 Step wording of “spiritual experience” over “spiritual awakening.”  He also comments on Fr. Dowling’s words to the 20th Anniversary Gathering of AA in St. Louis where he said, “Istill weep that the elders of the movement have dropped the word ‘experience’ for ‘awakening...

Throughout his life, Father Ed was attracted to those who suffered - and since AA describes itself as “a program of attraction,” there’s little wonder this Jesuit priest was drawn to 12-Step members from the Program’s earliest days. In 1940, Dowling saw a troubled man recover from the depths of alcoholic despair and soon after witnessing this miracle he traveled to New York to meet AA’s co-founder...

This series address what some of us in recovery refer to as “the God problem.”  Does God exist? Does God really care about us humans – and maybe more honestly and specifically, does God care about me and mine? People have been asking these questions for as long as we’ve been on this earth but for us “real” alcoholics and addicts whose lives depend on finding a spiritual solution to our addiction d...

This series address what some of us in recovery refer to as “the God problem.”  Does God exist? Does God really care about us humans – and maybe more honestly and specifically, does God care about me and mine?   People have been asking these questions for as long as we’ve been on this earth but for us “real” alcoholics and addicts whose lives depend on finding a spiritual solution to our addiction...

This series address what some of us in recovery refer to as “the God problem.”  Does God exist? Does God really care about us humans – and maybe more honestly and specifically, does God care about me and mine?  People have been asking these questions for as long as we’ve been on this earth but for us “real” alcoholics and addicts whose lives depend on finding a spiritual solution to our addiction...

This series addresses what some of us in recovery refer to as “the God problem.”  Does God exist? Does God really care about us humans – and maybe more honestly and specifically, does God care about me and mine? People have been asking these questions for as long as we’ve been on this earth but for us “real” alcoholics and addicts whose lives depend on finding a spiritual solution to our addiction...