Program Particulars
*Times denoted refer to web version of audio
 (01:31–03:55) Music Element
"The Multiples of One" from Awakening, performed by Joseph Curiale
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Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
| (02:05) Letter by Carl Jung
On January 23, 1961, the co-founder of AA, Bill Wilson, wrote a letter to Dr. Carl Jung thanking him for treating one of his friends in the 1930s. In his reply dated January 30, 1961, from the famous Swiss psychologist read:
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Dr. Carl Jung
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His craving for alcohol was the equivalent on a low level of the spiritual thirst of our being for wholeness, the union with God.
In Jung's letter, he recounts the difficulties he had treating Wilson's friend and other alcoholics. It's also here that Jung introduces the phrase spiritus contra spiritum — spirits against spirit. On the next page, view a photocopy while reading Jung's letter.
(03:25) Reference to the Big Book
First published in 1939, the guiding text of Alcoholics Anonymous sets forth the concepts of recovery from addiction and shares the stories of men and women who have overcome the disease.
 (03:57–06:28) Music Element
"Star of the Country Down" from Appalachia Waltz, performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor
(04:10) Audio Clip of Bill Wilson
The audio clip was excerpted from a 1963 recording of Bill Wilson reading from the chapter, How It Works, of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be 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 length to get it, then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balk. 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 and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas, and the result was new until we let go absolutely. Remember that we deal with alcohol—cunning, baffling, 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 now. Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked his protection and care with complete abandon.
Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery. One, we admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable. Two, came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Three, made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.
Audio of Bill Wilson is used with permission from Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., which is not responsible for the content of this program. A. A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism only.
Read the complete Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
(07:08) Reference to John Cheever
Susan Cheever's father, John Cheever, was a well-known American short story writer and novelist, who was sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs." Born in Massachusetts in 1912, he received the National Book Award for The Wapshot Chronicle in 1958 and the Pulitzer Prize for The Stories of John Cheever in 1979. Cheever died in 1982.
(07:16) Biography of AA Co-Founder
Susan Cheever's book about Bill Wilson is My Name is Bill, published in 2004.
(07:25) Reference to Temperance Movement
A social movement beginning in the early 19th century, the temperance movement gained a good deal of momentum by the 1850s and 1860s — before the beginning of the Civil War — and lasted into the early 20th century. Although the movement advocated moderation when imbibing alcohol, more often its aim was to achieve complete abstinence from liquor.
Speaking to the Springfield Washington Temperance Society in the Second Presbyterian Church, Abraham Lincoln criticized harsh temperance efforts and endorsed a kinder approach to drinking and alcoholism. Read the text of Lincoln's speech on the next page.
The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution proscribed the use of alcohol from 1920 to 1933. In 1919, the National Prohibition Act (see photo of the document from the National Archives), commonly referred to as the Volstead Act, was passed by the United States Congress despite President Woodrow Wilson's veto. In so doing, the Act enforced the Eighteenth Amendment through its definition of intoxicating liquors. Both went into effect on January 16, 1920, and the Prohibition era began.
In 1933 during Franklin D. Roosevelt's inaugural term, the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed with the signing of the Twenty-first Amendment.
(07:41–08:20) Music Element
"Butterfly's Day Out" from Appalachia Waltz, performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor
(07:50) Thoreau and Emerson
Margaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson were part of a literary and philosophical movement known as "transcendentalism" that flourished in New England during the latter half of the nineteenth century. It asserted that the intuitive depth of a person's spirituality exists within each individual and transcends the empirical and measurable. Moreover, the divine could exist in other human beings and not only an imposing, untouchable God.
(11:11) Reference to Work by Wilson
Susan Cheever refers to a book written by Bill Wilson entitled Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.
(12:06) Reference to Wilson's Spiritual Epiphany
A passage in Susan Cheever's book, My Name is Bill, describes the experience Krista mentions about Bill Wilson's spiritual epiphany:
As usual, Dr. Silkworth gave Bill belladonna and barbiturates, and as the alcohol wore off Bill sank into a deep depression. Ebby visited him again and went over points from the Oxford Group that he said had helped him to stop drinking: admit you are licked, get honest, talk it out, make restitution, give of yourself, and pray. Bill listened, but the darkness of his mood seemed to close in on him. He reached some kind of bottom. Although he didn't believe in God, although he believed only in the power of his own mind, he found himself begging God for help. "If there be a God, let him show himself!" he cried. The response was amazing. "Suddenly my room blazed with an indescribably white light. I was seized with an ecstasy beyond description. Every joy I had known was pale by comparison," he wrote later. "Then, seen in the mind's eye, there was a mountain. I stood upon its summit where a great wind blew. A wind, not of air but of spirit. In great, clean strength it blew right through me. Then came the blazing thought, 'you are a free man.'"
(12:43) Reference to Dr. Silkworth and the Oxford Group
Dr. William Duncan Silkworth (1873-1951) was a medical doctor and specialist in the treatment of alcoholism. He was Director of the Towns Hospital in New York City in the 1930s, during which time Bill Wilson, a future co-founder of the self-help movement Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), was admitted on three separate occasions for alcoholism. Silkworth had a profound influence on Wilson and encouraged him to realize that alcoholism was more than just an issue of moral weakness. He introduced Wilson to the idea that alcoholism had a pathological disease-like basis.
To help other alcoholics achieve sobriety, Bill W. borrowed and embraced many of the Oxford Group's principles, of which there were four requiring members to:
- Make restitution to any people they'd harmed;
- Take a moral inventory by listing "personal defects;"
- Confess these defects to another person; and
- Receive direction from God through prayer and meditation.
After parting ways because Bill W. thought the Oxford Group was becoming too political and too black-and-white, he wanted a program of tolerance and not specific requirements. It was then that he talked about a "higher power" as the source of conversion experience. This could be a Christian God or any other power greater than him- or herself that an alcoholic would accept.
 (13:48–14:19) Music Element
"New Britain: Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound" from American Angels, performed by Anonymous 4
(16:50) Mention of Julian of Norwich
Cheever is referring to the fourteenth century English mystic who wrote the seminal work Revelations of Divine Love. A number of excellent resources are available to learn more about Julian of Norwich. The Catholic Encyclopedia provides a concise biographical sketch of this great English mystic. Listen to the Speaking of Faith April 2004 program A Program for Passover and Easter in which Linda Loving discusses the one-act play about Julian of Norwich by J. Janda.
 (17:25–18:38) Music Element
"Gymnopédies (3), for piano (Gymnopédie No. 02)" from After the Rain… The Soft Sounds of Erik Satie, performed by Pascal Rogé
(22:11–23:20) Music Element
"Butterfly's Day Out" from Appalachia Waltz, performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor
 (23:20–25:01) Music Element
"Hear Me Lord" from Silver Lining, performed by Bonnie Raitt
(25:32) Lakota People at Pine Ridge
The Lakota people are members of the family of the Great Sioux Nation of North America with a distinct, but related, language and culture. The word Lakota means "considered friends" or "alliance of friends." Hear and learn some key Lakota phrases.
Braveheart grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation on the southern border of South Dakota and Nebraska, of which parts have been ceded back to the government since the late 1800s. It is the poorest reservation, per capita, in the United States and is the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre.
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Little girls praying beside their beds, Phoenix Indian School, Arizona, 1900.
Courtesy: National Archives |
(25:41) Catholic Boarding Schools
In an effort to "civilize" the indigenous peoples of North America, the federal government sponsored boarding schools that would teach these men and women to dress and act properly.
The brutality and atrocities that occurred during these times are well documented, as acknowledged by Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs for the Department of the Interior, in a speech to commemorate the establishment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. View photos taken at various Indian boarding schools around the country during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
 (26:07–27:13) Music Element
"Remember" from The Intercontinentals, performed by Bill Frisell
(27:19) Extra Audio of Braveheart's Story
A complete, unedited version of the conversation that took place between Krista and Basil on the Hazelden campus can be listened to, as well as conversations with James Nelson and Betty Davis-Reynolds. Nelson discusses how recovery transformed his idea of basic Christian concepts such as "sin." Davis-Reynolds talks about the loss of values that accompanies addiction and the self-acceptance won through recovery.
 (29:33–31:06) Music Element
"Fisherman's Daughter" from Acadie, performed by Daniel Lanois
 (32:18–32:59) Music Element
"Steel Cathedrals" from Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities, performed by David Sylvian
(33:31) Explanation of Smudging
Braveheart says that ritual has been essential to his recovery. He says rituals and ceremonies such as the sweat lodge, sun dance, and vision quest engage a person's entire being — spiritually and physically.
Smudging is a common practice among Native Americans for the cleansing of energy through the burning of sage, tobacco, and sweetgrass. John Joseph says these substances emit certain smells that are pleasing to the Great Spirit:
"Sweetgrass grows high in the Rocky Mountains, and is known as the grass that never dies. It is a gift from the Creator, and one of the great smells for reminding us of the mountains and the open air. Sage is the cleanest smell of the desert, and is also given to us by the Creator. Tobacco is yet another gift. Our thoughts and prayers are carried on its smoke. It is a visual representation of our thoughts and prayers being carried, more so because it carries the two great smells of the mountain and desert."
The smudging itself is performed by mixing the sweetgrass, sage, and tobacco in a bowl, usually an abalone shell, burning the ingredients, and then blowing or fanning the smoke over a person. Often, an eagle feather fan is used, as Native Americans believe that the prayers and thoughts contained in the smoke are carried to the Creator on the wings of eagles, which fly the highest and are in direct communication with the Creator.
Smudging plays a central role in traditional healing ceremonies because it is believed that once negative energies are cleared out, a sense of peace and relaxation takes over, putting spiritual difficulties to rest. Joseph explains why this aspect of healing is so important:
"Western medicine primarily looks at physical causes, and often does not consider the spiritual well being of the individual. You have to understand that there's a big difference between healing and curing. Curing is a quick fix and will only be long-term if the spiritual site is fixed."
Smudging is often combined with other modalities that get to the root of illness, such as talking to a shaman, taking long walks, fasting, praying, and engaging in purification ceremonies.
 (37:42–38:44) Music Element
"The Healing Place" from Gone To Earth, performed by David Sylvian
 (41:38–42:12) Music Element
"Henna Wapi'iya Odowan" (Drum Healing Song) from Father to Son, performed by Earlwin B. Bullhead
(44:26–44:55) Music Element
"Star of the Country Down" from Appalachia Waltz, performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor
(49:05–49:37) Music Element
"Henna Wapi'iya Odowan" (Drum Healing Song) from Father to Son, performed by Earlwin B. Bullhead
(49:40) Reading from Big Book
The following reading was taken from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous:
The Promises
If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.
Text is used with permission from Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., which is not responsible for the content of this program. A.A. is a program of recovery from alcoholism only.
(50:13#150;52:59) Music Element
"New Britain: Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound" from American Angels, performed by Anonymous 4
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