The other day I watched a Hallmark movie about Bill and Lois Wilson. I usually like to catch Hallmark movies because they are always inspirational and the commercials make me cry! I love the commercials! I didn't have a clue who Bill and Lois Wilson were, but I knew it would be a good story.
Well, it was a good story, and I did cry. I was inspired by a seemingly ordinary woman who loved a man, but whose love and devotion went way beyond any vows she may have made when she married him. Just like every new wife her life with him began with hopes and dreams for a wonderful life together. But it turned out to be a nightmare of disappointments and pain. She lost everything that made life meaningful - her home, her ability to have children, her career and her love for her husband. Her husband was an alcoholic. She was advised to leave the marriage and "make something of her life." But she stayed, and despite her disbelief in his promises to "lick this thing" she continued to fight for the possibility of "them." My admiration for her faith and determination is nothing compared to the ultimate impact her faith has had on our world.
I don't know what caused Bill Wilson to become addicted to alcohol. According to the movie he seemed to be a man who couldn't accept failure or set backs. He turned to alcohol, and it was only when he accepted his failure and recognised his need for a power much greater than his own that he was able to "lick this thing" and become the man his newly personalized, Holy God intended him to be.
In 1951, they began to have meetings with others who shared their struggle. Out of this huge, gaping, putrid wound came Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon.
Out of your wound will come your genius.
And through their genius millions of lives have been helped. Let's make it personal. AA has helped someone in my family and understanding this story made me fully appreciate the sacrifices it took for that to happen. I am grateful for the gift of their wound.
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I believe that people are good if you give them half a chance and that good is more powerful than evil. The world seems to me excruciatingly, almost painfully beautiful at times, and the goodness and kindness of people often exceed that which even I expect. - Lois Wilson
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