Bill Wilson's Boomerang

[Boleo]

Some people say Bill Wilson was a genius, some say he was a flim-flam man. I suspect that he was a little of both. When he was just a teenager, someone gave him a boomerang as a gift. They also told him that this boomerang came from the Australian continent and no one in America knew how to make one.

Young Bill saw this as a challenge and went to work on making one himself. It took him many months and dozens tries but he finally succeeded. I don’t know for sure but he may have been the first American to accomplish this. Even if he wasn’t, he must have been a very clever young man.

Later on in his life Bill took a test designed to measure the I.Q. of applicants trying to get a job as assistants to Thomas Edison. This test was considered to be extremely hard with many questions derived from many different fields of science and technology. Bill not only passed this test but was offered a job as well. Being the dreamer (alcoholic) that he was though, he turned it down and set his mind on getting rich in the stock market.

As a stock market speculator Bill quickly became know as an expert is his field, something like what would today be called a stock market analyst. Some would say that his success had more to do with is ability to gain peoples confidence than his with is actual knowledge of stocks. This is where his con-man (flim-flam man) reputation comes from. No matter which way you look at, it is clear that Bill was at least very clever at what he did.

Later on Bill went on to earn a Law degree. His failure to pick up the diploma says something about his lack of good judgment, but never the less, it takes a certain amount of brains to pass all of the tests he must have taken to complete the courses.

So what does any of this have to do with the recovery question? There is no chapter in the Big Book titled “Why It Works”. This has caused me countless hours of contemplation and speculation. The boomerang in Bills story reminds of something that I read about the law of Karma. It supposedly travels out into the universe and returns at a later time (kind of like a boomerang).

Karma literally means action. The law of Karma is a theory that the Universe is set up so that peoples actions influence future events in such a way that good actions lead to rewards and bad actions lead to punishment.

Not that I believe in the law of Karma mind you, but I think the “jury is still out” on this particular theory. There is also another theory called “the law of reciprocity” that includes intentions as well as actions in future outcomes (what goes around comes around). If the law of reciprocity is true than Karma is just the tip of the ice-burg when it comes to an automated justice-system taking place in the universe. Just wishing for good-will will begat good-will (not unlike prayer).

Now this is just my opinion, but if there is anything like Karma taking place in our lives, then perhaps, it could explain some of the good results people get from practicing the 12 step program.

If you think about it, Steps 9 and 12 require good actions. Steps 3, 7 and 11 require good intentions. The rest of the steps require some degree of honesty, open-mindedness and willingness. These can also be thought of as good intentions.

This analogy of comparing the ninth step to Karma has a certain element of support from the TV show “My Name is Earl”. Why is the show titled as though it were the start of an AA meeting? Why is there an “Amends List” when Karma is not normally associated with an amends list? Karma, like a boomerang, must return in the same form that it was sent out. Amends has nothing to do with it.

I once heard someone say at an AA meeting that when they were doing their ninth step, they sent out apology letters and packages with items that they had stolen. What they got back was letters with thank you messages. In fact, strangely enough, the person even said it this way;

“It just goes to show you, when you send out good packages, you get good packages back”.

[ananda]

I enjoyed your post, but wanted to say that IMO karma is alot more complecated that what you described. Sorry - but i just needed to state it. Never the less.....a very interesting read. Thanks.

[Boleo]

I am interested in knowing more about Karma. How would you describe it?

[CarolD]

...I truly have not thought
of Bill Wilson
as either a genious or a scammer.

I consider him a man seeking answers
to his alcoholism.
Thankfully ...with God.... he succeeded.

[tennis71]

Good post. Very thought provoking!

[sugErspun]

From my understanding, karma is not understandable.

Things, events, words - only 'point' to it...

[Tazman53]

It works for me. I no longer question why or how....... except I accept what it says in "How it works".

I questioned and analyzed a lot in early sobriety, finally I just accepted it and it worked..... why? I do not know, but I know it works for me.

Interesting post.