“Before the 12 Steps, Bill Wilson describes in “**Bill’s Story” (written in 1938) the Program of Action he undertook with Ebby’s help”

"’All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me.’ But none the of the waters of affliction could drown him. For of him was it true, ‘He came from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters.’ The lifeline, the line of rescue, is the line from the soul to God, faith, and power. Trust, trust, trust. Never be afraid. Remember that you are in the hands of a Master-Gardener. He makes no mistakes about His pruning. Rejoice. Joy is the Spirit’s reaching out to say its thanks to Me. It is the new life—sap of the tree, reaching out to Me to find such beautiful expression later. So never cease to joy. Rejoice.”

Like a tree, I must be pruned of a lot of dead branches before I will be ready to bear good fruit. Think of changed people as trees that have been stripped of their old branches, pruned, cut, and bare. But through the dark, seemingly dead branches flows silently, secretly, the new sap, until with the sun of spring comes new life. There are new leaves, buds, blossoms, and fruit, many times better because of the pruning. I am in the hands of a Master Gardener, who makes no mistakes in His pruning. Prayer for the Day I pray that I may cut away the dead branches of my life. I pray that I may not mind the pruning, since it helps me to bear good fruit later.”

“Today, I am reminded of my inability to change myself. I can, and must, change my behavior, but it is God who must change who and what I am. I don’t even know which branches need to be pruned, much less when or how. God’s grace and power will gradually grow me into something close to the Divine Vision of who and what I should be. The Magic is never in my self-determined objectives. It is always in God’s perfect objectives, which I am never able to see or comprehend. I love you all.”