Editing Alcoholics Anonymous (section)

=== Bill Wilson & his spiritual awakening ===
In keeping with the Oxford Group teaching that a new convert must win other converts to preserve his own conversion experience, Thacher contacted his old friend [[Bill W.|Bill Wilson]], whom he knew had a drinking problem.<ref name="Pass It On, p 1172">''Pass It On'', p. 117.</ref><ref>Walter HA, ''Soul Surgery'' p. 44 Oxford: The Oxford Group</ref> Thacher approached Wilson, saying that he had "got religion", was sober, and that Wilson could do the same if he set aside objections and instead formed a personal idea of God, "another power" or "higher power".<ref name="Pass It On, p 117">''[[#pass-it-on|Pass It On]]'', 1984, p 117.</ref>{{sfn|Kurtz|1991|p=17}}[[File:AA - Medalj.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|right|[[Sobriety token]] or "chip", given for specified lengths of sobriety. On the back is the [[Serenity Prayer]]. Here green is for six months of sobriety; purple is for nine months.]]Feeling a "kinship of common suffering", Wilson attended his first group gathering, although he was drunk. Within days, Wilson admitted himself to the [[Charles B. Towns|Charles B. Towns Hospital]] after drinking four beers on the way—the last [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] he ever drank. Under the care of [[William Duncan Silkworth|Dr. William Duncan Silkworth]], an early benefactor of AA, Wilson's detox included the [[deliriant]] [[Atropa belladonna|belladonna]].<ref>Pittman, Bill "AA the Way it Began"  1988, Glenn Abbey Books</ref> At the hospital, a despairing Wilson experienced a bright flash of light, which he felt to be God revealing himself.{{sfn|Kurtz|1991|p=19–20}}