Let Go Absolutely - For Real???Let Go Absolutely - For Real???
Father Bill W.
A recovering priest and his guest priest, both alcoholics, wrestle with radical ideas about God, death, ego, and meaning in sobriety. Using AA language, science, and theology, they talk about the deep “call” beneath recovery and what it might mean to truly let go.
49:34•27 Apr 2026
Let Go Absolutely? Radical God Talk for Real Alcoholics
Episode Overview
- Recovery is framed less as self‑improvement and more as self‑emptying, clearing space for something deeper than ego to act.
- Facing death and the eventual end of everything can sharpen, rather than erase, the search for meaning and a spiritual solution.
- The “event” is described as what is really happening beneath rituals, prayer, and religious language, beyond simple images of a “guy in the sky” God.
- True acceptance is likened to the Titanic musicians: staying present and doing what has value in itself, even when life feels like it’s sinking.
- Two Way Prayer is presented as a practical way to hear the call beneath personal wants and to respond with courage in daily life.
“Everybody has their own way of viewing the program. I don’t think of it as a self‑improvement program. I think of it as a self‑emptying program.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation between two long‑time recovering alcoholics and Episcopal priests, Father Bill W and Father James R, leans right into that question by tackling what they jokingly call “the God problem”. Instead of easy slogans, you’ll hear them wrestle with radical theology, death, ego, and what AA’s “spiritual solution” could actually mean.
Using John Caputo’s book *What to Believe* as their jumping-off point, they talk about the universe eventually ending, different scientific theories of how it might happen, and why that doesn’t have to make life meaningless or recovery pointless. One of the most memorable moments is their discussion of the string quartet playing on the sinking Titanic. Caputo calls this an image of what really matters when everything is falling apart.
As Bill’s old sponsor once told him, “the ultimate in unmanageability is death,” yet the musicians show a different kind of response: presence, courage, and acceptance instead of panic. James brings in AA language and Buddhist ideas to talk about ego, clinging, and the difference between chasing bliss and actually showing up for reality.
He jokes about “bliss ninnies” but makes a serious point: recovery is less a self‑improvement project and more a self‑emptying one, clearing space so a deeper call can be heard. Throughout, they return to AA touchstones—Step One, Step Eleven, the Responsibility Statement—and to stories from Jung, St Augustine, Job, and real AA sponsors on skid row.
Their key question keeps coming back: what is the “event” or call at the heart of prayer, desire, and recovery, and are you saying yes to it or letting it ring? If you’ve ever struggled with God-talk in recovery but still sense “something” at work in your sobriety, this conversation might get uncomfortably close—in a good way. What might the call be in your life right now?
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