When the two women met for coffee to celebrate the two months of sobriety, Karr complained about the losers and loons in their AA group and their “spiritual crap.” Then, as Karr recalls, her sponsor suggested another way to think of a higher power, and of the group in the church basement: “Here, she says, are a bunch of people. They outnumber you, outearn you, outweigh you. They are, ergo—in some simplistic calculation—a power greater than you. They certainly know more about staying sober than you…. If you have a problem, bring it to the group.”
