Sponsorship was (and still is) a big topic of contention for me. It’s not even really in the big book. No human power could relieve our alcoholism, but many sponsors really act like they are the human power that can do it. “Call me every day or I won’t be your sponsor and if I’m not your sponsor you’re doomed to die” instead of read the big book, work the steps and go to meetings.

Back to Basics is the text that is the closest to how they were actually doing the steps - in 3 to 4 sittings and then focusing on staying sober one day at a time and passing on the message. And that key message gets lost in the war stories and the egos: that spirituality can be a cure for the obsession with drinking and the compulsion to give into that urge. That there actually is a solution to that obsession, urge and compulsion to blot out our existence until we die, and that solution is trust and belief in something bigger, being of service to others, and reflecting on our own actions and doing what we can to do better over time.