Benedict's 12-Steps & Suffering

Twelve-step recovery programs have become very popular today, but very few people realize that Benedict created the first twelve-step program. Chapter Seven of the Rule is his treatise on Humility. Using the image of a ladder Benedict shows us how … "we go up by humbling ourselves and down by praising ourselves". "The ladder", he says, "represents our life in the temporal world; the Lord has erected it for those of us possessing humility. We may think of the sides of the ladder as our body and soul, the rungs as the steps of humility and discipline we must climb in our religious vocation."

Step Four is reached when one "in obedience, patiently and quietly puts up with everything inflicted on him. Whether these are painful, unjust or even against his nature, he neither tires nor gives up, for the Scripture says, 'Only he who perseveres to the end shall be saved' (Mt. 10:22) and 'Let your heart be comforted, and expect the Lord' (Ps. 27:14)".


This is a very different attitude toward suffering than what we commonly encounter today. Our culture has lead us to expect that life will be easy, that accomplishment will come naturally, and that suffering is a sign that something is radically wrong. We have virtually no categories for patient suffering under trial because we really believe that we are not supposed to suffer. "God wants us to be happy" say many of my clients. If they're not happy, it's either because something is wrong with God, or because someone else is responsible for their unhappiness. Almost never is there a sense that this present trial may help me in my journey toward becoming more like Christ. We have simply lost the understanding of how suffering aids us in our spiritual journey.