FINDING ADVICE IN THE DARNDEST PLACES
The Sermon On The Mount
The other day, curiosity caused me to read the report of the Sermon of the Mount by Matthew in the New Testament.
And once again I was reminded that the things we are told in AA to do in order to make our sobriety serene and spiritual growth possible always work because they have been serving mankind for some 2,000 years.
Of course, AA is not a religious program (I personally stopped church going at 20), but when we heed the advice not to project and to live only one day at a time, we are attending to some things their Teacher told the twelve disciples. He said: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself," and "let the day's own troubles be sufficient for the day."
How familiar today is the encouragement to "Pray for the SOB." Words spoken on the Mount were, "Pray for those who treat you badly."
Daily in AA we hear that our program is for those who want it. Not far from the words, "Knock and the door will open for you..He who searches shall find."
Self-pitiers are told in AA today to get off the pity pot. What I read in Matthew was "Do not put on a gloomy look so that all men shall know you are fasting (hurting).
We quote the advice to do good deeds without anyone but ourselves ever knowing about them. We can find that the apostles were told, "Do not do your good deeds in public in order to be seen by others.so that your charity may be secret."
We are given in AA without exceptions of receiving. Christ preached, "Lend to those who need, hoping for nothing in return."
In AA, we carry the message for no other reason than self-satisfaction. In Christ's sermon, we find, "If you do good only to those who do good to you, why expect a reward? If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, why think that you deserve thanks."
It was surprising to find in that ages-old sermon rings a modern AA bell: "If you forgive others what they do wrong, you will forgive you."
from: Stepping Stones to Sobriety by Bill Pittman, pages 32-33