| CLIMBING THE LADDER IN AN UNCERTAIN TIME
How many of us have used a ladder lately? If we are too old or too young, hopefully we have not used a ladder lately! A short stepladder has big steps that one can stand on, but it doesn’t go very high. A tall ladder has small steps. An extension ladder reaches much higher but has even smaller steps. Have you ever tried to stand for a while on one of the steps of a tall ladder? What happens? Pretty soon our feet begin to hurt because the step does not fully support the platform of our foot. The longer we stay on one rung, the more our feet hurt, and we must move up or down the ladder. It is the same way with the Ladder of Divine Ascent that St. John Climacus, whom we commemorate this Fourth Sunday of Great and Holy Lent, writes about. The word ‘klimakos’ means ‘ladder.’ But what is St. John’s Ladder of Divine Ascent? Of its thirty steps, the first three are about detaching from worldly things. The next four have to do with the fundamental virtues. The next sixteen represent the struggle against the passions and sins to be overcome. The next three are the higher virtues in the active life (praxis) and the final four steps represent union with God in the contemplative life (theoria). As an example, the eighth step in the ladder is about anger. We cannot ascend to that step, master our anger and then stop our ascent. Nor do we just stop on any other step. This is not because our feet will begin to hurt standing on any one step for long. It’s because standing long enough to exalt in our supposed achievement of ascent, we become susceptible to vainglory and pride (steps 22 & 23). This is because ascending the Ladder of Divine Ascent is not the goal. Neither is ascending any of its rungs or steps. The goal is to become Christ-like, and the ladder is merely the instrument. The late theologian Dr. Panagiotes Chrestou wrote that “St. Gregory of Nyssa had earlier indicated that he recognized only one limitation in perfection, that it has not limit. When we climb the ladder of spiritual progress, we will never be able to stop ascending; for there is always a step above the step we occupy and there is not summit. Man continuously becomes more spiritual and his spiritual food continuously increases, without his growth ever ending.” The recently reposed theologian Fr. Anthony Coniaris of blessed memory, in his book Sacred Symbols that Speak Vol. 1, states that the Ladder is a gift from Jesus Christ. He Himself descended the ladder to us in His Incarnation and once again climbed it by His death on the Cross, Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. Fr. Anthony gives the following example: “If a poor young man is given a scholarship by a rich benefactor, the lad is given something he could never achieve on his own; a very great gift. But the young man has to be prepared to work, study and toil hard as a student if he is to realize the full benefit of what he has been given. This is then why it is necessary for us to climb the ladder that God has given us in Christ. God gives us the ladder as a gift (a scholarship).” But for any student, the scholarship is not the goal. It is a means to an education, a degree and ultimately a vocation. The ladder is our scholarship but the life in the Church is our education, salvation is our degree and union with Christ (theosis) is our ultimate vocation. Intimacy with God, coming ever closer to God, union with God – this is the purpose of our life. What else can we say about ladders? Have we ever tried to climb a ladder with just our feet? Probably not, because climbing without using our hands we will likely lose our balance and fall. How about climbing using only our hands? Certainly not, as few of us can hold our own weight with just our hands and arms, much less actually pull ourselves higher and higher. Soon, our hands weaken, and we lose our grip. The best way to climb a ladder is always to have at least one hand and one foot on the ladder . With those secure, the other hand and foot can reach for the next rung. But notice how one hand is reaching for a higher rung, while the other hand is firmly gripping a rung below. And the same is true with our feet, at least two or three rungs below our hands. The same is true on the Ladder of Divine Ascent. At any one time, we probably have our hands and feet on three to four different rungs. So, for example, we will simultaneously be working on obedience, repentance, the remembrance of death, and joyful sorrow – steps 4,5,6 and 7 on the Ladder. It goes without saying that we should not and cannot try to leap from one rung to another, skipping steps in between. This is very dangerous and certainly leads to a dangerous fall. According to St. John Climacus, spirituality is a never-ending process of steadily and incrementally climbing and growth, leading to new levels of knowledge of holiness and of God. He warns, “You will be rejected if you have the effrontery/arrogance to leap to the top of the ladder of love.” If ascended with humility, the Ladder has a mystical quality that prevents us from seeing too far up the ladder. As one writer explained, “God’s dealings with us are on an ascending scale. If we see clearly the lowest rung in the heavenly ladder, the veil of mist will depart and we shall see the next above it, and then the next and, in due order, the next; and so the steps that slope away through darkness up to God will always be beckoning to greater and yet greater things.” To further demonstrate this dynamic, Fr. Anthony Coniaris shares a story of a religious man who dreamed he was building a ladder to heaven. When he did a good deed, the ladder went up one more step. When he gave a dollar to charity, he added another step. When he joined the church, the ladder when up ten steps. Higher and higher went the ladder until it reached beyond the clouds out of sight. As the end of his life neared, the man thought that surely the ladder would extend clear up into heaven by then. So, confidently stepping off the top of the ladder, thinking it was heaven, he found nothing there and went tumbling down head over heels to his ruin. Awakening from his dream, he remembered the words of Jesus, “He that…climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and robber (John 10:1). The ladder is the gift of God’s grace. It can never be built by our virtues and good deeds. God alone draws us ever higher, even as it is we who often oppose Him, resist Him, go our own way. Let us remember that St. John’s Ladder of Divine Ascent is not something out there. St. Isaac the Syrian wrote: “Enter eagerly into the treasure house (the heart) that lies within you, and so you will see the treasure house of heaven. For the two are the same, and there is but on single entry to them both. The ladder that leads to the Kingdom is hidden within you, and is found in your soul. Dive into yourself, and in your soul you will discover the rungs by which you are to ascend.” St. Gregory of Nyssa writes, “Having once put your foot on the ladder which God is leaning against, go on climbing…every rung leads up to the beyond…Finding God means looking for Him tirelessly…To see God means never to cease to desire Him.” As we near the end of Great Lent, in a world that is anxious and traumatized by a pandemic, when the present is painful and the future uncertain, let us go within ourselves and discover the God of life and hope, the God who holds up the ladder of our spiritual life, the God who promises that as long as we fervently desire Him with every fiber of our being, step by step he will draw us to Himself and to eternal salvation! To Him be glory unto ages of ages. Amen. Please also find attached this Sunday’s Bulletin and a document from Michael Haldas with details about the Adult Religious Education Class. Faithfully in the Lord, —————————— During this time of physical distancing due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we will continue to live-stream our Divine Services and ask that everyone remain home and participate online. As most parishioners make candle, red glass candles and tray offerings when attending the Liturgies, we now offer an easy way to do so online at https://stgeorge.ccbchurch. Live-stream the Divine Services on Friday, March 27 and Sunday, March 29 at http://meetingslive.net/ —————————— |
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| Attachments: |
| March 29, 2019 ST. JOHN CLIMACUS.pdf |
| Adult Religious Education Class – March 29.pdf |
