1 April 2008
“St. John Climacus and
The Ladder of Divine Ascent”
St. John Climacus (c.525 – c.605/606) authored “The Ladder of Divine Ascent”, a “how to” book on how to get to heaven. It is the most read book in Orthodoxy, surpassed only by the Bible and the service worship books.
The ladder is a metaphor for spiritual development. The number of 30 rungs or steps on the ladder refers to the secret years of Jesus’s life before his ministry and signifies the number of years before we are spiritually mature enough to be used by God. We climb this ladder coached by our spiritual father.
The Ladder – Looking up vs. down
On the ascent, i.e. spiritual development, the higher risk occurs at the top although it can happen at any rung. This risk, this “cancer” of spiritual development is to look down and stop. As with the oasis, we may feel we have arrived, satisfied with where we are and worse yet, that we are better than others on the rungs below us. The moment Satan tempts us to look down, criticism, self-righteousness and arrogance seep in and we suffer immediate spiritual death. Like one with vertigo that is triggered when one looks down, you have fallen off the ladder of spiritual development and similar to the “backslide” in the oasis discussion. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, we must keep our eyes on Christ who is at the top of the ladder. We must rely on Him to pull us up to Him and to our home.
Being Truly Spiritual
The truly spiritual are the ones on the 29th rung who feel they are on the 1st. They compare themselves only to God, recognizing their position as sinless and weak vis-à-vis God. Coming closer to God, you realize that you are not self-sufficient but rather dependent on Him for spiritual development. A community that is high up on the ladder is characterized by humble living, loving harmony and acts of charity that serve the community, i.e. the building of hospitals.
St. Peter and “walking on water”
This same concept applies to the story of St. Peter attempting to walk on the water to find Jesus. St. Peter doubted that Jesus could help them and gets out of the boat separating himself from the others to save himself. But he should have stayed in the boat. The analogy for the boat is the Church which is the
Exodus again
The leaders, Caleb and Joshua, of 2 of the12 tribes go out to find the Promised Land and choose to turn back to stay together as a community with the other 10. They suffered with the others for another 40 years yet knowing they had been right.
There are 3 other major points:
1. God does take care of Caleb and Joshua, though in His time, not theirs.
2. The leaders of the 10 tribes go out and become afraid and discouraged and turn back saying “I cannot do it”. When you think you can’t do something, in the eyes of God, it is as arrogant as “I can do it” because the focus is still on “I” and relying on your own power to accomplish: Likewise, if you think you are so sinful and an exception to the love and mercy of God. The sin is in not trusting that God is more powerful to do it for or with you.
3. While the leaders of other 10 tribes die in the desert, God preserves Caleb and Joshua in order to lead the younger generation. If those leaders too had died then the younger generation would fall into the same temptations, making the same mistakes and not progressing to the Promised Land.
Lessons Learned
These stories all have the same running theme.
Individualism: separation from others: Orthodoxy rejects the individualism (the “you’re on your own” or “you can do it alone” notions) promoted by modern society. We do not save ourselves separate from others. We act together and make it or not, stand or fall, depending on our relationship with another. This is highlighted by Jesus saying, “when 2 or more are gathered, I am in your midst”, again to emphasize community. The Trinity is also a community acting in sync and we must try to emulate that.
We must be able to say no to ourselves and yes in combination with others. Sometimes our entire lives we chase those things that, if we had tried together in relationship, we would find.
Our own power: The moment we exhaust our abilities and resources is when we realize that we need God. “When there is nothing left but God, that is when you realize that God is all you need”. This is why He allows us to fall off the ladder or start sinking. He knows that we fall into the temptation of arrogance therefore He needs to humble us, to bring us to our knees in order for us then to reach for Him.
To highlight this,
Separation from God: Adam not only did not thank God but participated in what God offered separate from God and thus broke the trust and relationship with God. We do the same when we indulge in our gifts and don’t thank God. In his nakedness, Adam covers up. As with us, if we stripped away all our coverings our sin would show through.
Summary
In community, rely on God. Together, trust and surrender to God.
OTHER TOPICS
A God of destruction or salvation? Many ask, “how could God do away with all but Noah?” The real question is “how did God not destroy the entire human race?” Humanity failed God. But God in his philanthropy saves all of humanity. Humanity dies through the cross, not as a form of punishment, but of redemption so that it is reborn with the Resurrection. Again, humanity cannot save itself because even the best fall again into sin. So we need God to save us, for only God saves. He has the power and the Love to save.
Praying vs. criticizing the fallen: Making fun of someone who falls can distract or cause us to hide our own sins. This is another example of how we think we are superior to the other, forgetting the times when we have fallen. Offer prayer for and spiritual support to that person rather than judgment especially if that person is our leader or someone else’s.
Seeking God: A monk takes someone who is seeking God to a prison and shows him a prisoner. The monk says “if you cannot see God in him (the prisoner), then you will never be able to find God”.
Why does God allow us to fail? God is a God of choice. We are created in God’s “image and likeness”, therefore, we have choice. He did not create slaves or robots, but creatures of free will. With that will also comes the responsibility and outcome in choosing to live a Godless existence or a God-filled existence.
On Fasting and Holy Communion:
We receive communion to sustain us during the week. This is God’s way of giving us strength to live during the week. The first day of the week is Sunday with our first meal being Holy Communion. Fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays is not preparation for communion for the following Sunday. Rather, it is a result of Communion the previous Sunday that gives us the strength and will to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. To see it as the former as reward for our fasting is arrogance. To see it as the later recognizes our need for God
Why do we fast? Simply, because Jesus says so in the Gospel. He says to his disciples that ‘while the Bridegroom is with you there is no need to fast. But there will come a time when the Bridegroom is taken away, they will fast’. We fast because He is not with us, He was taken away from us, in particular on Wednesday because he was betrayed and on Friday because He died.
The biggest misconception: Fasting is never a pre-requisite to Holy Communion. For it to be so would indicate worthiness because one fasted properly. One is never worthy to receive. The proper posture is “I am not worthy to receive”. The incorrect posture is to see Holy Communion as appropriate only for the worthy and as a reward for their fasting. Nothing commends you to God. In fact, Divine Liturgy is our acknowledgement that we can’t do it – God does it for us. We offer the gifts back to God so that he may transform them and us.