LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT STEP EIGHT
STEP EIGHT: BENDING WITHOUT BREAKING
CALMING THE STORM: ADDRESSING OUR ANGER AND BITTERNESS TOWARD OTHERS.
It is only through attaining the virtue of mourning spoken of in the previous step that placidity (tranquil and or calm) and meekness may be achieved. For it is mourning which destroys all anger and any desire to be spoken well of in this life.
Placidity, or freedom from anger, begins when one keeps silent even when the heart is moved and provoked. Slowly the virtue develops as one learns to control and silence his thoughts during an angry encounter. Eventually one is able to remain calm even when a tempest rages about him.
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all wascalm (Luke 8:24)
Freeing oneself from anger, however, requires great humility and meekness. For to be free from anger necessitates that one be calm, peaceful and loving to a person who has treated him wrongly.
If you thought for a moment that mourning is not really necessary, all you need to do is look up at the next step on the ladder and see its usefulness. “As the gradual pouring of water on a fire completely extinguishes the flame, so the tears of true mourning are able to quench the flame of anger and irritability.” A life free of anger is something even the most hardened of us would think to be something we should strive to attain. So, let us consider what it means to achieve a life free from anger.
What strikes most about this chapter is the fact that no spiritual blessings are given us freely by God just because we want them. Spiritual growth seems only to be obtained by“struggles and sweat”. St. John confirms this truth and reveals that freedom from anger is not something that will come easily. “The beginning of freedom from anger,” he writes,“is silence of the lips when the heart is agitated; the middle is silence of the thoughts when there is a mere disturbance of soul; and the end is an imperturbable calm under the breath of unclean winds.”
“A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.” (Proverbs 29:11)
“for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” (James 1:20)
“A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” (Proverbs 19:11)
“Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 7:9)
How can we grow in the Spirit of God while allowing anger to have free reign within us? The answer is simple – we cannot. “If the Holy Spirit is peace of soul, as He is said to be and as He is in reality, and if anger is disturbance of heart, as it actually is and as it is said to be, then nothing so prevents His presence in us as anger.”
Anger is a terrible passion which drives away from us the Spirit of God and allows the demonic spirits to inhabit our souls. Anger, when given license in our souls, distorts our perspective, muddles our thinking, confuses our heart, and renders us unable to defend ourselves against the attacks of Satan.
But, how do we achieve freedom from anger? It begins with renunciation of the world and follows through detachment, exile, obedience, repentance, remembrance of death and mourning. Now the journey moves onward and upward to our eternal battle with the anger that lies within us. John gives us three instructions to assist us in this work. The first is to remember that, “The beginning of blessed patience is to accept dishonor with sorrow and bitterness of soul.” The second, or middle stage, “is to be free from pain in the midst of these things.” But, perfection in this task, “(if it is possible at all) is to regard dishonor as praise.” This may be the hardest and longest struggle of our lives.
Meekness is first of all developed by not answering back when we are spoken to in an angry way.
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).
Those who are beginning on the road to meekness must take as their first rule: “I will never speak in an angry tone of voice to anyone who speaks in anger to me.” They must extend this rule to include: “I will never allow myself to speak in anger to anyone, period.” They should include: “I will not allow my mind to think angry thoughts against those who speak in angry words to me.” “I will not think angry thoughts against anyone, period. I will not cherish thoughts of revenge or harbor ill feelings against anyone.” Then to top it off: “I will not notice those who offend me.”
The tyrant (known as) anger should be bound with chains of meekness, beaten by patience, and dragged out by holy love, says St. John. Meekness and humility are its opposite and its enemy. The one who mounts this step will have conquered all eight steps that have gone before, and will wear freedom from anger as a crown.
The tyranny of the opinions of others, the ability of others to control our lives by “making us angry” through their treatment of us, is terrible bondage. To be freed from this is wonderful freedom.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. (Matt. 5:5)
1-5 Placidity and Meekness and their opposites are defined.
As the gradual pouring of water on a fire puts out the flame completely, so the tears of genuine mourning can extinguish every flame of anger and irascibility(easily angered, quick tempered). Hence this comes next in our sequence. Freedom from anger is an endless wish for dishonor, whereas among the vainglorious there is a limitless thirst for praise. Freedom from anger is a triumph over one's nature. It is the ability to be impervious (not affected) to insults, and comes by hard work and the sweat of one's brow. Meekness is a permanent condition of that soul which remains unaffected by whether or not it is spoken well of, whether or not it is honored or praised. The first step toward freedom from anger is to keep the lips silent when the heart is stirred; the next, to keep thoughts silent when, the soul is upset; the last, to be totally calm when unclean winds are blowing. Anger is an indication of concealed hatred, of grievance nursed. Anger is the wish to harm someone who has provoked you. Irascibility is an untimely flaring up of the heart. Bitterness is a stirring of the soul's capacity for displeasure. Anger is an easily changed movement of one's disposition, a disfigurement of the soul.
7 Some who are prone to anger are neglectful of the healing and cure of this passion. But these unhappy people do not give a thought to him who said: “The moment of his anger is his fall.” (Sirach 1:22 = Aprocrypha) “A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.” (Proverbs 14:29)
8-9 The great spiritual damage that even a moment of anger can bring.
A quick movement of a millstone can grind in one moment and do away with more of the soul's grain and fruit than another crushes in a whole day. So we must be understanding and we must pay attention, for a strong sudden wind may fan a blaze that will cause more damage to the field of the heart than a lingering flame could ever manage to achieve. Let us not forget, my friends, that evil demons sometimes leave us unexpectedly, with the result that we may become careless about these strong passions within us, thinking them to be of no consequence, and become, therefore, incurably ill.
10 The common life and overcoming anger.
Take a hard stone with sharp corners. Knock it and rub it against other stones, until its sharpness and hardness are crushed by the knocking and rubbing and, at last, it is made round. So too, take a soul that is rough and abrupt. Put it into the community and company of tough short-tempered men. One of two things must happen: Either it learns through patience to cure its wound, or it will run away and, by so doing, it will learn its weakness, its cowardly flight showing it up as if in a mirror.
13 Signs of true meekness and its absence.
A sign of utter meekness is to have a heart peacefully and lovingly disposed toward someone who has been offensive, and a sure proof of a hot temper is that a man, even when he is alone, should with word and gesture continue to rage and fulminate against some absent person who has given the offense.
15-16 Anger and its causes must be studied carefully. The wrong response can actually worsen the problem. There are many causes for the passion of anger. Each case must be diagnosed and dealt with individually. Again, John stresses that some forms of life are better suited for those who struggle with anger. In his mind the communal life offers the greatest hope in overcoming this vice.
. . . I have seen men who appeared to be displaying stolid patience, but who, in reality, were silently harboring resentment within themselves. These, it seems to me, were much more to be pitied than the men prone to explosions of temper, because what they were doing was to keep away the holy white dove with that black gall of theirs. So this is a serpent that has to be handled carefully, for, like the snake of sensuality, it has nature as its ally.
I have seen angry men push food away out of sheer bitterness. And yet by this kind of unreasonable abstinence they merely added poison to poison.
You will note that many irritable persons practice vigils, fasting and stillness. For the devils are trying to suggest to them, under cover of penance and mourning, what is quite likely to increase their passion.
25 Someone who notices that he is easily overcome by pride, a nasty temper, malice, and hypocrisy, and who thinks of defending himself against these by unsheathing the double-edged sword of meekness and patience, such a man if he wishes to break free entirely from these vices ought to live in a monastery, as if it were a fuller's shop of salvation. In particular, he should choose the most austere place. He will be spiritually stretched and beaten by the insults, injuries, and rebuffs of the brothers. He may even be physically beaten, trampled on, and kicked, so that he may wash out the filth still lying in the sentient part of his soul. There is an old saying that reproof is the washtub for the soul's passions, and you ought to believe it, for people in the world who load indignities onto someone and then boast about it to others like to say, "I gave him a good scrubbing." Which, of course, is quite accurate.
29 Concluding remarks and exhortation.
So, then, anger the oppressor must be restrained by the chains of meekness, beaten by patience, hauled away by blessed love. Take it before the tribunal of reason and have it examined in the following terms: "Wretch, tell us the name of your father, the name of the mother who bore you to bring calamity into the world, the names of your loathsome sons and daughters. Tell us, also who your enemies are and who has the power to kill you." And this is how anger replies: "I come from many sources and I have more than one father. My mothers are Vainglory, Avarice, Greed. And Lust too. My father is named Conceit. My Daughters have the names Remembrance of Wrongs, Hate, Hostility and Self-Justification. The enemies who have imprisoned me are the opposite virtues - Freedom from Anger and Lowliness, while Humility lays a trap for me. As for Humility, ask in due time who it was that bore her."
On the eighth step the crown is freedom from anger. He who wears it by nature may never come to wear another. But he who has sweated for it and won it has conquered all eight together.
CALMING THE STORM: ADDRESSING OUR ANGER AND BITTERNESS TOWARD OTHERS.
It is only through attaining the virtue of mourning spoken of in the previous step that placidity (tranquil and or calm) and meekness may be achieved. For it is mourning which destroys all anger and any desire to be spoken well of in this life.
Placidity, or freedom from anger, begins when one keeps silent even when the heart is moved and provoked. Slowly the virtue develops as one learns to control and silence his thoughts during an angry encounter. Eventually one is able to remain calm even when a tempest rages about him.
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all wascalm (Luke 8:24)
Freeing oneself from anger, however, requires great humility and meekness. For to be free from anger necessitates that one be calm, peaceful and loving to a person who has treated him wrongly.
If you thought for a moment that mourning is not really necessary, all you need to do is look up at the next step on the ladder and see its usefulness. “As the gradual pouring of water on a fire completely extinguishes the flame, so the tears of true mourning are able to quench the flame of anger and irritability.” A life free of anger is something even the most hardened of us would think to be something we should strive to attain. So, let us consider what it means to achieve a life free from anger.
What strikes most about this chapter is the fact that no spiritual blessings are given us freely by God just because we want them. Spiritual growth seems only to be obtained by“struggles and sweat”. St. John confirms this truth and reveals that freedom from anger is not something that will come easily. “The beginning of freedom from anger,” he writes,“is silence of the lips when the heart is agitated; the middle is silence of the thoughts when there is a mere disturbance of soul; and the end is an imperturbable calm under the breath of unclean winds.”
“A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.” (Proverbs 29:11)
“for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” (James 1:20)
“A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” (Proverbs 19:11)
“Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 7:9)
How can we grow in the Spirit of God while allowing anger to have free reign within us? The answer is simple – we cannot. “If the Holy Spirit is peace of soul, as He is said to be and as He is in reality, and if anger is disturbance of heart, as it actually is and as it is said to be, then nothing so prevents His presence in us as anger.”
Anger is a terrible passion which drives away from us the Spirit of God and allows the demonic spirits to inhabit our souls. Anger, when given license in our souls, distorts our perspective, muddles our thinking, confuses our heart, and renders us unable to defend ourselves against the attacks of Satan.
But, how do we achieve freedom from anger? It begins with renunciation of the world and follows through detachment, exile, obedience, repentance, remembrance of death and mourning. Now the journey moves onward and upward to our eternal battle with the anger that lies within us. John gives us three instructions to assist us in this work. The first is to remember that, “The beginning of blessed patience is to accept dishonor with sorrow and bitterness of soul.” The second, or middle stage, “is to be free from pain in the midst of these things.” But, perfection in this task, “(if it is possible at all) is to regard dishonor as praise.” This may be the hardest and longest struggle of our lives.
Meekness is first of all developed by not answering back when we are spoken to in an angry way.
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).
Those who are beginning on the road to meekness must take as their first rule: “I will never speak in an angry tone of voice to anyone who speaks in anger to me.” They must extend this rule to include: “I will never allow myself to speak in anger to anyone, period.” They should include: “I will not allow my mind to think angry thoughts against those who speak in angry words to me.” “I will not think angry thoughts against anyone, period. I will not cherish thoughts of revenge or harbor ill feelings against anyone.” Then to top it off: “I will not notice those who offend me.”
The tyrant (known as) anger should be bound with chains of meekness, beaten by patience, and dragged out by holy love, says St. John. Meekness and humility are its opposite and its enemy. The one who mounts this step will have conquered all eight steps that have gone before, and will wear freedom from anger as a crown.
The tyranny of the opinions of others, the ability of others to control our lives by “making us angry” through their treatment of us, is terrible bondage. To be freed from this is wonderful freedom.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. (Matt. 5:5)
1-5 Placidity and Meekness and their opposites are defined.
As the gradual pouring of water on a fire puts out the flame completely, so the tears of genuine mourning can extinguish every flame of anger and irascibility(easily angered, quick tempered). Hence this comes next in our sequence. Freedom from anger is an endless wish for dishonor, whereas among the vainglorious there is a limitless thirst for praise. Freedom from anger is a triumph over one's nature. It is the ability to be impervious (not affected) to insults, and comes by hard work and the sweat of one's brow. Meekness is a permanent condition of that soul which remains unaffected by whether or not it is spoken well of, whether or not it is honored or praised. The first step toward freedom from anger is to keep the lips silent when the heart is stirred; the next, to keep thoughts silent when, the soul is upset; the last, to be totally calm when unclean winds are blowing. Anger is an indication of concealed hatred, of grievance nursed. Anger is the wish to harm someone who has provoked you. Irascibility is an untimely flaring up of the heart. Bitterness is a stirring of the soul's capacity for displeasure. Anger is an easily changed movement of one's disposition, a disfigurement of the soul.
7 Some who are prone to anger are neglectful of the healing and cure of this passion. But these unhappy people do not give a thought to him who said: “The moment of his anger is his fall.” (Sirach 1:22 = Aprocrypha) “A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.” (Proverbs 14:29)
8-9 The great spiritual damage that even a moment of anger can bring.
A quick movement of a millstone can grind in one moment and do away with more of the soul's grain and fruit than another crushes in a whole day. So we must be understanding and we must pay attention, for a strong sudden wind may fan a blaze that will cause more damage to the field of the heart than a lingering flame could ever manage to achieve. Let us not forget, my friends, that evil demons sometimes leave us unexpectedly, with the result that we may become careless about these strong passions within us, thinking them to be of no consequence, and become, therefore, incurably ill.
10 The common life and overcoming anger.
Take a hard stone with sharp corners. Knock it and rub it against other stones, until its sharpness and hardness are crushed by the knocking and rubbing and, at last, it is made round. So too, take a soul that is rough and abrupt. Put it into the community and company of tough short-tempered men. One of two things must happen: Either it learns through patience to cure its wound, or it will run away and, by so doing, it will learn its weakness, its cowardly flight showing it up as if in a mirror.
13 Signs of true meekness and its absence.
A sign of utter meekness is to have a heart peacefully and lovingly disposed toward someone who has been offensive, and a sure proof of a hot temper is that a man, even when he is alone, should with word and gesture continue to rage and fulminate against some absent person who has given the offense.
15-16 Anger and its causes must be studied carefully. The wrong response can actually worsen the problem. There are many causes for the passion of anger. Each case must be diagnosed and dealt with individually. Again, John stresses that some forms of life are better suited for those who struggle with anger. In his mind the communal life offers the greatest hope in overcoming this vice.
. . . I have seen men who appeared to be displaying stolid patience, but who, in reality, were silently harboring resentment within themselves. These, it seems to me, were much more to be pitied than the men prone to explosions of temper, because what they were doing was to keep away the holy white dove with that black gall of theirs. So this is a serpent that has to be handled carefully, for, like the snake of sensuality, it has nature as its ally.
I have seen angry men push food away out of sheer bitterness. And yet by this kind of unreasonable abstinence they merely added poison to poison.
You will note that many irritable persons practice vigils, fasting and stillness. For the devils are trying to suggest to them, under cover of penance and mourning, what is quite likely to increase their passion.
25 Someone who notices that he is easily overcome by pride, a nasty temper, malice, and hypocrisy, and who thinks of defending himself against these by unsheathing the double-edged sword of meekness and patience, such a man if he wishes to break free entirely from these vices ought to live in a monastery, as if it were a fuller's shop of salvation. In particular, he should choose the most austere place. He will be spiritually stretched and beaten by the insults, injuries, and rebuffs of the brothers. He may even be physically beaten, trampled on, and kicked, so that he may wash out the filth still lying in the sentient part of his soul. There is an old saying that reproof is the washtub for the soul's passions, and you ought to believe it, for people in the world who load indignities onto someone and then boast about it to others like to say, "I gave him a good scrubbing." Which, of course, is quite accurate.
29 Concluding remarks and exhortation.
So, then, anger the oppressor must be restrained by the chains of meekness, beaten by patience, hauled away by blessed love. Take it before the tribunal of reason and have it examined in the following terms: "Wretch, tell us the name of your father, the name of the mother who bore you to bring calamity into the world, the names of your loathsome sons and daughters. Tell us, also who your enemies are and who has the power to kill you." And this is how anger replies: "I come from many sources and I have more than one father. My mothers are Vainglory, Avarice, Greed. And Lust too. My father is named Conceit. My Daughters have the names Remembrance of Wrongs, Hate, Hostility and Self-Justification. The enemies who have imprisoned me are the opposite virtues - Freedom from Anger and Lowliness, while Humility lays a trap for me. As for Humility, ask in due time who it was that bore her."
On the eighth step the crown is freedom from anger. He who wears it by nature may never come to wear another. But he who has sweated for it and won it has conquered all eight together.
No comments:
Post a Comment