LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT STEP EIGHT BENDING WITHOUT BREAKING

LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT STEP EIGHT

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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.

LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT STEP SEVEN BEING REALISTIC ABOUT LIFE

LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT STEP SEVEN

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Step Seven = Being Realistic about Life

So far, we have examined six rungs: Renunciation, Detachment, Exile, Obedience, Repentance and Remembrance of Death. Now we are ready to look at the seventh: Mourning.

Mourning which is according to God is a melancholy of the soul, a disposition of an anguished heart that passionately seeks what it thirsts for, and when it fails to attain it, pursues it diligently and follows behind it lamenting bitterly…(1)

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4)

“The word penthos (mourning) has the same root as the word pathos both stem from the verb meaning “I suffer.” . . Joyful sorrow is the transfiguration of suffering and pain by grace. . .Penthos consists in mourning for the loss of God’s presence: it is the sadness and agony of his absence and an unquenched thirst for God. It is mourning, as in hunger, for God and His presence until it is achieved.

This is mourning over loss of fellowship with the Lord. The word for “mourn” is the strongest word in the Greek.  At the heart of our mourning, then, is love for God.  We weep because we long for God and the love that He alone can provide.  It is a forgiving love.  A love that forgives once and for all. Yet this longing is our hearts desire for His beautiful presence, and a desire that nothing in any way can cause or make separation from His presence.
The comfort here has to do with forgiveness. God directly comforts His people by forgiving their sin.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. Is 40:1-2

PRINCIPLE: Those who mourn sense their personal bankruptcy and utilize God’s forgiveness.

APPLICATION: Spiritual poverty comes from conviction of personal sin. Those who seek close fellowship with the Lord mourn over their sin by seeing sin the way God sees it. They sense their spiritual poverty and unworthiness before God. Note how David viewed his adultery with Bathsheba.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Ps 51:17
As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, For the help of His countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, And from the heights of Hermon, From the Hill Mizar. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me. The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me— A prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As with a breaking of my bones, My enemies reproach me, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 42)

Do you or have you, while in prayer, or even contemplation, find yourself mourning for more of God? More of His presence? In tears at even the thought of the loss of His presence?

As a step on the Ladder, mourning yields abundant results:

Those who make some progress in blessed mourning are usually temperate and untalkative. Those who have succeeded in making real progress do not become angry and do not bear grudges. As for the perfect – those are humble, they long for dishonor, they look out for involuntary sufferings, they do not condemn sinners and they are inordinately compassionate. (4)

What does St. John of the Ladder mean by mourning, and how can we begin to mourn? Obviously, he means something different from simply mourning over our sin, because he has already listed the step of repentance.  To mourn in this context is not to repent, although repentance is part of the mourning process.

To mourn is to embrace a sober view of life which takes into account the reality of human suffering (all a result of sin, which is how repentance and mourning are related), the shortness of human life (which is why remembrance of death leads to mourning), and the exactitude of divine judgment. It is to see ourselves as finite creatures who are caught up in a large web of sickening violence, exploitation, and abuse. It is to see the entirety of humanity as tragically deceived by the devil. It is to weep over the state of mankind and our involvement in and contribution to that tragedy.

To mourn is to echo the words of the Jews living in a foreign land who were asked to sing songs of joy:
That is why David, so I think, although he was a teacher and was wise, replied to those who questioned him when he was mourning: How shall I sing the Lord’s song in a strange (foreign) land… How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth.  (Psalm 137:6) That is to say, the land of passions. (24)

To mourn is to abandon a pleasure-oriented way of life. To mourn is to stop living for fun. To mourn is to realize that my life is intertwined with all of humanity, and that I cannot live in isolation from the suffering masses.  John’s advice:

Think of lying in bed as an image of the lying in your grave; then you will not sleep so much. When you eat at table, remember the food of worms; then you will not live so highly. When you drink water, remember the thirst of the flames; then you will certainly do violence to your nature… Let the thought of eternal fire lie down with you in the evening and get up with you in the morning. Then indolence(avoiding work, being lazy and idle), will never overwhelm you when it is time to sing the psalms. (18, 21)

St John of the Ladder also tells the story of a solitary named Stephen to remind us of the importance of everything we are talking about.  This story, if taken into our souls, will teach us how to mourn:
A man called Stephen once lived here as a solitary. He spent many years in the wrestling-school of monastic life. Tears and fasting adorned his soul, as did many other fine achievements. His cell was on the side of the sacred mountain where the holy prophet and seer of God Elijah once lived. He became famous and later he decided to practice a vastly more effective, ascetic and strict life of penance, and moved on to Siddim, an abode of hermits. He spent several years there and lived very strictly. It was a place lacking every comfort and was rarely visited…

Near the end of his life, the old man returned to the holy mountain (Sinai)… After a few days he was stricken by the illness from which he would eventually die. On the day before his death, he went into ecstasy (a state or feeling of overpowering joy, rapture) and began to look to the right and to the left of his bed. He seemed to be rendering an account to someone, and in the hearing of the bystanders he said: “Of course it is true. That’s why I fasted for so many years.” Or again: “Yes, that is correct, but I wept and served my brothers.” Or again: “No, you are accusing me falsely.” Or sometimes: “Quite right. No, I have no excuse. But God is merciful.”

This unseen and relentless interrogation was a truly awful and frightening spectacle. Worst of all was the fact that he was charged with offenses of which he was innocent, and, what is extraordinary, regarding some of them this hesychast and hermit would say, “I do not know how to answer.” And yet he had been a monk for almost forty years and he had the gift of tears as well… So there he was now, called to account, and he died while it was happening leaving us unsure of the judgment passed on him, of his final end or sentence or of the verdict rendered him…”(50)

If these words do not convict us, then this certainly will:

When we die, we will not be criticized for having failed to work miracles. We will not be accused of having failed to be theologians or contemplatives. But we will certainly have some explanation to offer God for not having mourned unceasingly.

Such then, is the seventh step. May he who has been found worthy of it help me too. He himself has already been helped, for by taking this seventh step he has washed away the stains of the world. (70)

Washed away the stains of this world. What are the stains of this world? It is this step that we find the need for this, to wash away the stains of this world.  We need washing of our hearts by His Word. It is the stain of sin that need to be washed away. We just need to allow the washing to be complete, not in part.

LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT STEP SIX REMEMBRANCE OF DEATH

LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT STEP SIX

STEP 6  “REMEMBERING OUR MORTALITY”

This brief step considers a rather simple but essential practice of the desert fathers; to remember not only that one will die, but what death brings – judgment (Hebrews 9:27)  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment……  Such a thought spurs one on to repentance and conversion, prevents laziness, makes dishonor and indignity sweet, banishes worries and anxieties, and deters sin.  This alone is enough to make John call it the "most essential of all works."

Remembrance of death is defined, including how one recognizes it in others; John discusses how remembrance of death leads a monk to conversion and repentance and the practice of specific ascetical disciplines; John shows how remembrance of death prevents spiritual laziness and deters sin; John warns against excessive trust in the leniency of God and exhorts his monks to embrace this holy practice. The word “leniency” defines that God is not harsh or severe.

Each day, in our morning and evening prayers, as we pray for the purpose of our departed loved ones, we are introduced to the theme of St John of the Ladder’s sixth step: The remembrance of Death. He has powerful things to say about this:

Every word is preceded by thought. And the remembrance of death and sins precedes weeping and mourning…(1)

The remembrance of death is a daily death: and the remembrance of our departure is an hourly sighing or groaning…(2)

It is not about remembering death for death’s sake, or just to remind ourselves that we are mortal. It is about remembering death for the sake of detaching ourselves from the world. (1 Cor 15:31) I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I die daily.(Romans 14:8) For if we live, we live to the Lord: and if we die, we die to the Lord.  (Gal 2:20) I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live… In this aspect, we are to “die daily” to our flesh. (Romans 6:1-14) see passage..

Fear of death is a natural instinct that comes from disobedience, but terror at death is evidence of unrepented sin…..(3)

Let this truth sink into your heart.. In this appointment, we are to be ready and not fearful due to unrepented sins..

Christ fears death, but does not show terror, in order to demonstrate clearly the properties of His two natures. (3)

There is a big difference between a respectful fear and a terrorized fear..

Matthew 26:37 “And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.”

Just as bread is the most necessary of all foods, so the thought of death is the most essential of all works…(4) 

The man who lives daily with the thoughts of death is to be admired, and the man who gives himself to it by the hour is surely a saint…(7)

We must remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Daily meditation on these realities have long been held up by the Desert Fathers as essential for the spiritual life and as a means of avoiding sin; but most of all as way of heeding the words of our Lord who warns us that we know neither the day nor the hour. Life is a gift, but we must not take it or our salvation lightly

Our mind is so darkened by the fall that unless we force ourselves to remember death we can completely forget about it. When we forget about death, then we begin to live on earth as if we were immortal, and we sacrifice all our activity to the world without concerning ourselves in the least either about the fearful transition to eternity or about our fate in eternity. Then we boldly and peremptorily override the commandments of Christ; then we commit all the vilest sins; then we abandon not only unceasing prayer but even the prayers appointed for definite times—we begin to scorn this essential and indispensable occupation as if it were an activity of little importance and little needed. Forgetful of physical death, we die a spiritual death.

On the other hand, he who often remembers the death of the body rises from the dead in soul.  He lives on earth like a stranger in an inn or like a prisoner, constantly expecting to be called out for trial or execution. Before his eyes the gates into eternity are always open. He continually looks in that direction with spiritual anxiety, with deep sorrow and reflection. He is constantly occupied with wondering what will justify him at Christ's terrible Judgment and what his sentence will be. This sentence decides a person's fate for the whole of eternity. No earthly beauty, no earthly pleasure draws his attention or his love. If the thought comes to him to be proud of virtue, at once the remembrance of death rushes against this thought, puts it to shame, exposes the nonsense and drives it away.

Ephesians 2:1-6 (NIV)  As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,  in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

2 Cor. 4:10 (NIV) We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

The remembrance of death – a sure and constant remembrance that I must die, that my death may come at any time, and that after death I must give an account for how I lived this life – is a powerful incitement to godly living. John records the story of Hesychius the Horebite for our edification:

All his life he was careless and he paid not the slightest attention to his soul. Then a very grievous illness came on him, so that he was for a whole hour absent from the body.  After he revived, he begged us all to go away at once, built up the door of his cell, and remained twelve years inside without ever speaking to anyone and taking only bread and water. He never stirred and was always intent on what it was he had seen in his ecstasy. He never moved and had the look of someone who was out of his mind. And, silently, he wept warm tears. But when he was at the point of death, we broke in and asked him many questions.  All he would say was this: “Please forgive me. No one who has acquired the remembrance of death will ever be able to sin.” (18)

As we think about those who have gone before us, let us always remember that very soon we shall join them in the grave. Death comes to all, and to many it comes early. In the grave, all the distinctions between men are obliterated. Where is the strong and where is the weak? Where is the rich and where is the poor? Where is the beautiful and where is the ugly? Where is the Ph.D and where is the high school drop out? Do they not all look the same as they decay in their graves? Will we not join  them?

This life is very short. Why then do we spend so much time trying to make this short, passing life comfortable and happy? Why do we not spend more time preparing for the life which will follow? That life is eternal. That life will never end. And either we will enjoy Paradise because of how we labored here, or we will endure the fires of hell because of how we did not labor here.

We often live as if we will never die. We act as if we are immortal and there will always be time enough for God later.  This is monstrously stupid! Let us embrace true wisdom. Let us remember our death, and in remembering our death, let us repent of our preoccupation with this world.

The Fathers warns us of the need to repent of our preoccupation with the world.  As the psalmist says: “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” Psalm 103:15-16

Someone has said that you cannot pass a day devoutly unless you think of it as your last… This, then, is the sixth step.  He who climbed it will never sin..  “Remember your last end, and you will never sin” (24)

Ecclesiasticus 7:36  (1611 King James Bible) “Whatsoeuer thou takest in hand, remember the end, and thou shalt neuer doe amisse.”

Sirach 7:36 (The Apocrypha)  “In all you do, remember the end of your life, and then you will never sin.”

LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT STEP FIVE TURNING OUR BACKS ON SIN

LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT STEP FIVE

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STEP 5 “TURNING OUR BACKS ON SIN”

THE REPUGNANT (offensive) NATURE OF SIN AS REFLECTED IN THE PENANCE OF THE MONKS OF THE "PRISON"
John speaks of the value of penitence and the humility needed to embrace such a path.

The causes of moral lapses are considered and the need for courage and perseverance in the face of recurring failures.  John exhorts the penitent to trust in the mercy and grace of God but also warns against presumption.  Humility is key and true repentance will keep one from judging or even recognizing another's faults.

John concludes by telling his readers to above all let the image of the inmates at the "Prison" be imprinted upon their minds and hearts.  They are to let the example of these holy men be their rule and model for repentance.
ON PENITENCE AND THE AVOIDANCE OF PRESUMPTION

John begins this step with a somewhat moderate and encouraging tone by describing repentance as a "renewal of one's baptism and a contract with God for a fresh start in life."  With repentance there is always hope and never despair.  As penitents we stand before our God guilty, but never disgraced.  Indeed, we inflict punishments on ourselves out of love for God, in an attempt to reconcile ourselves to him and to receive the peace that comes through his forgiveness.

However, if there is a step in the "Ladder" which pierces one's heart, if there is any part of the book which really shakes us and brings the message home, it is precisely this step concerning those blessed and compunctionate (uneasiness prompted by guilt) and voluntary inmates of "the Prison."  For truly these holy ones, crazed for Christ, described by John, are a mirror for us, the sluggish and indolent, to look into and to behold how wanting we are in the realm of true heartfelt repentance.  They were earnest and serious about their repentance; we are light and distracted concerning our salvation.  Some are repelled by the Prison of the "Ladder", while others are pierced and moved by the love for God and strength of soul of these stouthearted inmates, and mourn the lack of both in themselves.

If we thought Step 4 on obedience was difficult, then we should just turn back now and abandon our quest.  For Step 5 is a call to a life of struggle with repentance.

Once John outran Peter (John 20:4), and now obedience is placed before repentance. For the one who arrived first represents obedience, the other repentance.

With these words St John Climacus introduces us to Rung Five of the Ladder which leads to heaven. His definition of repentance is striking.

Repentance is the renewal of baptism and is a contract with God for a fresh start in life. Repentance goes shopping for humility and is ever distrustful of bodily comfort. Repentance is critical awareness and a sure watch over oneself. Repentance is the daughter of hope and the refusal of despair. (The repentant stands guilty – but undisgraced.) Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord by the performance of good deeds which are the opposites of the sins. It is the purification of conscience and the voluntary endurance of afflicition. The penitent deals out his own punishment (the penitent is then inflicter of his own punishment… It was he who sinned in the first place.. it wasn’t someone else), for repentance is the fierce persecution of the stomach and the flogging of the soul into intense awareness.  (1)

The spirit of this monastic advice is in keeping with the words of St John Climacus. Not that we shouldn’t try hard to do things right, but we should realize at all times and in all things that we are, to use the words of Jesus, but unprofitable servants.

We should indeed try harder to repent that to do anything else. We should be more concerned with finding our faults than we are with noticing our accomplishments. We should sorrow more for our failures than we rejoice In our successes. We should blame ourselves more readily than others. We should accept the rebukes of others as just and worthy. And we should accept the disappointments and difficulties of life without complaint.

Let all of us who have suffered an unexpected and inglorious fall listen, watch and act. Rise and be seated, who through your falls are lying prostrate. Attend, my brothers, attend to my word. Incline your ears, you who wish to be reconciled afresh with God by a true conversion. (2)

1 Corinthians 2:9  “But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

A proof of our having been delivered from our failings is the unceasing acknowledging of our indebtedness…. A sign of true repentance is the admission that all our troubles, and more besides, whether visible or not, were richly deserved.

Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly the angel who guards you will honor your patience………. Many from long neglect become incurable (Neglecting the fact of a need for repentance… The reason of sin is our own neglect of being righteous, our disobedience).  (But even then) But with God all things are possible (30) (Matt 19:26).
Even when we realize that we have neglected repentance, it is never too late to repent. As long as we are breathing and our physical heart is beating, it is still we can repent, for, ALL things are possible…

Without repentance no one will ascend the Ladder to heaven.  This is why Satan works so hard at keeping us from true repentance. His methods are diverse.

God is merciful before a fall, inexorable after – so the demons say (31).  And when you have sinned, pay no attention to him who says in regard to minor failings: “If only you had not committed that major fault! This is nothing by comparison.” The truth is that very often small gifts soften the great anger of the Judge.

He who really keeps track of what he has done will consider as lost every day during which he did not mourn, regardless of whatever good he may happen to have done… We ought to be on our guard, in case our conscience has stopped troubling us, not so much because of its being clear but because of its being immersed in sin.

The way to God is hard, and not every one that enters the race will receive the prize. Yes, God is loving and desires that all will be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. But not all are willing to endure the suffering and pain that come from embracing the truth about ourselves. Only the humble and the penitent can be saved, because only the humble and penitent are willing to embrace despair of themselves. And it is only despair of self which leads to true faith in the Infinite One, who alone can save.

He says… “Nothing equals or excels God’s mercies… (38)

He issues this warning….. All of us… Should be especially careful not to be afflicted with the disease of the godless Origen. This foul disease uses God’s love as an excuse and is very welcome to those who are lovers of pleasure (41).

We must be very careful as not to fall into the heresy of Origen.

***Origen  was a scholar, early Christian theologian and Church Father, who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a prolific writer in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, philosophical theology, preaching, and spirituality. Some of his reputed teachings, such as the pre-existence of souls, the final reconciliation of all creatures, including perhaps even the devil (the apokatastasis), and the subordination of the Son of God to God the Father, later became controversial among Christian theologians. Origen was declared anathema in 553 AD by the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople and by three subsequent ecumenical councils.

Sin is serious! To offend the living and loving God is monstrous evil. To turn away from His compassion and to follow our won way is the height of rebellion and the great offense.  Let us be done with playing around with sin.  Let us be done with downplaying the significance of our offenses. Even the littlest offense is worthy of eternal hellfire!

Let us bow low before God and beg of Him the forgiveness of our sins.  Let us beseech Him to remove far from us coldness of heart and insensitivity to offense. Let us stop pretending that we are holy when we are empty of true sanctity. Let us be honest with God and with ourselves… And let us repent!

In my meditation. Or rather, in my repentance, a fire of prayer will be kindled consuming the material. (“For my iniquities have gone over my head: Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” Psalm 38:4).  May the holy convicts (Holy monastics prisoners) mentioned above provide you with a rule, and a pattern, and a model, and a living picture of repentance; and throughout your life you will need no book at all until Christ, the Son of God and God, enlightens you in the resurrection of true repentance. Amen.

Through repentance you have reached the fifth step. You have, in this way, purified the five senses, and by choosing to accept punishment have thereby avoided the punishment that is involuntary (have escaped the punishment which is everlasting). (42)

The five senses… Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching.. Spiritually ALL need to be purified through repentance…

In the Holy Bible, the guidance to purify the senses is associated with all religious practices. It represents the preparation of the spirit to receive spiritual nourishment from the higher source within and around. Moses and Jesus pointed to "hearing" as one way of "receiving" the words of truth. Jesus used the "eye" as a symbol for spiritual awareness.

In the Old Testament, purification of the senses, sometimes the whole body, was recommended before any holy practice. "The Lord commanded Moses" to make the children of Israel wash before going into the altar or starting any holy congregation:

"And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal." (Ex:40:30) "And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat" (Ex:40:31) When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses. "And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the LORD commanded to be done." (Le:8:5) "And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water."(Le:8:6)

As such, washing became a necessary part of preparation for prayers in Jewish practices.

In the New Testament,  Jesus Christ stressed the purification of the senses focusing on "meaning", rather than on "form". In different occasions, he emphasized that purification is that of the heart, not of the body, certainly not denying the process of preparation for prayers. Jesus used to say when revealing his guidance "let him hear who has ears." Jesus says about some people,

"ye cannot hear my word" John 8: 43)

"they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not. Neither do they understand." (Matt 13:13).

Jesus also points to the purity of the senses as symbolizing purity of the heart:

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matt 6: 22, 23) 

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