A Stairway To Heaven
Genesis 28:10-17
View slides HERE to see the “30 steps” of John Climacus’s Ladder of Divine Ascent
Genesis 28:10-17 (NRSV):
10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed that there was a stairway set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring, 14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
I read this passage a few days ago and immediately locked in to this stairway imagery. There are many images that Christian theologians and mystics…and Led Zeppelin…have used to speak of the path to God or heaven or some transcendent goal or destination.
What is the most fitting imagery for that journey? Is it a bridge? A narrow road? Is it a river with rapids, or a flight with turbulence? Is it a slide, a descent, a slippery slope? I kind of like that. Is it no journey at all, because God journeys to you or because God is already with you, and can’t be kicked out of you?
What about a ladder? There are some limitations to the metaphor of a ladder, since ladders are not accessible to every human body, so maybe we expand the metaphor to an elevator, in a building with many floors you must pass through to get to the top. A ladder can sound individualistic, too, since there’s only room for one person on the step of a ladder at a given time, and in community, in relationships, we don’t expect everyone to climb alone. We ascend together.
I actually don’t want to really talk about the scripture at all today, let alone the complexities of Jacob, i.e. Israel, and divine promises of land, often secured through violence, but I did want to indulge my curiosity about the stairway or ladder imagery itself. So I thought it would be fun to tell you about a man, a monk, named John Climacus, whom I encountered in my doctoral work.
John Climacus was the abbot of the monastery of Catherine on Mount Sinai in the early 7th century, and his most influential work was The Ladder of Divine Ascent, which envisions the spiritual journey as a progression through thirty steps or rungs on a ladder. “Climacus” is a Greek word that means…ladder…which…you can probably hear that. We’ll stick with the Greek name because it sounds so much better to say “John Climacus” than “John Ladder.”
Descriptors of stages of the spiritual journey are simply guides, touchstones that give some direction. Reality, of course—actual personal growth—is not always so clean-cut as stage one, then stage two, then stage three, and so on. But clear processes to guide our action can be helpful. Quakers are all about process! I think life is process. I think God is process. I believe: God is a starting point–here with, or within, each of us; God is a destination, something that pulls us forward; and God is the journey.
What can be said about that journey? I’m going to tell you the steps that John lays out, the thirty rungs of his ladder. Tonight, at our meeting for business, we will be considering the latest draft of a new mission statement for CFC. The first sentence of that statement says: “The mission of Camas Friends Church is to practice, in community, a spirituality centered on Love.” I think that is the framework with which we need to read his method: to understand this ladder, as one description, among many possible descriptions, of a spirituality centered on and moving toward Love.
Now 30 steps is a lot, so I’m going to cruise through this, and if you miss some details, this sermon and slides will be available online later, if that helps you just kind of enjoy the ride. The climb. Here we go:
Step 1: Renunciation
“Withdrawal from the world is a willing hatred of all that is materially prized…” (74).
What things do humans pursue that destroy them? What is not worth our time or our heart? You may not be called to be a monk; but what might you be called to renounce, not for the sake of individual purity or eternal reward, but for the sake of Love?
Step 2: Detachment
“Do as Lot did, not his wife, and flee” (84).
I’m hesitant to celebrate a man and deride a woman, especially if her “vice” is that she was just really sad about leaving the only home she’d known, even if necessary. I think the lesson that transcends genders is about letting go of what is not serving us well. Think about our neighbors harmed by politicized nostalgia. How do we disentangle ourselves from what is familiar but toxic? What liberation comes in letting go?
Step 3: Exile
“Exile…is the longing for what is divine” (85).
What is truly Divine? What does it mean to long for that, in a way that mobilizes us to actually embark? What does “setting forth” look like, on the journey toward Love?
Step 4: Obedience
“Obedience is total renunciation of our own life” (91).
John speaks of obedience as “self-mistrust” and deferring to the wisdom of others. How do anti-authoritarian Quakers understand obedience? We know we don’t need an authority to mediate Divine presence to us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t help each other find that Divine presence. Maybe obedience will often just mean letting the person you asked for help, help you, and trusting their wisdom—assuming the person helping you is compassionate, gentle, and…kind of knows what they’re talking about.
Step 5: Penitence
“Repentance is the daughter of hope” (121).
Self-awareness. Radical honesty. Changing course, when there is a better way. There’s a version of this step that goes too far and becomes self-disparaging in a way that serves no one, except maybe those who want to control us. But there’s always a place for growth, for better aligning our intentions and actions. From what do we, as a collective, need to repent? How do we shift toward a reparative and life-giving alternative?
Step 6: Remembrance of Death
“To be reminded of death each day is to die each day” (132).
Why might it be helpful, on the journey of Love, to be mindful of death, whether our own mortality or the reality of death around us? How can death result from choices we make or don’t make?
Step 7: Mourning
“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 to God for not having mourned unceasingly” (145).
As if to say: if you love your neighbors, and are never grieving, maybe you’re not paying attention? John also writes: “Mourning…is the typical pain of a soul on fire.” Being “on fire” in Christian settings, in my experience, always seemed to signal enthusiasm and noise. For John, being on fire means crying about what deserves tears.
Step 8: Placidity and Meekness
“A sign of utter meekness is to have a heart peacefully and loving disposed toward someone who has been offensive…” (147).
How do we honor our valid emotional responses to things that warrant anger, without nurturing that anger into something destructive? How do we maintain our commitment to that of God in each other and to uprooting harmful behavior?
Step 9: Malice
“A loving (person) banishes revenge, but a (person) brooding on (their) hatreds stores up troublesome labors for (themselves)” (152).
How do we let go of the wrongs of others, more for our sake than theirs? How can resentment destroy us and our community? How much time is wasted being stuck, stewing, ruminating, when we could move on, and do something constructive?
Step 10: Slander
“Slander is the offspring of hatred…a leech in hiding and escaping notice, wasting and draining away the lifeblood of love” (155).
What damage is done to you, others, and a community when harsh, uncharitable words are spoken about absent others to soothe ourselves and connect with others over shared animosity, rather than either speaking directly to the person or maybe just not saying anything at all?
Step 11: Talkativeness and silence
“Talkativeness is a sign of ignorance, a doorway to slander, a servant of lies, the end of vigilance….Silence is the mother of prayer, a freedom from bondage…the opponent of dogmatism, a growth of knowledge, hidden progress, the secret journey upward” (158).
(SILENCE)
Step 12: Falsehood
“A baby does not know how to lie, and neither does a soul cleansed of evil” (161).
How do we evade or distort or mask the truth for our advantage? How does dishonesty destroy a relationship, a community, or a nation? How does the Truth set us free?
Step 13: Despondency
“Tedium is a paralysis of the soul, a slackness of the mind, a neglect of religious exercises, hostility to vows taken” (162).
Despondency or tedium–the obstacles of…giving up? John doesn’t demonstrate much empathy toward those who have given up, validating their sense of defeat, but points out how destructive resignation can be on the spiritual path. How can we help weary people get rest? How can defeated people experience the hope of small victories? How can we reinvigorate or reengage those who are beginning to check out?
Step 14: Gluttony
“A stuffed belly produces fornication…” (165).
Um…I’m not sure I relate to that? “Control your appetites before they control you,” John also says. I’d like to avoid any semblance of body-shaming and just point out that people have appetites for many things that can control them, damage their relationships, and impact their physical and mental health. From what do you need to fast? Where have you gone too far? What habits are not serving you or others well?
Step 15: Chastity
“A chaste man is someone…who has used heavenly fire to quench the fires of the flesh”(171).
Ya’ll, he’s a monk, what do you expect? Like with gluttony, I’m not going to disparage the body or desire or the “fires of the flesh.” I’m also not going to tell you to stop having all of the consensual and whimsical sex you feel like is fitting to you. I will say that in the realm of sexuality, the greatest vices are probably less about sexuality in itself and more about how we treat others and ourselves, in the context of sexuality and sexual experience. As Friend Jose often says, respect. In all things.
Step 16: Avarice
“Avarice is a worship of idols….It makes excuses for infirmity….It is the prophet of hunger, and the herald of drought” (187).
Is there any more obvious idol in our world than money? Love is often aided by money, of course, like when we give money to a good cause or when we spend our money on something that makes it easier to love our friends, family, or ourselves, like the electricity bill or soap or a cup of tea. But when the consumption of resources and pursuit of wealth dramatically increases the number of those infirmed, or hungry, the amount of natural devastation impacting non-human and human alike, then maybe we’ve lost our way. How can money be an ally, not an enemy, of Love?
Step 17: Poverty
“The poverty of a monk is a resignation from care. It is life without anxiety and travels light, far from sorrow…” (189).
This is not a glamorizing of being poor, it’s about non-possessiveness and simplicity. Imagine if you never had to worry about managing and securing all your stuff. Or, from another angle, if the anxiety that comes from not having what you need were gone, because we all, together, nurtured a world into being where if you need something, you don’t lack it for long. How can deliberately having less lead to others having more?
Step 18: Insensitivity
“Lack of awareness is negligence that has become habit” (191).
This is not “insensitive” like “rude” or “thoughtless” but the vice of getting used to injustice and cruelty. It’s…becoming numb. John is talking about people who have stopped caring. How do we avoid the deadening of our senses, and stay alert, stay woke, stay engaged, stay compassionate?
Step 19: Sleep, Prayer, and the Singing in Church of Psalms
“Just as too much drinking comes from habit, so too from habit comes overindulgence in sleep” (194).
Ok, before we start sleep-shaming, I should note that the main focus of this step, for John, is prayer. Especially, being ready for communal prayers. I do think it can enrich our worship, here, if we come with some degree of readiness to listen and learn and even take action. Sleep may or may not be relevant to that, for you, and more or less sleep could be the answer for you. If prayer is simply being in communion with the Divine, in yourself and in others, then what do you need, what does your body need, to sustain you in that practice of prayer? A morning workout? A nap? A cup of water?
Step 20: Alertness
“The vigilant monk is a fisher of thoughts, and in the quiet of the night he can easily observe and catch them” (196).
John and his monk pals know there are forces–demons, they’d call them–determined to undermine the monastic life. Whether you believe in demons or not, you may recognize forces in this world, set against you loving your neighbor and yourself. Some of these forces arise from within, like an intrusive thought. Some of these demons, like racism, can arise from within but can also mobilize against you. How do we notice these thoughts and prejudices, or cruel mass movements, and resist them?
Step 21: Unmanly Fears
Oh boy! Sorry non-men, I guess you get to skip this step.
“Do not hesitate to go…to those places where you are normally frightened” (199)
John is writing for fellow monks, so that explains the “man thing” more than sexism or rigid notions of gender, I think. This step is about bravery. Imagine the heroes from all streams of faith who would not have done what they did had they refused to go to those places that frighten them. What is unsafe and unwise versus what is difficult and vulnerable but good, is something for each of us to discern. But when we avoid scary situations, or topics, or people, what good is left undone? What growth is missed?
Step 22: Vainglory
“Let us talk about the unholy vice of self-esteem” (201).
Yes, let us talk about that treacherous sin of liking yourself! People who take up too much space, who suck the life out of others to invigorate themselves, who make everything about them, are…difficult. But people who take up too little space, who deplete themselves for others’ sake, who think their voice and needs and talents are inconsequential, may need the help of others to find their way forward. Where have people—where has religion, in particular—made you feel small or insignificant? Was that truly the voice of the Divine? Where have you hurt others by exaggerating your importance, and was it some wound that energized this behavior?
Step 23: Pride
“Pride…comes with the humiliation of our neighbor, the shameless parading of our achievements, complacency, and unwillingness to be found out” (207).
We’re not talking about taking pride in those you love, or in yourself, or in your good work, especially when such pride is a counterpoint to messaging you’ve received from society or those who claim to love you. John says: “A proud monk needs no demon. He has turned into one, an enemy to himself.” (210) When you habitually degrade others, brag to excess, ignore feedback, and act in ways meant to mask flaws you don’t want others to see, then you’ve become your own worst enemy, resisting the goodness the world is trying to give you. How does Love invite us to get out of our own way?
Step 24: Meekness, Simplicity, Guilelessness, and Wickedness
Meekness is a rock looking out over the sea of anger which breaks the waves which come crashing on it and stays entirely unmoved” (214).
This step, as I read the words of John Climacus–John Ladder–is about steadiness, groundedness, the ability to face expected resistance and keep going. It’s also about not becoming violent, malicious, manipulative, diabolical, and all the other ways we lose sight of that of God in the other, no matter their offense. Jesus said, “the meek shall inherit the earth.” Imagine handing the Earth over to those who truly cherish it.
Step 25: Humility
“A lemon tree naturally lifts its branches upwards when it has no fruit. The more its branches bend, the more fruit you will find there” (225).
For John, humility means recognizing there are things you don’t yet know, clarity you don’t yet have, goodness you have yet to cultivate in yourself. We are all paradoxically complete and incomplete, and the incompleteness is not a design flaw. We’re just made to lean on each other, and to seek that which we don’t yet have. We’re self-transcending creatures, and interdependent creatures. Humility is crucial.
Step 26: Discernment
“Discernment is…a solid understanding of the will of God in all times, in all places, and in all things…” (229).
“Let us seek to discover the things of heaven through the sweat of our efforts, rather than by mere talk…” (235).
How much of the spiritual life, or just life, is about choices, finding the good, finding a way forward between competing goods, navigating complex situations? Sometimes the next steps are mapped out for us, as in John’s stairway to heaven. Other times the steps must be discerned with humility, creativity, collaboration, curiosity, and patience. And, just to demystify “the will of God,” I don’t think we’re talking about some secret knowledge, like we’re trying to crack a code or read God’s mind. We know the will of God: the will of God is always Love, even if the particulars of how that plays out in each situation may require some careful listening. Discerning Love may sometimes be like a guidebook you consult, or a moment of inspiration in the silence, but Love is also learned through living, and failing, and persisting. “Through the sweat of our efforts.”
Step 27: Stillness
“The start of stillness is the rejection of all noisiness as something that will trouble the depths of the soul” (262).
How do we function well, amid all the noise, literally and figuratively? Many of you are here, at least partially, because of the noise, and you’re not here to permanently escape it, you know you have to live and move and have your being amid the noise, but you’re here to find the sustenance and clarity and friendship you need to navigate the noise. Stillness, which is not just physical but internal, is the rest we can’t do without, and an opening of the door to finding a creative and sustainable way through the noise.
Step 28: Prayer
“Prayer is by nature a dialogue and union of (humans) with God. Its effect is to hold the world together” (274).
Can you know Love without being in dialogue with it? Can you be Love to others without uniting with it? If prayer is conversing and partnering with Divine Love, then I think John is right to say that prayer holds the world together.
Step 29: Dispassion
“Dispassion is an uncompleted perfection of the perfect. I have been told this by someone who tasted it” (282).
I mean if John’s friend said it, I’m sure it’s true! What John is talking about is “rising above.” If that means neglecting our sacred responsibilities to each other, or to the Earth, or becoming indifferent to preventable suffering, that…doesn’t seem like Love. But if it means rising above those temptations to vengeance and greed and manipulation and prejudice and other things that plague humans, I think this is truly the way to Love. What do you need to rise above?
Step 30: Hope, Faith, and Love
"Hope is the power behind love. Hope is what causes us to look forward to the reward of love. Hope is an abundance of hidden treasure. It is the abundant assurance of treasures in store for us. It is a rest from labor, a doorway to love. It lifts despair and is the image of what is not yet present. When hope fails, so does love." (289)
That’s one worth chewing on for a while.
So: who are we? Who are we invited to become? How do we go about becoming what we’re called to become? How do we get to where we’re going? Where are we going?
John Climacus, a 7th century monk, gives one answer, some of which may feel helpful, some, not. Sometimes I think “this guy is way too in his head.” Like, go do something fun, man! At times his steps feel too focused on withdrawal, rather than engagement. Tell us how to go stir things up, or lend a helping hand!
But his ladder, his stairway to heaven, could at least remind us that the spiritual life is a journey—a climb—and that Love is something you grow through thousands of small choices and steps. What feel, to you, like the most important steps, as a person on the way to Love, with Love, surrounded by Love?
In place of queries today, I’ll leave you the rungs, the steps, on the ladder of Divine ascent. And, to echo Jacob: “God is in this place.” Love is here. Love awaits. Love is the journey.
—
Source:
John Climacus. The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Edited by Colm Luibheid and Norman Victor Russell. Classics of Western Spirituality. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1982.