As we get
farther up the ladder, the more difficult it becomes. Often I find myself
repeating the same phrases over and over again in my blogs. But repetition is
good for remembering things as well as for driving home points. If there is one
thing that I am certain of, it is that the Ladder builds on the previous rungs
and without one rung the entire thing falls apart. St. John in many ways
reflects my own views on the matter saying, “The holy virtues are like Jacob’s
ladder, and the unholy vices are like the chains that fell from the chief
Apostle Peter. For the virtues, leading from one to another, bear him who
chooses them up to Heaven; but the vices by their nature beget and stifle one
another. And as we have just heard senseless anger calling remembrance of
wrongs its own offspring, it is appropriate that we should now say something
about this.” Obviously from that opening statement from St. John, we are going
to talk about the remembrance of wrongs. Oh, it is going to be fun people. He
who has ears let him hear!
Wrongs will
be everywhere. I recently have gone through a series of wrongs in my life and
felt devastated by their effects. While I indeed know that God will make me
better because of them, it has nevertheless been a trying time in my life. Because
of this I could be bitter, angry and upset with those who have hurt me.
Instead, I have tried by best to remain strong. Though its not easy and. St.
John certainly convicts me. He says, “Remembrance of wrongs is the
consummation of anger, the keeper of sins, hatred of righteousness, ruin of
virtues, poison of the soul, worm of the mind, shame of prayer, stopping of
supplication, estrangement of love, a nail stuck in the soul, pleasureless
feeling beloved in the sweetness of bitterness, continuous sin, unsleeping
transgression, hourly malice.” He also gives us advice and reminds us, “Remembrance
of wrongs is an interpreter of Scripture of the kind that adjusts the words of
the Spirit to its own views. Let it be put to shame by the Prayer of Jesus2
which cannot be said with it.” In a time when everyone is feeling that
someone wronged them, and in a time where the righting of the wrongdoing is so
prevalent in the media with the issues between Will Smith and Chris Rock, we see
that people want justice over mercy. We desire the wrong to be punished and the
righteous to be set up as a moral code in which man is the ultimate decider of what
is right and wrong instead of God. We are constantly also seeing that morality
is changing in the world, whereas God’s morality never changes. God seeks our
repentance, the devil our destruction. Therefore turn away from remembering
this wrongs and do not let them affect you.
We have
reached the point in this article where I begin to expand on how we should live
our lives. Again, I am not a priest, nor am I a monk. I am a worthless sinner
who is treading the same path as all of you. I am learning as I go, as the
Ladder is something that I have always wanted to read, but never have had the
time. Going through it now makes me want to pull out my copy and read it even
deeper than I have. St. John knowing that people are not easily able to forgive
those that have wronged them says, “When, after much struggling, you are
still unable to extract this thorn, you should apologize to your enemy, even if
only in word. Then perhaps you may be ashamed of your long-standing insincerity
towards him, and, as your conscience stings you like fire, you may feel perfect
love towards him.” He also says, “You will know that you have completely
got rid of this rot,1 not when you pray for the person who has offended you,
nor when you exchange presents with him, nor when you invite him to your table,
but only when, on hearing that he has fallen into spiritual or bodily
misfortune, you suffer and weep for him as for yourself.” St. John tells us
that without this we cannot truly have the presence of God in our lives. God
will not dwell with those who do not forgive. He himself endures our sins and our
weaknesses out of love. If he does that and he is perfect, how much more so
should we? Do we even care? I believe that most people do not, as they run
about in their fancy cars and clothing trying to find the next social media craze
and cancel the next celebrity who puts a toe out of line. We never sit down to
think about whether or not the actions of the person is out of hate or whether
they need comfort and forgiveness. We dwell on our own insecurities by forcing our
faults on to others. People, especially in today’s world are looking for the
answer to their problems without seeking God. In fact, St. John says, “The
forgetting of wrongs is a sign of true repentance. But he who dwells on them
and thinks that he is repenting is like a man who thinks he is running while he
is really asleep.” Hearkening back to the article I wrote about
repentance, which was one of the rungs of the Ladder, we must seek repentance
so that we might come to the fullness of faith in Jesus Christ. One of the
steps in completing that rung can be found here in this rung. That is forgetting
the sins of others is vital to repentance just as much as anything else. If
nothing else we must seek Jesus Christ so that we can come to a knowledge that
all men will fail and that it does not matter what they do to us. Rather it is
what is to come at our judgment that matters most.
We have
climbed nine rungs. There are twenty-one more to go. May God bless our struggle
in understanding the Ladder and may St. John pray for us.
Amen.
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