Humbling Ourselves

This study guide comes from The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John Climacus.  My priest recently said in a homily that pride is the mother of all sins and there was no fiber of honesty in me that could disagree with him.  I stumbled on this while trying to prepare for my Religious School class this morning.  Teaching is often how I learn and thought you might enjoy this study guide as well as you make your way through Lent, and this pilgrimmage of life.  This isn't a lesson for 1st and 2nd graders so much, but possibly the Holy Spirit or my Guardian Angel may have led me to it?

 

From Amazon description for the book:  The Ladder of Divine Ascent was the most widely used handbook of the ascetic life in the ancient Greek Church. Popular among both lay and monastics, it was translated into Latin, Syriac, Arabic, Armenian, Old Slavonic, and many modern languages. It was written while the author (who received his surname from this book) was abbot of the monastery of Catherine on Mount Sinai. As reflected in the title, the ascetical life is portrayed as a ladder which each aspirant must ascend, each step being a virtue to be acquired, or a vice to be surrendered. Its thirty steps reflect the hidden life of Christ himself. This work had a fundamental influence in the Hesychastic, Jesus Prayer, or Prayer of the Heart movement.

Ascending the Heights

Study Guide

HUMBLING OURSELVES

Step 22-23,

Vainglory & Pride

Vainglory seeks recognition and adulation from other human beings;

Pride refuses to acknowledge the truth of one's relationship with God. 

Pride twists our world view to a point where both other people and God come to be seen as unimportant and, irrelevant.

“That which we need to reconnect to, in order to cure Pride and Vainglory is:

1. Community (koinonia), where gifts can be experienced as the expression and result of our interactions with one another;
2. Humility (tapeinophrosune), understood especially as truthful, honest acknowledgement of our indebtedness to one another and above all to the grace (charis) of God.”

St. John lists several signs that we have fallen victim to vainglory

1. Vainglory enters our lives when we grow concerned about what other people think of us.
2. It captures our hearts when we enjoy their words of praise.
3. It takes over our hearts when we begin to work for these words of praise which bring us such joy.

How can we conquer vainglory? St. John is very clear in his instructions.

1. The first step is to remain silent and to accept dishonor gladly.
2. The middle stage is to check every act of vainglory while it is still in thought.
3. The end-insofar as one may talk of an end to an abyss-is to be able to accept humiliation before others without actually feeling it.

We have to ask ourselves the following questions:

1. Does my behavior change when no one else is around?
2. Do I find myself telling others about all of my spiritual efforts and blessings?
3. Do I believe my "press clippings"?
4. Do I find myself replaying what others have said to me or what I have said to them over and over again in my mind?
5. Do I act and talk as if I have experientially known spiritual truths that I have only read about?
6. Do I become discouraged and quit when no one notices what I do or I do not receive the praise and thanksgiving I think I deserve?
7. Do I hide my sins and failings from others, even to the point of lying or shading the truth so that my true faults are not discovered by others?
8. Do I become defensive when I am criticized?
9. Do I feel the need always to make sure that everyone knows why I did something?

If we answer "yes" to any of these, then the spirit of vainglory lives within us.

Developing humility: Here are some daily exercises for controlling pride and developing humility.

1. Do something good or help someone— and make sure no-one else ever finds out.

    Matthew 6:3–4

2. Tell someone about something in your life you regret or are ashamed of—they can help you improve.

    James 5:16

3. Compare your achievements in serving God with those of Jesus or Paul.

    Hebrews 3:1–2; Philippians 4:9

4. Do not praise yourself or talk about the things you have done to serve God.

    Proverbs 27:2

5. Do everything to give glory to God and not yourself.

    1 Corinthians 10:31

6. If you feel like boasting, boast about God and His power.

    Jeremiah 9:23–24

7. Praise others every day and consider them better than yourself.
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Explanation on the icon from the Byzantine Catholic Church of USA Website:  The icon is of the Ladder of Divine Ascent. In his spiritual classic book of the same name St. John Climacus compares the stages of spiritual growth to the steps upward to heaven on a ladder. At the top of the ladder is Christ, coming from heaven. The goal of the spiritual life is theosis (growing towards God). We are reminded that the meaning of the Fast is so that "you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:4)

Humility and Undivided Heart

" . . . He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:7-8)

Extreme Humility

I've read that many times, and had my Confessor point out to me at Christmas and during Lent the humility of Christ, but somehow I am seeming to learn this lesson fresh and new this morning.

I went to confession this past Sunday, one of the things I love about my church is that Confession is available during the Divine Liturgy most Sundays.  I try to go at least once a month, since that is what Our Mother told us to do in messages from Medjugorje.  (It's important to do what Our Mother tells us!)

When I go, I usually wait to go after the readings and the homily, so I can hear what the Holy Spirit wants me to hear and learn before going for a good soul-scrubbing before receiving Communion.

This past Sunday what I remember most was how the priest started.  "No matter how long we have been in the spiritual life, there is always opportunity for improvement, for growth.  What I mean by that is there is always opportunity for us to have more joy in the Lord!"

On rare occasions, the priest who is most often my Confessor, who at one time did attend Charismatic prayer groups, will place his hand on my head after the granting of absolution and will say a short prayer for me.  Either the first time I went or the second time, it was close to Pentecost and he prayed that I would receive the Holy Spirit along with some specific gifts.  Looking back, that was a key turning point in the way I live my faith.

On Sunday he did place his hands on my head and prayed simply for God's blessings and peace.

I have not been at peace lately, and I think I have received the grace these past few days in my meditations, some of which he gave me as penance, to learn why I have not been at peace.

I had prayed during the Novena to the Sacred Heart to have what St. Faustina had, when Jesus told her, "I delight in your soul."  I prayed that Jesus would find his delight in me, and that I would find my delight in Him.  I also prayed for the gift of understanding, wisdom, and counsel because I seem to have understanding of the outlines of things, but not a penetrating understanding.

I am thanking God for answering my prayers.  I learned that I do have a divided heart.  My heart has the priority of loving God first and foremost, but not the follow-through during the passing moments of the day.

We attended a parade on the 4th of July and my three younger kids would position themselves when they saw floats or marchers throwing candy.  Then they would as politely as possible swoop down to get the goodies.

In The Better Part this was exactly the example that Fr. John Bartunek used to explain how I am when I am looking for attention, whether it is checking my emails, or blog stats, or for a card in the mailbox, or at work, when I am striving to be perceived as success, and soaking in whatever compliments or recognition that I can come by.

None of this is "Seeking First the Kingdom of God".  What is?

I am learning that it is to break from the tendency to slip into self-destructive thirst for recognition and success, and attention.  I realize this tendency is deep.

I also realize that if I am loving God "with my whole heart, my whole soul, and my whole mind (Matthew 22:37)" then this shouldn't be in my thoughts, and certainly should not affect how I feel emotionally.  Something is broken in my make-up when this is the case, and this is why I don't have peace.  I know with my mind how things are supposed to be ordered, and I am not at peace because my heart is not ordered like Christ's undivided, and humble heart.

I need to seek only to be pleasing in the sight of God.  I need to turn to him first thing in the morning, and throughout the day. If I don't feel like it for some reason, I need to ask him for his grace, because, he always answers the prayer for grace, with grace--his presence.  Either in my knowledge that he is there, or in the sense that he is there.

If God is pleased with me, what do I care about the opinion of others?  Now for the practical, how do I build the habit of not caring about the opinion of others, and seeking first for his will and to please him?

"My help comes from Yahweh who made heaven and earth."  Psalm 121:2

Not sure I have that figured out, but as we are going on vacation, and as blogging has been feeding rather than being the antidote for my vanity, I'll be fasting from reading or writing in the blogosphere for the next week and a half.  I hope when I return to have some better habits of loving and seeking God as primary to my living, and I have confidence "If You seek him, he will let you find him (1 Chronicles 28:9b)".  Maybe I'll actually be able to do a "Sabbath Moment" post for Colleen's MEME?

Then I hope to do as Jesus did with his undivided heart.  To love with self-forgetful love in love of God, and to please Him, and not to receive attention or recognition from others because of my efforts.  Still to truly love others for who they are, and in gratitude for what goodness God has brought to light in them.