The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXI: On Unmanly and Puerile Cowardice, Part I

Anxiety, it has been said, is ubiquitous. We all experience it and in its many manifestations. On a purely psychological level, one can never get to the heart or source of this feeling and its accompanying isolation. Often we find ourselves desperate to free ourselves from its grip. Therefore, we either immerse ourselves in the things of this world and maintain the illusion of security or we become paralyzed by it completely. 

The desert fathers including St. John Climacus, however, remind us that through the incarnation everything about what it is to be a human being has been assumed and embraced by our Lord, including this experience that often plagues our existence. Christ is the source of all healing and in and through our immersion in His life through the sacraments and prayer we begin to enter into the peace of the kingdom. We are commanded in the Scriptures not to have any anxiety at all. However, this is not simply a command but a promise of grace and strength. If we hold on to our faith in the Lord, if we truly hope in his promises, then all anxiety and fear will flee.  To call upon the name of Jesus is to flog our enemies; meaning not only the temptations that come to us from the demons, but the fears that they would insert into our minds and hearts. 

To mourn over one’s sin, to acknowledge the brevity of our life, is the set aside all illusion and false security. It leads us to cling to Christ who is life and love. So often we too like the disciples are foolish and slow of heart to believe. Yet in Christ even the most improbable of things becomes possible - that in the soul dedicated to God fear and cowardice disappears.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:08:02 FrDavid Abernethy: page 163 Step 21   00:19:55 LauraLeigh: In #2, is he saying that this "old soul" should know better than to give in to cowardice?   00:23:10 Eric Ewanco: Fear is a lack of trust in God   00:23:13 Louise: Fear arises when we read a situation as a threat, while boldness arises when we read a situation as a challenge. With Christ, maybe we should see  all situations as challenges which we can face with Him.   00:24:09 Cindy Moran: Pray for me I lost my wallet today Yes I am anxious.   00:25:22 Rebecca Thérèse: I'll pray for you Cindy   00:25:26 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "I'll pray for you Ci..." with 🙏   00:25:36 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "Pray for me I lost m..." with 🙏   00:28:37 Louise: Why are even Catholics so afraid of dying? I do not understand.   00:29:42 Cindy Moran: Reacted to "I'll pray for you Ci..." with 🙏   00:31:31 David Swiderski: It is interesting I lived and traveled in very insecure areas with lots of kidnappings, random shootings/killings, widespread stealing where your car often is going in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and I found people of amazing faith. Here were there is comfort and more lonleiness anxiety seems widespread.   00:35:45 wayne: Replying to "Pray for me I lost m..."   pray to St Anthony always helps, has worked for me   00:43:55 TFredman: Reacted to "I'll pray for you Ci..." with 🙏   00:45:36 maureencunningham: How did Moses come to Christ   00:49:28 Michael Abele: I am not afraid for my own safety, but sometimes I fear for the people I care for and protect   00:51:23 LauraLeigh: I love that. "Flog your enemies with the Name of Jesus." I'm going to remember that.   00:53:08 Lori Hatala: I think God gave me enough sense not to purposely put myself in a harmful situation. ot avoiding all but knowing what to stay away from.   00:54:40 Eric Ewanco: ChatGPT summarizes his conversion thusly: Saint Moses the Black, once a violent bandit, sought refuge among desert monks in Egypt. Impressed by their peace and patience, he converted to Christianity, became a monk, and later an abbot, renowned for his deep spirituality and wisdom. He was martyred defending his monastery.   00:55:12 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "ChatGPT summarizes h..." with ❤️   00:55:37 LauraLeigh: Replying to "ChatGPT summarizes h..."   I believe I read that he had about 70 monks under his care by the time he died.   00:55:43 Eric Ewanco: Replying to "ChatGPT summarizes h..."   yes   00:57:14 Lawrence Martone: Perhaps Ignatian “agere contra” can help us deal with fear, always trusting in Christ.   01:04:37 Michael Abele: Meant to phrase my earlier comment as a question: can the same be said about fearing for the sake of others? I suppose that can also get out of hand if we do not trust God   01:08:24 Jeff O.: Are barrenness of soul and spiritual desolation as Ignatius tends to identify it somewhat the same here? Or is he getting at something else?   01:10:28 David Swiderski: Jacobs Ladder the movie. All I saw were demons torturing and tearing at me but then I looked again and they were angels freeing me from the attachments of life.   01:11:17 Ashley Kaschl: Paragraph 9 is reminding me of the recent Gospel reading of Jesus calling Peter to walk on the water. Water generally represents chaos in scripture, something unformed or in turmoil. And I think also, if we believe wholeheartedly that we are made in the image of God, and the longer we spend in His presence, the more we are revealed as ourselves in that identity, it is almost as though overcoming temporal and animalistic fear is like passing through raging waters, to be “meeked” by the grace of God so that even our fears are rightly ordered.   01:12:53 Ashley Kaschl: Part 2: (sorry it’s long) if then, we are filled with this grace to have such a disposition as to be unmoving and freed from other fears, then we are always being filled. St. Bernard of Clairvaux says, “The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then discharges the overflow without loss to itself. Today there are many in the Church who act like canals, the reservoirs are far too rare ... You too must learn to await this fullness before pouring out your gifts, do not try to be more generous than God.”   01:15:17 Ambrose Little, OP: (No need to read this aloud, Father): Would appreciate your prayers for my surgery tomorrow morning. It's supposed to be minor/outpatient. The post-op recovery/adaptation period is long, though. I'm optimistic for a good result. Thanks in advance!  🙏🏻🙏🏻   01:15:46 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "(No need to read thi…" with 🙏   01:15:52 Art: Reacted to "(No need to read thi…" with 🙏   01:15:54 Cindy Moran: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏   01:15:54 TFredman: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏   01:15:55 Eric Ewanco: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏   01:16:02 Brian L: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏   01:16:03 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏   01:16:10 Jeff O.: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏   01:17:29 LauraLeigh: Replying to "Part 2: (sorry it’s ..."   Love this. Very meaningful and helpful to me right now. ❤️   01:19:50 sue and mark: Reacted to "(No need to read thi..." with 🙏   01:21:26 LauraLeigh: Father, just a reminder to check out Protecting Veil on YT. He's run Fr. Freeman, too.   01:21:44 Ambrose Little, OP: The intro to the hours of prayer is always good when feeling afraid: God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me!   01:22:11 Jeff O.: Reacted to "The intro to the hou..." with 👍   01:22:32 LauraLeigh: The only thing I stumble on is that cowardice seems to mean fear or anxiety, but I tend to think of it a little differently. Need to sit with this for a while.   01:22:47 Michael Abele: Don't angels usually open with "be not afraid" when they make an appearance? I always thought they'd be a little scary to encounter, in an awe inspiring way.   01:23:00 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Don't angels usually…" with 💯   01:23:08 Barbara: Do the Eastern Fathers call upon the blood of Jesus as protection or as dissolution of fears?   01:23:43 Susan M: I THINK IT IS PS 70.1   01:23:50 Ambrose Little, OP: Replying to "Don't angels usually..."   Definitely as described by Ezekiel. 🙂   01:24:07 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "The intro to the hou…" with 👍   01:24:32 Ambrose Little, OP: Reacted to "I THINK IT IS PS 70...." with 👍🏻   01:24:32 Cindy Moran: Reacted to "Don't angels usually..." with 💯   01:24:40 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "I THINK IT IS PS 70.…" with 👍🏻   01:25:03 Audrey C. Block: Had great fears this morning; went to Sacrifice of the Mass and still great fears( poor healthx6mos plus many other challenges)sat by Jesus in the Tabernacle and begged His healp over and over, finally by 30 min fears ALL gone!   01:25:36 Rachel: Ou rparish is in a rough neighborhood. Two contrasting experiences...one, a while back during a parish event that ran late I entered the chapel forgetting the roughness of the neighborhood. Upon leaving I rralized that no other person, except Our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament was with me.   01:26:14 Ambrose Little, OP: Ps 46:1-3 is good meditation for this, too.   01:26:18 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Had great fears this…" with ❤️   01:26:25 Cindy Moran: Reacted to "Had great fears this..." with ❤️   01:26:38 Rachel: Yet, recently the same situation, I entered the chapel alone, and even with this reading in mind, but, it took all of my strength not to look over my shoulder at every small sound in the dark!   01:26:55 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Ps 46:1-3 is good me…" with 🔥   01:27:45 Rachel: Reacted to "Had great fears th..." with ❤️   01:28:56 Rachel: There was no one in the chapel   01:29:04 Rachel: It was at night at dark   01:29:07 Lawrence Martone: Leiva-Merikakis has a remarkable reflection on the calming of the sea. (Mt. 8:23-27). Just one sentence: “The Savior is redeeming his disciples by making his profound serenity as God inhabit the same space as their frantic despair.”   01:29:16 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Leiva-Merikakis has …" with 😍   01:29:27 Ambrose Little, OP: Replying to "Ps 46:1-3 is good me..."   God is for us a refuge and strength, a helper close at hand, in time of distress: so we shall not fear though the earth should rock, though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea, even though its waters rage and foam, even though the mountains be shaken by its waves. (Abbey Psalter)   01:29:29 Ashley Kaschl: Replying to "Leiva-Merikakis has …" LOVE him 🔥   01:29:45 Rachel: Reacted to "Leiva-Merikakis ha..." with ❤️   01:29:48 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Leiva-Merikakis has …" with 🔥   01:30:04 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "Leiva-Merikakis has ..." with ❤️   01:30:10 sue and mark: Reacted to "Leiva-Merikakis has ..." with ❤️   01:30:58 Cindy Moran: I am so distraught that I almost didn't log on tonight...thank you Father & Everyone for prayers. I don't feel so overwhelmed now. Thanks be to God. Bless you all.   01:31:30 LauraLeigh: Reacted to "I am so distraught t..." with ❤️   01:31:54 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "I am so distraught t…" with ❤️   01:32:22 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂   01:32:34 iPhone: Thank you.  Very helpful.   01:33:03 John: Thank you, Father!   01:33:06 sue and mark: Thank you Fr. Abernethy and God bless you.  good night.   01:33:07 maureencunningham: Thanks   01:33:08 Lorraine Green: Thank you   01:33:09 Jeff O.: Thank you!   01:33:11 Rachel: Thank you all. Thank you   01:33:16 David Swiderski: Thank you father