My Books Available Now on Amazon ebooks

Amazon Kindle books now have some of my books. Please keep checking for more titles as they become available. Thanks!

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Ladder to Enlightenment From the Past

This morning I became acquainted with a 12th century monk, Guigo. I want to share a little that seems to me so relevant to our 21st century plight.

He says the ladder to heaven has 4 rungs: reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation. By being faithful daily to these 4 things we open ourselves to God's Graces. We receive inspirations throughout the day while doing our chores, or taking a walk or in the shower.

And the ground upon which the ladder stands is also important. The ladder will fall over if it does not stand in our responsibility to ourselves and others and our faithfully carrying out out daily chores. According to James Finley, in his discussion of Guigo in his wonderful book, "Christian Meditation,"
There was a daily emphasis on learning to be a decent citizen of the earth, one who could be relied on to tend to what needed tending to...The lesson we are invited to ponder is that meditation embodies a desire for God that brings us back full circle to a more clear-minded, Christlike compassion for others and ourselves... The whole journey, from start to finish, is inseparably bound up with how we talk to the woman next door. It is bound up with how we talk to our self about our self when we wake up in the morning and go through the day. The ladder to heaven will topple over if it is not firmly established in a sincere love and concern for ourselves and those around us.
As I look around, it seems to me quite a number of ladders lay fallen, strewn in our path. Guigo may just have the antidote to the chaos we see in this moment in time, or actually for all time. 

No comments:

Post a Comment