This evening we will be reading through meditations 6-10 of Book III of the Imitation of Christ. One of the great themes of á Kempis’ work (and the New Testament) is humility. We have a great tendency to bring modern conceptions of success into our walk with Christ. We want to be the best Christian we can be. But, the example Christ gives us is to be humble, not to be the “best”. In our union with Christ, we are not called to great moral progress or perfection but simply to appear before him with a broken and contrite heart. Ps. 51:17. Our call is simply to take up our cross and follow him. Mark 8:34-38. We will encounter this theme in our readings this evening.
This Sunday in the Orthodox Church is dedicated to St. John Climacus who wrote The Ladder of Divine Ascent in c.600. The theme of this work is very similar to that of The Imitation of Christ. Yesterday I ran across a short blog post on “The Ladder of Divine Ascent” and how success is measured differently in the church than in the world. The post is HERE (Glory to God for All Things: April 11, 2016) If you have the opportunity, please read through the post. Fr. Freeman’s thoughts bear directly on our readings as well.
Dinner is at 6. The menu is lasagna. Discussion is at 6:45. Please bring your friends and family.
Gracious and upright is the LORD; *
Psalm 25:7-9
therefore he teaches sinner in his way.
He guides the humble in doing right*
and teaches his way to the lowly.
All the paths of the LORD are love and faithfulness *
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.