VICAR'S LETTER
17
Sundon Road
Streatley
December, 2007
Dear
All
The picture below reproduces a twelfth-century icon from the monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai. It is St. John Climakos's picture of the heavenly ladder.
The contents of the picture are clear enough. It features a ladder stretching from earth to heaven. The saints are shown climbing the ladder. As they do so, they are watched over by the angels in the top left hand corner and supported by the prayers of the church, represented by the group at the bottom right. Those who make it to the top are welcomed by Christ into his kingdom. Not all, however, do so. Some fall prey to temptations. These are represented by the figures being plucked from the ladder by the demons and plunging down into a lake of boiling tar.
The central meaning of this picture is contained in the ladder itself. It speaks of the spiritual ascent that all of us are called to make towards greater and greater Christlikeness. It also speaks of how that ascent is to be made. It is not to be made by some great leap of faith. It is to be made by innumerable little steps, like the rungs of the ladder. We climb, says the picture, by countless small acts of kindness and devotion.
But the picture has its limitations. There are no women on the ladder and there are no children on the ladder. This is because the picture comes from a book of instruction for monks. One of these omissions, however, has been rectified in a recent Sunday School project. The children constructed their own model, used at the Family Service in November and then put on display in the Parish Centre, of the missing bottom rungs of the ladder. At the base were pictures of children, just about to start the climb. Stage one of the climb was announced in letters of gold on the first rung - `Love others'. The second rung showed pictures of people doing just that - a mother cuddles her child, a boy comforts his mate, a girl looks after her baby brother, a boy pats his dog. The next rung announced the second stage - `Love God'. The pictures on the rung above showed a child at prayer and children taking part in a nativity play. At the head of the ladder stood an icon of Christ himself.
The very fact that a picture produced for twelfth-century monks in far off Sinai could be adopted so easily for the use of twenty-first century children in Luton speaks of the timelessness of the teaching it has to offer. It offers an account of the Christian journey that is accessible and natural. No special gifts are required. No special experiences are called for. What is asked for is simply a life made up of countless little acts of kindness and of devotion. It is a picture that brings the kingdom of heaven within the reach of all.
All best wishes,
Roger