John Cassian has a collection of writings he called The Institutes. Within these writings lay a number of precious gems for the reader. I wanted to highlight one of those gems - what might the disciple of Christ expect to go through on the path of being of the charter of Christ? Another way to think about this might be to consider Jesus when he says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” How are we to move toward being made perfect in love?
Cassian suggests a series of actions that you can take that reveal the next step to take. As you walk, being able to see only one step at a time, you will come to the Kingdom of Heaven. I have not found a more concise description of what Cassian describes than from Philip Turner’s book Christian Ethics and the Church: Ecclesial Foundations for Moral Thought and Practice. Consider what Turner writes:
The process begins with the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. Fear drives one to conversion and the search for perfection. The search requires that one, through renunciation, develop contempt for worldly things including family and possessions. Renunciation leads in turn to the virtue of humility from which is generated the dying of desire, and when desire has died the vices are uprooted and wither away. With the expulsion of the vices, virtue begins to grow and bear fruit. When virtue is abundant, purity of heart is acquired and, with purity of heart, the kingdom of heaven.
We start with a fear of the Lord. When we compare ourselves to the Lord we are brought to our knees and we desire conversion. The desire for conversion admits that the current course we are on is not sufficient to the standard of God’s heart, so we renounce our current way of living. But renouncing our current way of living we become a novice to life again and we are humbled. And when we are humbled to this new way of living that we know little about, our past desires atrophy. If we are able to arrive to this point where we renounce our past lives and desires then the vices of our past also die. In this way we are born again, made new. The death of desires and vices is the very fertile ground God uses to plant virtue. When lives around the world are full for good fruit (Matthew 7:17) we discover we all live in a new garden called the Kingdom of God.
And so, take the first step and see what is revealed. Ask yourself, “Do I feel like I am God’s equal?”