The Ladder of Divine Ascent

I've been enjoying reading this book a little during Lent this year, and I could go on for a long time about the experience I've had in doing this. A couple thoughts:

First, I've been hearing a lot recently about the lack of respect people show each other these days. I see this a lot in my work place. Its cool to just tease the heck out of people that you're close to, all in the name of joking around and having a good time. On the whole, everyone involved has a good time, with occassional feelings getting hurt. St. John of the Ladder does not like this. He tells us that we should treat everyone as though we have just met them, that we should live as though we are in exile from our homeland. I strongly recommend his Step 3: "On Exile."

Second, as always, my favorite step is step 4: "On Obedience." Those who know should be laughing at this thought, but I assure you that I enjoy it so much because it strikes me at the heart every time. I cannot even begin to characterize his text. He teaches me to set my own desires down. I walk away from this, remembering that there is so much for me to try to figure out in my own life, that I can stop worrying about what others are doing (or not).