"Ladder of Spiritual Ascent".....

A LENTEN PILGRIMAGE    Rev. Fr. K M George  "Kanikonna"

Jesus said:

"The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows - how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.."

(Mark 4:26-28).

I fondly remember the "Kanikonna" tree that stood on the northern side of the Old Seminary chapel and blossomed in March- April during the Lent season.

 (The tree is called Golden Shower Tree in English or scientifically Cassia Fistula.

 Its flower is the state flower of Kerala and the "auspicious -sight" flower of the Vishu festival, the time of Spring Equinox in South India). Every time we students walked into the chapel for the Lenten fasting Prayer of the Hours in the oppressive heat and humidity of South Indian summer, this modest tree with its rich golden yellow flowers was an enchanting and soothing sight. 

Every little branch was covered with bunches of flowers and on every bunch there would be some golden flowers in full bloom and dozens of green buds of various sizes, from the very big to the tiniest, waiting for their turn to bloom. Every bud patiently underwent the process of slow maturing. Every day there would be new flowers added to the older ones on hundreds of bunches, and towards the end of the Lent the whole tree would be only flowers and turn radiant with a golden hue. What was interesting was the efflorescence, the slow growth and gradual unfolding of the buds to full bloom. 

Our Lenten spirituality, it seemed, was very much nourished by the flowering process of the Kanikonna. It was slow and steady. Every bud needed its own time to mature and unfold. Every step was taken slowly and gradually. There was no hurry, no space for despair. Every day new blooms appeared. Every bud comes out with a new message of hope -for the life, the beauty and the joy of the world.

The Orthodox spiritual tradition emphasizes the gradual steps like in the "Ladder of Spiritual Ascent" of St John Climacus. The 40 days of fasting and prayer of Jesus in the desert, the 40 days of Moses climbing the Mount Sinai in the desert, and the 40 days of the prophet Elijah walking in the desert to Mount Horeb, all reveal this gradual character of our Lenten spiritual exercise. Nature's life cycles give us inspiring models for our own pilgrimage.