Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a public record of their most vain thoughts and superficial opinions, erecting them as public monuments in the digital forums—the volume of the visages, the immediate thing written, the chitter-chatter of the aviary, the sounding of the passage of time—it seemed good to me also to write a contrary account of that which I have seen and heard while seeking the way that leads to life and truth, so that you might meditate not on things that are on earth but on things above.

In other words, I hope to share my reflections on walking in the way of Christ as one who is admittedly far from sainthood (and perhaps therefore highly relatable to those of us who are still children in Christ), but by God’s grace as one who is hopefully not being conformed to this age, but being transformed by the renewal of the mind.

I hope to bring you alongside my own studies of Scripture as I challenge and expand my linguistic abilities, interpretive lenses, and assumptions about the Word. We’ll spend no small time looking at prayer practices from various vantage points, as well as explore fasting and almsgiving; we’ll investigate the riches of monasticism and look for ways to learn and apply their rule of life outside the solitary and cenobitic; we’ll spend time discussing great works of fiction that point us to the transcendent; we’ll try to inhabit the mind and worldview of other eras before enchantment was taken captive and banished by the Enlightenment; we’ll look under the hood at the manuscript traditions behind the canon of the Bible; we’ll walk through different church liturgies; we’ll try to memorize Scripture together; and we’ll explore some of the great branches of the Church as we aim for the unity Christ prayed for in John 17: that we might all be one just as the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, so that the world might know that Jesus is the only Name under heaven given among men by which we might be saved.

The title of this publication—The Ladder Of Divine Ascent—is a work by St. John Climacus that I confess I have not yet read. Lord willing I will start a series on it early next year around Lent, but regardless I find it the perfect symbol for my intentions. The eponymous text is a famous ascetical treatise written around 600 AD for fellow monks as a guide to ascend to heaven and gain salvation by renouncing the world. Not unlike Jacob’s Ladder of Genesis 28, the ladder connects heaven and earth, or God and Man. Climbing the ladder is the journey we take when we choose to follow Christ, and each step is a virtue we must strive for or a vice from which we must abstain. Along the journey, there are many other Christians climbing, and some have already attained greater heights and so encourage and guide others.

I hope to be something of a middle step in such a ladder as I look up to learn, and in my turn guide. We live in an age with access to an abundance of spiritual riches nestled away quietly in a digital warehouse several orders of magnitude more vast than the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I want to curate some of the riches of wisdom, formation, and practice I have found tucked away and put it within reach of others climbing the ladder. We all refract the light of truth in ways particular to ourselves and our progress on the journey. When we share our unique perspective, we can make wisdom more accessible to others seeking as well as provide an opportunity to be corrected by the wise.

I write to you from the desert of both this world and of Phoenix, Arizona. I have grown up in churches that fall under the broad evangelical umbrella, and more specifically as semi-Charismatic, though my own study and pursuit of the faith has led me across the pews of Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches. I don’t have a specific church I currently call home, but I am actively seeking and discerning where I may worship God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the fullness of the faith. I intend to share the joys and doubts of this search in the hope that it will be fruitful and encouraging for those also seeking where they might encounter God most deeply, be changed most fully, and participate in His church to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth.