The Ladder Steps 29-30: The End
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Step 29 - On Dispassion
-the spiritual state where the passions do not exist.
St. John says that this man "regards the artifice of demons as a contemptible joke."
At this stage, the passions of man have become transformed by Christ so much so that temptation, although it may be relentless and fierce, has no affect on the dispassionate man.
Here we come close to the end of the book, and
Step 30 - On Faith, Hope & Love
In this final step, St. John summarizes the goal of spiritual development much as Jesus and Paul. When questioned about the greatest commandment, Jesus said that it was love God and to love others. Paul after discussing all the gifts that God gives to man, says, “And now, finally, after all that we have said, there remain these three that bind and secure the union of all: faith, hope, love; and the greatest of these is love, for God Himself is so called. (I Corinthians
Love is the ulimate expression of our life with God. Love is present in all the steps. Yet each step purifies us so that we can love more truly and rightly. Unfortunately, there is so much self in our life that we do love as we ought and thus the steps train us to love God and man.
This is the goal. It's is not to become better pray-ers or fasters or almsgivers. It is to love. Those disciplines are necessary but they are means and not the ends.
So this study ends with the exhortation, "Love one another."
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