I would continue sharing ideas about the 24th Step of John’s Ladder, which is Meekness/Simplicity. One could say that spiritual simplicity is a one-track mind. That may sound negative to many, but by this it is meant that it is the virtue by which we have shut out all evil thoughts and desires in a single-minded pursuit of union with God. It is also equivalent to one of the Lord’s Beatitudes which is: Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall see God.

St. John writes that Simplicity is an enduring habit within a soul that has grown impervious to evil thoughts. In other words, this 24th Step of spiritual development is reached when we acquire the mind of Christ – we have the habit of always asking ourselves: What would Jesus do – how would He think and act!

A wonderful example of simplicity is St. Anthony the Great. He was an illiterate peasant, but that kind of simplicity does not concern us here. Intellectual simplicity is neither a vice nor a virtue. It is his spiritual simplicity that is an example to us.

The first time Anthony ever heard the gospel was in church. The reading was the conversation between Christ and the rich, young ruler, in which the young man asks Christ what he must do to gain eternal life. Christ tells him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. With his heart set on fire by that simple command, Anthony obeyed, gave everything away, and retreated into the wilderness to become a monk. He did not think it over; he did not seek an allegorical meaning in the reading; he did not consider how this could apply to him. Instead, he heard Christ commanding him personally, and immediately he obeyed. This is the kind of simplicity John is referring to in the Ladder. I am sure this frightens many when they hear it. Indeed, simplicity is a childlike innocence. Think about this!