Take Care with Care

Desire is the cause of all suffering. We suffer because we desire things that we do not have (sports cars, romance) and we have things that we do not desire (cancer, taxes).

The very desire for liberation is itself an impediment to liberation.

St. John Climacus, in his “Ladder of Divine Ascent” makes an analogous point about spiritual progress and the stumbling block of pride in that progress.

“Care” connotes desire but also brings to mind carefulness in the sense of meticulous exactitude and scrupulous precision which may spring from a Kantian sense of ethical obligation rather than personal desire.