Philokalia Ministries The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XI: On Talkativeness and Silence
Tonight, we read Step number 11 on “talkativeness and silence.” Fittingly, it is very brief, if not the briefest of all of the steps of The Ladder. This brevity is St. John’s way of teaching us that so much of our speech involves vainglory; putting ourselves on display. We seek through it to step out of ourselves; betraying the painful experience we have as human beings of our lack of identity. God has created us for himself. He has created us in his image and likeness precisely that we might not experience ourselves in isolation, but rather in communion. However, to enter into communion with God means to step out of our limited ways of perceiving the world around us and reality as a whole. This means allowing God, through the silence,
to draw us in faith into the experience of His life, light and love. To give ourselves over to talkativeness is to find ourselves dissipated. Our desire for God cools and the emptiness that we feel drives us to fill our lives with anything and everything so that we do not feel alone. Despite having God dwelling within us, once we lose sight of him, silence becomes an enemy. Therefore, John tells us that we must foster silence as a habit. We must allow God to show us its value, and what it makes possible for us. The first step is to create external silence. Once we have done this, we often see the unsettledness of our minds and hearts.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:11:45 Cindy Moran: Is your patron saint Matthew? 00:15:18 John & Heather: Do you mind mentioning what edition this group uses? 00:15:54 Debra: I saw your post on FB about it 00:16:41 John & Heather: Replying to "Do you mind mentioni..." Great...thank you. 00:16:43 Cindy Moran: I really liked Ren's presentation on the prayer rope 00:17:38 FrDavid Abernethy: Yes. Excellent. She makes the most exquisite prayer ropes as well. 00:17:51 FrDavid Abernethy: Maybe she will put up the website address. 00:27:32 Eric Ewanco: My translation says "foe of license" instead of "enemy of freedom of speech" 00:41:56 Bonnie Lewis: This is why adoration before the Blessed Sacrament is such a beautiful gift where silence is filled with God's love for us. 00:43:12 Vicki Nichols: Would this silence include silencing the "inner chatter" of your thoughts or is it only external silence? 00:53:28 Rebecca Thérèse: I've found that people who chatter continuously don't care if you're listening or not so I can zone out! 00:54:01 wayne: Reacted to "I've found that peop..." with 😂 00:55:21 iPhone: Amen 00:56:08 Ambrose Little, OP: Reacted to "I've found that peop..." with 😂 00:58:48 iPhone: Totally 00:59:06 Ambrose Little, OP: My in-laws feel that way about visiting here—the kiddos are a constant background buzzing. 🙂 You can get acclimated.. 00:59:19 Eric Ewanco: How do we in the world balance silence with the cultivation of valuable relationships in life, for example at work or whatever? In other words, how do we discern the threshold of silence to maintain -- there is the absolute silence of a monk, and the rambling of the garroulous, where do we draw the line? 01:00:17 Debra: I wear hearing aids, but only if I'm going somewhere were I HAVE to listen...like Mass, or meetings As soon as I'm out of that meeting, I take out my aids, because the world is such a noisy place!! 01:00:54 Debra: Reacted to "My in-laws feel that..." with 😁 01:08:21 iPhone: + 1 01:12:20 Anthony Rago: Being someone who does work from home, and lives alone, the silence does not feel too great all the time. Only the deep silence when in my workshop or working in my kitchen or dining room or times like that is satisfying. 01:12:49 Debra: So much ambient noise...Like you mentioned, noise does create anxiety I can literally feel tension leave, when I take my hearing aids out. 01:13:18 Debra: Reacted to "Being someone who do..." with 🤗 01:16:40 iPhone: Making a note of it 01:16:53 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂 01:17:48 Debra: Thanks be to God Thank you! Good night!