Chapter 6: Cherishing silence in the monastery
I am guarded about the way I speak and have accepted silence in humility refraining even from words that are good. (From para. 1 of Ch. 6 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Linking silence with humility reminds me not to rely on ego-driven words to resist, control or even improve life according to my design. Instead, silence teaches me to sink into the humus of the divine ground and discover from there what is most redemptive in any situation.
Twelve-Steppers tell me that for every year of recovery I get one second. That means that one year of abstinence from one or another of my several addictions will give me one second of silence to pause before opening my mouth and reacting to one provocation or another. Abba, help me to tame this tongue of mine, a task more difficult, as the Scripture says, than taming a team of wild horses. Thank you for the gift of the stillness, silence and simplicity of meditation that gets me on my way each day.
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