Chapter 7: The value of humility (paragraph 16)
The ninth step of humility leads us to refrain from unnecessary speech and to guard our silence by not speaking until we are addressed. (From para. 16 of Ch. 7 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
The meaning of unnecessary speech has come to include, for me, the wishing, chattering, complaining monologue of my mind. Outside my studio, blizzard is piled on top of blizzard, sending ice melt into old houses and making travel difficult for those on the go. I'm struck that heavy snow creates a lot of work and hardship and danger, and yet this morning, in the soft clear light, I walked appreciatively through a path of crunchy snow and heard, with each bootfall, the snow talking back to me. My mind was silent enough to hear that the snow was grateful that I was gazing on it with love!
How striking Benedict's admonition is to guard one's tongue in a world that often considers silence as "awkward" and seeks to fill it with inane small talk, which can often be more awkward than the silence it sought to replace. Benedict reminds me that both silence and mindful words are important, and a balance of the two is to be valued. Without the contemplative value of silence, practiced through meditation and throughout my day, I risk going forth as the Psalmist states, and as quoted by St. Benedict, like the talkative man who goes about aimlessly on the earth.
ReplyDeleteAs a talkative person, the desire for silence which I feel from time to time is a sign that there is hope for me to be humble ... by refraining from unnecessary chatter.
ReplyDeleteI can see Benedict leading me from the very beginning to "listen" and John Main too saying "listen" in meditation by the continued repetition of the mantra. By rushing into talking I superimpose my ego over those of others as if I am more important than they are and what I have to say is more valuable than what they have to say. With listening there comes an awful amount of patience. With that patience there is the permission for the other to open up, to reveal their thoughts, and themselves. If I am too full of myself I cannot hear nor wait to hear the thoughts of the community, of elders, and above all, Christ in others and Christ in my heart.
ReplyDelete