The eleventh rung, that
of talkativeness and silence is extremely important. We see a lot of talk today
among people. Talk is more easily accessible than ever. We have Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Truth, and other social media platforms where
people can talk as much as they want all the time about things. We also see through the use of the traditional media, like
the news where people will watch for hours to hear the commentators give their
opinions on a variety of topics that are happening in the world today. We see
this with Rachel Maddow, Brett Baier and others discuss the news and their opinions
twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. The amount of talking this world
generates is certainly higher than in recent years. In fact we even have smartphones
that allow us to communicate with people all over the globe at the touch of
button or key. Certainly not all of this is bad, but most of it is. We can’t
stop talking. St. John says, “Talkativeness
is the throne of vainglory on which it loves to show itself and make a display.
Talkativeness is a sign of ignorance, a door to slander, a guide to jesting, a
servant of falsehood, the ruin of compunction, a creator of despondency, a
precursor of sleep, the dissipation of recollection, the abolition of
watchfulness, the cooling of ardour, the darkening of prayer.” It is a sign then, that we have not learned to
pray. A sign in which we show our ignorance, especially discussing things we do
not know about or have no business discussing. We serve falsehood, especially
when using talking to lie and to cheat our way out of things. While I will not
go into lying in this article, those who know the Ladder of St. John, know that
the twelfth rung is on lying and curbing that. We create despondency in others
with our words, we use it as jokes and humiliation towards other. We don’t even
care about our own souls enough to watch our words. My mother often said, “Weigh
your words before you speak.” We don’t even do that. What comes from our brains
comes out of our mouths. In this regard I once heard that thoughts are like airplanes
are brains the runway and we are the air traffic control. We decide which one
lands and which ones do not. The same way with words. We must choose carefully
what to say otherwise it will destroy us,
The opposite of talking
is of course silence. There is no silence in the world today. As I said we can
get news at hour of the day, and we hear cars and airplanes all day long.
People have forgotten what it means to be still for a minute. We order “fast
food,” we constantly are playing video games and we listen to podcasts. All of
which creates distractions in our lives in which we do not have the ability to
or the necessity to pray. We leave God on the back burner and forget that He
too needs our time and our love. St. John retorts to all this saying, “Deliberate
silence is the mother of prayer, a recall from captivity, preservation of fire,
a supervisor of thoughts, a watch against enemies, a prison of mourning, a
friend of tears, effective remembrance of death, a depicter of punishment, a
meddler with judgment, an aid to anguish, an enemy of freedom of speech, a
companion of quiet, an opponent of desire to teach, increase of knowledge, a
creator of contemplation, unseen progress, secret ascent.” One of the best examples of Christian witness,
comes from Christ himself. The story of Jesus’ trial is one that resonates with
me, and I love speaking on it. I may have used this example before but let us
consider once again the fateful moments of Jesus’ trial. Jesus was brought
before the Sanhedrin, those who had brought him there were expecting Jesus to
defend himself as other humans would. They expected Jesus to curse and
blaspheme God for what was wrought upon him, and yet through it all Jesus remained
silent. He was silent in the Sanhedrin, he was silent before Pilate and Herod.
He did not dare speak unless he meant what he said. Those who witnessed it tore
their clothes and smacked him. Pilate could find no fault in him. Herod decided
that it was a waste of his time, because Christ would not perform a sign. Jesus
showed us how to remain silent when the time was not right to speak. If
everyone practiced that then many problems in the world would be solved. St. John
writes about this saying, “I once heard from someone who asked me about
silence that talkativeness is in variably born of one of the following causes:
either from a bad, lax environment and habit (for the tongue, said he, being a
member of the body, like the rest of the members, requires the training of
habit), or again, in the case of ascetics, garrulity comes especially from
vainglory, and sometimes also from gluttony. That is why many who bridle the
stomach by force afterwards easily check the tongue and its chatter.” We
are in the spiritual classroom, or at least we should be. We should training ourselves
to combat the enemy on a daily basis, and yet we spend our time frivolously
talking about sports, the weather, new technology, cars and so on. We do not
use our words to praise God, rather often times we use our words to tear down God.
While there is much more
to be said, St. John does not write much on talking. Out of saying too much. He
offers his advice and it is very straight to the point. Instead of leaving you
with the closing remarks that St. John makes at the end of this rung, I will
leave you with something else. This is from the chapter, though it precedes his
closing remarks. He says, “He who is anxious about his departure, cuts down
words; and he who has obtained spiritual mourning, shuns talkativeness like
fire.” Do we shun talking? Do we shun our words in favor of listening and being
with others and experiencing life. There is certainly too much talk in the
world today. And I pray that we might learn from this and refrain from spending
all our time talking and would rather spend it in silence with God.
Amen.
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