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.
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Text of chat during the group:
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Nineteen On the End of the Cenobite and Hermit Part II
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Nineteen On the End of the Cenobite and Hermit Part I
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Eighteen On the Kinds of Monks Part V
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Eighteen On the Kinds of Monks Part IV
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Eighteen On the Kinds of Monks Part III
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Eighteen On the Kinds of Monks Part II
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Eighteen Part I on the Kinds of Monks
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Seventeen on Promises and Lying III
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Seventeen on Promises and Lying II
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Seventeen on Promises and Lying
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Sixteen on Friendship Part III Conclusion
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Sixteen on Friendship Part II
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Sixteen on Friendship
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Fifteen on Divine Gifts
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Fourteen On Spiritual Knowledge Part III
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Fourteen On Spiritual Knowledge Part II
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Fourteen On Spiritual Knowledge Part I
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Thirteen On God’s Protection, Part IV
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Thirteen On God’s Protection, Part III
Conferences of St. John Cassian - Conference Thirteen On God’s Protection, Part III
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