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:
Philokalic Spirituality in a Post-Modern Culture
Nous Part Ten - Theoretic Nous and Deified Nous
Nous Part Nine - Nous in Temptation and Battle
Nous Part Eight - Prayer, Asceticism, Dispassion
Nous Part Seven - Prayer That Transcends the Passions and Conceptual Thoughts
Nous Part Six - Prayer and the Cultivation of the Soul, Fathers Understand of Demons
Nous Part Five - Memories, Imagination, Prayer
Nous Part Four - Purification of Memories and Recollections
Nous Part Three - Purifying the Nous and Asceticism in Modern Culture
Nous Part Two - Vigilant Gate Keeper
The Nous - Part One
Nepsis, Wakefulness, Attentiveness
Intro. to History of Philokalia and Characteristics of Philokalic Spirituality
Invitation to Philokalia Study Group
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