Desert Fathers, silence, and wisdom

Compel yourselves in silence, the mother of all godly virtues. Keep silent, in order to say the Prayer [of Jesus]; for, when someone speaks, how is he able to escape idle talk, from which comes every evil word, which weighs the soul down by the responsibility for it. — Elder Ephraim of Philotheou Mount Athos, “Counsels from the Holy Mountain”

… silence is the fastest path to virtue — Nikitas Stithatos (The Philokalia Vol. 4 pg. 84)

…about things you know for certain to be true or false, or self-evident, speak with conviction, saying that they are true, or false, or evident. About doubtful things better say nothing, but when necessary, say that they are doubtful and reserve your judgment. Of what you know nothing, say nothing. — Lorenzo Scupoli (Unseen Warfare: Chapter 25)

Abba Poemen said: If we remembered that it is written, “By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned,” we would choose to remain silent. — The Desert Fathers

A man may seem to be silent, but if his heart is condemning others, he is babbling ceaselessly. But there may be another who talks from morning till night and yet he is truly silent, that is, he says nothing that is not profitable. — Abba Poimen

When writing a blog, one is always faced with the problem of when to write about an issue and when not to write. While there is a certain strain among the Fathers that speaks of physical silence, there is another strain that says that silence is not physical silence per se, but the ability to know what to say and when to say it. That is, the wisdom that the Fathers talk about is equivalent, in many ways, to the silence that the Fathers talk about. Notice the final quote, the one from Abba Poimen. In it he speaks of a person who talks without ceasing, but is actually silent. How is he actually silent? He is silent from unprofitable talk. He is silent from silly babbling. He speaks, as the third quote says, only “about things that you know for certain to be true or false, or self-evident …”.

As I have spent this small hiatus from the blog, it has led me to think of silence. Again, not physical silence, but the silence that refrains from speaking about things that one knows nothing about. And so, I will try to follow the Fathers and speak in the way in which the quotes I referenced say to speak. One caveat, this does not mean that everyone will always agree with me. If everyone always agrees with me, or to put it another way, if I write only those things with which everyone will agree, it would probably be better to be silent and not publish this blog. Because, if everyone agrees with everything I write, it probably means that I am saying nothing of substance, and therefore it might be better to save bandwidth on the network by not publishing.

But, what it does mean is that I need to refrain from writing those things that are merely tendentious, merely written to get a rise out of someone. Thus, even humor needs to be handled with a certain care to ensure that it is not merely negative humor, but humor that either enlivens or makes a point. Inevitably some of what I write will be considered controversial by some. But, there is a quote that has been attributed to various people and says:

You can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.

Yes, this is a variant of the quote that begins, “You can fool all …”. This variant of the quote (or perhaps it is a totally separate quote, scholars are not sure) points out the dilemma of a writer. I cannot please all of the people all of the time. Neither can anyone else. In just writing, I will inevitably displease some all of the time and all some of the time. I can only try to be “silent” or wise in what I write. But, that is my renewed commitment as I return to this blog after a hiatus.