PROLOGUE (cont.)
"And the Lord seeking His workman in the multitude of the people, to whom He proclaimeth these words, saith again: "Who is the man that desireth life and loveth to see good days" (Ps 33[34]:13)? If hearing this thou answerest, "I am he," God saith to thee: "If thou wilt have true and everlasting life, keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile; turn away from evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it" (Ps 33[34]:14-15). And when you shall have done these things, my eyes shall be upon you, and my ears unto your prayers. And before you shall call upon me I will say: "Behold, I am here" (Is 58:9). What, dearest brethren, can be sweeter to us than this voice of the Lord inviting us? See, in His loving kindness, the Lord showeth us the way of life." 
  
Being someone that is an extreme introvert, you would think the last thing that would cause me much trouble would be my mouth.  Unfortuantely, that is not the case.  Like most of us, extrovert or introvert, my mouth probably comprises about 95% of the sins I commit.  The more I have become aware of the power (for good and evil) that resides in our speech, the more I have understood why Benedict puts such a huge emphasis on silence. The benefit is (at least) two-fold: I firmly believe that  God speaks the loudest in the silence. And the less we say, the less likely we are to say something hurtful and utterly absurd; I can't say something that causes someone pain if I am practicing the gift of quietness. 

We all have heard the old saying, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."  But sometimes navigating the tricky waters of "niceness" is more difficult that keeping quiet, isn't it.  I think we can all agree that sometimes the truth isn't always nice. However, we are told in scripture that we are to speak the truth in love.  I think this is what is the core of what Benedict desires for his monks.  Most important for the believing community is the ability to discern what must be shared with one another and what needs to be left unsaid.  This can be seen in confronting one another when we notice a brother or sister struggling with some sin in their life. It might be keeping our mouth shut even though we know that someone we care for very much is embarking on a path that might be hurting them but we know they are not ready to listen. 

The Medieval mystics saw the gift of discernment as one of the most valuable for living the Christian life.  Is there anything more challenging than trying to figure out when, why, what, and how to say something that might be difficult for someone to receive?  This is why if we are able to master our tongues and our speech, we are told that we will find our way into living lives of peace. And that is something I think we could all quietly nod in agreement to.  Amen.