Knowing When to Speak...

and when to Listen. By embracing the spiritual disciplines of a Purposeful Orthodoxy, you have formed within you a discernment that makes you both peaceful and a blessing!

The ancient Roman statesman Cato the Elder once said, “I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.”

I confess that this has been a hard lesson for me, personally.

Once, when someone asked me, “Why do you talk so much?” I responded, “Because the sound of my voice comforts me!” As a big smile came on both our faces, it was clear he got my point.

We humans are enamored with our own voice, and it shows up in the funniest ways.

For instance, most people hate hearing their voice played back from a recording. “Do I really sound like that?” It’s why every good public speaker HAS to listen to recordings of himself speaking to improve his craft.

But everybody has to develop the discipline of knowing when to speak and knowing when to listen!

Today is Wednesday of the Third Week of Great Lent. The power of the spiritual disciplines of Great Lent creates an inner quietness that allows for discernment to develop on when to speak and when to remain silent. This produces real wisdom and maturity of soul. It makes you a powerful gift and influence to those around you.

Today’s Lesson: Proverbs 12:23-13:9

A prudent man conceals his knowledge, but fools proclaim their folly. The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor. Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. A righteous man turns away from evil, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. A slothful man will not catch his prey, but the diligent man will get precious wealth. In the path of righteousness is life, but the way of error leads to death. A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. From the fruit of his mouth a good man eats good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence. He who guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. The soul of the sluggard craves, and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. A righteous man hates falsehood, but a wicked man acts shamefully and disgracefully. Righteousness guards him whose way is upright, but sin overthrows the wicked. One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth, but a poor man has no means of redemption. The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

It is a unique feature of the Book of Proverbs that it takes on an almost “sing-song” swaying back and forth between wisdom and foolishness.

Traditionally, the writer of Proverbs is the wise King Solomon, and this book of the scriptures is part of the “Wisdom” literature of the Old Testament. The Wisdom books, including Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and certain Psalms, were written to teach the wise way of living for anyone who has been blessed with the covenant of God and His grace to know the true nature of creation and the true relationship with the Creator.

The book of Proverbs is meant to give us humans a “short cut” or “crib sheet” so that we don’t have to learn the hard way! Too bad we can’t seem to actually do that!

What Can We Take From This?

First, the prudent man conceals his knowledge while fools proclaim their folly by speaking too much.

“A prudent man conceals his knowledge, but fools proclaim their folly... He who guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.”

Solomon wants us to appreciate that knowing when to speak and when to remain silent is part of becoming wise.

In other words, keep silent and let folks think you’re a fool, or open your mouth and remove all doubt! :-)

The power of this insight is that a person who has given attention to his inner life will naturally be able to discern when to keep his own counsel and when to speak.

This is what the spiritual disciplines of Great Lent create. Inner quietness. Attention to your inner life. The ability to discern when to speak and when to remain silent.

The maturing discipline of observing your situation, contemplating the best course of action, and then taking action requires attention to the details of your surroundings that a less patient man simply won’t take the time to attend to.

So that less patient man speaks too soon or too much or misses the point entirely and communicates, by his words, that he is not the man to depend on for wisdom or insight. He may be entertaining and be the life of the party, but when it comes to ordering your life, his voice isn’t what you want or even need to hear.

Are you proclaiming your folly by speaking too much? Or are you developing the inner quietness to discern when to speak?

Next, guarding your mouth through inner attention produces real wisdom and maturity of soul.

“From the fruit of his mouth a good man eats good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence. He who guards his mouth preserves his life.”

Notice: guarding your mouth preserves your life. But this isn’t just about being careful with words. It’s about the inner attention that makes it possible to guard your mouth.

The spiritual disciplines of Great Lent, fasting, prayer, increased services, and silence create an inner quietness that allows for discernment to develop. You develop the patience to observe before you act. You gain the wisdom to contemplate before you communicate.

This produces real wisdom and maturity of soul. Not just knowing facts. Not just having opinions. But genuine wisdom that comes from attention to your inner life and discernment about when to share it.

“A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”

The wise person guards his mouth because he’s been listening. He’s been learning. He’s been paying attention to his inner life through the disciplines of the Faith.

The fool opens wide his lips because he hasn’t been listening. He hasn’t been learning. He hasn’t developed the inner attention necessary for wisdom.

Are you guarding your mouth through inner attention? Or opening wide your lips without discernment?

Finally, the thoughtful person who speaks with discernment becomes a powerful gift to others.

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad... The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.”

Let the thoughtful man speak, and his words carry a weight that demands attention and respect. “A good word makes him glad.” The light of the righteous rejoices.

It’s a sad thing when we fail to appreciate the power of a life where lessons have been learned, and a treasure of wisdom is available to us, but we ignore it for the entertainment value of the noisy!

The spiritual disciplines of Great Lent make you a powerful gift and influence to those around you. Not because you talk more. But because you’ve developed the inner quietness to know when to speak and when to remain silent.

And when you do speak, your words carry weight. They bring gladness. They preserve life. They make you a gift to others instead of just entertainment.

“The soul of the sluggard craves, and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”

The diligent person who does the hard work of inner attention through fasting, prayer, and silence is richly supplied with wisdom. And that wisdom becomes a gift to everyone around him.

Are you becoming a powerful gift through thoughtful speech? Or just entertainment through noisy folly? Lord, have mercy.

St. Cyril, Patriarch of Jerusalem

Today, we commemorate St. Cyril, Patriarch of Jerusalem in the fourth century. He is remembered for his Catechetical Lectures, profound teachings on the Faith delivered to those preparing for baptism. He endured exile three times for defending Orthodox teaching, yet his words have instructed the Church for centuries.

St. Cyril understood what Proverbs teaches in today’s passage. He guarded his mouth. He was prudent with his knowledge, concealing it until the right time to speak. He developed profound inner attention through prayer, fasting, and contemplation.

And when he did speak, through his Catechetical Lectures, his words carried weight that has demanded attention and respect for over sixteen centuries. His thoughtful speech became a powerful gift to the Church. Not entertainment. Not noise. But wisdom that preserves life and brings gladness.

He wasn’t hasty. He wasn’t the life of the party. But he was a light that rejoices. A diligent soul richly supplied with wisdom that became life-giving to countless baptismal candidates and to the whole Church.

That’s Normal Orthodoxy. Developing inner quietness through spiritual disciplines that teach you when to speak and when to remain silent. Guarding your mouth through inner attention that produces real wisdom and maturity of soul. Becoming a powerful gift through thoughtful speech instead of just entertainment through noisy folly.

Your Response Today

Today is Wednesday of the Third Week of Great Lent. Do you know when to speak and when to listen?

It rarely comes naturally to us, so it’s best if we do the hard work of being in communion with wiser people than ourselves to pick up on the wisdom of silence and the humility of learning.

The spiritual disciplines you’re practicing during Great Lent, fasting, prayer, increased services, and silence, all create the inner quietness that allows for discernment to develop. On when to speak and when to remain silent. On when to keep your own counsel and when to share your knowledge.

Start guarding your mouth. Start developing the inner attention that comes from fasting and prayer. Start becoming the thoughtful person whose words carry weight instead of the noisy person who’s just entertainment.

Because the prudent man conceals his knowledge. The wise person guards his mouth. The diligent soul is richly supplied with wisdom that becomes a gift to others.

And this produces real wisdom and maturity of soul. It makes you a powerful gift and influence to those around you.

Being Orthodox on Purpose means developing inner quietness through spiritual disciplines that teach you when to speak and when to remain silent, guarding your mouth through inner attention that produces real wisdom and maturity of soul, and becoming a powerful gift through thoughtful speech instead of just entertainment through noisy folly!

---

P.S. St. Cyril, Patriarch of Jerusalem, you guarded your tongue and cultivated profound inner attentiveness, becoming a powerful gift whose thoughtful words in the Catechetical Lectures have instructed the Church for centuries. Intercede with Christ our God that our souls may be saved.

By becoming a Paid Subscriber, you help us offer these devotionals to everyone every morning. Plus, you get our weekly article, “It’s My Day Off,” every Monday; our Bible Study podcast, “Sharper Than Any Sword,” on Wednesdays; and our parish video homilies when they are released.

Please consider joining our monthly subscribers by signing up today!

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV