Noise of Violent Human Speech and the Restraint of Contemplative Silence

Alvenio Mozol, Jr.

Noise of Violent Human Speech and the Restraint of Contemplative Silence

Auteurs

Alvenio Mozol, Jr. De La Salle University-Manila

Mots-clés :

Language, Noise, Violence, Contemplative Silence, Temple Theology, Desert Spirituality, Maggie Ross

Résumé

This essay assumes that violent human speech is a form of noise. It argues that linguistic integrity is primarily a function of a “silent mind” soaked in silence—a silence which is not a mere absence of words, a type of passive protest, or a state of unspeakable suffering, but the spacious, fertile, and transfiguring ground of human speech because it is the boundless yet contingent “temple of divine presence”. This study is developed through the Judeo- Christian praxis and theoria of contemplative silence, using biblical, early Christian, and contemporary sources: The First Temple tradition, those of the desert fathers/abbas and mothers/ammas, and from Anglican solitary Maggie Ross with her “work of silence.” Thus, contemplative silence is argued 1) in its more restraining reconstructive potential for some imagined social order and 2) beyond restraint, in the habit of contemplative silence that leads toward a more peaceful, compassionate society.

Biographie de l'auteur

Alvenio Mozol, Jr., De La Salle University-Manila

Alvenio G. Mozol, Jr., is a lecturer in the Theology and Religious Education Department, De La Salle University. He obtained his Master of Health Social Science from the DLSU as a Ford Foundation scholar. He was trained in healthcare ethics at Albert Gnaegi Center for Healthcare Ethics, Saint Louis University, Missouri, as well as in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas where he worked as a lay Chaplain Fellow for two years for patients with brain and lung cancers and was awarded the Rev. Edward Mahnke Award for excellence in CPE. His two recent essays were commissioned for the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF): “Immanuel Kant Para sa Ating Kapanahunan,” and “Etika ng Globalisasyon at Ekolohiya: Tugon mula sa Relihiyon, Hamon para sa mga Millennials/Fillennials.” He is the author of the book Engaging Silence, Climbing Mt. Tabor: Faith-Life Meditations (Quezon City: Great Books Trading, 2015). Mozol also facilitates retreats and recollections for DLSU formation programmes and other communities.

Noise of Violent Human Speech and the Restraint of Contemplative Silence