“In Much Talk Thou Shalt Not Escape Sin” (Day 24 of the Holy Rule)

Let us do what the Prophet saith: “I said, I will take heed of my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I have set a guard to my mouth, I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence even from good things.” Here the prophet showeth that, if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence, how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin.

For myself, I find silence the most difficult of undertakings. My tendency to “idle talk” is possibly the most disqualifying of my traits for monastic life (and why I am perfectly secure in this lesser more "natural" state of the laity).

The life of jesting, leisurely sportsmanship, avuncular discourse, playing with children, self-parody, and what not comes very naturally to me. To make others laugh always gratified my social instincts.

Since many people have all kinds of problems in life, it also seemed the most expedient way to act charitably towards the legion of the downtrodden, lonely, and overlooked.

I still believe that.

So what is St. Benedict talking about here? By leading with this paragraph (basically a quote and interpretation), St. Benedict is not saying that the lighthearted side of charity is bad or mistaken; rather, he saying that it is an earthly good that the monk must sacrifice for the sake of something higher (a similar observation for silence is made of clerical celibacy in general, see Matthew 19:11-12).

This reminds me of an observation that was the main premise of the American author David Foster Wallace's magnum opus, Infinite Jest.  While the book should not be read by most (especially the young and immature), the argumentative thrust is laudable: A culture devoted to entertainment due to its self-gratifying orientation would cause all manner of spiritual maladies. This Wallace narrated as he imagined the moral life through an overly-graphic, hyper realistic parody of the entertainment industrial complex that was reshaping American public life more openly through the 1980s and 1990s.

To laugh because something is amusing is proof of your humanity, not something evil per se. That said, to develop a cult around amusement to the exclusion of the Transcendent is idolatry. And Infinite Jest is an exquisite exercise towards a secular elaboration of this logical conclusion towards religious life.

For Father Benedict, the hegemony of levity— and that is the word, **hegemony**— is the enemy of spiritual progress. To laugh irrationally (especially when something does not appeal to our higher faculties or earnest observations of life) is to descend into apishness.

The figure of the ape and its mimicry of Man are theologically interesting. In many possession cases, two things often happen regarding imitation of the lower by the higher order: first, that demons often call humans “animals”, “beasts”, etc. because they despise our lower nature and hylomorphic being as “polluted” and imperfect compared to their own angelic natures; and second, the possessed often laugh *hysterically* at the divine, mocking priests and religion, only to be subjugated by the exorcist where the demon is compelled once again to rational speech.  These two characteristics are very pronounced in diabolical possession.

Demons are hyper intelligent beings so why all of this lowly behavior of the possessed— growling, barking, laughing, etc? Because they are mocking their puppets the same way a child would roughly handle a doll.

Yes, laughter can be a dangerous thing when taken as the Summum Bonum. It is a major instrument of hell to mock the Incarnation and to lead souls away from higher things. Hardly just a Benedictine insight, this is precisely what Infinite Jest cautions against too.  

This is why a father must guard his own home against the culture of entertainment and base humor.  Such spirits are truly vile as they unfold in creatures of reason.  If they make their home in your character, these bad renters can wreck your property and treat your mind like a hoarder's nest.

These sorts of evil spirits are of the lowest and most common order.  Their role is to bring you down on all fours and to put a chain around your neck like a dog.