When the Homily is about Immunology

O Lord and Master of my life...

...take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk

(sigh) I expect many of you will be happy to see me squirm on this point. Take comfort in knowing that I do indeed find myself squirming as this one slips past my lips each day.

I could try and squirm free by narrowing down in self-complimentary fashion what exactly "IDLE" talk (or typing)is. No doubt a post feigning a presidential run for Jack Bauer is exceptionally idle typing.

Conrtol of the toungue (or fingers in the modern sense) seems to be the main point of reference when the fathers speak of speech. I think we can all recall times when we have said things that we deeply regret..sadly sometimes only after someone finally told us how deeply those words cut them. It might seem astounding upon initial reflection that the two organs of the human body that are most often perceived as being critically important in the life of a Christian are the stomach and the tongue.

What we say matters...it very often speaks what is in our hearts. How's that for self-condemnation? I know many Orthodox bloggers go "dark" during Lent...I commend them for it and offer no excuse for my own ongoing rambling.

I shall stop talking now and let the Desert Fathers speak on this matter.