The Uncarved Stone

In the desert tradition, the abbas and ammas spoke of a monk who spent thirty years in solitary prayer. When a visitor finally sought him out, expecting radiant wisdom, the old monk simply washed the stranger's feet without a word. The visitor wept — not because of what the monk said, but because of what silence had carved away. This is what Paul glimpses in Philippians 2:3-4: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.…