More on the Prayer of St. Ephraim
Finally, idle talk.
Of all created beings, man alone has been endowed with the gift of speech. All Fathers see in it the very “seal” of the Divine Image in man because God Himself is revealed as Word (John, 1:1).
But being the supreme gift, it is by the same token the supreme danger.
Being the very expression of man, the means of his self-fulfillment, it is for this very reason the means of his fall and self-destruction, of betrayal and sin.
The word saves and the word kills;
the word inspires and the word poisons.
The word is the means of Truth and it is the means of demonic Lie.
Having an ultimate positive power, it has therefore a tremendous negative power. It truly creates positively or negatively.
When deviated from its divine origin and purpose,
the word becomes idle.
It “enforces” sloth, despondency, and lust of power, and transforms life into hell. It becomes the very power of sin.
Fr. Alexander Schmemann