Sloth is a joy stealer. Those who are encumbered by this deadly sin walk this world in a half-hearted fashion and I believe it is one of the biggest problems that this century is faced with. Those who are lukewarm almost always have a problem with sloth. Sloth is a spiritual torpor, a listlessness of the spirit that leads most often to sins of omission rather than sins of commission. Rather than confronting this joyless spirit head-on, many try to escape it by frantically rushing around in an attempt to outrun the heaviness in their hearts and the sword of sorrow hanging over their heads. This is where sloth gets ugly, for in trying to escape it we make matters worse. Sloth doesn't like to confront, it likes to avoid. It is a spiritual languor that says, "I still have time...I'll take care of spiritual matters tomorrow. Today I just have too many things to do - I have to get this shopping done, the game is on, these e-mails have to go out, my blog is waiting (hmmm), etc...
In other words, if a person's slothfulness gets bad enough they could procrastinate themselves right into hell. One of my favorite books is Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft and I have this book in my "keeper" stack so I can reread it regularly. In this book, the author goes through each of the seven deadly sins in detail and explains why the beatitudes are an antidote to these sins. I was particularly struck by one of the paragraphs in his book where he says, "Sloth is the most depressing thing in the world. It is hell on earth. It finds our very highest joy - God himself - joyless. If Joy himself is joyless, where can we find joy? If salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be restored? If the very light in us is darkness, how great is that darkness?"
Sloth finds God joyless. Scary, huh? Now you know why I am tackling this one first. Sloth is sneaky, irresponsible (good remedies suggested here), and apathetic when it comes to God. I'm not sure I could imagine anything worse, could you?
17 comments:
Good post.
Remember the 7 virgins who did not have enough oil in their lamps?
Sloth dates back beyond this Century!
God bless.
I guess you're right :)
God bless you too, Victor!
Wow! These posts are excellent Mary. This subject always fascinates me...probably because I am especially guilty of this one. *Acedia* by Kathleen Norris is a really good one to read on that subject. This one by Peter Kreeft sounds excellent too! I will be revisiting these...thank you for a much needed PUSH : )~Theresa
ouch! but...needs to be said, my prayer, stay on fire for God, may I stay HOT!
Thank you Mary.
Thank you, Theresa :) The Kathleen Norris book is on my wish list!
Rayanne,
Funny! May I say "DITTO"? Lol!
Very good post Mary. I do believe this is a huge problem in our faith today. I've seen it so often. Sometimes this type of attitude can be so disheartening, that someone who is not particularly slothful starts to lose heart in faith because of the prevalent attitude around them.
I've heard that we don't see many miracles in America for this very reason. Not like we should.
Hi Cheri,
Thank you for your comment. I agree, it can be disheartening and a bit "catchy" because we are so surrounded by apathy when it comes to the Lord. Your remark about the lack of miracles is very insightful too. No doubt we would see more of them if our hearts were on fire for the Lord.
Hi Mary,
As I sit here procrastinating, before I move on to things I really need to get done today, I wonder why...why do i so often do this? Read another blog post; check my e-mail yet again, etc.
And then I get so annoyed with ME!
Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in a jar of molasses, and just can't seem to break free and get my life organized.
I find that Sloth can invade every area of our lives, and that when we lose control of our daily duties and responsibilities, we become frantic, and then of course that impacts our prayer life, since we feel compelled to catch up on work, chores etc.
May God grant us right order and faithfulness to His priorities in our lives!
Signing off now...and staying off till at least tonight! : )
Blessings to you Mary; I'm praying along too.
Love,
Patricia
Patricia,
I get annoyed with myself too. You've painted a good picture of what happens to me! I could relate to your comment. (Boy, I wish I didn't have to say that...lol.)
God bless :)
Good post. Seems so much more solid when you insert a quote from Kreeft. I want that book but there are at least 3 or 4 in front of it.
Hi Colleen,
Back to Virtue is a very good book and I highly recommend it. If you are ever looking for a great book on sloth/acedia I just ordered Kathleen Norris' book, Acedia, on my Kindle today. Wow! She puts into words what I was trying to express in my posts on this subject in a more concise manner and it is clarifying a lot of my own thoughts on this subject. A fellow blogger recommended it and I decided to order it since it's what I've been writing about this week. Boy, am I glad I did! An eye-opener for sure!
Mary...... just "thank you."
Hi JBR! I hope you are doing well! Sending you a great big hug :)
Some very famous people struggled with Acedia and triumphed. I posted on St. Francis of Assisi early the past month and he certainly struggled with this sin but with God's grace he was able to triumph. He told the brothers:
“The devil is most delighted when he can steal the joy of spirit from a servant of God. He carries dust which he tries to throw into the tiniest openings of the conscience, to dirty a clear mind and a clean life.”
This is so true. Mother Teresa and C.S. Lewis struggled with sloth as well. I believe this may have something to do with what St. John of the Cross calls the "Dark Night of the Soul" but I may be wrong.
Carnival,
Thank you for your comment. I have been really trying to read up on this subject and I found your words and the quote helpful. St. Francis is one of my favorite saints :)
Wow, Mary...great post.
Can't wait to share this.
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