In Session 10 We Defined the Often-Overlooked Sin Of

In Session 10 we defined the often-overlooked sin of sloth and saw how it’s more than the usual idea of “laziness.” Now, we’ll look at the other forms of acedia—learning its causes, its manifestations, and its remedies. Acedia: More Than Just Sloth As we saw with laziness, acedia and its many forms stem from a disposition of the heart toward despair, despondency, and sadness. This definition doesn’t seem intuitive at first—we might think we just need to “get a grip” and get our work done. Yes, sheer willpower can help us overcome laziness in a given moment, but it may not solve the problem’s root. And that’s why acedia can appear not only as a lazy refusal of work, but as anxiety, restlessness, and even unending activity. So, let’s take a closer look. Benedictine Abbot Jean-Charles Nault says that there are five principal manifestations of acedia. He writes about them in the superb book T he Noonday Devil: Acedia, the Unnamed Evil of Our Times. He draws from some familiar sources: Evagrius of Pontus, St. John Cassian, and St. John Climacus. We’ll list them here “in order of increasing intensity and gravity” and paraphrase what he says. The Five Principal Manifestations of Acedia are: 1. A certain interior instability 2. An exaggerated concern for one’s health 3. Aversion to manual work 4. Neglect in observing the rule 5. General discouragement Now, this list is not a progression, necessarily; we don’t always begin with instability and end with discouragement. Rather, these are five ways that acedia—our indifference to the good—can crop up and begin to erode the good things of our life. Interior Instability Acedia can show up as an imperceptible instability in our spirit. This is arguably the most common form of acedia today. This instability isn’t just a change in mood: the saints describe it as a desire to change location, to wander in search of something to occupy us, as an unconscious way to avoid dealing with whatever disturbance (or boredom) caused the instability. The source of our disturbance is irrelevant—it may be a trivial annoyance or a legitimate issue; it may be our own brokenness or an intrusive thought from the enemy. These days, we don’t need to wander in hopes of finding a distraction. Everyone has a smartphone in their pocket: a portal to an entire world, curated by algorithms to our particular tastes and inclinations. And it’s always just a moment away. How often do we reach for our phones to distract us or to pass time? We might be caught in an awkward situation, in a boring waiting room, or even be among our families—and we reach for our phones. In these cases, rather than be present to our surroundings (which might be uncomfortable or require our effort), we prefer the comfort of the distraction (or the facsimile of relationship through texts and social media) to the discomfort of the moment. In these moments, there’s almost always a reason for us to reach for our phones, but we usually don’t do so consciously. We might feel bored, uncomfortable, or self-conscious. We might want to “make the best use of our time” while we wait for something or desire the connection that the internet promises us. In the end, though, the scrolling only crowds out silence and makes us susceptible to a state of constant activity, never even realizing how unhappy we are. It can become a state of despondency and indifference to the world as we “doomscroll” through our feeds, avoiding our own insecurities and internal instability through more instability. Exaggerated Concern for One’s Health Evagrius and Climacus noted this manifestation of acedia because their brother monks would have a genuine but u nnecessary f ear of fasting, work, and tedium. We remain guilty of this fear today, not only for our physical health but also for our mental and emotional health. The saints are not saying that concern for one’s health is wrong, only exaggerated o r disproportionate concern. We shouldn’t use our weaknesses as an excuse for vice. Every person needs mental and emotional well-being, and we have a duty to take care of ourselves. But we must make sure that in “taking care of ourselves” we are truly doing that. Much is made these days about “self-care,” and rightly so—but more often than not self-care means doing the work we don’t want to do: washing the dishes, making a well-rounded meal, getting up on time, exercising, and opening up to a friend about our struggles. We must make sure our rest truly helps us r est and recover r ather than functioning as an emotional pause-button. We’ll cover this in more depth in Session 22. Aversion to Manual Work This manifestation of acedia is why sloth eventually became a synonym for “laziness.” It is this lazy despondency that St. Gregory equated with sloth in his writings about the Seven Deadly Sins. We handled laziness in depth in Session 10. Neglect in Observing the Rule While “the Rule” here refers to the rules of monastic life, we too need to be wary of how, over time, acedia will make us backslide in our commitments and lower our standards. Laziness, anxiety, and restlessness cause us to excuse ourselves when we mess up. Rather than observe high standards for ourselves, we’ll chase the momentary pleasures that come from ignoring responsibilities. Furthermore, acedia’s “melancholy” includes an indifference to s piritual goods—making us ambivalent toward our prayer lives and about real progress in holiness. Acedia will lure us to ignore prayer today and “go back to it tomorrow.” When we resolve to change, acedia will make us put off that change until later. Overall, the despondency of acedia will lead us to neglect our responsibilities—not necessarily out of laziness, but also out of fear, indifference, or despair. General Discouragement The final manifestation of acedia—and the one to which all other manifestations lead—is complete discouragement. The soul…due to the thoughts of sloth and listlessness that have persisted in it, has become weak, has been brought low, and has dissipated in the miseries of its soul; whose strength has been consumed by its great fatigue; whose hope has nearly been destroyed by this demon’s force; that has become mad and childish with passionate and doleful tears; and that has relief from anywhere. —Evagrius of Pontus, Antirrhetikos VI, 38 If we allow ourselves to stay trapped within acedia, we will ultimately feel as if there is no hope in the spiritual battle. We become weakened and mournful, and will likely succumb to a host of other deadly sins. We must be watchful with acedia, so that we don’t end up in such a position. The Remedies The remedies for this discouragement—and for all the manifestations of acedia—will ultimately be found in God. We’ll evaluate how to grow in acedia’s opposing virtues, diligence and true leisure, in Sessions 21 and 22, but we’ll look at the advice of our authors here as well. Evagrius and Climacus both recommend the following: 1. First, acknowledge our need to be saved. 2. Second, commit to regular prayer as well as work, especially physical work, which will help strengthen the will against the comforts of the body. 3. Third, contradict the negative, slothful thoughts with prayerful, opposite affirmations. Rather than thinking “I can do it later,” say aloud, “Christ, help me do it now.” As St. Benedict says, “When evil thoughts come into one’s heart, dash them against Christ immediately.” 4. Fourth, meditate on death. Once again, calling to mind the fact that we don’t have endless time on earth and that we will someday meet our Judge and Savior will spur us towards rightful action. W e must meditate on this with the hope of Christians, not the fear of unrepentant sinners. O therwise, our undue fear of death might drag us further into malaise. 5. Fifth, persevere. It is simple advice, but effective. We must press onward, doing what God asks of us and turning it all over to Him. He will see us through. .

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