The next deadly sin in our series is the vice that St. Gregory the Great called “sloth.” Of all the deadly sins, sloth can be the hardest to define.

Usually, we think of sloth as “laziness,” or of a slothful person as slow to move or act, like the animal that bears this vice’s name. While laziness is a vice—it will steal our joy and bring us into a state of numbness and living death—sloth is a much broader sin. Misunderstanding sloth in this way is not only inaccurate, but will leave our souls vulnerable to great unrest.

Because it can be hard to sufficiently grasp the wily sin of sloth, here’s the plan for this session and the next:

First, we’ll look at sloth’s many names so we can get a broad view of this sin’s many forms.

Second, we’ll evaluate laziness itself: the straightforward form of sloth, in the remainder of this session.

Third, in Session 11, we’ll evaluate the other form of sloth: the melancholy and empty activity that so regularly plagues us in this day and age. We need to treat this separately because this manifestation of sloth is often overlooked and too dangerous to treat with brevity.

Let’s begin by trying to define the pesky sin of sloth.

What Should We Call This Sin?

Sloth and laziness have a similar relationship to that of pride and vainglory: they go hand-in-hand and can even be synonymous, but we’ll be blind to certain forms of sin if we don’t explore the nuance and learn about the deeper meanings of each. So, how can we label sloth?

The fact is, our English language fails us here. The sin of sloth was first called “akedia” in ancient Greek, a word that doesn’t translate into ancient Latin, let alone modern English. The Latin fathers like Gregory might call it “acedia,” but this is a transliteration, not a translation. To add to the confusion, the definition of acedia has changed over time.

Our saintly writers thus give acedia a whole host of other names: s adness, melancholy, sleepiness, tedium, despondency, anxiety, restlessness of heart, indifference, apathy, weariness… a nd yes, sloth a nd l aziness t oo.

None of these names give a complete picture of this vicious sin, but taken together, we can begin to see it clearly.

“Acedia” isn’t about inaction, but rather a disposition of the heart towards an immobile, smothering malaise. At its root, it concerns despair and indifference towards good things. Acedia is root cause of one of its manifestations, slothful laziness.

For the purposes of our series, we’ll use the term “sloth” in its modern sense to denote laziness and a reluctance to act. We’ll use the broader term “acedia” to denote the deeper issue of despondency, despair, and anxiety; we will explore these other manifestations of this sin in Session 11.

Seeing and Fighting Sloth, According to St. John Climacus

When laziness takes root in our lives, it often results from that despondency and melancholy of acedia. Even in small matters, the failure to act with diligence often comes from a lack of hope or indifference to negative consequences: “That’s not worth my time,” “It won’t matter if I put this off,” “I’d rather enjoy this other thing instead.” Over time, this incorrect calculation of hope and danger can steal our time and eventually lead us to abandon our most precious gifts from God.

In his treatise on the spiritual life, St. John Climacus confronts the spirit of sloth—translated here as “tedium.” This encounter reveals both the dangers and the cures for our slothfulness:

“You there! You cross and sluggish creature, what was it that evilly begot the likes of you? Who are your children? Who are your enemies?” And tedium may be constrained to reply: “I cannot lay my head among those who are truly obedient, and I live quietly where I may. I have many mothers—Stolidity [emotionlessness] of Soul, Forgetfulness of the Things of Heaven, or sometimes, Too Heavy a Burden of Troubles. My children who live with me are Changing from Place to Place, Disobedience to One’s Superior, Forgetfulness of the Judgment to Come, and sometimes, the Abandonment of One’s Vocation. The singing of psalms and manual labor are my opponents by whom I am bound. My enemy is thought of death, but what really slays me is prayer backed by a firm hope in blessing of the future…” —St. John Climacus, The Ladder of the Divine Ascent

As with the other deadly sins, prayer excoriates this vice from our lives. But fighting sloth requires “prayer backed by a firm hope.” Laziness and tedium will falter against the promises and blessings of God; we must go to Him in prayer and then act according to His will. Since so much of laziness can come through a sad despondency and a quiet despair, the virtue of hope will inspire the soul towards diligent action.

Climacus also denotes the singing of psalms and manual labor as “bindings” for this sin and the thought of death as sloth’s “enemy.”

The singing of psalms is, of course, a form of prayer that was the heart of the prayer life of hermits and monks [to whom Climacus addressed his Ladder of Divine Ascent]…Sloth is an indifference or apathy toward divine things and God, but the psalms immerse us in our relationship with God, expressing confidence in His guidance and goodness, and expressing our gratitude and praise…

Not only does prayer mix poorly with sloth, but work does as well. Spiritual sloth may indeed be expressed in physical indolence, sluggishness, and downright laziness, when we simply don’t care enough to honor God in even the most menial of our tasks. To train ourselves to love our labors, and to “pray always,” as we do them, is to train ourselves to experience and relish the spiritual joys born of charity. —Dr. Kevin Vost, The Seven Deadly Sins

What about the “thought of death”? Dr. Vost goes on:

Do we remind ourselves we are but wayfarers on earth, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” on our way toward those four last things: death, judgment, heaven, and hell? If we do not bear this in mind, we may become susceptible to sloth as our minds wander to temporal things, having forgotten about what’s eternal. —The Seven Deadly Sins

When it comes to laziness, we should again think of the tug-of-war model of virtue and vice: we need to resist the desire to lounge about by counteracting it.

However, our wills often act against us here, which is why we need to use spiritual and mental tactics to overcome the inertia of our inactivity. Remember your eternal destiny. Reflect on the good things you’ll achieve only through effort. Weigh the consequences of action or inaction with honesty a nd with hope r ather than despair. Then, pray for the strength to do as you ought, and begin right away.

In session 11, we’ll cover the other forms of acedia and see how the lack of hope and its corresponding despondency can manifest in ways that look nothing like laziness.