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The Joy Thief

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

"We would like to get back to our innocence and joy, but they are cold and sepulchered."          
                                                                             Archbishop Fulton Sheen


The Seven Deadly Sins steal your joy. But perhaps none so much as the deadly sin of sloth, also known as acedia. If you lack joy in your life this may be the deadly sin to look at first, so great are its detrimental effects on the soul. Sloth is the head "joy thief" because, well...that happens to be its job description. It is sadness in the face of joy, sorrow for the things of God. Or as Peter Kreeft, in his book Back to Virtue, so bluntly describes it:

"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?"

This is the best explanation of sloth that I have ever seen. Sloth finds Joy himself...joyless.

Scary, huh? Sloth is like walking around in the bright sunshine with a huge black cloud hanging over your head. You can't see the light for the darkness that surround you.

St. Thomas Aquinas says that sloth is a "sluggishness of the mind which neglects to begin good...its evil is in its effect, if it so oppresses man as to draw him away from good deeds". So, sloth is not only joyless, it is neglectful as well.

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...

Here are a few of the signs (or symptoms, one could say) of sloth:
~ An aversion to prayer - this can be mild or great depending on how deeply rooted this vice is
~ Aridity
~ Lack of zeal
~ Disorganization
~ Confusion (spiritual)
~ Apathy or discouragement
~ Boredom
~ Putting off tasks or leaving them undone without good reason
~ A lack of awe
~ Ingratitude
~ Sadness (melancholy)
~ Excessive activity that hides a spiritual languor - too busy for God

The seven deadly sins tend to be "intertwined" with each other like interlocking pieces of a hellish puzzle. For most of us there tends to be one particular deadly sin that takes precedence over the others. In other words, it is the "kingpin" and hitting the kingpin helps take down the other deadly "pins" that have attached themselves to our souls.

Sloth is sneaky, irresponsible, and apathetic when it comes to God but there are remedies for this vice and one of the ways we tackle it is by practicing the opposing virtue. In the case of sloth/acedia the opposing virtue is diligence. Exercising virtues builds your spiritual muscles. Another virtue which opposes sloth is charity.

It's important to remember that joy isn't a "thing" to be grasped. Joy is alive. Joy is a person.
Set your heart on God and there you will find your Joy.

A Couple of Thoughts from Great Saints - On Obedience

You will become a saint if you have charity, if you manage to do the things which please others and do not offend God, though you find them hard to do.

- Saint Josemaria Escriva (1902-1975)

Where there is no obedience, there is no virtue; there is neither goodness nor love. And where there is no love, there is no God. Without God, we cannot reach Heaven. These virtues form a ladder; if a step is missing, we fall down.

- Saint Padre Pio (1887-1968)

True Charity

In the last months of her life St. Therese of the Child Jesus wrote, "Now I know that true charity consists in bearing all my neighbor's defects, in not being surprised at mistakes, but in being edified at the smallest virtues" (St. 10).

How often do we focus on the imperfections in others and then "pick a little, talk a little" (from The Music Man) about them to others or criticize people to their faces?  Wouldn't it be better to develop the habit of looking for something to praise and imitate in them?  It's just a change in orientation but it can transform the sourness of life into sweetness and make us more humble and pleasing to God, don't you think?

Rash Judgment

Other bloggers often inspire me to write related posts at my blog, full of thoughts I've been chewing on for some time but haven't gotten around to sending into the ether. This week I was pondering a post by Msgr. Charles Pope, examining the whys and wherefores behind a particularly obnoxious behavior just about everybody, including me, falls into. Thanks to Victor's prompting I will again shamelessly link to a spin-off post at my blog - Rash Judgment.

Thank you, Victor.  And to Mary, the prayer by Eusebius, May I Be No One's Enemy that you brought us in your recent post here is perfect for us rash judgers.

Patiently Bear Weaknesses

Do you feel stressed over the Christmas season? Do you feel guilty about feeling stressed? Do you dread encountering some relatives you see only once a year and breathe a sigh of relief that it will be 11 more months before you have to be with them again? Do you feel guilty about that?

We want to get together and enjoy one another, but in the pit of our stomachs we may experience a grinding anxiety over what could happen when Uncle Off I. Cious, Aunt Whine. E. Pants, Sister Daffy, Brother Crit I. Cal, In-law Hair Trigg R. Temper and the rest all come together under the same roof. And let's not forget about me: diagnosed with a severe case of Foot-in-Mouth disease that seems incurable even after years of treatment.

We want peace and joy. We are supposed to be celebrating Jesus' birthday, aren't we? But many families have a certain amount of disfunctionality that belies all those happy faces in the ads and on cards. It can really drain away our peace of mind. The family get-together becomes something to be endured and gotten through rather than a fun occasion full of love and laughter and something we look forward to.

So what's the answer? St. Benedict, the practical and wise tells us in chapter 72 of his rule. It's not just for monks. We average Joes can live it, too. When I read it this morning I immediately thought of everyone going through family difficulties during the holidays.

Let them bear most patiently one another's infirmities, whether of body or of character.

This eagerness to live for others leads us to help another bear his burden. It is not only to put up with another's weaknesses, but also to carry, bear, shoulder lovingly the infirmities of others. "Bear ye one another's burdens," says St. Paul to the Galatians (6:2).

Father Gerard Ellspermann, O.S.B. commenting on this phrase of the rule writes:

"Bear them most patiently" means, too, that we suffer with the other one -- and that most patiently. The Latin word, patior, means in its reflexive sense, "I suffer, I myself suffer, I suffer myself." It is only when we can't stand ourselves that we begin to take it out on others and become impatient with others. "Most patiently" is one of those phrases we can stop on, think about, and pray about.

The highlighted sentence really brought me up short. What is it about the relatives that they can't stand about themselves? What is it about me that I can't stand? Whoa.

Father Gerard goes on:

This work of accommodating ourselves to one another in the community is a continual struggle. Not only is tolerance necessary, but it is also one of the bet ways to make our following of Christ practical. Perhaps what is even more necessary than tolerance is a sense of compassion after the mind of Christ.

Actually, we are back again to charity that is manifested in mutual regard and mutual kindness. While we share many advantages with each other, we also have to endure with tireless patience the differences among ourselves. The nationalities represented in one community, the differences in temperament, the superiority of some and the rivalry of others are all embraced under bearing the infirmities of others, be they of body or character.

St. Benedict, patient with the weakness of monks, pray for us.

And pray for us as we gather to celebrate the birth of Christ in our families so that we may experience peace and joy in each other's company and cut one another some slack.