"According to John Cassian in his fifth-century Institutes, Acedia names the condition of the afflicted monk who, come noonday, can stand his cell no longer. This monk is looking for any excuse to leave off the work of prayer. Surely there is a widow to visit, a bedside to attend,"
it reminds me of this passage from Blaise Pascal's 'Pensees':
"the sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room. A man wealthy enough for man's needs would never leave home to go to sea or besiege some fortress if he knew how to stay at home and enjoy it. Men would never spend so much on a commission in the army if they could bear living in town all their lives, and they only seek after the company and diversion of gambling because they do not enjoy staying at home."
The work's become less sacred, more secular. Now we leave our rooms not to visit widows or to attend the sick, but to wage wars, colonize far-away lands, or gamble. Heck, now we gamble IN our rooms.
Our lives are numb with Acedia, and it takes writing like yours to awaken us to the numbness. And this waking is painful, like the wakening of any long-benumbed leg--a prickly, hapless experience, until we regain our footing.
This is the article I have needed to read for months. I have been struggling with acedia for what feels like forever but haven't been able to put my finger on it because it's such a slippery, overlookable offense, especially for those of us who didn't grow up learning about the virtues and vices in any sort of traditional catechism. Thank you for this outstanding analysis and call to action.
It probably doesn't register, but I clicked the heart button like 18 times.
Thank you for this. I have suffered from this on many levels like you talk about. So this helps.
Jen, when you point out that
"According to John Cassian in his fifth-century Institutes, Acedia names the condition of the afflicted monk who, come noonday, can stand his cell no longer. This monk is looking for any excuse to leave off the work of prayer. Surely there is a widow to visit, a bedside to attend,"
it reminds me of this passage from Blaise Pascal's 'Pensees':
"the sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room. A man wealthy enough for man's needs would never leave home to go to sea or besiege some fortress if he knew how to stay at home and enjoy it. Men would never spend so much on a commission in the army if they could bear living in town all their lives, and they only seek after the company and diversion of gambling because they do not enjoy staying at home."
The work's become less sacred, more secular. Now we leave our rooms not to visit widows or to attend the sick, but to wage wars, colonize far-away lands, or gamble. Heck, now we gamble IN our rooms.
Our lives are numb with Acedia, and it takes writing like yours to awaken us to the numbness. And this waking is painful, like the wakening of any long-benumbed leg--a prickly, hapless experience, until we regain our footing.
This is the article I have needed to read for months. I have been struggling with acedia for what feels like forever but haven't been able to put my finger on it because it's such a slippery, overlookable offense, especially for those of us who didn't grow up learning about the virtues and vices in any sort of traditional catechism. Thank you for this outstanding analysis and call to action.
Hope, I’m so glad this was helpful to you!