"Acedia"
n. "spiritual or mental sloth; apathy." From Gr. "listlessness;
without care." (From The New Oxford American Dictionary)
"As acedia,
boredom is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. It deserves the honor. You can be
bored by virtually anything if you put your mind to it, or choose not to. You
can yawn your way through Don Giovanni or a trip to the Grand Canyon or an
afternoon with your dearest friend or a sunset. There are doubtless those who
nodded off at the coronation of Napoleon or the trial of Joan of Arc or when
Shakespeare appeared at the Globe in Hamlet or Lincoln delivered himself of a
few remarks at Gettysburg. The odds are that the Sermon on the Mount had more
than a few of the congregation twitchy and glassy-eyed. To be bored is to turn
down cold whatever life happens to be offering you at the moment. It is to cast
a jaundiced eye at life in general including most of all your own life. You
feel nothing is worth getting excited about because you are yourself not worth
getting excited about. To be bored is a way of making the least of things you
often have a sneaking suspicion you need the most. To be bored to death is a
form of suicide."
(Frederich Buechner,
The Sacred Journey)
Check out Bryan
Wilkerson's message on "Sloth? Seriously?" here.
XKCD cartoon permalink here.
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