Journey Of Life Lutheran Church

We think of sloth as simple laziness. The ancient word in the list of Seven Deadly Sins (really, seven deadly thoughts or temptations) is “acedia.” Acedia simply means not caring. It’s closer to apathy than to laziness. The deadly temptation of acedia gets its claws into us when we don’t work when we should be working (what we typically think of as sloth). But acedia also manifests itself in working when we shouldn’t be. Not trusting God enough to take a Sabbath and stop working for a while can be a form of acedia. Acedia also manifests itself in doing one thing when you should be doing something else. We’ve all experienced how important some mundane task seems to become when the alternative is facing something unpleasant. Acedia also includes things like not caring about your relationships enough to face difficulties and deal with them. Spend some time contemplating the deadly temptation of acedia in this message from Pastor John.