Monday, March 26, 2007

On Boredom

Boredom is a vice. It is one vice which I find incomprehensible. There is too much to do to be bored. Nevertheless, it occurred to me that there are many bored people around nowadays. So I decided to research boredom. It is connected to the sin of sloth, of acedia. Sloth begets many other vices. Here is a quote from an article about how boredom and sloth can even lead to depression.

To be oppressed by weariness and boredom is to despair of the glory to which God calls us. The inability to delight in God is the inability to glorify God. If faith is the “eye of love” that “sees” and delights in the beauty of God’s love in all things, acedia implies the absence of the love which both “sees” and delights in the all-encompassing splendor of God’s love.

The remedy for boredom is prayer. Through prayer and meditation come inspiration and joy, even when the prayer is dry and difficult. When inspired, it is easy to see how the world is full of wonders. There is always something more to learn, to do, to create. And life is so short.
Share

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Amen, amen, very true.

Lily