So in church we have been talking about the seven deadly
sins. This week was sloth.
My pastor described it not as laziness but as passions
being stirred to what matters little at the expense of what matters most. Something that has power and you might be totally
clueless about. It makes you dig a rut, then you hop in the wagon and let it
rock you back and forth. You stay where you are. Sloth makes you ask, “why
bother?”. It leads to sorrow about goodness and despondency. Things we
enjoy and pursue become boring and dull.
This has happened over the past couple of weeks because I
have been stirring things in my life around.
“Do not look for rest in any pleasure, because you were
not created for pleasure: you were created for joy. And if you do not know the
difference between pleasure and joy, you have not yet begun to live.” – Thomas Merton
This was quoted at church on Sunday. After reading the quote
in the text it makes even more sense. “Pleasures require consumption. Eating, drinking, sleeping, watching, listening,
buying. They’re nice. They enhance life, but they’re not life.”
“Joy, flow, gratification — whatever you want to call it — is the core of life, and it requires
production. It doesn’t come from eating the cake. It comes from baking the
cake.”
Joy is active. It’s being a part of what you are passionate
about. Joy is something that is worked for not something that is handed to you.
Everyone receives joy in different ways. Everyone has different gifts and
different talents. We are to be humble but we are not to hide our
gifts and talents. The sloth makes
a person believe that its not worth it and we should stay where we are, hide
our gifts and talents. While God
wants us to use these gifts and talents to their full potential.
I have been convicted of being a sloth like lately. In just about everything. Lately just
sitting around thinking of what I could be getting done and not doing it. I
have been rocking in my wagon and instead of taking it for a ride. I’m ready
for the joy to come back. I hope
you all are searching for that joy or have found that joy too.
