When your friend mentions anything remotely related to acedia (despondency)... (THREAD)
https://twitter.com/tracesoffaith/status/1396810408405651459
@tracesoffaith asked whether 'languishing' and 'acedia' are similar. She's been hearing the word 'languishing' in reference to the existential malaise wrought by COVID and its discontents...
Idk if I have any concrete answers but I do think it's a fun question and pretty much anything that gives us an opportunity to look within ourselves and our spiritual patterns of thought is a good thing, so I'll take it...
Definition of languish:
to be or become weak or feeble; droop; fade.
to lose vigor and vitality.
to undergo neglect or experience prolonged inactivity; suffer hardship and distress.
to be subjected to delay or disregard; be ignored.
to be or become weak or feeble; droop; fade.
to lose vigor and vitality.
to undergo neglect or experience prolonged inactivity; suffer hardship and distress.
to be subjected to delay or disregard; be ignored.
Dictionary definition of acedia:
laziness or indifference in religious matters.
Acedia comes from the Greek a (absence of) + kedia (care). So a better synonym might be apathy or carelessness rather than laziness. In my book I use the term despondency for reasons, but I digress
laziness or indifference in religious matters.
Acedia comes from the Greek a (absence of) + kedia (care). So a better synonym might be apathy or carelessness rather than laziness. In my book I use the term despondency for reasons, but I digress
Desert ascetics, chiefly Evagrius Ponticus, of early Christianity understood acedia to be the result of anger and desire -->
anger at what we have, desire for what we don't have. This creates a kind of gridlock that deadens a person into acedia...
anger at what we have, desire for what we don't have. This creates a kind of gridlock that deadens a person into acedia...
This deadness culminates in a kind of paralysis of our care muscles, particularly towards the life of faith, which requires effort (prayer, Psalmody, love for God and neighbor), but this carelessness bleeds out into all aspects of life...
It was understood as the deadliest of passions (although to be fair pretty much every passion was described as the most deadly 🤷♀️it's not a competition, guys) b/c it effectively amounted to death of the soul...
Early ascetics viewed acedia as a monastic ailment - a spiritual sickness that particularly affected and afflicted monastics - because this was their frame of reference and experience. . .
But acedia can attack any time we engage in meaningful labor - spiritual or otherwise (note: all of life is spiritual, folks) - that requires effort or overcoming internal resistance. When we turn away from the effort/resistance, we invite acedia.
I like to think of acedia as a symptom of a much deeper existential condition, but that would take more explanation - you should just read my book (store.ancientfaith.com/time-and-despo…)
But back to the original question re. languishing...
But back to the original question re. languishing...
To me at least, the way languishing is being used to describe our Covid and post-COVID ennui seems like more of an after-effect or symptom of acedia, not necessarily the condition itself.
We have been in a situation for so long where on the one hand we haven't had to care about some very basic things, like showing up on time to in-person church or social engagements. But on the other hand have had to suddenly care about some very ...
Difficult and heavy and horrifying prospects that seem beyond our capacity to comprehend (like the prospect of prolonged, mass lockdowns and long-term economic consequences, not to mention ppl dying) that many of us have just shut down our care muscles.
And so maybe those muscles have atrophied. Bringing about a state of what Evagrius called "atonia" of the soul.
Atonia = lack of (muscle) tone (the same term is used today in medicine to describe lack of muscle tone due to illness or debilitation).
Atonia = lack of (muscle) tone (the same term is used today in medicine to describe lack of muscle tone due to illness or debilitation).
To me languishing is on par with that atonia.
Luckily there's a way out, and that is to start caring again, with God's help. About whatever small things external to ourselves that we can. Gratitude. Mindfulness. Thanking God.
Luckily there's a way out, and that is to start caring again, with God's help. About whatever small things external to ourselves that we can. Gratitude. Mindfulness. Thanking God.
It's not easy and like strengthening any muscle, it will feel dumb and lame and painful to care at first. Especially if we have to start small (caring for a houseplant, a cup of espresso, a person we don't know but saw waiting for a bus so we pray for them for a second).
It's okay to start somewhere, anywhere, to begin to care. The Bible doesn't tell us to be thankful but to give thanks (action word). Likewise we don't need to "feel" caring, but we do have to care. Abt something.
God be with us and merciful to help us all in our journey. Amen.
God be with us and merciful to help us all in our journey. Amen.
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