Of the seven deadly sins, sloth is probably the most misunderstood and difficult to pin down. People commonly associate it with laziness, yet even a very active person can be slothful. In fact, hyperactivity may be a symptom we have fallen prey to this vice.
So if sluggishness and hyperactivity can both be signs of sloth, what is the essence of this vice, exactly?
To answer this question, it can be helpful to look at the definition provided by the Angelic Doctor. St. Thomas defines sloth, which he calls acedia, as a sort of sorrow about the things of God. The slothful man experiences an oppressive sadness, apathy, or boredom about the prospect of serving and enjoying God.
This definition helps us to understand why there are different and seemingly opposite manifestations of this vice. All of them, in some way, are the result of the slothful soul turning away from its ultimate end, God, and towards some form of distraction.
For some people, this means neglecting their God-given daily duties and turning instead to sleeping excessively, watching too much television, or chatting mindlessly on the phone for hours. This is what we commonly call “lazy”.
On the other hand, a slothful person may try to fill his day with so many occupations that he has no time to think about God at all. He seems to be productive, he seems to be virtuous, yet his actions are not rightly ordered. By neglecting time for prayer and contemplation, he fails to serve God just as much as if he were wasting time navel-gazing, like the “conventionally” lazy do.
Of course, it’s natural to ask why something so good, indeed the best “thing” there is, namely God, can give rise to such sorrow or boredom in the soul. The cause of this conundrum is to be found in our situation as fallen mortals.
Being faithful to God, serving God, seeking God; all of these things are not easy. Because of the curse of Adam, union with God has become an arduous good that we have to work towards with daily, patient effort. Living a life of virtue requires discipline and self-abnegation. Prayer can often be difficult and even frustrating due to a wandering imagination and lack of sensual gratification. The world is against us. The devil is against us. In short, it’s tough.
The slothful man sees these difficulties and despairs. He is overtaken by sorrow thinking of the challenges inherent in the good to be done, and turns away from it and towards something else.
Sloth is a particularly common temptation for monks and hermits. Their lives are stripped to the bare essentials, often monotonous and demanding on all levels. The silence of the monastery can be a fertile breeding ground for all sorts of toxic movements of the mind and heart that lead the soul away from the duty of the moment and towards distraction. The solitary soul is confronted constantly with the difficulty of the interior life and must respond with courage and hope to win her daily battles against sloth.
On the other hand, those of us who live in the world can more easily fall prey to external distractions and comforts when faced with our daily responsibilities. This is especially true in our modern world, which is so full of noisy, shiny things designed to capture our attention. Why spend an hour trying to meditate on the Passion of Our Lord, when we can waste it enjoying a mindless video game? The trade-off is all too easy.
Sloth can insinuate itself slyly into our lives in incremental steps. Those five-minute breaks we took from studying slowly turn into ten-minute breaks, twenty-minute breaks, and before we know it we’re spending our afternoons playing with our cat instead of focusing on our upcoming exam. Our habit of attending daily Mass turns into a five-day habit, then just three days, and finally, we end up skipping our Sunday obligation for futile reasons.
This is why it’s important to catch early signs of this vice and nip them in the bud. We should do ourselves a little violence if necessary. To help us in our daily battle against sloth, here are some tips that you may find useful:
Come up with a schedule and stick to it
There is a reason why religious adhere to strict daily routines that regulate all aspects of their lives. This type of discipline keeps the mind focused and motivated, all while reducing causes of distraction and chaos that could lead to sloth. Of course, it’s much harder to stick to a rigorous routine in the world, where circumstances are much more unpredictable and more flexibility is required. We shouldn’t be so hung up on a routine that we fail to actually do what is best in the varying circumstances of our lives. However, that’s no reason to disregard schedules completely.
The key is to try to be faithful to a routine unless there are good reasons to change it. The important part is not to skip elements of our schedule just because we don’t feel like doing them. Keeping ourselves accountable with a daily regimen is a good way to avoid slothful neglect of our duties.
Cultivate the virtues of hope and fortitude
As we have seen, sloth is often connected to despair. A good way to combat this vice is to establish a firm foundation of hope in our souls. We must always hope that spiritual goods are attainable with the help of God’s grace. No matter how difficult things get, we should never waver from this conviction. If we feel the temptation of despair creeping in, it’s good to make firm acts of hope to root ourselves more deeply in this virtue. This can even be as simple as repeating in our hearts, Jesus, I hope in you.
Another virtue that can aid us against sloth is fortitude. Our lives often feel like a battleground and we can easily fall victim to pusillanimity and weakness in our struggles. Instead of trying to avoid the difficult things, we should try to face them with courage. Do not shrink back or find excuses to avoid necessary confrontations. Accept the discomfort and fear you may feel and respond with a firm determination to face all obstacles to attain your end. A habit of fighting for what is important will keep you spiritually fit and help you avoid slothful attitudes.
Mortify yourself when it comes to ease and comfort
Along with trying to do hard things comes the need to give up some of the easy ones. Our world is filled with comforts and pleasures meant to weaken and distract us. If we get used to living with ease, we won’t have the strength necessary to grow in the interior life and avoid sloth. I’m not saying we should all flagellate ourselves or sleep on the floor, but there are many small things we can implement to foster a more ascetic attitude in our lives. This can be as simple as fasting once a week or picking up a new exercise routine that feels challenging. The point is that being a little uncomfortable is good for us.
Make sure there is a rightly ordered purpose to everything you do
Finally, and most importantly, we should strive to order all our actions according to a God-centered purpose. Work, prayer, eating, sleeping, playing, whatever. It can all find a place in a rightly-ordered life. The point is not to let our passions rule in deciding how to spend our time.
If you really need an extra half-hour of sleep because you worked hard yesterday, then, by all means, take it. That can have the rightly ordered purpose of giving your body the necessary rest. But don’t just sleep an extra half-hour because you’re unwilling to leave the comforting warmth of your bed. That is not rightly ordered. Get in the habit of asking yourself whether what you’re doing has a rightly ordered purpose or not. If it doesn’t, stop doing it. Sloth is all about avoiding what must be done and doing something else. Learn instead to do what must be done in all circumstances, and you won’t easily fall into this vice.
Tu Es Vita 