Acedia

Long gone are the days where the children played in the streets and the neighbors were considered family.  Today complaints echo in the workroom as coworkers grumble about their job and then about one another.  "Having someone's back" means minimal help as long as it does not interfere with one's plans.  The world is slowly changing, in some instances, quickly changing and not necessarily for the better.  Sin runs rampant; lying, cheating, stealing seem commonplace.  Children quickly learn that lying to get what one wants means it isn't a lie after all because they witnessed daddy lie to the cop to get out of a ticket and then they overheard their older brother say he copied a term paper from the internet, claiming it to be his own work.  So, at school, this child steals a friend's cookie and is confused when he loses five minutes of recess.  The problem is he goes home and recounts the story of the cookie and instead of being told he did wrong and should apologize for his actions, he is told that it was only a cookie, no big deal, the friend had more and it was ridiculous to lose five minutes of recess for a cookie.  The next day the teacher is attacked for having their child miss five minutes of recess thus condoning the child's inappropriate actions.  Stealing and lying, these are the lesser of the evils for there is an underlying problem plaguing our world today and that is Acedia.  Apathy toward what a is right is the most frightening sin of all because the line between good and evil is being so distorted, so clouded that people throw their hands up in defeat.  unfortunately, people just do not care unless it directly affects them; then they have much to say or debate.  If we have the ability to help in any way, then we have the responsibility to help in every way; this concept comes from the core of our being yet it is readily tossed aside for a hands off attitude.  Let's revisit the parable of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes found in John.  Picture thousands of people sitting in a open field, the blistering sun overhead, no breeze, feeling constricted by even their own breath; yet these people sit and listen to Jesus, they are enthralled by His words and the hours pass.  Jesus, recognizing that His listeners are tired and hungry, instructs his disciples to pass around baskets and eventually there is enough food to feed all five thousand people. If people were not apt to give freely of themselves and their belongings, then the crowd would never have eaten.  Thousands of followers were able to nourish their bodies while further listening to the Charismatic Christ proclaim words of wisdom and lessons of truth all because people were sensitive to the needs of others.  Sensitivity, even empathy, towards the needs of others appears to be nonexistent in our society as most people seemed to be more concerned with self interests rather than others.  Acedia frightens because it changes the mindset, it warps thoughts and skews morals so much so that what was once looked upon as degrading is now acceptable.  In the 1950's, television saw shows like Leave it to Beaver or Gomer Pile; these were clean, wholesome shows the whole family could watch.  people were respected, respect was taught and practiced, subjects such as sex were broached with dignity as two loving, consenting adults would shut the door and nothing more was seen.  Today, I need to preview movies geared toward children to make sure it is appropriate from my child.  Morally speaking, we are just not cutting it.  Innately we know what is right and yet we, as a society, seem to toss out what we know with what we are told. That which has become socially acceptable does not necessarily equate with that which is moral.  There was a time when, if a group of teens were acting inappropriate, they would be redirected; now their unacceptable behavior is ignored for fear of back lash.  In subscribing to this dangerous way of thinking, we lose a piece of who we are, we separate ourselves from our own person and in turn we become more and more separated from god.  An apathetic approach to life grants us not the freedoms we think; rather it becomes our shackles preventing us from fully connecting with God, with ourselves and with others.  Struggling to break free from these shackles, the more we move, the tighter they become and so we give up and give in to the actions of others with a simple, "Well, they can do what they want, at least I am not doing it."  If we see something along the sidewalk which could cause danger to another passerby should we not pick it up to ensure the safety of another?  Unfortunately, often the correct action is not  taken for the attitude of, "It's not mine, I didn't do it so I'm not going to fix it", takes over and nothing is done about the dangerous item on the sidewalk.  What has caused this apathy?  I wish I knew but I don't.  What do know is that apathy is frightening for it quickly changes the playing field, swaying one's thoughts and actions to the point of despair until nothing matters, not even life itself.  We, each one of us, has been blessed with an intimate connection to the Father; a connection so great, so powerful that many believe it a myth, just a farce concocted by religious fanatics to get people to follow a cult.  This connection is far from a concocted scheme, this connection is our life for it fuels our soul and allows our heart to speak; to speak of love, joy and our duties as humans, not just as Christians.  In the movie, Avatar, the people were connected to the land, connected to the creatures of the land, connected to the people of the land and connected to those who had gone before them.  This was a brilliant depiction of connections for there was no religious denomination pushing this connection; the people were blue!  We have this ability to connect with all living beings and those who have died for they still live, their souls continue on that we may connect to them as well.  The truth of our connection lies in trust, the reality of our connection lies in God for to delve deep into our soul we must trust the truth of God's words, relinquish our grip of worldly notions and jump into God's arms for He will not let us fall.  Excitement for life will rejuvenate our soul and the world will no longer look dismal, people no longer a threat and concern for life, for all life will creep its way back into the heart.  Egotism and apathy are removed from the equation, leaving room for humble concern to warm the heart while instructing the mind.  Whether we want to admit it or not, we are one family, we are one people, sure we have different character traits, different features but we are one in Christ, one in love of the father thus we have a duty to act as such.  We cannot sit back and let others do, we need to act as Christ would act, we need to love as Christ loved.  We are responsible for one another, responsible for love, deep love, both of ourselves and others because this love stems from God.  Should we let our hearts fall into despair, our ability to love lessens, our ability to care becomes nonexistent and we create a gap between ourselves and God; life becomes riddled with fear, riddled with anger for life becomes a black and white, motionless silent film...truth will be heard, nothing will cause joyful excitement and life will run its course until the demise of the physical body.  Thankfully we are blessed with a God-connect so rich in love that we need only to stop for just a moment and we will feel cherished, feel like we matter that we may shed the coats of apathy handed to us that we may not become chilled in the competitive, frigid world driven by greed and haunted by acedia.  God readily blankets us with love, with joy, with peace which warms our hearts and keeps us from becoming frostbitten by the cruelties of this world.  Watching the nightly news or reading every horrible article that comes across the newsfeed could be cause for despair if the heart were not intimately connected to the Father who loves us so dearly that He gave us His only Son.  To change the world, we must start with changing ourselves.  The question lies, "Are you fully vested in God?"  He is our armor, He is our shield for He has modeled for us life; gifted us with faith that we walk into each day ready to battle that which attempts to keep us from God, keep us from His love.  Enveloped in such deep love, we are healed of negativity, of neglecting responsibilities, healed of lethargy for such love reinvigorates the soul opening our eyes to the truth of the world that we see the world in all its beauty and strive to continue that beauty from within.  Acedia, frightening and deadly should we neglect our God-connection to live in a contrived world festered by strife, antagonized by greed and riddled with dodging responsibilities.  Let us choose to become active participants in life that we may bring love to the shunned, hope for the despairing, faith for the proclaimed atheists and awaken in each person the understanding of their Godly connect that they may readily share in the responsibility of loving and caring for one another.  We are on this earth to walk in love and without God this walk becomes laborious, each road impassable and every direction is uphill.  The acceptance of our hearts, of God's love acts as the lanterns along the path, yes sometimes covered in thistles, yes, sometimes it is uphill, but it is always guided by faith with love our compass.  Yes, the world has changed and continues to change but this degree of change lies in our acceptance of truth and our willingness to act in love.