Entering more deeply into the spiritual life is difficult. It’s all just too hard, too filled with uncertainty. He doesn’t want to reflect too much because it might summon him to ponder things he would like to avoid considering: moral questions, priorities, whether he is spending enough time with his family, whether his life is focused on the things that matter most. All of the duties of his vocation overwhelm and even scare him the task seems too open-ended. He also has the awesome responsibility to announce these truths to his wife and children. He is also a disciple, one whom the Lord has summoned to a new life, to the great discovery of God, and to the deepest meaning and realities of his life. He is a husband, a father, and the spiritual leader of his home. A man in this position has some very significant gifts and duties beyond his career. Now suppose that this man has a wife and children. And while sloth may sometimes look like boredom and a casual laziness about attaining spiritual good, it can also be manifested by a frantic “busyness” with worldly things so as to avoid spiritual questions or living a reflective life.Ĭonsider, for example, a man who is a workaholic. Sloth also tends to dismiss the power of grace, focusing instead on the “trouble” or effort involved in walking in the Christian way.Īgain, sloth is not merely laziness it is more properly understood as sorrow or indifference. They are distressed at the prospect of what might have to occur should they embrace the faith more deeply. Through sloth, many experience sorrow rather than joy or zeal in following God and receiving a transformed human life. On account of sloth, the idea of right living and the gift of a transformed humanity inspires not joy, but aversion or even disgust because it is seen as too difficult or as requiring the setting aside of currently enjoyed or sinful pleasures. Some even say it is a kind of falling out of love with God and the things of God ( cf Rev 2:4). Some modern commentators describe sloth as a “don’t care” feeling. By it, we shun spiritual good as too toilsome ( cf Summa Theologica II-II 35,2). Thomas Aquinas speaks of sloth as sorrow for spiritual good. The Greek word we translate as sloth is ἀκηδία akedia (a = absence + kedos = care), meaning indifference or negligence. Let’s take a moment and consider some aspects of this cardinal sin. Most see it merely as laziness, but there is more to it than that. One of the more misunderstood of the cardinal sins is sloth.