Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Spiritual RESET

Sometimes I wish there was a reset button for my spiritual life. I could press it and be renewed, kind of like going to confession. You see there's a thing called acedia, or the "noontime devil" as the desert fathers referred to it. It's not as drastic as the "dark night of the soul", rather it's the little annoying occurrences throughout the day that rob you of faith. It's where you feel God, but you just don't care to act on faith and trust, and ask for grace in a situation. It fosters self-justification, casual judgmentalism of others, and leads down a path of pride.
The desert fathers referred to it as the noontime devil because at noon is when the sun is up and hot leaving one's energy drained. Knowledge of the world is of little use when in this state. Any kind of consolation found in the cool of the morning is nonexistent in the noontime heat.
Hence the reason I wish for a reset button on my spiritual life. So I can press it and be out of my acedic nature, have it bring me back to the cool morning I knew well and rejoiced in.
I've lately been realizing how acedic I've become through the beat-downs life has brought me. I have not lost faith, I've lacked luster in proclaiming it, rather it's become a task I must fulfill. *reset please*
But I guess that's the point of faith, we hope for something better. If we know not bad times, how would we know the good. Would the good mean anything to us had we not experienced the bad? We have to trust that change is within us, even if we feel stagnate. For when we feel that pull, we shall surely go for we don't want to be stagnate.
"if only you would say I CARE"
"I don't care"
-Pierre:A Cautionary Tale in 5 Chapters

Another temptation, to which presumption opens the gate, is acedia. The spiritual writers understand by this a form of depression due to lax ascetical practice, decreasing vigilance, carelessness of heart. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The greater the height, the harder the fall. Painful as discouragement is, it is the reverse of presumption. The humble are not surprised by their distress; it leads them to trust more, to hold fast in constancy. -CCC2733

Yup looking for a spiritual reset


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