I’m not even going to mention or acknowledge the fact that I haven’t written in this blog for over a year (okay, I just did).  Or  give you an excuse on why I haven’t written in so long i.e. the cat ate my zipdrive (oops, I did it again – step aside, Britney).  The point is, I didn’t want my unproductiveness to distract you from the purpose of today’s post….

I wanted to share a new word I’d discovered last night – Acedia.

Acedia, with its Latin roots, describes a state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one’s position or condition in the world.  Acedia is an ailment, but not clinical like depression.  It’s considered the same as Sloth, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, but should not be mistaken as a form of laziness or sleepiness (even though these can be two of the symptoms).  By Christian standards, Acedia, is one of Satan’s sharpest tools used against us.  Basically, if you’re suffering from Acedia, you’re in Hell.

I think it’s interesting that I’d learned this term by reading Robertson Davies’ dissertation while accepting his honorary degree from Queen’s University.  Instead of eulogizing the importance of education and intellectual pursuits and the great acheivements they can introduce, Davies throws out a warning about one of the worst, if not the worst, entrapments of adulthood.  Acedia, extreme apathy, an atrophy of feeling, spiritual indifference, death of a soul.  Sounds pretty freakin’ horrible, right?

I wonder how many of us are enduring Acedia.  Is this a constant state of mind, or does it sit in your blood like herpes and flare up every now and then?  I wonder if it’s an epidemic, especially among the middle-aged.  I wonder if I caught this tragic disease.

If so, then I’m kicking it.  Right now.  Yup, I’m crawling out from under the sofa cushions, shaking off the cracker crumbs and spare change, and taking a big gulp of the “Joy” Drug.

See you tomorrow.