It is sobering that someone who lived in the mid-section of the twentieth century could apply her thoughts to the way that we live our lives now.
Dorothy L Sayers, a writer who was best known for fictional murder mysteries (particularly involving Lord Peter Wimsey), was a Christian with great insight into the human character. She knew that beneath the hustle and bustle of hectic lives lies the fear of failure and having our mask taken off, particularly if we are inactive for a moment. We might show our true selves to others and, worse of all, to ourselves.
She could observe that the excess energy that was exerted was unsustainable, like a cheetah that pursues its prey with such speed only to stop when its goal is unachievable.
In her book Creed or Chaos? (Harcourt Brace, 1949), Miss Sayers deals with the even deadly sins, including acedia, which is often translated as 'idleness' or 'sloth.' She points out that its translation is in error because laziness (which is how we often think of idleness or sloth) is not the real manifestation of this condition. Acedia is driven by self-centredness, the perception that we have that the world is centred on me. She wrote: 'Acedia is the sin which believes in nothing, cares for nothing, lives for nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing and only remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die. We have known it far too well for many years, the only thing perhaps we have not known about it is it is a mortal sin.' (p.89)
She continued that the person with the characteristics of acedia - who is driven by the passion for their own needs, comfort and interests - might look like the hive of activity. They might be in the office, workshop or factory from early in the morning to late at night and work weekends, with plenty of activity that onlookers might observe that the person is heading for an early heart attack. However, Miss Sayers argues that acedia, 'the sin of the empty soul,' is the gateway through which other sins will be the motivation for your work and life.
Her observation was: 'It is one of the favourite tricks of this Sin to dissemble itself under a cover of whiffling activity of the body. We think that if we are busily rushing about and doing things we cannot be suffering from Sloth...Gluttony offers a world of dancing, dining, sports, and dashing very fast from place to place to gape at beauty spots...Covetousness takes out of the bed at an early hour in order that we may put pep and hustle into our business; Envy sets us to gossip and scandals, writing cantankerous letters to the paper [or we might say nowadays trolling or slandering on social media], and to the unearthing of secrets and scavenging of desk bins; Wrath provides (very ingeniously) the argument that the only fitting activity in a world so full of evil doers and evil demons is to curse loudly and incessantly: "Whatever brute and blackguard made the world;" while Lust provides that round of dreary promiscuity that passes for bodily vigor. But these are all disguises for the empty heart and the empty brain and the empty soul of Acedia...In the world it calls itself Tolerance but in hell it is called Despair.' (pp. 81 - 82)
It is a summary of the attitudes that we can observe in society around us and what is happening in our own hearts.
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