Who knew a book about boredom would be so refreshing. It's under a 150 pages, but Richard Winter's Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment: Rediscovering Passion and Wonder is so pithy and wise. In it he disects the deadness of our souls and how we came to be so. He traces the idea of boredom from the early church fathers use of the term acedia (or indifference) to the Medieval's idea of sloth:
Today with our focus on immediate gratification and about a million diversions (some worthwhile, others not) we have come to expect entitlement and thus become easily frustrated and bored with life: "When my feelings rule me, I am intolerant of pain and boredom; I demand that my needs for pleasure and distraction be met as quickly as possible."
Winter says that this malady is all too common and hits the young especially hard. There are ways out of this state of ennui, however.
His suggestions? Recapture the wonder of life. Go outside and revel in our late-blooming fall colors. The beech tree in my backyard has a soothing display of copper leaves right now. What songbirds have you noticed haven't followed some of the seniors down to Florida? It takes effort, but so does anything worthwhile. We serve a God of infinite beauty and creativity. We have no excuse to be bored with so much to do and see.
"Some believed it [acedia] to be the most deadly sin of all because it represented intellectual and spiritual indifference and lethargy." To continue with this development Winter writes, " Between the eleventh and twelfth centuries the description of acedia and sloth shifted from emphasizing idleness or laziness to suggesting a state of 'spiritual slackness, weariness and boredom with religious exercises, lack of fervor, and a state of depression in the ups and downs of spiritual life.'"
Today with our focus on immediate gratification and about a million diversions (some worthwhile, others not) we have come to expect entitlement and thus become easily frustrated and bored with life: "When my feelings rule me, I am intolerant of pain and boredom; I demand that my needs for pleasure and distraction be met as quickly as possible."
Winter says that this malady is all too common and hits the young especially hard. There are ways out of this state of ennui, however.
"...[W]e all have lost sight of what we are made for and have been suduced and brainwashed by the culture and often, sadly, by the church too. We can no longer see the drama of the bigger picture of life, where so much is at stake. We are called to an adventure of life with the true and knowable God that may have its profoundly frustrating and boring moments but that gives meaning to a life in which every situation has significance."
His suggestions? Recapture the wonder of life. Go outside and revel in our late-blooming fall colors. The beech tree in my backyard has a soothing display of copper leaves right now. What songbirds have you noticed haven't followed some of the seniors down to Florida? It takes effort, but so does anything worthwhile. We serve a God of infinite beauty and creativity. We have no excuse to be bored with so much to do and see.
Comments