The desert fathers not only attend insightfully to acedia or sloth as the temptation that poisons our work, but they also helpfully supply the antidote: perseverance or diligence.
When the temptation arises to ease up, to change course, or to coast through, the remedy is to name the temptation as such and to buckle down, recommit to the work before us, and pour our hearts into it.
By enduring the temporary trial— which can last more than a moment— and being faithful to the task at hand, we come out the other side with renewed courage and peace.
Again, it is Evagrius of Pontus who describes what it is like to come out on the winning side of this temptation: no other temptation follows in the immediate wake of this one; instead, the soul discovers peace and ineffable joy.
St. Paul describes the situation similarly, though he speaks in more general terms about the character of suffering, which can surface in this kind of trial while working: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us…” (Romans 5:3–5).
Some of the sufferings we endure are mundane and ordinary, and acedia is one of them.
The listlessness, boredom, discouragement, and distraction that can accompany our work can present us with hardships, trifles, or even severe trials.
But St. Paul, in addition to Evagrius, holds out endurance or perseverance as the key.
By sticking with the work and even redoubling our efforts, character is produced: fortitude and industriousness.
And with that, hope is restored.
Why is hope so fitting and welcome at this point?
Acedia has also been called a kind of spiritual sadness, a despondency in the face of the great and lofty vocation given to man.
When we begin to despair achieving the noble goal of excellent work because of hardships, setbacks, exhaustion, and the like, gathering our strength and pressing on forges the character necessary to once again hope in attaining the goal God has given us: excellent work as a part of the vocation that leads us to the most lofty and noble of goals which is eternal life with God.
If this sounds like pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps when the going gets tough, it’s not.
To the words quoted above, St. Paul immediately adds: “…because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).
The temptation of acedia is overcome through our efforts to persevere— but not through our efforts alone.
As with all temptations, it is God who moves within us to draw us through the temptation and toward himself.
In our work, too, he is living and active within us, fortifying us with his grace so that, when besieged by acedia, we might be conquerors in Christ.
In the Lord’s merciful presence, make an honest assessment of how well you persevere in the face of difficulties.
Then ask him for the grace to begin anew with renewed perseverance and courage.
