St. John Climacus recommends two additional practices to combat acedia: psalmody and manual labor.
Both of these are ways of performing reasonable exertion in pursuit of a spiritual good.
Remember that acedia can be caused by ill-advised, excessive exertion in the spiritual life, and it can be perpetuated by frantic distractions.
To make concrete, moderate exertions in one’s Christian life is one of the best ways to help combat spiritual desolation.
Psalmody is the chanting aloud of psalms.
St. John recommends that you stand to help stay alert and focused during the time of prayer.
Standing erect, you should chant the psalm aloud.
Chanting doesn’t have to be an elaborate melody; if you know a Christian hymn that is based on a psalm, then that could work.
But you are also free merely to chant the words of a psalm in a single tone.
The important things are that it be done aloud and with some sort of song.
This little bit of extra effort helps to focus the mind on the words said, fighting against the tendency to merely rattle off the words on the page.
St. John, writing for monks, assumes that the monks will gather in groups to chant the psalms.
If at all possible, try to find someone to chant the psalm or sing the hymn with you.
Singing in groups has been shown to help lift one’s mood, and it can also help reinvigorate one’s spiritual life.
The words of the psalms very often express feelings of desolation and struggle (especially Psalms 22, 69, 74, and 143).
Praying such psalms invites God into the experience of desolation.
Chanting a single psalm a day may be sufficient, but one could commit to chanting one in the morning and evening or to chanting multiple psalms.
Just make sure not to commit to something that will be too hard to keep up.
Manual labor serves a similar purpose as psalmody; it requires focus and exertion, and it can direct us back into concrete relationships.
While some forms of manual labor can serve as distractions, St. John envisions doing work that relates to one’s vocation.
That might involve doing procrastinated repairs around the house or helping with the daily chores at home.
These simple efforts help ground us, so we are not caught up in flights of fancy in which we imagine doing great work in some other context while neglecting the daily tasks before us.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, writing almost a thousand years after St. John, adds a further recommendation: add little labors of asceticism.
In moments of intense desolation, make an additional ascetic effort to combat them.
If a man is really struggling with spiritual desolation during his daily prayer, he should not only not end early, but he might also say an extra Our Father on top of his normal routine.
If, during the day, someone is tempted to acedia, in that moment he could skip adding sugar to his coffee.
Moderate additional exertions are employed to help refocus our efforts in maintaining our relationships with God.
As you reflect today, take stock of your spiritual life.
Consider whether you could invigorate your spiritual life by chanting a psalm, engaging in manual labor, or practicing some extra asceticism.
If so, make a concrete commitment to engage in one of these tasks in the next 24 hours.
