Our new Kings of Summer exercise will go on the offensive against the deadly sin of acedia, usually translated as “sloth.”  This spiritual sloth manifests itself as a malaise or listlessness that seeks constant distraction rather than focusing on the duties at hand.

King David provides our model this summer as we look at his own descent into acedia and his eventual reemergence. We will be reading through Second Samuel, looking at how David rests in an unhealthy way after his triumph as king, taking his eye off of the battlefield and his family and turning it where it should not go, toward Bathsheba. This leads to chaos and even rebellion in his own family that eventually wakes him up to the need to engage in battle, both interior and exterior.