What a title right? Well, its actually the title of today's devotional.. but it describes my day yesterday very well. The fifth circle in hell, according to Dante, is where the people lay that were guilty of Sloth. Too lazy to do anything, to lazy to change.. You'll read more in the devotional later. Anyway, yesterday was one of those days when I just didn't feel all that great. I didn't feel pretty, I didn't feel skinny, I didn't feel motivated or had any energy. I could have laid on the couch all day stuffing my face... OH WAIT... I DID! I'm not going to beat myself over the head about it. I just had a bad day... that's it. ONE bad day. Today I woke up ready to get back on track. I have my two glasses of water and my vitamins.. I have my workout ready in the DVD player.. and even a whole day of fruits and veggies planned out for my meals and snacks! Maybe I just needed yesterday to remind me of how sh&$*% I feel when I do nothing. The funny thing is... I stayed under 2000 calories... only it was ALL candy, ice cream, chocolate.. chips... marshmallows... amazing...
So.. on to today's devotional
The Fifth Circle Of Hell
All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. - Ecclesiastes 1:8
In Dante's Inferno, written in the early 1300's, his guide takes him to the Fifth Circle OF Hell, to see those who were guilty of the deadly sin of sloth. There, people lay in cold black mire, longing for another chance on earth. No fires, no pitchforks, no red-suited underdevils, hurling coal or wood into the mammoth furnace. This part of hell is a cold place where nothing will ever happen.
Sloth isn't the kind of laziness that keeps you from cleaning out the garage or taking a two mile run. Sloth , or indolence, is a spiritual apathy, torpor, hopelessness - a failure to care or act. An Anglican bishop described it as something that would make you cynical about everything- if you had the energy.
I think my nibbling rises out of sloth, out of thinking "OH, what's the use?" or " I don't care". But if the body is the temple of God, am I chipping away at the temple's marble column with my eating? And do I care enough to stop it?
For Further Reflection
1. Do you ever fall into the deadly sin of sloth?
2. Do you lack passion in your life?
3. Can you, with God's help, get out of this fifth circle?
Prayer
O God, save me from the cold mud of slothfulness. When I am apathetic, teach me joy. Amen
Have a PASSIONATE Day!!
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4 comments:
That's something I have trouble with too! But I'm glad to hear that you're ready to go today!
as always, you hit the nail on the head.
Great post!
Ahhhh... sloth. Perhaps not the sin of which I'm guilty the most, but definitely one in my Top 5. Thanks for the reminder.
What you describe as sloth also seems to be a fairly accurate description of some of the elements of depression. You key into a way out with your reflection on the spiritual side of this. I've often felt that, if there is a hell, it would be a cold and empty place.
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