If you don't know what "acedia" is (and I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find out that's true), just click right here. Merriam-Webster provides "apathy" and "boredom" as synonyms. A website that advertises itself as "Totally Awesome History" calls "acedia" "The Noontime Demon." That website provides a pretty nice write-up and explanation.
Wikipedia tells us that:
In the medieval Latin tradition of the seven deadly sins, acedia has generally been folded into the sin of sloth. The Benedictine Rule directed that a monk displaying the outward signs of acedia should be reproved a first and a second time [after that, if the monk] does not amend, [the monk] must be subjected to [corporal punishment] so that the others may have fear.
Google Search says "acedia" isn't exactly the same thing as "depression," because acedia is at least partly willful, and depression isn't. I think it's fair to say, though, that the symptoms are basically the same in both cases.
I have to confess, and I am sorry to have to do it, that I have become all too familiar with the "Noontime Demon," in the last year or so, though my acquaintance does not seem to be consistently "noontime related." I do not think that "sloth," "apathy," or "boredom" are words that define me and my condition. But how about "depression"? Well, that's a word that may explain the way I feel when the "Noontime Demon" does come by to call.
Let me say that my online search to figure out what that sin of "acedia" is, and how it works, has actually proven a little bit helpful. I think that the Benedictine monks were on to something in naming "acedia" a condition that is, in the end, something in which we ourselves are somewhat complicit. The temptations of "depression," in the face of daunting and dangerous times, can be well understood. Let's give ourselves a pass, one time, or two. But in the end, I don't think we can allow ourselves to permit feelings of depression to prevail.
I, for one, want to announce my intention to prevail over the sin of acedia. No corporal punishment will be required!
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