Sunday, March 1, 2015

Apathy... Whatever!

Today at Mass, the priest quoted Dorothy Sayers when referring to sloth. It is described as the 'sin that believes in nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die'. He said that the quote can be summed up in one word: 'whatever'.

Usually when I think of sloth (and I don't think I'm alone in this), I think of someone lying around all day, doing nothing. But in Mass today, the priest pointed out that sloth includes apathy, indifference and procrastination. And it made me think about how often I'm guilty of this in my own life. How many times do I think 'whatever' when I hear about some wrong in society? How often do I plan to contact an old friend and I put it off and put it off until I forget about it? How often do I get satisfied with 'good enough' or 'it's fine'? How indifferent have I become to rising crime rates, poverty and social injustice? How often does someone ask my opinion and I respond with 'whatever'?

It reminded me to never lose my passion. I should stop putting off things that I want to do, things that I need to do. I will try not to get apathetic about the persons or things in my life. And, when asked for my opinion, I should actually give my opinion and not respond with 'whatever'. After all, life should be exciting. Life should be lived with zeal and passion. We only have one life to live and do we really want to spend it just scrolling through Facebook or watching episode after mindless episode on Netflix? These things are fine in moderation. But why don't we be a little less slothful and try something new. Pick up a new hobby. Volunteer for a cause close to your heart. Improve an existing skill. Write a letter - not a text message - to someone you haven't been in contact with for a while. Do something!

2 comments:

  1. I'm writing a paper for Dr. Thuot right now, and one of the themes is apathy. Unfortunately, due to senioritis I'm having the hardest time finding the motivation. Thanks for this timely reminder!

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