Acedia God One's Refusal Uh See Dee Uh Noun Apathy Boredom

acedia /uh-SEE-dee-uh/

noun

Apathy; boredom; sloth.

[From Latin acedia, from Greek akedia, from a- (not) + kedos (care). Earliest documented use: 1607. Acedia is neglecting to take care of something that one should do. It is related to melancholy: acedia describes the behavior and melancholy suggests the emotion producing it. In early Christian thought, the lack of joy was regarded as a willful refusal to enjoy the goodness of God and the world God created; by contrast, apathy was considered a refusal to help others in time of need.

Aquinas described it as an uneasiness of the mind, being a progenitor for lesser sins such as restlessness and instability. Dante refined this definition further, describing acedia as the failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul; to him it was the middle sin, the only one characterised by an absence or insufficiency of love. Some scholars have said that the ultimate form of acedia was despair which leads to suicide.]

Acedia plagues the novice much more than the experienced solitary; unlike some of the new guards, I do not suffer from boredom or listlessness. - Chloe Aridjis; Asunder; Mariner Books; 2013.