The same day I started The Shack, another book I’d ordered — the latest of Kathleen Norris — arrived in the mail. I am a huge fan of Norris. It was while living out on the West Coast that I stumbled upon Dakota: A Spiritual Geography. That book made me yearn for home like nothing else, not only in what it said but how it was said. Norris has a very poetic style. In fact, she’s a poet, but one who writes beautiful longer works as well. It’s been several years since I’ve read anything from her, so when I noticed her title, Acedia & Me, I was especially thirsty for her writing and couldn’t help but open the cover…just to take a little peek. And so I’ve decided to stay with her a while. To me, this is excellent Lenten material. Norris takes the plunge in her writings. She goes deep. This is not your easy-read Danielle Steele fare. Sometimes we just need the light stuff. Other times, however, the deep stuff is what’s necessary for growth. So here I am, going there with her for the duration of 286 richly written, well-considered pages. And even though it’s a very Lent-like subject (acedia has been defined by such words as: sloth, spiritual torpor, apathy, a non-caring state, melancholia), I am happy to be in her company once again. (My apologizes to The Shack, but I promise, you will be next!)
Here’s an excerpt I came across earlier today that I underlined for the purpose of sharing here (p. 40):
“…It is always easier for us to busy ourselves than to merely exist. Even important and useful work can distract us from remembering who we are, and what our deeper purpose might be. Monastic wisdom insists that when we are most tempted to feel bored, apathetic, and despondent over the meaninglessness of life we are on the verge of discovering our true self in relation to God. It is worth not giving up, because when we are willing to do nothing but “be,” we meet the God who is the very ground of being, the great “I AM” whom Moses encountered at the burning bush.”
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