In last week’s sermon pastor Eric referenced a quotation from R.R. Reno’s article Fighting the Noonday Devil. Here is the excerpt used in the sermon. If you’d like to read the full article you can find it here on First Things website.
Our misanthropy is swaddled in kindness, but it manifests the symptoms of acedia nonetheless. How many parents cannot muster the determination to discipline their children because they cannot bear inflicting the suffering it will require? How many educators have despaired of grading, not out of neglect, but because they shrink from the thought of the hurt feelings of those who do poorly? The examples are but instances of a broad cultural trend. Demand and expectation are hurtful, and we turn away from zeal in order to soften the blows of discipline. Our general commitment to reduce suffering causes us to hesitate from inflicting the pain of shame. Thus, acedia, a languid disregard for moral and social standards, is now a virtue.
– R.R. Reno, Fighting the Noonday Demon, pg. 9.