Kathleen Norris combines ancient classical writers on spirituality with the modern search for God. She thinks for herself and yet her memoirs seem to tell the story of others. Her newest book, Acedia & Me: Marriage, Monks and the Writer’s Life, tells her story through what ancient classical writers, like Evagrius Ponticus, called “acedia” — the so-called noonday demon.
Have you experienced acedia? Is it depression? Is it chemical? What is it? Norris, as a person who has suffered for a long time from depression, knows both depression and acedia and thinks there is a difference.
Now Norris: “I think it is likely that much of the restless boredom, frantic escapism, commitment phobia, and enervating despair that plagues us today is the ancient demon in modern dress… while depression is an illness treatable by counseling and medication, acedia is a vice that is best countered by spiritual practice and the discipline of prayer” (3).
Acedia is the “absence of care” (3). That is, it is a kind of “spiritual morphine: you know the pain is there, yet can’t rouse yourself to give a damn” (3).
And she thinks it can strike anyone: “anyone whose work requires self-motivation and solitude, anyone who remains married ‘for better or worse,’ anyone who is determined to stay true to a commitment that is sorely tested in everyday life” (6).
I recommend this book for pastors, for professors, for artists, for writers … for those who are suffering from depression … for those who feel “blah” too often. Join us on Fridays to converse about this book.