I want to paste here what I responded to Sara, because I think it connects with the idea of, "Changing and available..."
I said to Sara:
"I've been thinking of a rewrite for "acedia--to know the good and be lax in its pursuit." I'm not sure what quality would be the substitute for acedia/sloth. Maybe 'faithfulness.' In any case, I would like us to think about embracing a distinction such as,
Faithfulness....to not always know the good, but to be steadfast in its pursuit..... What do you think?"
She has not responded yet, but I hope she will. In the meantime, I want to add another quote that I think somehow pertains. This is from Julian James, but it was said to me by a friend who is interested I think in the question: Where are we headed, and do we have anything to say about it?"
----'major shifts in human self-definition' are noteworthy, by which I mean we may look back on them as a signpost or marker on our trail...----Julian James
Now I am going to ponder the question--and I invite anyone who is reading this to join in fully --What if anything do these two ideas--new distinction to replace acedia/sloth in our thinking; and major shifts in human self-definition--have to do with each other? What do we learn if we think about them together?
I'm going to see if I can find someone who can show me how whatever comments are posted here can go directly onto the blog in full text.
"To not always know the good, and to be steadfast in its pursuit..." -- it's hard to get my mind around that, and yet my heart leaps in response. As for contemplating this in conjunction with self-definition, the idea makes me smile...but not tonight.
ReplyDeleteMy relationship with sloth is oblique: I am tortured by saying I will do something and then not, usually because I get so oh busy doing something else. The consequence is feeling that I can't trust myself, a lack of integrity. Faithfulness feels like a way out, though it seems abstract at the moment.