Acedia toward creation is the plague of modern times. If this Lent, we could enter into prayer, fasting and almsgiving in service of waking up to our acedia, our neglect of God in Creation, what passion might awaken in us? What healing may await us? Where might we encounter Christ anew?
This Lenten season, the Center for Action and Contemplation invites you to wade deeper into the waters of concern about the global ecological crisis. This issue has serious moral implications for followers of Christ.
The work of the CAC is built upon the life and inspiration of Christ and the Christian mystic, St. Francis of Assisi. Among his other roles, Francis is the patron saint of those who promote ecology, an icon of the emerging church movement and, most pertinent for us this Lent, a lover of God in all Creation.
This Creation, which Francis so loved, is in crisis. The reports of pollution in the air, water, and soil, and the unprecedented rates of species extinction are daily news. We are aware of these realities, yet we are numb to them. We are caught in an intellectual debate and thus, these realties are not reaching our hearts.
With so much evidence, with prophets and mystics who modeled a better way, why are so many of us still on the fence about this? It is because we have not fallen in love with God in creation.
We must journey through metanoia—a change of heart—and return to God in love through loving His Creation. Only love is strong enough to move us toward the change that is necessary to turn things around.
This Lent, we feel compelled to explore the relationships between St. Francis, the global ecological crisis, our faith, and our numbness (or acedia) in the hopes that we can intentionally clear some of the obstacles to our own love affair with God in creation.
In her book, Acedia and Me, author Kathleen Norris says, “I think it likely that much of the restless boredom, frantic escapism, commitment phobia and enervating despair that plagues us today is the ancient demon of acedia in modern dress.” Acedia, one of the seven deadly sins in Christianity, is a greek word meaning to ‘neglect to take care of something’. Acedia toward creation is the plague of modern times. If this Lent, we could enter into prayer, fasting and almsgiving in service of waking up to our acedia, our neglect of God in Creation, what passion might awaken in us? What healing may await us? Where might we encounter Christ anew?
Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning. Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.
Explore these themes more deeply in
"The Great Chain of Being"
