{"id":1655,"date":"2022-05-19T08:27:09","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T12:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2022-05-19T08:27:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T12:27:09","slug":"your-next-step-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/19\/your-next-step-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Next Step Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Most people think that medieval theologians got it mostly right when they were conjuring up with their rogue\u2019s gallery of Seven Deadly Sins.
\u00a0
With regard to the behaviors and attitudes that assault our life with God, pride, anger, lust, greed, and envy are no-brainers.\u00a0 Gluttony might be a bit of a head-scratcher.\u00a0 But sloth is the \u201cdeadly sin\u201d that seems most out of step with modern sensibilities.
\u00a0
Is it really that dangerous to be a Doritos-munching, channel-surfing, homework-procrastinating, never-seen-a-dust-cloth-in-my-life Couch Potato?\u00a0 Sure, laziness is unproductive.\u00a0 But what\u2019s the big deal about squandering a bit of time?\u00a0 As Snoop Dogg says while reclining on the beach in his Corona Beer commercials, \u201cI\u2019m just livin\u2019 the fine life, baby.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
Medieval scholars, however, were assuming a different definition of sloth.\u00a0
\u00a0
Sloth is the failure to do the right thing at the right time for the sake of God<\/em>.\u00a0 Yes, that might mean\u00a0inactivity.\u00a0 But it could just as easily describe a frantic, swamped, hurried pace of life.\u00a0 It\u2019s quite possible to busily \u201cserve God\u201d and \u201ctake care of our loved ones\u201d as a primary means of avoiding both God and our loved ones.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\u00a0
Sloth is the universal human temptation not to go forward, not to seize the day, not to respond to the particular call of God on our lives.
\u00a0
Perhaps more than anything else, sloth keeps us from loving.\u00a0 Loving other people \u2013 with their inherent faults and frailties \u2013 requires an incredible amount of commitment.\u00a0 Most of us simply don\u2019t want to work that hard.\u00a0 The Captain and Tennille sang\u00a0Love Will Keep Us Together.\u00a0 <\/em>But they were wrong.\u00a0 Love isn\u2019t some kind of mystical \u201cthird force\u201d that keeps two broken people from running away from each other.\u00a0 Lovers have to wake up every day and choose, one more time, not to let their relationship downshift into autopilot.
\u00a0
Sloth is likewise a fierce enemy of personal spiritual growth.\u00a0
\u00a0
Let\u2019s face it:\u00a0 Life is difficult.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to hear the truth about ourselves and deal with the fact that many aspects of our character are not yet aligned with the heart of God.\u00a0 Repentance requires a serious and sustained effort to live a different way.\u00a0
\u00a0
Author and sociologist Tony Campolo points out, \u201cMost Christians I know have just enough of the gospel to make them miserable, but not enough to make them joyful.\u00a0 They know enough about the biblical message to keep them from doing those things which the world tempts them to do; but they do not have enough of a commitment to God to do those things through which they might experience the fullness of his joy.\u201d
\u00a0
He goes on to tell the story of a young woman who considered herself a spiritual person but lacked any semblance of joy in her life.\u00a0 She went through all the right motions, but her own existence seemed boring and futile.\u00a0 She went to see a counselor at a church-based center but made little progress.\u00a0
\u00a0
Then one day she came to her appointment overflowing with enthusiasm.\u00a0 \u201cWhat happened?\u201d asked the counselor.
\u00a0
\u201cWell,\u201d she said, \u201cmy car wouldn\u2019t start this morning, so I asked the pastor if he could give me a ride over here to your office.\u00a0 He said yes, but he had to stop and make a few hospital calls on the way.\u00a0
\u00a0
\u201cI went with him, and while I was at the hospital I visited a few elderly people in the wards.\u00a0 I read from the Bible and prayed with them.\u00a0 By the time the morning was over I was higher than a kite.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t felt this much joy in years.\u201d
\u00a0
\u201cThat\u2019s wonderful!\u201d said the counselor.\u00a0 \u201cNow we know how to keep you out of the doldrums.\u201d\u00a0 Much to his surprise the young woman answered, \u201cYou don\u2019t expect me to do this sort of thing every day, do you?\u201d
\u00a0
Perhaps it\u2019s best to answer her question with a few questions of our own:\u00a0
\u00a0
What kind of life do we really want to have?\u00a0 And what are we willing to do in order to counteract the slothful impulses in our relationships with God and with others so we can begin to experience deeper joy?
\u00a0
Sloth, of course, won\u2019t give up without a fight.\u00a0 You can be certain that your slothful impulses will propose the perfect time to start working on these issues: tomorrow<\/em>.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
\u00a0
Don\u2019t wait for tomorrow, or this weekend, or some future date when you\u2019ll \u201cfinally have some time.\u201d\u00a0 This is your life we\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 Don\u2019t wait to feel more confident or educated or supported by your family.\u00a0
\u00a0
When is the perfect time to take your next step forward? \u00a0
\u00a0
Since this is the day the Lord has made, it’s time to take<\/em>\u00a0Now for an answer<\/em>.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most people think that medieval theologians got it mostly right when they were conjuring up with their rogue\u2019s gallery of Seven Deadly Sins.\u00a0With regard to the behaviors and attitudes that assault our life with God, pride, anger, lust, greed, and envy are no-brainers.\u00a0 Gluttony might be a bit of a head-scratcher.\u00a0 But sloth is the \u201cdeadly sin\u201d that seems most… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[442],"class_list":["post-1655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-sloth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1657,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions\/1657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}