Boredom
- Michael Haldas
- Nov 4
- 5 min read
“It is not incorrect to describe our relationship with the passions as an addiction. The fathers described the passion-driven life as a constant swing between pain and pleasure. We experience boredom as a pain and seek to replace it with pleasure, which will only yield more pain later on. This movement, as it dominates our experience, draws us away from the opportunity to grow in noetic experience. As such, it tears us away from God other than as an entertaining idea or a concept to be considered.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Boredom is, perhaps, the foundational sin of modernity….Boredom (acedia) has always been dangerous…To press deeper into boredom risks hollowing out the soul. The cure (or antidote) for boredom is worship – engaging in the most essential human activity of them all. Boredom is a symptom that we have become estranged from our true selves as well as from the purpose of our existence…[it is an] obstacle on the path to the Gospel is the excessive preoccupation with oneself, one’s own person. There is nothing more spiritually deadly than to make oneself, be it consciously or subconsciously, the focal point of life. When man makes himself the center of his life, his own idol, he will never reach what he is searching for, i.e. real happiness. He will always be devoured by dissatisfaction and distress. Shower him with millions, give him the opportunity for unlimited entertainment and pleasures, world fame and glory, and after a short period of delight he will feel emptiness and loneliness. And he will feel that way until he can renounce himself. Without that, no matter what kind of elevated goals he sets, he will be doomed to ephemeral and illusory moments of joy, which will invariably be substituted by prolonged disappointment and boredom.” (Archpriest Sergius Chetverikov, Father Stephen Freeman)
“Despondency, boredom, heaviness of spirit and body will come sometimes, perhaps for a long time, St. Theophan warns…‘You lose your enthusiasm both for standing in church and for praying to God at home, and for reading, and for doing the usual good deeds.’ And you shouldn’t think that the soul will always have peace and joy from prayer; there are periods of decline, laziness, cooling off, and lack of faith. Cooling off in the spiritual life, its crisis, is one of the signs of despondency. But here we must apply our will and force ourselves. In any affair, we only achieve results when we constantly force ourselves to do it, pick ourselves up by the hair,…and pull ourselves out of the swamp of laziness, laxity, melancholy, and despondency.” (St. Theophan the Recluse, Archpriest Pavel Gumerov)
“The asceticism of prayer is important for each one of us. It is not always easy to pray. Quite the opposite! Prayer may bore you, it may remain superficial and scanty. That is why many Christians do not pray at all and do not force themselves to perform prayer. However, in order for us to experience the joy of prayer we must make inner efforts to pray attentively. It is necessary for our mind, which is the energy of the heart, to rise from distraction and come down into the heart so that they can unite. This is the only way we can acquire both peace of mind and peace of heart simultaneously.” (Metropolitan Serafim Joanta)
“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. The boundaries between depression and acedia are notoriously fluid; at the risk of oversimplifying, I would suggest that 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. Christian teachings concerning acedia are a source of strength and encouragement to me.” (Kathleen Norris)
“Boredom is the grandfather of despondency, and laziness is the daughter. In order to drive it away, exert yourself at work—do not be lazy at prayer. Then, boredom will pass and grace will come. And if you add patience and humility to this, you will spare yourself from much evil." (St. Ambrose of Optina)
“People feel unhappy and they don't know why. They feel that something is wrong, but they can't put their finger on what.... They have everything, yet they want more. And when they get more, they are still left ... dissatisfied. They want happiness and peace, but nothing seems to bring it. They want fulfillment, but it never seems to come. Everything is fine, and yet everything is wrong.... It is covered over by frantic activity, and endless running around.... It is drowned out by television programs and video games. But when the movement stops, and the power is turned off, and everything is quiet ... then the dread sets in, and the meaninglessness of it all and the boredom and the fear. Why is this so? Because the Church tells us that we are really not at home. We are alienated and estranged from our true country. We are not with God in the land of the living. We are spiritually sick, and some of us are already dead [spiritually].” (Father Thomas Hopko)
“Boredom comes from an excessive self-focus…This week I was asked if boredom is a sin. Good question. After contemplating the matter, I think the answer is that sin and boredom go together, but I would rather say that boredom is a disease of the soul. It is a warning sign from God that there is a “dis-ease” in your heart that must be faced. Boredom is a sign that your life is moving in the wrong direction…One of the best cures for boredom is to get involved helping others. One doctor said that whenever a patient comes to him complaining of vague symptoms with no medical cause, he tells them to “crawl out of yourself.” It means to crawl out of the cave of self-pity and get involved in the world of hurting people…It is very difficult to be bored when you are giving yourself to help those around you. Boredom comes when we focus on our own needs. Crawl outside yourself and your problems will seem smaller and your boredom will soon disappear.” (Ray Pritchard)
“I wanted to understand the spiritual nature of boredom better so I did a search on the word “boredom” in many different translations of the Bible. The word simply does not show up. Now perhaps analogous words do but I didn’t pursue it any further. This search was enough to let me know what God was trying to tell me.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“Our early forefathers and mothers understood that in transmitting the Good news of the Gospel they were in fact communicating an inspired life-style that transforms a life of emptiness and boredom into a life of high purpose and fulfillment. Those heroes of faith have left a timeless footprint and are still leading us today to a life of joyous fulfillment and peace and hope that surpasses all human understanding.” (Father James C. Moulketis)
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